Top 5 best and worst vocalists??

[Larsen B]

1. Mark Greaney (JJ72) - admittedly the kind of voice which people usually love or loathe, but i love his ability to sound like an angelic choir-boy(girl?) one sec and like a snarling beast the next. I also like the little bit of Irish you can hear in his voice.

2. Roddy Woomble (Idlewild) - Specifically The Remote Part onwards because before it was just a fake American scream/yelp. I think without his voice Idlewild would be a much lesser band, because the way in which he makes his messy neo-philosophical lyrics sound like pure poetry with a nice bit of Scots romanticism.

3. Cedric Bixler Zavala (The Mars Volta) - Didn't really find his voice until TMV. Just very capable of holding a tune over the awkward TMV sound and capable of giving his very confusing lyrics an emotional weight for the listener even though you don't have a clue what he's singing about most the time.

4. Antony (Antony and the Johnsons) - Just an extraordinary, gender and ethnicity defying voice. What a genuine soulful voice sounds like, not like a fucking impersonator like Joss Stone (who belong on Stars In Their Eyes). Beautifully fragile and bruised sounding.

5. Ian Curtis (Joy Division) - His words would sound weak in any other voice, whether cold and detached or visceral and cathartic, he always soundsed real and sincere without being overly earnest.

Now for the shit ones:

1. Ian Brown - Can't hold a tune for one thing and just sounds so dull, too northern and slack jawed, cocky and insincere.

2. Danny McNamara (Embrace) - Same as above but minus the cocky part.

3. Joss Stone - Like i said, i don't see how anyone could consider this bint soulful. Should be confined to cruise ships.

4. Bernard Summer (New Order) - Poor lad just can hold a tune in a bucket with his weak little voice, as exemplified by his performance of Love Will Tear Us Apart at TITP.

5. Chris Cornell - admittedly he can sing well in a conventional sense in that he can hold a tune and his voice can soar impressively but i just don't like the sound of it.

[Steve Temple]

How long before someone mentions Jeff Buckley and his pointless abilty to hold a note for a while

[Larsen B]

How long before someone mentions Jeff Buckley and his pointless abilty to hold a note for a while

I had him in my list but knew he'd be mentioned elsewhere so took him out. But i don't think it's pointless, quite cathartic use of his voice especially at the end of Grace (the song).

[Demon Of The Fall]

Good:

Mikael Akerfeldt

Steve Wilson

Shite:

[the_beastly_one]

5. Chris Cornell - admittedly he can sing well in a conventional sense in that he can hold a tune and his voice can soar impressively but i just don't like the sound of it.

............?!

[Larsen B]

............?!

Sorry? You have a problem with my choice or my reasoning?

[historicrocker]

Great...

1: Thom Yorke; able to shift seamlessly through emotions during one song (see There, there) with a gift for singing soft but troubled words. His beautiful voice is the main attraction in almost all Radiohead songs. A very good example of Yorke's strength as a vocalist is in Motion Picture Soundtrack, where Thom's voice soars like nothing I've heard before.

2: Jeff Buckley; torn and riddled with frustrated emotions. Good at singing everybody else's songs better than everyone else.

3: Roddy Woomble; you just have to listen to the song Poor Thing to understand. I think that the latest album instrumentally limits Woomble's vocals, letting the album down greatly since Woomble IS Idlewild. Loved the simple guitars in Hope is Important and 100 Broken Windows since it gave Woomble the space to shine.

4: Benjamin Gibbard; tender and heartfelt. Maybe a little to restrained in newer Death Cab music but fantastic in the Postal Service. One of the best things to come out of contemporary music.

5: Isaac Brock; a most recent encounter but that's enough to deem it top five-worthy. Very down to earth but warped at the same time. Conveys a thousand emotions that Robbie Williams couldn't belt out if he emptied his lungs.

I don't feel like being vindictive today though.

[historicrocker]

How long before someone mentions Jeff Buckley and his pointless abilty to hold a note for a while

One hour and fifty minutes.

[AKMartin]

Good:

Paul Buchanan.

Loudon Wainwright III

Bad:

Danny Mcnamara

Ricky Wilson (Kaiser Chiefs)

Er, that's about it.

AKM

[offramp]

Good

Patton

Vedder

Cornell

Staley

Daltrey

Bad

McNamara (as before)

Wilson (as before)

The dude from Fightstar

Brown, Ian

Burgess

[Darth Elvis]

Good

1) Jeff Buckley

2) Mike Patton

3) Mark Lanegan

4) Tim Buckley

5) Layne Stayley

6) Chris Cornell

[Tav]

Personal favourites:

Eddie Vedder...I was listening to Black live last night. He held a note for such a crazy length of time and it sounded so effortless as he went into something straight after. He's got really good dynamics and effortless power...lyrics to back it up as well.

Layne Stayley...especially as a pairing with Jerry Cantrell. Their voices work so well together. He's really good on the Mad Season album. Infact I would say I like Jerry Cantrell just as much.

Neil Young. Mainly because he's got something different going on. I am not sure but I think it might be a love/hate affair with his voice? If you have the Greendale album you'll know his voice is also great for telling stories...the live DVD...great!

James Hetfield. So Seek & Destroy through to ...And Justice For All aren't overly great vocal performances. However, during the black album era he really learnt to sing well. Prime example of what I love about his vocals can be heard on "No Lead Clover" from S&M. The long clean notes and his new found range are pretty awesom...ofcourse the Texas twang is always there!

Curt Kirkwood from Meat Puppets/Eyes Adrift. I am not really familiar with the Meat Puppets songs but the Eye Adrift album has really good vocals. Like Neil Young I don't think it is an obvious choice but it is entertaining...sometimes straying into slightly off key moments during the AOL sessions but it just doesn't seem to matter.

[The Lizard King]

good:

tim buckley

freddy mercury

axl rose

john lennnon

Paul Newsom

jim morrison

bad:

justin hawkins

james walsh

danny mcnamara

damon albarn

[Metarie]

where are all the female singers?

Good

1- Melora Creagor (rasputina) - very ethereal and atmospheric

2- Amanda Palmer (dresden dolls) - can do delicate and menacing, high and low and it seems effortless

3- Gwen Stefani (no doubt) - Say what you want about her solo stuff, but Trapped in a Box is an amazing song vocally

Bad

1- Courtney Love - Gah! Hate her voice, it sounds so flat and emotionless

2- The lass from The Cranberries - too stylised and obvious.

3- Joss Stone (and most other white girls who try to sound black) The wobbley voice and holding a note for too long is damned annoying

[Swingin' Ryan]

I assume we're taking Sinatra and Elvis as red, with them being the best vocalists in the world ever by a mile. As for rock vocalists.....

Good -

James Dean Bradfield - The most powerful and versatile rock voice ever.

Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley) - Sultry, endearing and alluring.

Victoria Bergsman (The Concretes) - Husky european pop vocalist extrordinaire

Alison Goldfrapp - Works in all formats. Operatic ethereal to filthy sex-electro

Caleb Followill (Kings of Leon) - A real grizzled 'bottle of whiskey and forty fags a day' rock and roll voice.

Bad -

Morrisey - He's not singing, he's just speaking in tune! Dull in the extreme

The guy from the Bravey - Just a shitter version of Morrisey

Chris Martin - Warbling is not singing.

The guy from Keane - A shitter version of Chris Martin

The Kaiser Chiefs 'frontman' - Because he's in the Kaiser Chiefs

[Guest bluesxman]

Great-

Mark Lanegan

Tom Waits

Thom Yorke

Chris Cornell

Alison Goldfrapp

Pish -

Roddy Woomble (what are you all on about?)

Bernard Sumner (for killing Love Will Tear Us Apart at TITP especially)

Fat boy from Keane (can't even be bothered to know his name, his band are pointless)

Elton John

Will Young

[Paranoid Android]

Great Singers

Thom Yorke

Bjork

Brian Wilson

Jeff Buckley

James Dean Bradfield

[HummerOfIntenseEvil]

Mike Patton - Surely the most versatile voice in the world? Near-operatic at times, and he can make grunting sound better than most people's sung vocals. I think this man could sing in any style and sound better than anyone who'd done it all their life.

James Dean Bradfield - Whether it's raw, powerful, shouty vocals like Archives Of Pain or gentle, beautiful vocals like The Everlasting, Bradders does them all better than anyone (not called Patton).

Kate Jane Garside - Has such a vulnerable edge to her voice, but can also scream her head off like nothing else and still sound beautiful. Only thing is she's starting to get a bit of a Yank twang sometimes. But she's good enough that it doesn't make too much difference.

Joe Strummer - Not exactly the most eloquent voice in the world, but White Riot wouldn't have had as much impact sung by someone with a voice like Robert Plant. And I like vocalists who keep their own accent in their singing voice, instead of resorting to a Yankee drawl. Although it could perhaps be argued that Joe Strummer's voice is rather different from John Mellor's... Anyway, listening to Rock Art & The X-Ray Style today reminded me that he could also sing in quite a nice, sort of self-unassured way.

Ian Curtis - His primal screams like "and we can daaAAAAAAAAAAnce", "it was meeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" and "she's lost controoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLL" have more emotion than anything a technically superior singer could come out with. I just remember the very first time I heard his voice, on Atmosphere, it was completely different to anything else I'd ever heard.

Chuck D, Trent Reznor, Axl Rose, Morrissey, Stevie Nicks, Perry Farrell and Robert Smith all have ace individual voices that you can recognise straight away as well. Which is an important thing as far as I'm concerned.

Rubbish/disappointing singers:

Ian Astbury - I love The Cult, and he's got a good voice on Dreamtime and Love, but from Electric onwards his obsession with trying to sound American can really detract from the songs. The line in Heart Of Soul, "Down out in London, Los An-ge-leeees..." REALLY grates with me. And I can barely listen to half of Sonic Temple because of it.

Howard Devoto - I think he really spoils a lot of Magazine songs. Maybe it's one of those love-it-or-hate-it voices, but I just think he sounds like he's trying to sound quirky or something. Quite a staccatoish voice. Not my liking.

Barney Sumner - Totally agree with what's already been said. On the Finsbury Park DVD he absolutely DESTROYS Transmission, and he's basically completely inept at trying to sing Joy Division songs. Which only serves to highlight how great Curtis' voice really was. He can sound okay on record - he seems to manage to control the weakness to a certain extent - but absolutely terrible live.

Liam Gallagher - I really don't see the appeal. All he's trying to do is sing like Ian Brown and John Lennon at the same time, and it really bugs me. A nasal whine with the "40 B&H a day" idea taken to "400 B&H a day" by the sounds of it. His attempts to reach the higher notes during My Generation at Glasto 2004 were absolutely priceless. I was MADE to watch it incidentally.

Ian Brown - see Jimmy Jazz's reasons. They're spot on.

[Larsen B]

I'm suprised to see so many votes for Bradders.

[TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH]

I throw my hat in with Kurt Cobain being a personal favourite singer of mine... Most singers I don't like have been mentioned anyway, but i will still say I hate Danny Mcnamara's pasty voice.

[NARC]

Probably undeserved too, although his ability to fit very difficult lines into structured songs is impressive.

[HummerOfIntenseEvil]

Probably undeserved too' date=' although his ability to fit very difficult lines into structured songs is impressive.[/quote']

That, plus some of his pronounciations (eg hyar instead of here, Richard Jeer instead of Richard Gere) are two of my other reasons for liking Bradders' voice. I think the "yoo-than-a-see-aah" in PCP is my most favourite sung word ever. His range has grown enormously since 1992 as well, plus he sounds just as good live as on record (certainly on recent tours anyway), something a lot of singer's struggle with. I'd say he's probably the best British singer at the moment.

[NARC]

Steady on boyo....He's good, but it seems like you've been taking too much PCP...

[HummerOfIntenseEvil]

Steady on boyo....He's good' date=' but it seems like you've been taking too much PCP...[/quote']

Well obviously there is a SLIGHT element of by-far-my-most-favourite-band-ever bias creeping in there...

[Guest pop-notmyface]

Good (in no particular order):

BRANDON BOYD: i think he is one of the vocalists who made the biggest progress over the last decade in terms of improving his singing. just listen to the "mellow" songs such as "Echoes" on Morning View or "Deep Inside" on the earlier SCIENCE album. he has a lovely voice in my opinion.

KELLY OSBOURNE: okay, this will come to both a surprise and shock for 98% of people here, but just read what i have to say about it... the thing is, on her "Shut Up" album, the majority of the time, her voice sounds quite fad, not to mention all the over dubs with backing vocals. but she really hits the spot with "More Than Life Itself", her singing is sublime on that track. it should have been an acapella though, the piano and the other instruments divert attention from her singing when there really is no need for it. the melody is great. is it so hard to accept?

BJORK: she is the greatest female singer of her generation. listen to any of her tracks and you'll hear what i mean. her vocal range is simply awesome.

CEDRIC BIXLER ZAVALA: at this point, i was really at odds with myself, Elvis or Cedric....

well, it was a very close call. the full potential of his voice had only been unleashed when he started singing for The Mars Volta. he's kind of the male equivilant of Bjork.

KRIS WATSON: personal favourite...

(please note, all these were in my opinion. i didn't mention the likes of Jeff Buckley because i don't have any of his cds..yet...though i know that his voice is lovely too, or Morrissey because...well, either like his peculiar singing or you just don't)

oh, i forgot the ones i dont like so much...give me a few minutes...

Baaad (no particular order):

BRIAN MOLKO: it just doesn't do it for me, i think his singing voice is terrible. he sings like a girl who can't sing.

(actually, im struggling a bit here...)