I was wondering, who would you consider to have great vocals? Mind you, by that, I mean that their band could make them completely suck - but their voice remains great. In example.

For the male vocals:

5. Robert Smith - The Cure - Robert's vocal style is amazingly impressive. The emotion that echoes in it, is exactly what set the tone for the New Wave, and even today, I think his vocals are still amazing.

4. David Draiman - Disturbed - Power. That's what David's vocals are pretty much all about. The slight raw texture to his voice adds tremendous power, even though he still can produce beautiful harmonic vocals - like in the Prayer chorus. I do believe that his voice was better on Believe than on The Sickness, though.

3. Corey Taylor - Slipknot / Stone Sour - Probably the only really 'odd' one on this list. Corey's vocals for Slipknot were, as I see it, completely rubbish, and I wasn't very fond of Stone Sour as well. However, when a friend of mine brutally forced me to listen to Bother, I had to change my mind. Corey's voice is really emotional, touching, and he never even tries to scream. Sad to see such talent wasted on Slipknot's work.

2. Tim Owens - Judas Priest / Iced Earth - Though his work for Judas Priest wasn't really that great at all, Tim's voice worked amazingly wel for Iced Earth. On The Glorious Burden, it shows how much personality he can add to the music, through his voice. In fact, the music wouldn't nearly have been as good without it. The high pitches this guy gets to, are even scary at times, yet his voice remains very clear. Great vocals, thus.

1. Mikael Åkerfeldt - Opeth - While his grunts and grawls on Opeth's earlier work were impressive, it really is his soft, touching voice on Damnation that made me pick Mikael over others. The emotion in his voice is unbelievable, and definitely complements the music on the album. Number one, for sure.


As for female vocals:

5. Nicole Bogner - Visions of Atlantis - A sweet soprano, one that manages to sound very sharp and clear no matter at what height - that's great vocal work. Shame that VOA's male singer doesn't live up to her voice, though.

4. Sharon Den Adel - Within Temptation - Another soprano, though one that isn't as powerful. Her voice is very whispery and subtle at times, while she sounds great with an evil tone in her voice as well. Especially when she fades from shy to evil in a duet with After Forever, is incredible. Check out Beyond Me.

3. Stefanie Duchêne - Flowing Tears - Emotion. That's something you can hear even without trying to, when listening to Stefanie's voice. It's enchanting, and it sets the mood perfectly. Especially in songs like For Tonight, you can clearly notice that.

2. Simone Simons - Epica - Very classic vocal style, although executed close to perfection. Her voice has that special tone, that really makes you want to listen even more closely, and her vocal range is astounding as well. From whispers to long-stretched high singing, she pulls it off in remarkable fashion.

1. Tarja Turunen - Nightwish - Enchanting, wonderful and magic only begin to describe Tarja's voice. It's powerful, though serene at the same time. If anything would be perfect, I nominate Tarja's voice.


In case you think Amy Lee would also fit either of those descriptions: No. I've heard her live three times now, and it all were major letdowns. She can't sing live, at all.

Anyway, post yours!

Mike Patton, he actually uses flexibility and multiple styles of singing, instead of 99% of dull singers who sound the same on every song.

I second the Mike Patton nomination. I also really enjoy the vocals of Black Francis from the Pixies. His voice is just so intense and can be contorted in so many ways--he squeals, he barks, he screams, he croons. Ted Leo also has a nice voice with an impressive range.

Mike Patton, of course.

Matt Barlow, for his work in Iced Earth all over the years.

Russel Allen, symphony X, one of the best metal vocalist out there.

Jorn Lande. Masterplan. one of the most ferociously honest vocals i've heard. his approach on heavy metal vocals make me shiver. a good example is on Crystal Night.

I of course, second Ripper Owens, and Mikael. two excellent vocalists.

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I'm gonna third the Tarja Turunen, she is incredible.

Maynard James Keenan

Tarja Turunen

Christina Aguilera

Freddy Mercury

Chris Cornell - AudioSlave, Soundgarden

Jarboe of Swans. She's amazing.

Thom Yorke - Radiohead

That guy can do weird yet good things.

Why did it take so long for someone to say Mercury?

björk.

I agree with you there.

Freddy Mercury, as someone said above.

Axl Rose, mostly because he has a hell of a lot of range and his voice is very distinct.

i think that Phil Anselmo of Pantera is an amazing vocalist. Just listen to Cemetary gates if you don't believe me.

Also, bruce dickinson of Iron Maiden is a great vocalist. His range is just amazing.

Hehe, call me a fanboy, but i love James Hetfield's voice. I think that it was appropriate for their music, but when the crap albums started coming out, he changed the way he sung, so that was a bummer, but seeing old video of him playing always rules.

Jon Fugler of Fluke: One of the most unique voices I've heard. Contributes perfectly to the brooding atmostphere of Fluke's music.

because most people on here listen to zombie death metal.

...here's my list:

5. Fran Healy, Travis - very steady and seamless on transitions. Makes it seem like singing is easy.
4. Elton John - funky, fun.... perfect Rock 'n Roll
3. Jeff Buckley, beauty is expressed in every syllable
2. Freddy Mercury, Queen - ....no explanation needed... he actually ties for first in my book.
1. Jay Clifford, Jump, Little Children - very soothing and powerful at the same time. Tied with Mercury.

people who almost made this list:
James Walsh Starsailor because of his unique sounding voice
The guy from Keane because he's amazing, but he sounds a lot like Freddy
Bellamy Muse... see above but mix it with Yorke
Thom Radiohead great voice, but he's unsteady in his pitches. I cant tell if it's intentional or not.

Nobody has mentioned a deathmetal vocalist yet

Tom Chaplin. Yeah, he is amazing. Of course, his intensity on the album is about 1/8th of what it was live.

Elvis
Sinatra

>.>
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BAM! No contest.

......I use the terms 'zombie' 'death' and 'metal' very loosely.

I mean, by death I meant mostly death. Because with all death there's only one thing you can do... go through their clothes and look for loose change.

Abbath from Immortal, Johan Hegg from Amon Amarth and Ihsahn from Emperor...

Bruce Dickinson
Ronnie James Dio
other people already mentioned

That's because they usually sound like they have six dozen tacks stuck in their vocal cords. In other words: bad.

Bad songs, amazing voice.

I said it as a reply to Schming, because he said it weas because of the blackmetal-lovers nobody mentioned Freddy Mercury.

Male:
Eddie Vedder
Maynard James Kenaan
Jim Morrison
John Lennon
Roger Daltrey

Female:
Karen O

MJK.

Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, mostly because of his unique sound.

Oh, Tobias Sammet of Edguy...what a great sound and great vocal range for a metal vocalist.

I have.

Hey, that was after my post, and I can't say I didn't notice.

psh. see!

If you're gonna include Tobias who from what i've heard has a fairly normal range, you need to include Tony Kakko from Sonata Arctica and Timo Kotipelto from Stratovarius.

Some very good choices here, but no mention of Tom Waits, Beth Gibbons (Portishead), Horace Andy (probably one of the strangest voices I've ever heard, positively androgynous. Play Massive Attack - Man Next Door, from the Mezzanine album to see what I mean).

Then there's that band where the lead singer does Mongolian throat singing (a most horribly alien resonating voice, hitting two notes simultaneously). I have no idea what they're even called though, so. The closest thing I can compare it to is Tibetan chanting or a human digeridoo.

Anyhow, +1 for Buckley, Mercury, and Cornell too.

I agree with alot of you, some of these people are great vocalists. But I'll throw a wrench in here and name a punk singer. (well he's classified as punk)


Greg Graffin - Bad Religion


I never liked the punk sounds, mainly because most of the singers have very "whiney" voices, such as that Blink- 182 band, but gregs voice is a breath of fresh air. And they don't play to bad either nothing revolutionary, but they still rock.

Blink 182? Punk? What've you been smoking?

Yeah. BR is an example of good punk actually. I don't mind hearing a few songs from times to times.

What else? Punkey Rock? Pop Punk? Baby Metal? Teengirl Excitement?

My favourites have already been mentioned (A Perfect Circle, Masterplan, Audioslave).
There are many great vocalists out there, but these three have very unique, yet versatile voices.