SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic

Joined: Aug 22 2005 Posts: 328

The other thread inspired me to make this one. Smile

I don't really wanna insult anyone or start a flame war (you know what opinions are like, anyway...), but there are two things I don't usually like in singing:

1) Singers who don't actually make an effort to sing that well... where it's almost like a cross between singing/talking/yelling or something (unfortunately, the style of music where this usually occurs is not one that I'm very familiar with, so I can't think of any specific examples, but it's usually sort of like 'punk'-style bands). C'mon, people, the voice is an instrument! Use it to its full potential!

2) Death metal-style screaming/roaring instead of singing. Pantera had awesome guitar, but I could never get past the 'singing' style.

Anyway, that brings me to what I consider the Vocalist Trinity of my favorite singers: Bruce Dickinson, Sebastian Bach and Axl Rose. All three of them have (or had, during their primes... Sad

) incredible talent as vocalists , in terms of vocal range, versatility, etc., as well as the pure balls to shake the earth and wake the dead - I like hearing a singer who is singing his ass off (Bas's scream at the end of 'I Remember You' still gives me goosebumps every time!). Plus I just like the sound of all of their voices.

Others that I love (but who don't quite excel in every way like those three do) include:

Ozzy - not as verstile or as ballsy, but I love the weird quality his voice has to it.
Brian Johnson - does anyone sound quite like this guy? Very Happy

(actually, I saw an AC/DC cover band once, and the singer did sound like him, but you know what I'm sayin'...)

Probably more that I can't think of right now.

Posted: Oct 08 2005 12:41 am

I agree with all your choices, those are all guy I would have picked. Ozzy has almost no range, but there's just something about his voice I love.

Other guys worth mentioned:

Rob Halford (Judas Priest)
Geoff Tate (Queensryche)
Ronnie James Dio
Ian Astbury (The Cult)

I also really like Peter Steele from Type O Negative's voice. I don't know quite how to describe his vocals, but I really like them for some reason.

Joined: Aug 24 2005 Location: Mount Holly, NJ Posts: 1062

I was actually thinking about this the other day- and I have to say, although I feel in a way it threatens my masculinity, that Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows has the best male voice I've ever heard, but then again, it might be the ballady nature of a lot of the songs Counting Crows sings. Although all previously mentioned voclists stomp all kinds of ass as well.

As a shout to my love for late 80s, early 90s grunge, I've gotta say that my favorite singer of a band that I really really like(d) is Layne (sp?) Staley of Alice in Chains. That dude wails on "I Stay Away."

Posted: Oct 09 2005 06:15 am

Kubo wrote:

I really really like(d) is Layne (sp?) Staley of Alice in Chains. That dude wails on "I Stay Away."

And "Man in the Box" too, he's amazing on that. What are your thoughts on Chris Cornell (Soundgarden/Audioslave)?

Joined: Aug 24 2005 Location: Mount Holly, NJ Posts: 1062

Syd Lexia wrote:

Kubo wrote:

I really really like(d) is Layne (sp?) Staley of Alice in Chains. That dude wails on "I Stay Away."

And "Man in the Box" too, he's amazing on that. What are your thoughts on Chris Cornell (Soundgarden/Audioslave)?

I actually am pretty opinionated about Soundgarden and Chris Cornell... in the early 90s, where I live, there were four major grunge bands you listened to:
They were, in order of importance

Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Alice in Chains
Soundgarden

Problem was, I NEVER liked Soundgarden. I don't think it was necessarily Cornell's voice, because I like Audioslave a little bit. I don't know what it was, but I never got into Chris Cornell as a vocalist. He definitely has talent, I've heard it with Audioslave, but I just can't get past my apathy toward Soundgarden.

So I guess I know that Chris Cornell kicks ass as a singer, he's just not my cup of tea.

Posted: Oct 09 2005 07:10 pm

Kubo wrote:

I actually am pretty opinionated about Soundgarden and Chris Cornell... in the early 90s, where I live, there were four major grunge bands you listened to:
They were, in order of importance

Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Alice in Chains
Soundgarden

Usually when people mention the biggest grunge bands of the era, they throw STP in there as well. Now, I enjoy STP, but I don't think they were ever really grunge and they just sort of got thrown into that genre because they were a prominent rock band that got big in the early 90s.

Joined: Aug 22 2005 Posts: 328

Syd Lexia wrote:

Now, I enjoy STP, but I don't think they were ever really grunge and they just sort of got thrown into that genre because they were a prominent rock band that got big in the early 90s.

I've always thought so, too. Oddly enough (but along similar lines), I once read a review of Skid Row where the reviewer said that if they had come along just a few years later, they might have managed to avoid the career-klling label of "80s metal band" and been included in the grunge scene, much like STP.

Posted: Oct 10 2005 03:59 pm

Tuckster wrote:

I've always thought so, too. Oddly enough (but along similar lines), I once read a review of Skid Row where the reviewer said that if they had come along just a few years later, they might have managed to avoid the career-klling label of "80s metal band" and been included in the grunge scene, much like STP.

Skid Row probably could have dodged that bullet if they had managed to stay together. After all, they were friends with Pantera and their Slave to the Grind and Subhuman Race albums were both harder than what one typically associates with 80s metal. And consider this: Subhuman Race broke into the Top 40 when it was released in 1995. Since 80s rock was not commercially viable between 1993-1998, that's a pretty impressive feat.

Posted: Oct 13 2005 02:50 pm

The great thing about Chris Cornell is even though he is screaming once he goes out of his range, it doesn't sound like he's actually out of his range. Listen to the only hit Temple of the Dog ever had (and if you don't know it, you don't deserve to live...it's only on every rock station in the country about 30 times a day). Chris is screaming in the background behind Vetter and it's the perfect addition to a decent, if not completely repetitive, song. His voice has so much energy and so much feeling in it that it makes me want to kick the shit out of somebody just to feel that alive.

Posted: Nov 01 2005 09:25 pm

Glenn Danzig, Ihsahn, Abbath, and ICS Vortex are probably my favorite vocalists.

Posted: Nov 01 2005 09:27 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

Kubo wrote:

I actually am pretty opinionated about Soundgarden and Chris Cornell... in the early 90s, where I live, there were four major grunge bands you listened to:
They were, in order of importance

Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Alice in Chains
Soundgarden

Usually when people mention the biggest grunge bands of the era, they throw STP in there as well. Now, I enjoy STP, but I don't think they were ever really grunge and they just sort of got thrown into that genre because they were a prominent rock band that got big in the early 90s.

Very true, STP wasn't even from the Washington Grunge scene, they were from LA and it is pretty evident that when listening to albums like Vol.4 They couldn't be farther from Grunge.

Joined: Aug 25 2005 Posts: 287

I'm no music critic, but yeah... Mike Patton's up there for me. Just the sheer range of crap he pulls impresses the hell out of me. For "classic" metal singing, I'm sorry and this is probably heresy, but I'll take Bruce Dicksinson over Ozzy any day. Lastly, though it grates on a lot of people, I like what Dave Mustaine pulls off with his admittedly limited singing capacity.

Posted: Nov 02 2005 03:46 pm

I've never really thought about rating vocalists until I saw this thread. My list below does not show order of importance.

Peter Gabriel - Genesis/Solo

Even though he sounded raspy and strainy, it fits well with both what he did with Genesis and his solo stuff. He had a decent range too and could tickle your balls with those high-pitched wales (sp) like in Sledgehammer or Shock the Monkey

Annie Haslam - Renaissance

She had a very smooth voice, not to mention a 5-octave range.

Barry White

Only the deepest male voice to ever exist. The only man who could get away decades ago with the line, "Take your clothes off," in an intro to one of his songs.

Takuro Yoshida

Honestly, I just felt like looking up some information on the opening song to Cromartie High School. I like the song though and his voice really seems to go with the song.

I suppose that last one partially killed the topic, but he is a vocalist/instrumentalist. Too bad. It's my post and I'll flank if I want to.

Posted: Nov 02 2005 05:56 pm

greeneyedzeke wrote:

For "classic" metal singing, I'm sorry and this is probably heresy, but I'll take Bruce Dicksinson over Ozzy any day. Lastly, though it grates on a lot of people, I like what Dave Mustaine pulls off with his admittedly limited singing capacity.

The reason people like Ozzy is because he was there first. Without Paranoid, metal as we know it might not exist. But Bruce is better vocalist, hands down. And after the reality show and that bullshit Sharon pulled on Ozzfest, it's hard not to respect Bruce more than Ozzy.

Posted: Nov 02 2005 09:58 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

greeneyedzeke wrote:

For "classic" metal singing, I'm sorry and this is probably heresy, but I'll take Bruce Dicksinson over Ozzy any day. Lastly, though it grates on a lot of people, I like what Dave Mustaine pulls off with his admittedly limited singing capacity.

The reason people like Ozzy is because he was there first. Without Paranoid, metal as we know it might not exist. But Bruce is better vocalist, hands down. And after the reality show and that bullshit Sharon pulled on Ozzfest, it's hard not to respect Bruce more than Ozzy.

I understand the sentiment somewhat, but the story of the Ozzfest incident is widely exaggerated, and most of the incidents that Bruce caused were barely mentioned. Not sticking up for Ozzy's wife or Ozzy, or Bruce, just saying. I think all parties are at fault and really immature. And I generally dislike Iron Maiden, Sharon, Ozzy after No More Tears, and Ozzfest as a whole, so my opinion is probably partisan.

Joined: Aug 22 2005 Posts: 328

Kutulu wrote:

And I generally dislike Iron Maiden

Why? I'm just curious to understand what other people are thinking.

Posted: Nov 02 2005 11:17 pm

Tuckster wrote:

Kutulu wrote:

And I generally dislike Iron Maiden

Why? I'm just curious to understand what other people are thinking.

I am just not much for New Wave of British Heavy Metal. I don't like the tone of guitar riffs or soloing, the drumming kind of annoys me, the basslines are bland, and the vocals are especially unappealing to my ears. Iron Maiden is kind of the forefront of this genre. I have tried to listen to it, I even own Powerslave and Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance, I just can't really get into it though. Not my kind of music, I guess.

Posted: Dec 09 2006 01:02 am

Hansi Kursch(Blind Guardian, Demons & Wizards) Powerful voice from Nightfall in Midle-earth is overwhelming with melody. The layers only add to the majesty.

Maynard James Keenan(Tool,A Perfect Circle) Simply beautiful voice.

Joacim Cans(HammerFall) Super clean melodic voice that works perfectly for HammerFall. Sometimes shows off his range.

Matthew Barlow(Iced Earth) The right hand man of Jon, he was the best IE vocalist. The darkness in the music was only reflected through Barlow's wonderful voice.

Tobias Sammet(Edguy, Avantasia) Another superb Power Metal vocalist. A real happy tone.

Posted: Dec 09 2006 01:26 am

....How the hell did I miss this topic?

Layne Staley was pretty fucking awesome. As is Cornell.

And so is another fella from the Seattle area named Mark Lanegan. Dude has an amazing voice.

Bonus points for all of you who are familiar with him.

Posted: Dec 09 2006 01:32 am

Halford....when I saw Priest live, he blew me away....When he screamed "You're posessing me!" during Touch of Evil, i literally threw my head back in disbelief, shock, and the power of it all.....
Dickenson....Number of The Beast, The Clairvoyant, brilliant man
Joey Belladonna, lot of people don't like him, but when i saw Thrax live, he sang the prechorus to Efilnikufesin("Wasting Your Life...") as an intro to it and he held a note for like 20-30 seconds
Lizzy Borden, I've discussed it numerous times, but he's amazing
Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder,amazing voices that complement each other so well, Hunger Strike is amazing

oh and Xavier.....Keenan ruined Imagine and only tools listen to TOOL

Posted: Dec 09 2006 03:09 pm

ross_rifle113 wrote:

oh and Xavier.....Keenan ruined Imagine and only tools listen to TOOL

A Perfect Circle's Imagine was definately not up to par with the original, but that was with the blemished APC. He is invincible with Tool. So there.