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Have You Ever Been Ashamed Of Geddy Lee's vocals?

Tony R

By Tony R,
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Tony R

Tony R

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I remember when I first got into Rush and played their LP's on my parent's Radiogram in our living room I would almost cringe as Lee's voice cut through the heavy chords and bang of drums. The location of the family stereo inevitably meant occasional shared listening whilst mum was cooking in the kitchen or as dad returned home from work. I imagine Lee's voice must have sounded almost primal and unearthly whilst strangely feminine and just 'odd'.

 

I never had a problem with him in those days, I guess a grounding in Plant, Gillan and Anderson meant he wasn't all that strange to me and certainly Brian Wilson, Lennon and McCartney strayed towards strained vocals at times.

 

Yeah, I guess I was self-conscious about his singing at times but never ashamed. I feel more ashamed of his bizarre performances of latter years.

 

What about you guys?

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bathory
bathory

threads like these are kinda lame. "ignore my 2000000000000000 posts, I'm way too cool for this queer band" vs. "RUSH ARE PERFECT DONT YOU DARE CRITICIZE THEM TEST FOR ECHO IS AS GOOD AS HEMISPHERES A

bathory
bathory

lol :eyeroll:

bluefox4000
bluefox4000

Other then ged barely reaching notes. and singing like he forgot how to make his lips form words......nothing it's a master class. :laughing guy:   Mick

Tony R

Tony R

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Here's a partial vocal analysis I found online:

 

What Tom Jones, David Clayton Thomas and Gary Puckett tried NOT to sound like. Geddy Lee may be a combination of Feminine Strainer and Feminine High-Pitch (and we all know he's Jewish, not exactly White European, but fun to analyze here.) He strains absurdly high, and there is some burnout there, too. It's likely how Yes' Jon Anderson would sound if Anderson had to sing in a more aggressive rock style and asked to sing a bit higher still. Geddy has a whining sneer-tone that, I am certain, comes from nothing but an absurd degree of forcing the voice high. There is absolutely no tone left for him up there and the voice is a tiny frequency fragment of human. He's very close to simply barking like a Pomeranian. But perhaps a hyper-weird voice serves him and his band "Rush" with their sci-fi atmospherics. It's a very unpleasant sound. It also serves a purpose in rock: To simply cut through the noise a bit. Being creatively charitable: Have ever heard Oglala Sioux men chanting in a drum circle, and their eerie, high-pitched vocals? Maybe Geddy Lee, because of all his sublime thoughts, has somehow penetrated some mystic cloud and shaken hands with the Cosmic Witch Yodler of the Yellow Plains of Drogen. I suppose he'd like that possibility better than my saying his sound represents a total abandonment of any pretense of having a man's voice. What weird vocals for young men, trying to come into a sense of manhood, to listen to. And how does it feel when they attempt to sing like their hero? Is that good? I have to say I laugh when I hear Geddy Lee. Love that Rickenbacher bass, though.

 

Discuss.

 

 

 

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LittleRushmonkey

LittleRushmonkey

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I've always loved Geddy's voice. His voice used to be quite abnormally high but I still think it's great. His voice is part of what makes Rush, :rush: .

 

And compared to Justin Beeber, well he could pass as Morgan Freeman

Edited by LittleRushmonkey
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lerxt1990

lerxt1990

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Here's a partial vocal analysis I found online:

 

What Tom Jones, David Clayton Thomas and Gary Puckett tried NOT to sound like. Geddy Lee may be a combination of Feminine Strainer and Feminine High-Pitch (and we all know he's Jewish, not exactly White European, but fun to analyze here.) He strains absurdly high, and there is some burnout there, too. It's likely how Yes' Jon Anderson would sound if Anderson had to sing in a more aggressive rock style and asked to sing a bit higher still. Geddy has a whining sneer-tone that, I am certain, comes from nothing but an absurd degree of forcing the voice high. There is absolutely no tone left for him up there and the voice is a tiny frequency fragment of human. He's very close to simply barking like a Pomeranian. But perhaps a hyper-weird voice serves him and his band "Rush" with their sci-fi atmospherics. It's a very unpleasant sound. It also serves a purpose in rock: To simply cut through the noise a bit. Being creatively charitable: Have ever heard Oglala Sioux men chanting in a drum circle, and their eerie, high-pitched vocals? Maybe Geddy Lee, because of all his sublime thoughts, has somehow penetrated some mystic cloud and shaken hands with the Cosmic Witch Yodler of the Yellow Plains of Drogen. I suppose he'd like that possibility better than my saying his sound represents a total abandonment of any pretense of having a man's voice. What weird vocals for young men, trying to come into a sense of manhood, to listen to. And how does it feel when they attempt to sing like their hero? Is that good? I have to say I laugh when I hear Geddy Lee. Love that Rickenbacher bass, though.

 

Discuss.

 

I can understand this analysis of their early music for sure. But as we we proceed from Hemi through PeW and MP and he came down a little, I think he did have plenty of tone and range and whatever.

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Narps

Narps

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YESSSSSSSSSSSS, on the CA dvd, horrible vocals, I wouldn't show that to anyone and try to make them a fan, and the few I did all said what is wrong with this guys voice. total embarresment..

This^^^^. I took my family to see the show at the theater and was praying for the end to be honest. My bad for taking them.....
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laughedatbytime

laughedatbytime

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YESSSSSSSSSSSS, on the CA dvd, horrible vocals, I wouldn't show that to anyone and try to make them a fan, and the few I did all said what is wrong with this guys voice. total embarresment..

This^^^^. I took my family to see the show at the theater and was praying for the end to be honest. My bad for taking them.....

CA or TMT?

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Segue Myles

Segue Myles

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I can't believe anyone would be ashamed of listening to a voice that has so much character, range and depth. From his banshee squall on Hemispheres, to his more refined, soulful work on the likes of Presto or Grace Under Pressure, Geddy has always been a pleasure to listen to (albeit not always for the same reasons!).

 

Honestly, not being a fan boy of Rush at all, I can freely admit that Geddy's voice from day one was part of the appeal of Rush for me. I am in the minority here, as it was his vocal work on Clockwork Angels that 100% won me over: At his age, with that high voice, he adapted his style to suit his limitations and it was breathtaking. Obviously not a patch on his peak years (1974-1989 IMHO), but he has a phenomenal voice, even though it isn't quite what it used to be. And why would anyone expect it to be?

 

One of the reasons Rush sound so good is partly because that voice is so individual: so many 70's 80's bands had vocalists who sound EXACTLY the same! But the moment Rush play, there is no mistaking who it is.

 

Top three singer for me, alongside Cristina Scabbia and Myles Kennedy.

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Narps

Narps

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YESSSSSSSSSSSS, on the CA dvd, horrible vocals, I wouldn't show that to anyone and try to make them a fan, and the few I did all said what is wrong with this guys voice. total embarresment..

This^^^^. I took my family to see the show at the theater and was praying for the end to be honest. My bad for taking them.....

CA or TMT?

CA. None of my family knew any of the CA material either and they played all of it of course. The section where they played more familiar material was more relaxing....
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Narps

Narps

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I can't believe anyone would be ashamed of listening to a voice that has so much character, range and depth. From his banshee squall on Hemispheres, to his more refined, soulful work on the likes of Presto or Grace Under Pressure, Geddy has always been a pleasure to listen to (albeit not always for the same reasons!).

 

Honestly, not being a fan boy of Rush at all, I can freely admit that Geddy's voice from day one was part of the appeal of Rush for me. I am in the minority here, as it was his vocal work on Clockwork Angels that 100% won me over: At his age, with that high voice, he adapted his style to suit his limitations and it was breathtaking. Obviously not a patch on his peak years (1974-1989 IMHO), but he has a phenomenal voice, even though it isn't quite what it used to be. And why would anyone expect it to be?

 

One of the reasons Rush sound so good is partly because that voice is so individual: so many 70's 80's bands had vocalists who sound EXACTLY the same! But the moment Rush play, there is no mistaking who it is.

 

Top three singer for me, alongside Cristina Scabbia and Myles Kennedy.

I think you missed the point slightly will all due respect. I have never been ashamed of Ged's voice through these 38 years until more recent live shows. Studio Ged is what drew me to the band oh so many years ago. The great music didn't hurt either.... :)
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circumstantial tree

circumstantial tree

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To me it was a trademark sound for the band. Although, I used to think he sounded a great deal like the singer from Supertramp. Probably because "Vital Signs" has a lyrical way about it similar to Supertramp's "The Logical Song"
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Narps

Narps

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Whats the problem?.... :)

 

Other then ged barely reaching notes. and singing like he forgot how to make his lips form words......nothing it's a master class. :laughing guy:

 

Mick

:laughing guy: ....
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bluefox4000

bluefox4000

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My mean Cynical side is gonna have WAAAY to much fun here.

 

 

This song is the perfect example of that yelp,/yodel i talk about going into notes and phrases that's so distracting to me. Note it on forever dwells in that moment.

 

Ok.....ok.....i'm done.......i swear it, lol

 

Mick

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bluefox4000

bluefox4000

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ged started the yodel thing on snakes and arrows, song to be specific, bravest face.. he yodeled on that and then threw it into the live set.

 

He might have threw it in on purpose at first......but i don't think he can help it now.......geuss they're just Swiss-Rush now, lol

 

Mick

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