Vocalists you know you should not like... but do anyway?

[heavyharmonies]

Anyone else ever encounter this? A vocalist that either has annoying characteristics or isn't very good, and logically you should avoid, yet you find yourself listing anyway, either because their strong characteristics outweigh the negatives, or the other aspects of the music make it win despite the vocalist?

 

I'm running into this right now with Rob Moratti - Victory. As with every other thing he's ever done, he sounds like a damned chipmunk, yet like all the Final Frontier material, I love it. This new album is great stuff!... but every now and then I find myself looking around the room for Alvin and Theodore...

[STARFIRE]

Anyone else ever encounter this? A vocalist that either has annoying characteristics or isn't very good, and logically you should avoid, yet you find yourself listing anyway, either because their strong characteristics outweigh the negatives, or the other aspects of the music make it win despite the vocalist?

 

I'm running into this right now with Rob Moratti - Victory. As with every other thing he's ever done, he sounds like a damned chipmunk, yet like all the Final Frontier material, I love it. This new album is great stuff!... but every now and then I find myself looking around the room for Alvin and Theodore...

 

In rock? Tons. My preference is for singers like John Parr, Stan Bush, Joe Lynn Turner, etc. But even though guys like Johnny Gioeli annoy me, I have a hard time disliking their performance with the music on the songs, either live or in the studio. So, I definitely know where you're coming from and how you feel about it.

[Glen]

Anyone else ever encounter this? A vocalist that either has annoying characteristics or isn't very good, and logically you should avoid, yet you find yourself listing anyway, either because their strong characteristics outweigh the negatives, or the other aspects of the music make it win despite the vocalist?

 

I'm running into this right now with Rob Moratti - Victory. As with every other thing he's ever done, he sounds like a damned chipmunk, yet like all the Final Frontier material, I love it. This new album is great stuff!... but every now and then I find myself looking around the room for Alvin and Theodore...

 

I think RM sounds a damned sight better on 'Victory' than he does on FF stuff...........God some of that is so high pitched it sounds like he's on helium!

 

Some singers who are SHIT who I have enjoyed their songs and music over the years -

 

Ozzy

Lemmy

James Hetfield

Fish

Brian Johnson

Don Dokken

[Kim_Hp]

Udo Dirkschneider from Accept comes to mind I really like his style. It's strange, because I don't like many other vocalists with that kind of hoarse voice, like Lemmy or that dude from Bullet (what an AWFUL voice!). And I agree Glen, Ozzy's awful too.

[Stefan]

I immediately thought of Mr. Lordi when I saw this thread. His voice may not be to everybody´s liking but the music kicks major ass. That's what makes Lordi so "special"...

[Jez]

I immediately thought of Mr. Lordi when I saw this thread. His voice may not be to everybody´s liking but the music kicks major ass. That's what makes Lordi so "special"...

 

 

Completely agree, he came to mind immediately and Sir Lemmy of course.

[zacharyamelie]

Justin Hawkins of The Darkness/Hot Legs.....Ya I know!

[Studboy]

I always loved Nitro but couldn't stand Jim Gillette, he sounds like a chipmunk sucking helium.

[Geoff]

Yeah, too many to mention, to be honest. Tom Kiefer when he's screaming, Dizzy Dean when he's screaming, Moratti, Ozzy, etc. The list goes on and on. But I should add that in EVERY one of these cases I still hate the vocals, full stop. I do like the songs and the bands based on their strengths, but never actually like the vocalists, or acknowledge them as anything other than rubbish.

 

I wish I could mention Lordi too, but them and The Darkness are a couple of the cases where I just hate the band and cannot get past how f*cked up the vocals are. Well, I do have The Darkness' 2nd disc and I guess I can handle it in places, but not Lordi. That's way too much for me. C*nts.

[Nightrain]

I always loved Nitro but couldn't stand Jim Gillette, he sounds like a chipmunk sucking helium.

 

yeah he's one of the worst ever!

Ozzy is quite bad but I still can stand his voice

[Faron]

Gary Barden (MSG)

[TIM (2)]

I'm running into this right now with Rob Moratti - Victory. As with every other thing he's ever done, he sounds like a damned chipmunk, yet like all the Final Frontier material, I love it. This new album is great stuff!... but every now and then I find myself looking around the room for Alvin and Theodore...

 

I like his vocals too but he really toned it down on his solo disc, especially compared to the first two FF discs where the vocs were so high they could only be heard by dogs or picked up by sonar. My copy of "Victory" got posted to Geoff, that was what I thought of it!

 

I like quite a lot of modern metal screamers or growling vocs, if it's done well and suits the music. Sure you can't usually understand what they're singing about, but is more about mood/atmosphere than anything else. And one or two are just plain scary. Randy Blythe from Lamb of God is frightening, especially live. For me there's nothing worse than someone that tries to sing clean-vocals and is simply out-of-tune. Note Bullet for My Valentine or the godawful Black Veil Brides as examples. If you play heavy music, and you can't find someone that can sing, just fucking growl or scream.

[Geoff]

Finnish vocalists.

 

I personally think there is only one vocalist in the entire country and he somehow ends up on every single CD that comes out of Finland, going under different names. I hate him. That deep, sad, depressing tone on every CD... f*ck I hate it. But that said, there are some good bands from Finland despite this guy trying to ruin them all.

 

I should add that the single exception seems to be the chap from Brother Firetribe / Leverage. He's got a good voice, but with only 2 vocalists in the entire country I just wish they'd use him more.

[Nick C]

Mandy Lion of WWIII - just love the way his voice fits with the music

[Doksdad]

Anyone else ever encounter this? A vocalist that either has annoying characteristics or isn't very good, and logically you should avoid, yet you find yourself listing anyway, either because their strong characteristics outweigh the negatives, or the other aspects of the music make it win despite the vocalist?

 

I'm running into this right now with Rob Moratti - Victory. As with every other thing he's ever done, he sounds like a damned chipmunk, yet like all the Final Frontier material, I love it. This new album is great stuff!... but every now and then I find myself looking around the room for Alvin and Theodore...

 

I think RM sounds a damned sight better on 'Victory' than he does on FF stuff...........God some of that is so high pitched it sounds like he's on helium!

 

Some singers who are SHIT who I have enjoyed their songs and music over the years -

 

Don Dokken

GREAT voice and easily recognizable.

[Captain Howdy]

Finnish vocalists.

 

I personally think there is only one vocalist in the entire country and he somehow ends up on every single CD that comes out of Finland, going under different names. I hate him. That deep, sad, depressing tone on every CD... f*ck I hate it. But that said, there are some good bands from Finland despite this guy trying to ruin them all.

 

I should add that the single exception seems to be the chap from Brother Firetribe / Leverage. He's got a good voice, but with only 2 vocalists in the entire country I just wish they'd use him more.

You honestly think Olli from Reckless Love sounds deep, sad and depressing?

Or Michael Monroe for that matter?

And lets not forget Niki from Barbe-Q-Barbies.

[heaven&hell]

Anyone else ever encounter this? A vocalist that either has annoying characteristics or isn't very good, and logically you should avoid, yet you find yourself listing anyway, either because their strong characteristics outweigh the negatives, or the other aspects of the music make it win despite the vocalist?

 

I'm running into this right now with Rob Moratti - Victory. As with every other thing he's ever done, he sounds like a damned chipmunk, yet like all the Final Frontier material, I love it. This new album is great stuff!... but every now and then I find myself looking around the room for Alvin and Theodore...

 

I think RM sounds a damned sight better on 'Victory' than he does on FF stuff...........God some of that is so high pitched it sounds like he's on helium!

 

Some singers who are SHIT who I have enjoyed their songs and music over the years -

 

Ozzy

Lemmy

James Hetfield

Fish

Brian Johnson

Don Dokken

 

I can see some of the others but the Don Dokken surprises me.

Sure Don sounds like shit now but the 80's Dokken albums Don sounded great IMO.

 

Ozzy for whatever reason just seems to work and has that voice that isn't great by any means but seems to just fit the music somehow.

[66 mustang]

does Boy George count?

[Captain Howdy]

Anyone else ever encounter this? A vocalist that either has annoying characteristics or isn't very good, and logically you should avoid, yet you find yourself listing anyway, either because their strong characteristics outweigh the negatives, or the other aspects of the music make it win despite the vocalist?

 

I'm running into this right now with Rob Moratti - Victory. As with every other thing he's ever done, he sounds like a damned chipmunk, yet like all the Final Frontier material, I love it. This new album is great stuff!... but every now and then I find myself looking around the room for Alvin and Theodore...

 

I think RM sounds a damned sight better on 'Victory' than he does on FF stuff...........God some of that is so high pitched it sounds like he's on helium!

 

Some singers who are SHIT who I have enjoyed their songs and music over the years -

 

Ozzy

Lemmy

James Hetfield

Fish

Brian Johnson

Don Dokken

 

I can see some of the others but the Don Dokken surprises me.

Sure Don sounds like shit now but the 80's Dokken albums Don sounded great IMO.

 

Ozzy for whatever reason just seems to work and has that voice that isn't great by any means but seems to just fit the music somehow.

I never rated Dons vocal style as he seems to have a nasal whine quite a lot, which is probably why I have never liked Dokken beyond a handful of songs.

 

I think though that this topic is really more about SINGERS vs unique voices. Guys like Glenn Hughes, JSS, Jani Lane, Seb Bach, Dio etc etc etc are all SINGERS. Guys with top line voices of differing calibre.

Whereas the likes of Axl, Tom Keifer, Mark Slaughter, Dizzy Dean, Mustaine, Hetfield, Johnson, Ozzy and Lemmy etc all fall into the unique voice category. None of them are natural singers, but they all bring their own thing to the table, and stand out because of it. Yes there are copyists, and some sound similar in places (Davidson and Keifer spring to mind here), but you pretty much always know who you are listening to with those guys the minute they sing their first word.

 

I was actually discussing some bands with a guy at the Cinderella gig a few months back, and he said he hated Glenn Hughes' vocals cause he shouts too much, which is something I have never heard before, and surprised me.

 

I dont think there is such a thing as a singer I should hate but like as I think its just a simple case of if someone sounds good, they sound good regardless of their style.

For instance I totally despise Justin Hawkins vocal style, and there is no way I will ever like it.

Duff McKagan doesnt have a great singing voice, but I like what he does with it. No reason I know I should dislike it as from the minute I first heard him sing (on So fine), I really dug what he did with his limited range.

[Grey]

Yeah, too many to mention, to be honest. Tom Kiefer when he's screaming

 

I can handle Keifer and most anyone else when they're singing heavier songs, but guys like him, Axl Rose, Mark Slaugher and C.J. Snare really have no business singing ballads. They just don't have the right voice for it.

[Nightrain]

Yeah, too many to mention, to be honest. Tom Kiefer when he's screaming

 

I can handle Keifer and most anyone else when they're singing heavier songs, but guys like him, Axl Rose, Mark Slaugher and C.J. Snare really have no business singing ballads. They just don't have the right voice for it.

 

funny, i dig those three singers you mentioned, but Keifer is one of the guys that I can't stand also, but I love all Cinderella's albums

[Captain Howdy]

Yeah, too many to mention, to be honest. Tom Kiefer when he's screaming

 

I can handle Keifer and most anyone else when they're singing heavier songs, but guys like him, Axl Rose, Mark Slaugher and C.J. Snare really have no business singing ballads. They just don't have the right voice for it.

Couldnt disagree more. Some of my fave songs by those guys are the ballads, and some of those ballads are among my fave songs ever.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Finnish vocalists.

 

I personally think there is only one vocalist in the entire country and he somehow ends up on every single CD that comes out of Finland, going under different names. I hate him. That deep, sad, depressing tone on every CD... f*ck I hate it. But that said, there are some good bands from Finland despite this guy trying to ruin them all.

 

I should add that the single exception seems to be the chap from Brother Firetribe / Leverage. He's got a good voice, but with only 2 vocalists in the entire country I just wish they'd use him more.

You honestly think Olli from Reckless Love sounds deep, sad and depressing?

Or Michael Monroe for that matter?

And lets not forget Niki from Barbe-Q-Barbies.

 

Yeah, I was gonna say something earlier, but I was a little too pissed at the comment and figured I'd let one of you step in.

[JamesEagle]

Yeah, too many to mention, to be honest. Tom Kiefer when he's screaming, Dizzy Dean when he's screaming, Moratti, Ozzy, etc. The list goes on and on. But I should add that in EVERY one of these cases I still hate the vocals, full stop. I do like the songs and the bands based on their strengths, but never actually like the vocalists, or acknowledge them as anything other than rubbish.

 

I wish I could mention Lordi too, but them and The Darkness are a couple of the cases where I just hate the band and cannot get past how f*cked up the vocals are. Well, I do have The Darkness' 2nd disc and I guess I can handle it in places, but not Lordi. That's way too much for me. C*nts.

 

Hmm ... I bet you're a big fan of King Diamond!

[rogerrocket]

For me it's Rick Sanford from Legs Diamond. His voice shouldn't really match that music, but somehow it works. I guess it's his voice that gives an edge to their sound.

 

 

Np - Jamie Allen - 'The Storyteller'

 

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