# Greatest Rock Vocal Performances **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2007, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473 "2007-03-11T09:35:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/21 "2007-03-11T19:47:14Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Interesting. It sounds like some of you, at least, favor the raw, “I’ve been screaming all night and my vocal cords are shot” sort of vocal performance. [/QUOTE] See, Ian Gillan _didn’t_ do that: he could scream like no-one else in the business, but his screams were always pitch perfect, and he had an uncanny ear. With a lesser singer - hello, Robert Plant - yeah, that style did degenerate into the cliched howling “Oooh baby baby” 70’s rock vocal. I’m also nominating David Bowie for Sound And Vision, especially the opening bars: that deep, purring “Don’t you wonder sometimes” topped by the urgent, higher pitched “'bout sound and vision?”. I think Bowie as a vocalist tends to be underappreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/22 "2007-03-11T20:01:37Z")
[QUOTE=Eonwe] There’s got to be a “perfect” Zeppelin tune, maybe the Immigrant Song? [/QUOTE] Hey Hey What Can I Do. Fool in the Rain. ---
**Author:** ![Timchik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@Timchik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timchik)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/23 "2007-03-11T20:02:54Z")
Not even a whole song - one fraction of a(n admittedly great) song. The Who - Won’t Get Fooled Again Daltrey’s scream after the synth break _Ye_ **EAHHHHHHHHH!** rawk vocal in its purest, most transcendent form. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/24 "2007-03-11T20:59:27Z")
How about **Curt Cobain** singing “Smells Like Teen Spirit”? The vocal performance is the perfect expression of the attitude the song is trying to get across. Actually, I think I might nominate several of his performances. “Lithium”, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/25 "2007-03-11T21:29:20Z")
[QUOTE=Eonwe] There’s got to be a “perfect” Zeppelin tune, maybe the Immigrant Song? [/QUOTE] Whole lotta love? ---
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/26 "2007-03-11T21:33:01Z")
Peteer Gabriel ‘Here Comes the Flood’. Barely any musical backing but tons of emotion. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/27 "2007-03-11T21:46:12Z")
[QUOTE=Scissorjack] See, Ian Gillan _didn’t_ do that: he could scream like no-one else in the business, but his screams were always pitch perfect, and he had an uncanny ear. With a lesser singer - hello, Robert Plant - yeah, that style did degenerate into the cliched howling “Oooh baby baby” 70’s rock vocal. [/QUOTE] I always disliked Plant’s wailing, but I DO like a band Led Zepp inspired and its singer: Ann Wilson of Heart in “Crazy on You.” She hits notes higher than any man can, but she’s not apparently straining her voice to do so. I always thought her singing was underrated. #2 - I know it’s a cliche, but c’mon, Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody” sings romantically, operatically, emotionally, and with full-bore rock star bombast. The range of styles and notes he sings in that one song is incredible. #3 - For sheer listening pleasure, nothing works better for me than Roger Daltrey on “Baba O’Riley.” _I don’t need to fight/ to prove I’m right/ I don’t need to be forgiven …_ powerful lyrics, powerfully delivered. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/28 "2007-03-11T22:14:36Z")
Daltrey’s great on “Behind Blue Eyes”, too: unlike many singers he actually enunciates his consonants, which gives it this precise, deliberate menace - the song sounds like a closed fist. Actually, you could pretty much nominate the whole of Who’s Next: the way he shifts his delivery from song to song, from tough to tender to defiant to introspective - he really _inhabits_ each song. ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/29 "2007-03-11T23:43:19Z")
Lennon - as mentioned Gabriel too. Neither technically brilliant but got the ball across the line. For me at least. So did J Fogerty on ‘Fortunate Son’. MiM ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/30 "2007-03-12T00:06:56Z")
[QUOTE=LifeOnWry] Burton Cummings of The Guess Who - Undun, and These Eyes. [/quote] I think BC had one of the best voices in rock. > [@](#): > > David Clayton-Thomas (Blood. Sweat & Tears) - Hi-De-Ho. Lucretia MacEvil ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/31 "2007-03-12T00:09:31Z")
Prince. Just pick a song. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/32 "2007-03-12T00:11:34Z")
Bono’s live performance of “Bad” has got to be up there. Ditto “Bullet the Blue Sky” Leon Russell’s live “Youngblood” from the Bangladesh concert is another favorite of mine. [QUOTE=fishbicycle] I’ll offer up Paul McCartney on “Oh! Darling”, although it was not achieved in one take. Also, check him out on “Monkberry Moon Delight”. He went through a (short) period of using voice-as-instrument, and came up with some very impressive vocal feats. [/QUOTE] Agreed. Particularly “Beware My Love” and “Hi Hi Hi”. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/33 "2007-03-12T00:19:19Z")
Anything that Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering) has done, really, but especially [Travel](http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B00000GWYQ001009/ref=mu_sam_wma_001_009/102-1235204-8177712) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/34 "2007-03-12T00:20:13Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] _Gimme Shelter_, with Merry Clayton showing Mick Jagger how it’s done – there’s your winner. [/QUOTE] Absolutely. The volume gets cranked up every time for that one. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/35 "2007-03-12T00:34:11Z")
Have Patti Smith’s “Horses” or “Gloria” been mentioned yet? They were pretty darn great. I’ll second the vocal on “Gimme Shelter”. I also like Roger Daltry on “Baba O’Reilly” Rod Stewart, Van Morrison, and Bruce Springsteen are all great rock vocalists, I think. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/36 "2007-03-12T01:37:00Z")
**Clair Torre’s** orgasmic expressions at the end of **Great gig in the sky** on **Dark Side of the Moon** was the first thought that came into my head when I read the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/37 "2007-03-12T01:41:47Z")
[QUOTE=Scissorjack] Daltrey’s great on “Behind Blue Eyes”, too: unlike many singers he actually enunciates his consonants, which gives it this precise, deliberate menace - the song sounds like a closed fist. Actually, you could pretty much nominate the whole of Who’s Next: the way he shifts his delivery from song to song, from tough to tender to defiant to introspective - he really _inhabits_ each song. [/QUOTE] Ironically, one of my biggest _complaints_ about The Who is that it seems like they’ve got a different lead singer on every song. With most bands, when I hear an unfamiliar song, I can usually identify the band by the singer. Not so with The Who! Anyway, my vote goes to Manowar vocalist Eric Adams. After a three-hour concert screaming out songs like Hail and Kill, he wrapped up a show in Milan, Italy by performing Nessun Dorma. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/38 "2007-03-12T03:25:54Z")
I don’t have any particular songs in mind but a couple of singers are favorites of mine. I don’t know these guys rank as technical vocalists but I dig their sound. Freddie Mercury. Great range. Rob Halford of Judas Priest. The man must have had vocal cords made of steel in his prime. James Brown - I love stuff like “I Feel Good” but he could also sing very sweetly, his recording of “Mona Lisa” is really good. A couple of others who just sound like pure rock & roll to me: Bon Scott of AC/DC. He wasn’t a great singer but he had the right sound and attitude. Billy Idol. Especially on some of his bluesier songs like “Endless Sleep” or “Romeo’s Waiting” he has this great, deep seductive sound. I wish I could sing like that. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/39 "2007-03-12T03:36:19Z")
Immediate thought: Daltrey. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473/40 "2007-03-12T04:02:27Z")
I’m not interested so much in the singers, but the performances. You can get a great performance out of a bad singer - _Louie, Louie_, for example. No one would identify Janice Joplin as a technically great singer, and some of her performances were train wrecks. But she had the ability to step it up a notch when it really counted, and put down three or four absolutely great vocal performances. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-rock-vocal-performances/395473.md?page=3)