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Is Geddy Lee your favorite rock singer?


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Is Geddy Lee your favorite rock singer?  

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  1. 1. Is Geddy Lee your favorite rock singer?

    • He's absolutely my #1 favorite vocalist - no one else comes close!
      3
    • He's at the top of my list, but some others come close!
      0
    • He's #1 sometimes, but the fight for top spot never ends!
      2
    • He's in my top 5! - There are some, but not many, who outdo him
      4
    • He might be in my top 10 - Lots of competition out there!
      9
    • Not even a top 10 singer for me - Plenty of others do it better!
      11


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Here we go yet again!

 

Is Geddy Lee your favorite rock singer?

 

The caveat, yet again - "favorite", not necessarily "the best"

 

He's boombastic on the bass, but is he a superior singer as well?

Do you venerate his vocals? Does his voice vanquish the competition?

 

What say you??

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There is a LOT of competition out there. I'm certain of two things though. 1. He's not my number 1 (that's always gonna be Freddie), and 2. He's waaaay better than he usually gets credit for, and probably makes my top 10... could even be top 5.

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Ged is definitely in my top 5. Might even be #1 in rock singers that sound like Geddy. :smile:

Singers have so many different vocal styles that at times it feels like comparing apples and oranges, but I do love his voice and vocal work,  especially on the early albums when he could really rip one out.

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12 minutes ago, invisible airwave said:

Not compared to Orbison, Bowie, Cornell, Mercury and Buckley.  May they all RIP.

 

Even though their last couple of albums haven't been that good, Matt Bellamy of Muse is the best alive.

One of my all time favorites, and thankfully one I can actually sing along with most of the time!

 

I love all their stuff though :p

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He`s the singer on many of my favourite songs. I suspect - and I cite My Favourite Headache and the Working Man tribute CD as solid evidence - that it`s the magic of all three members needed. As for Geddy, he suits Rush and I don`t think that`s solely because that`s how it`s always been. It certainly is no mean feat to be on a par with the band`s instrumental power.

 

I`d add Ian Gillan, Devin Townsend to the names mentioned above - Chris Cornell probably No. 1 for me even though I`m not a huge Soundgarden fan.

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His voice is the perfect vehicle for Peart's lyrics.  Peart used a lot of words that many lyric writers would stay away from, I think - "microcosmic" for example - and somehow, Geddy's very enunciated style (at least in the height of his career) was perfectly suited to that stuff.  His voice is unique...and I think from MP on he is kind of underrated as a singer.  Rush is not overly emotional music... but he does have moments where he connects that way.  It's so hard to think of his voice as separate from Rush, which is why I voted that maybe he's in my top 10 - he just IS Rush.  I particularly enjoyed when he dropped down into his less shrieky register.  His singing on Signals is probably my fave. 

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Quote

Not even a top 10 singer for me - Plenty of others do it better!

Top singer/bass player combo he enters Top Ten maybe even Top Five category. Vocals alone, that's a hard no.

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6 hours ago, Timbale said:

His voice is the perfect vehicle for Peart's lyrics.  Peart used a lot of words that many lyric writers would stay away from, I think - "microcosmic" for example - and somehow, Geddy's very enunciated style (at least in the height of his career) was perfectly suited to that stuff.  His voice is unique...and I think from MP on he is kind of underrated as a singer.  Rush is not overly emotional music... but he does have moments where he connects that way.  It's so hard to think of his voice as separate from Rush, which is why I voted that maybe he's in my top 10 - he just IS Rush.  I particularly enjoyed when he dropped down into his less shrieky register.  His singing on Signals is probably my fave. 

I especially love Geddy’s live vocals, because in the studio he tended to sacrifice passion for precision, but in live performances his voice had a little bit of a mind of its own and a passion that really moves me would come through.

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On 10/1/2022 at 4:20 PM, JohnRogers said:

Top singer/bass player combo he enters Top Ten maybe even Top Five category. Vocals alone, that's a hard no.

 

 

Dude, how much competition can there possibly be for singing bass players. I'm scratching my head and all I can come up with that would probably beat Ged are Paul McCartney and Sting, maybe Phil Lynott I guess.  I think Ged's an easy top five in that subcategory.

Edited by Entre_Perpetuo
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9 hours ago, Entre_Perpetuo said:

 

 

Dude, how much competition can there possibly be for singing bass players. I'm scratching my head and all I can come up with that would probably beat Ged are Paul McCartney and Sting, maybe Phil Lynott I guess.  I think Ged's an easy top five in that subcategory.

What, you`re not including Gene Simmons or Lemmy? :biggrin:

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39 minutes ago, IbanezJem said:

What, you`re not including Gene Simmons or Lemmy? :biggrin:

Not over Ged!

 

I did realize I forgot Peter Cetera… I suppose he could be a top 5.

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He'd be in my top ten, but there is a lot of competition.

A few who spring to mind would be Robert Plant, Freddie Mercury, John Fogerty, Roy Orbison, Jeff Buckley, Otis Redding, Steve Marriott.

 

I just realised a couple of these are not really rock singers.....  but still pretty damn good!

Edited by zepphead
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As others have said, as a combo singer-bass player-keyboard-foot pedals-moving mic with his nose-basting chickens on tour he's 2nd to none. 

As a singer/bass player he's up there in a top 5 with the likes of Jack Bruce, Sting and Phil Lynott. 

 

Singing experts correct me if I'm wrong but I think Geddy had a slight advantage over others in starting off with having a high voice with respect to longevity. 

He might have had trouble hitting the high notes as his voice presumably got deeper, as it tends to for most of us, but I think mid-career on wards his voice got a bit mellower (for want of a better word) and deeper to a mid range and therefore more appealing to the masses who weren't a fan of the high, Robert Plant-in-overdrive initial experience.

 

 

 

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On 10/2/2022 at 4:20 AM, JohnRogers said:

Top singer/bass player combo he enters Top Ten maybe even Top Five category. Vocals alone, that's a hard no.

 

Who are 5  potentially better singer/bass player combos?  

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Definitely not top 10 for me.  Without putting any thought into this, I'd go with Cornell, Mercury, Staley, Allman, McCartney, Robinson, Rose, Vedder, Plant, Duritz, Roth, Hagar, and Perry.  I suspect that Lee might not even make the top 100 if I cared enough to rank that many singers.  I still love Lee, but I need to be honest about his limitations as a singer.  

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Who here started listening to Rush because they loved the singing? 

Rush has always been about the musicianship. And let's face it, especially the bass and drums. 

I aspire to be a good guitarist and I try and do the odd Rush tune on the guitar and it always strikes me when learning a song, if it hadn't before, how much the bass and drums contribute to the brilliance of the music.

I love Lerxst's playing but he was always overshadowed a bit by the other 2 guys. 

 

So Geddy's vocals were always the last piece just to 'finish things off'. He pretty much hit the rights notes but like other vocalists who had 'character' rather than being top notch, (see Bon Scott, some Ozzy, Les Claypool, Brian Johnson, Lemmy etc), one was always drawn in by the music around them rather than their voices or singing ability specifically.

 

But as I alluded to in another post here, his voice has actually got better or more appealing over the years. Whether he's got a better vocalist or not is another matter. 

So can't put him in a top 10 because there are far too many other good singers out there. 

 

But as a multi-tasker, even just bass and singing, he's right near the top!

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And that's my second-guessing with these types of polls - "because there are far too many other good singers out there"... But, is he our favourite?

He's mine. Because I guess I am self-realising that just about everything about RUSH is my favourite. I just have trouble dissecting what is best, who is best, are any of them the best in rock?

But every time, I have decided yes they are my favourite. I suppose I should jump to an Alex poll and repeat. But I have a suspicion he isn't staying up at night wondering about my opinion :alex:

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Back in the ol days Ged had a pretty good vocal range, obviously decreased significantly with time. I would say he's at least in top five for me as far as the uniqueness of his voice and his skill. After all he's been singing the way he has for years and to the best of my knowledge, never needed any throat surgery like many singers end up needing at some point because they don't use proper technique.

Edited by Charlotte7598
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For me when I look at Rush their are several main components that I have to consider.  They are (in no particular order) Neils drumming, Alex's guitar work, Geddy's bass, Neils lyrics, the music the guys wrote and Geddy's vocals.  Of all those factors Geddy's vocals would be the weak link - however (big however) Rush wrote their songs in such a way as to maximize what they got from him.  Hard for me to explain.  Its sort of like having a car with a really odd transmission system but the rest of the car is designed to accommodate said transition system and for everything to go flying down the highway.  So it works darn well and Geddy's vocals worked great in Rush.

 

So where would I rank him?  I voted top 10.  He is not top 5, but likely top 10.  So who would I put above him?  Definitely Floor and Tarja from Nightwish, Roger Daltrey of The Who, Rob Halford of Judas Priest & (at his best) Ronnie James Dio.   That would put him at #6.  But there might be a few others that could push him back a bit (Helloween has some seriously awesome lead vocals for example).  I enjoy Udo from Accept and his replacement but neither he not Mark are at Geddy's level.  Klaus of The Scorpions is good but not at Geddy's level.  Grace Slick is another one who I enjoy but not enough to reach Geddy's level.  I also like Bob Seeger but again he is not at Geddy's level.  Steve Perry of Journey and his replacement Armel might push Geddy back - thats close.  I would have to think about it.  Art Garfunkal of Simon & Garfunkal - hmm, got to think a bit about him.  At his best he is competitive.  But better?  No.

 

Interestingly others have mentioned Freddie and Robert Plant.  I am not a big fan of either of their vocals so they would not enter my top 10.  Not at all.  Again, I can't really explain it- its just taste.

 

So Geddy is in the top 10 but not quite in the top 5.  

Edited by TheAccountant
Edited to mention Steve Perry, Armel & Art Garfunal
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