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Good Bad Vocalists


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2 hours ago, jamie said:

It's like he's trying to be an opera singer when he should just.... sing. It doesn't apply to every song/album/time period of DT, but there are songs where  I personally feel like he's just over-doing it.

 

 

honestly you hit on what annoys me about geoff Tate.  a voice and a half but uses it to be a goofy faux opera man.

 

just sing dude.

 

Mick

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1 minute ago, bluefox4000 said:

 

it's why i love him.  especially on his Dire Straits stuff.  Really creates a cool mood.

 

 

Mick

 

Al Stewart has also been criticized for his talk-singing, which also works well for him in his songs with a historical motif.

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I mean, I think there’s a slight a difference between singers who are conventionally very poor but make it work and singers who voices work really well for their genre but wouldn’t fit outside of it. Billy Joe for example. I think he’s got a perfect voice for pop punk, and could even play with a bit of hardcore in his younger days, but put him in a prog band and he’s totally out of his element. I don’t think that makes him a bad singer, just one who fits in a certain wheelhouse. On the other hand, I think even for thrash metal Dave Mustaine’s voice is conventionally garbage, but he uses it in such a captivating way that it just magically works. So him I would gladly toss in the bad good singers pile, but not Billy Joe.

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13 hours ago, Union 5-3992 said:

 

The only actually good ones are Chris Cornell and Layne Staley 

Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone was amazing!! Shame he passed so young 

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11 hours ago, bluefox4000 said:

 

it's why i love him.  especially on his Dire Straits stuff.  Really creates a cool mood.

 

 

Mick

I used to hate it! Maybe it's an age thing but I love it now.

 

As a kid I was like WHY IS THIS MAN TALKING TO ME

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1 minute ago, Segue Myles said:

I used to hate it! Maybe it's an age thing but I love it now.

 

As a kid I was like WHY IS THIS MAN TALKING TO ME

 

i think when you're younger.......this at least applied to me.  you don't like as many sharp edges on your singers

 

i didn't like Dylan, Cohen, waits even took me forever.

 

it'sa why harsh vocals in metal turned me away forever.

 

But you learn that there's value in the ugly in music as you age i think.

 

Mick

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8 minutes ago, Rod in Toronto said:

Ozzy

 

Huh? Ozzy has a tremendous sense of how to use melody with his voice and create great hooks. From Blizzard Of Oz through No More Tears he was in no way a bad singer.

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2 hours ago, bluefox4000 said:

Roger Waters qualifies here too.  

 

some may not like him but i love his vocals on Animals in particular.

 

Mick

I wouldn’t go as far as to say Roger is a bad singer, but he can sound very unappealing on certain songs, and I’ll take David over him on vox all day. 
 

“mother loves her baby child,

daddy loves you too”

 

ugh, David should sing lullabies professionally.

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6 minutes ago, Entre_Perpetuo said:

I wouldn’t go as far as to say Roger is a bad singer, but he can sound very unappealing on certain songs, and I’ll take David over him on vox all day. 
 

“mother loves her baby child,

daddy loves you too”

 

ugh, David should sing lullabies professionally.

 

 

and then roger comes in all nasal and harsh

 

IF YOU SHOULD GO SKATING!!!!!!

 

i don't know i always like the push and pull combo of those 2.

 

Mick

Edited by bluefox4000
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1 hour ago, bluefox4000 said:

 

i think when you're younger.......this at least applied to me.  you don't like as many sharp edges on your singers

 

i didn't like Dylan, Cohen, waits even took me forever.

 

it'sa why harsh vocals in metal turned me away forever.

 

But you learn that there's value in the ugly in music as you age i think.

 

Mick

I'd go as far to say as their is legit beauty in ugliness. Think of Opeth, Lamb Of God etc 

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23 minutes ago, J2112YYZ said:

 

Huh? Ozzy has a tremendous sense of how to use melody with his voice and create great hooks. From Blizzard Of Oz through No More Tears he was in no way a bad singer.

Agreed. He's actually got a rich voice that I feel has genuine character and even warmth. 

 

His vocals on Changes alone are nothing short of world class.

 

And I say this just as a casual listener.

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21 hours ago, bluefox4000 said:

 

 

he's not.  in my book.  he just has a hard time with consistency  at maintaining it.

 

This myth that's he's bad (and it IS a fantasy land)  needs to stop.

 

there's confusion here between bad and i don't like.

 

i hate geoff Tate's voice......but dude can sing.

 

Mick

I think he's definitely lost something in the past few years. Not as good as it was at least to my ears.

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1 hour ago, Segue Myles said:

I'd go as far to say as their is legit beauty in ugliness. Think of Opeth, Lamb Of God etc 

Opeth improved exponentially when he started singing instead of growling imo. Never liked that style and don't/won't listen to any of it. 

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1 hour ago, Segue Myles said:

Agreed. He's actually got a rich voice that I feel has genuine character and even warmth. 

 

His vocals on Changes alone are nothing short of world class.

 

And I say this just as a casual listener.

 

Isolated vocals on songs like Crazy Train sound great. He clearly wasn't masking a bad voice with good music. 

 

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1 hour ago, BastillePark said:

Opeth improved exponentially when he started singing instead of growling imo. Never liked that style and don't/won't listen to any of it. 

Akerfelt has a fantastic singing voice. He usually kills it when he covers Judas Priest/Iron Maiden/Deep Purple

 

Edited by Union 5-3992
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1 hour ago, BastillePark said:

Opeth improved exponentially when he started singing instead of growling imo. Never liked that style and don't/won't listen to any of it. 

I think their music became extremely pedestrian. Thankfully, he still growls live. And his growls are phenomenal, definitely a great talent he has to be so vocally diverse.

 

Disliking growled vocals is fine, but denying the all out brilliance of their early work is just ignorance as far as I'm concerned. 

 

I don't like Pink Floyd, but I can't deny their greatest work is astounding.

Edited by Segue Myles
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I think we would have a shorter list of rock, hard rock and grunge singers who were exceptional.  There's a lot of value in phrasing, melody and good lyric writing, which many vocalists pen the words they sing.

 

My entries to the discussion...

 

I find Mike's vocals to fit perfectly with the disturbed nature of his songs/lyrics:


As someone posted, a grunge band's primary focus was on attitude and message.  Kurt is an exceptional singer for his band in the context of its deliverables, but outside of this niche use he was at best an average garage band lead singer:


Similar to REM, Live alienated half their prospective listeners with Ed's vocals.  Once you get past them, EXCEPTIONAL band:


One of my favorite 'modern' alternative bands, has an unpleasant nasally quality to his voice but delivers gut punching lyrics honestly and sometimes brilliantly:

 

 

Edited by stoopid
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8 minutes ago, stoopid said:

I think we would have a shorter list of rock, hard rock and grunge singers who were exceptional.  There's a lot of value in phrasing, melody and good lyric writing, which many vocalists pen the words they sing.

 

My entries to the discussion...

 

I find Mike's vocals to fit perfectly with the disturbed nature of his songs/lyrics:


As someone posted, a grunge band's primary focus was on attitude and message.  Kurt is an exceptional singer for his band in the context of its deliverables, but outside of this niche use he was at best an average garage band lead singer:


Similar to REM, Live alienated half their prospective listeners with Ed's vocals.  Once you get past them, EXCEPTIONAL band:


One of my favorite 'modern' alternative bands, has an unpleasant nasally quality to his voice but delivers gut punching lyrics honestly and sometimes brilliantly:

 

 

I’d never say Ben Gibbard doesn’t have a beautiful voice. It does trend nasal, which I guess is more a matter of taste than anything, but his intonation and articulation are basically perfect. Like, James Taylor level perfect. 
 

I think lyrics matter of course but I don’t think bad lyrics necessarily make a singer sound like a worse singer, just a dumber one. Robert Plant and Brian Johnson I would say were top tier singers in their prime, and they both had some very dubious lyrics. The Lemon Song comes to mind…

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3 hours ago, Segue Myles said:

I'd go as far to say as their is legit beauty in ugliness. Think of Opeth, Lamb Of God etc 

Yes.
Or perhaps The Used, Rise Against, etc on the more screamed end of the spectrum.

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2 hours ago, BastillePark said:

I think he's definitely lost something in the past few years. Not as good as it was at least to my ears.

 

 

oh for shure live i think that's true.  studio wise he can still hold his own.   because splicing exists, lol.

 

Mick

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