Prince is a weak singer? I can understand not being a fan of someone, but Prince has got more range and vocal chops than anybody else named in this thread. Hell, he’d give Stevie Wonder a run for his money (though Stevie’s voice is - or was - more pleasant-sounding).
Madonna. She has a horrible low range.
In Spanish, Alejandro Sanz, it’s like an auto-tune work the other way.
I can say almost exactly the same things about Geddy Lee of Rush. I’ve met plenty of people who simply can’t get past his quirky voice (and thus always want to reference his “screechy falsetto” despite the fact he stopped singing like that more than 20 years ago), but no serious Rush fan can imagine anybody replacing him.
(bolding mine)
And all that is what draws me to a Japanese pop/rock singer named aiko. She does all-original material that hits many different styles, and often, in concert, she performs entirely different arrangements of her songs in different styles. Her voice is quirky. She’s 34 years old but sounds like a little girl. She goes a bit off-key on her studio recordings (no Autotune going on there), but it’s forgivable because she sings with such convincing emotion that I can feel the intent of the song without being able to understand a word of it. Appearance? There are thousands of prettier/sexier Japanese singers. She’s built like a 12-year-old boy and dresses modestly when she performs, usually in a baggy T-shirt and jeans. Dancing ability? Apparently none whatsoever. Showmanship? After watching many videos of her live performances and seeing the way she works the audience and her band, I think she’s the second coming of James Brown. Personality… I can’t watch her without ending up with a big smile.
Dude! I named Tina Turner in post fifty seven.
:smack:
on tapes and records, i should have said. my brother still makes fun of me about it
SADE – hands down. I swear she exhibited less vocal range than Arnold Schwarzenegger. But it sort of fit with the music and didn’t really matter.
A minority of at least two. I’m with you. He doesn’t have a naturally beautiful voice with a lot of range, but I like what he does with it nonetheless.
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Correct.
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Terrible singers who are great vocalists:
Neil Young
Leonard Cohen
Bob Dylan
Patty Smith
Joe Cocker
Lou Reed
Janis Joplin
Interestingly they all originated in a 10 year period - which may be more of a comment on me than on them. I have no opinion on Jagger - I just never got the Stones.
Great singers who are terrible vocalists:
Barbra Streisand
Frank Sinatra
I’m sure there are a lot more I can’t bring to mind just now.
I cannot believe Paul McCartney was mentioned in this thread. I mean … Do you know how many crap singers would have to die in order for his name to be justified on such a list? Dang. “Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey”? “Long Tall Sally”? “Hey Jude”? “Let It Be”? From rough ‘n’ sexy to sweet and tender, McCartney has a terrific range. Sure, sometimes his performance isn’t as strong, but you could say the same about Lennon.
And put me down for Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Lou Reed, Van Morrison and Bono for some really (technically) horrific voices. Bono sounds like a cat in heat to me and can rarely hold a note on a single pitch.
Doesn’t mean they’re not good rock singers or that they can’t sell a song. Hell, my favorite rock/pop singer (Beatles aside) is Sting, and he’s not exactly a Beautiful Voice. (I love him as a singer because despite his lack of classic vocal prowess, he has a remarkable gift for shaping his voice like an instrument, winding its way around a melody in service of the lyrics / music.)
Isn’t it interesting, though, that women are far less likely to be mentioned? Even though there’s a common impression that many female pop stars are only famous for being cute/sexy, the female mediocrities are still decent enough not to be mentioned in this thread. (Either that or all the guys posting here are too blinded by Teh Cute to think of 'em. :D)
WHAT? In what world are Streisand and Sinatra considered bad vocalists, assuming you mean able to use their voice to impart emotion and musicality?? The hell? Sinatra wasn’t just a phenomenally beautiful singer, he also told a story with each lyric. Streisand isn’t on his level but she’s still highly emotive.
I … I can’t even comprehend this.
The Sade of “Smooth Operator”? Now you’re just being silly.
I know what you mean about Rush vocals. I never really loved Rush’s style of music but Mr. Book is a longstanding fan so I’ve heard more than my share…
Another quirky singing, er, vocal genius I love is Robert Smith (of the Cure).
A most memorable plug!
choie, I too am flummoxed by these Sinatra disses…
In my world, I guess. Neither of them could sell an emotion on eBay. They couldn’t give one away on Craigslist.
Sinatra just talks his way through a song like he’s reading it to his 3rd-favourite nephew and can’t wait to get back to the living room where the adults and martinis are.
Streisand was aptly satirised by Mad magazine as Bubby Strident, someone needs to stuff a mute in her mouth and one up each nostril to bring her voice from “screech-city” to the same universe as “pleasant”, but there’s no Melodyne for feeling - you got it or you ain’t, and she is so far from got it she’d pave over it for her 19th driveway and not notice it.
I was going to win the thread hands down by naming Leonard Cohen, but somebody already cited him … as a great vocalist. Good lord. The guy can barely croak the words out. “Avalanche” anyone, when he tries to go down to a deep bass note in that gravelly croak of his? Makes me crack a smile every time I think about it, it’s so bad it’s funny.
And let’s not neglect David Byrne of “Talking Heads.”
“And you may find yourself in front of a microphone
And you may say, how did I get here?
I cannot sing! I can barely speak!”
hear! hear! Prince is one of the few true musical geniuses still this side of the topsoil.
That little purple wizard has it all. (and the source of the largest number of GOOD cover versions possibly?)
and let me just say…Karen Carpenter.
I’m sure her voice is not technically as accomplished as some of some of the vocal gymnasts out there but…wow, you believe her.
She’s probably the standard for the maxim “less is more”. Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Maria Carey and Christina Aguilera should be trapped in a cabinet and played “Superstar” until they either
a) Get it, or
B) jelly wrestle to my satisfaction.
Welcome to my world
I have no dog in either of these fights, but I find it suspicious that your examples of “terrible vocalists” are highly regarded singers in a completely different style than those on your other list. It’s easier to tell who does something well and who does it poorly if you can be more sure that they’re trying to do the same thing.
It would be more enlightening if you could find examples of great and terrible vocalists in the same style (or even some individual artists who went from terrible to great, or vice versa, over the course of their careers).
I think you are right that Sinatra is emotionally reserved but that is part of his style. It couldn’t be more different than the let-er-rip, in yer face, emo of most rock singers, male or female. It’s an entirely different 'tude that, like you say, is all about the adults and the martinis.
But to criticize it for lack of emotion–as though it’s a flaw of his rather a pitch-perfect performance–is kind of to miss the point.
Which isn’t of course to say that you need to like it, which is a whole different story. (I’m not typically listening to Sinatra myself for that matter–but I think I can catch the vibe.)
As to Streisand I think that’s a very different case because she certainly doesn’t mean to unemotional.
It’s easy to get that impression from some of his Talking Heads stuff - especially the early songs where, when he does try to sing, he strains his voice by going much too high. But when he feels like singing, he has a very good voice. He shows it off a little on this cover of “You Can Call Me Al.”
You should start another thread on this. I choose not to try to explain Sinatra or Streisand in a thread about Mick Jagger / rock vocalists.
I will say this: learning how emotions are delivered in different genres requires listening with an open mind.
That would be an interesting thread WordMan. I don’t mean a “defend Sinatra/Streisand” thread but a thread on how emotional delivery varies across musical genres thread.
Perhaps you can start one?