# Awful voices in rock (that you love) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 12, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246 "2005-03-12T21:51:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/21 "2005-03-13T15:19:28Z")
Chris Cornell. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/22 "2005-03-13T15:19:56Z")
Not entirely what the OP is looking for, but it occured to me just the other day that the song “You Are So Beautiful” is pretty boring and insipid. If it was sung by someone with a smooth, easy voice, it would be positively awful. Joe Cocker sings it, though, and it sounds plaintive and romantic. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/23 "2005-03-13T15:50:40Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > Chris Cornell. You’re welcome not to like him, but to say he has an awful voice is simply, factually wrong. He has an _incredible_ voice - one of the best in the business, in terms of technical ability. (I am a semi-pro musician and have a lot of friends in the business…) I am surprised no one has mentioned Robert Smith of the Cure. Who told this man he could sing? Yet I love their stuff. I agree with many of the others listed. Neil Young - oy. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Gutgore\_Blooddrink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Captain\_Gutgore\_Blooddrink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Gutgore_Blooddrink)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/24 "2005-03-13T15:53:07Z")
King Diamond all the way, baby. His falsetto screams are so over the top that they make his songs almost comical, sometimes barely tollerable. But I love his music, all the same. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Cooper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@Agent\_Cooper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Cooper)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/25 "2005-03-13T15:59:19Z")
PJ Harvey can sound perfectly awful sometimes. Damn fine music. and I bet even she would give this title to Tom Waits. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/26 "2005-03-13T16:06:54Z")
Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse fame. Their music simply would not work with a clear, toneful voice. ---
**Author:** ![Tixenfleaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@Tixenfleaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tixenfleaz)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/27 "2005-03-13T17:13:39Z")
If a wolverine could sing, it would sound like Bon Scott. And I don’t mean that as an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/28 "2005-03-13T17:18:00Z")
Geddy Lee comes to mind… ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/29 "2005-03-13T17:51:53Z")
I second the vote for Axl Rose. I’m a die-hard GnR fan and I tell ya, he may have a horrible voice but _no one_ else can sing those songs. They just wouldn’t be the same. I’ll never forget when I heard Sheryl Crow cover _Sweet Child O Mine_. I almost had a heart attack. Blasphemy. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/30 "2005-03-13T18:51:44Z")
> [@Duke of Rat](#): > > Geddy Lee comes to mind… You know…years ago I did a little experiment on Geddy Lee’s voice. Prior to the release of the _Signals_ album his voice wandered quite a bit…a lot of yelling and screaming and not even trying to sing. But between _Moving Pictures_ and _Signals_ he appears to have made the effort to learn to sing properly. I set up a keyboard to take the notes on the sheet music for _Signals_ and _Grace Under Pressure_ and matched it with the actual recorded performances. He bangs those notes except where it’s clear he’s moving off note on purpose. So say what you want. Funny voice? Sure? Odd voice? Definitely. Poor singer? Not anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/31 "2005-03-13T19:09:29Z")
Oh, I love Rush (as per OP), but Geddy Lee’s voice, like before the concert starts and he’s yelling out to the fans, it’s just really high. But it works so well in their songs, I just couldn’t imagine any other voice singing them. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/32 "2005-03-13T19:16:48Z")
I can’t say I _love_ Fred Schneider, but I like the B-52s. You can’t say he even sings exactly. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/33 "2005-03-13T19:27:10Z")
Nobody mentioned Elvis Costello yet? Man I love his bad voice! I am also a huge Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, and Mark Knopfler fan. Yet strangely, I can’t get into Neil Young (yet). ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/34 "2005-03-13T19:39:37Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I am surprised no one has mentioned Robert Smith of the Cure. Who told this man he could sing? Yet I love their stuff. _ahem_ > [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > Robert Smith - ditto. > [@Pensandfeathers](#): > > Robert Smith 😃 I’m another to add Robert Smith. And I’d even go as far as to Kurt Cobain in some instances sounded better when he sounded like crap (i.e. Unplugged). ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/35 "2005-03-13T20:27:06Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > _ahem_ > > 😃 > > I’m another to add Robert Smith. And I’d even go as far as to Kurt Cobain in some instances sounded better when he sounded like crap (i.e. Unplugged). Damn - read the post too fast. I hate that. :wally And boy do I agree with Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse - oy. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/36 "2005-03-13T20:54:50Z")
If Janis Joplin had had a pretty voice, she would not have been able to rip your heart out the way she could. ---
**Author:** ![EmeraldGrue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dc4da7/32.png) [@EmeraldGrue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmeraldGrue)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/37 "2005-03-13T21:15:05Z")
Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger and Janis Joplin all came to mind. More recently/obscurely: Gord Downie. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/38 "2005-03-13T21:39:52Z")
This is embarrassing, but I still love the 2 good songs that _Quiet Riot_ had in 1983. Kevin DuBrow’s voice sounded like a litter of kittens being boiled alive. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/39 "2005-03-14T03:15:15Z")
Having seen both of them live within the last two years, I do not agree that David Byrne or Elvis Costello have bad voices. Limited and idiosyncratic, certainly, but they can both carry a tune well. Byrne’s voice has improved if anything. And hearing Costello fill the concert hall with a haunting unamplified acapella rendition of _The Favourite Hour_ remains one of my treasured muscial memories. Most of my nomimees have already been mentioned - Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits; plus Leonard Cohen, Steve Kilby, Marianne Faithful … ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246/40 "2005-03-14T03:20:35Z")
I second Kurt Cobain. Some of my favorite music, but the man wasn’t very skilled vocally IMO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awful-voices-in-rock-that-you-love/294246.md?page=3)