Who's got the Best Male Voice in Rock, or Pop?
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Incredible range and power, but I can't say I ever cared much for what he did with it. Speaking of which, I don't always love his choice of material, but Michael McDonald has one of the best voices of my generation.
Tim
For the males, as noted, Freddy Mercury.
For the females, it's Amy Lee.
They who spell doom for the American Idol contestants that try to sing their songs LOL
For the females, it's Amy Lee.
They who spell doom for the American Idol contestants that try to sing their songs LOL
Apparently Bruce Dickinson can cover 4 octaves too - but is that really the criterion for best voice?
I tend to agree, when you see the tribute concert done, none of the bands-singers came close to matching him.
Ok Freddie had the advantage as they were for him originally, but taking that into account it still stood out just how much better he was.
From a heavy rock perspective there is James Hetfield of Metallica fame; most trying to sing like that (and as good) would destroy their vocal singing ability without extensive training.
Anyway tough call as there are so many excellent singers, which we remember now and again; as an example there is also Mathew Bellamy (Muse), and from a more unique perspective Tom Yorke.
I guess it is how we define the best male voice;range,power,control,etc.
Cheers
Orb
Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Plant,Paul McCartney, Sting and Ron's Avatar
Of the one's that are still alive that is
Of the one's that are still alive that is
Although never a huge Queen fan, I must say Freddie had it all. Let me add 2 that some may not think worthy, but I feel that Phil Collins' voice shows great emotion and range, and Joe Cocker.... maybe one of the best blues/rock voices ever.
Another with a unique rock voice is Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins.
But I feel the following two probably trumps most, although we are talking when both were in their prime in terms of singing voice.
Robert Plant (an incredible voice more on raw talent, these days has greater skill but lost the full capability of that voice going back to the major years of Led Zeppelin).
And Meat Loaf (Michael Aday), again his voice covered many aspects like Robert Plant that would be tick boxes to define best male voice in Rock-Pop, like Robert I feel his voice was better years ago.
Both can convey scale, range, emotion, power,etc, and would put them equal to Freddie Mercury and in some aspects are actually better.
Cheers
Orb
But I feel the following two probably trumps most, although we are talking when both were in their prime in terms of singing voice.
Robert Plant (an incredible voice more on raw talent, these days has greater skill but lost the full capability of that voice going back to the major years of Led Zeppelin).
And Meat Loaf (Michael Aday), again his voice covered many aspects like Robert Plant that would be tick boxes to define best male voice in Rock-Pop, like Robert I feel his voice was better years ago.
Both can convey scale, range, emotion, power,etc, and would put them equal to Freddie Mercury and in some aspects are actually better.
Cheers
Orb
He didn't have the dirt. Many would consider that a positive, but I love voices with a raspy, smoky character. I have a limited tolerance for the extremes, where Joe Cocker and Tom Waits work, but Plant, McDonald, Rod Stewart, Bruce, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday...and many great blues and rock n roll voices...these are great voices to my ear. YMMV. But Mercury had incredible chops. Had he not found Queen, he could have had a great career in musical theater.
Tim
One thing about the raspy/guttural type voice most people think it is quite simple and easy for these type of singers but reality can be very different.
Along with James Hetfield from Metallica there is Lemmy (Motorhead), both from what I remember had vocal training and conditioning, but critically also perform lengthy vocal warmup before going on stage to sing.
Sure it will surprise some people who may not had realised it can take skill and understanding of singing to perform in this vocal style.
Cheers
Orb
Along with James Hetfield from Metallica there is Lemmy (Motorhead), both from what I remember had vocal training and conditioning, but critically also perform lengthy vocal warmup before going on stage to sing.
Sure it will surprise some people who may not had realised it can take skill and understanding of singing to perform in this vocal style.
Cheers
Orb
It truly is an individual preference and how one defines the criteria. Orb' criteria list begins with technical aspects of singing, where mine would star with emotive. For myself vocal technique comes second to the singers ability to convey emotion and expression.
At times I have considered John Lennon a great vocalist despite him not having a great voice. Try "Baby, It's You" from Live At the BBC if you can.
+1. In fact, and IMO, none of the Beatles had great voices. Their songs worked because of great writing, and as Leslie said...its about conveying emotion and expression.
Yeah I agree and good point, and to me it is a combination of both.
As you say the greatest singers convey emotion in their singing, although many rock-pop songs may not necessarily require this; Freddie Mercury while having many songs that do not require that emotion-expression, there are several incredibly well done songs focused on this.
Going along with your view is why I mention in my last post Meat Loaf, from a rock perspective he can do this strongly while also ticking technical factors, same with Robert Plant.
Cheers
Orb
Personally I feel their songs and music (which were amazing I agree) was stronger than their vocals.
But I appreciate many will have diverse views on such a topic as this., for me I feel we need to split the quality of the music-lyrics-rythm-etc from that of identifying best singer-vocalist, otherwise we would be looking at best songwriter-musician.
Just my take on it so room for all of us to disagree.
Cheers
Orb
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