EWB's 51 Favorite Singers 2010: The Results

[Sousa]

No, it was a reference to some other kind of matician.

everyone should have respect for people who can sing AND play guitar at the same time

Best comment ever.

[Guest Mr. Yubari Head]

I nearly ranted against Bon Scott last night until I realized it was 1 AM and I was thinking of Bon Iver.

Bon Scott's not horrible compared to quite a few of the people on the list, but ultimately I'll just put any discrepancies up to me being an elitist snob who understands music and other people thinking that, as RK! or whomever said, they should just vote for the singers of their favourite bands.

I mean, I've yet to come across a single good singer in any sort of metal genre. Above-average at best. A test: imagine the singer singing something far outside their normal genre, would you still like it?

(Then again, I voted Raine Maida as #1, so...)

[DFF]

I nearly ranted against Bon Scott last night until I realized it was 1 AM and I was thinking of Bon Iver.

Bon Scott's not horrible compared to quite a few of the people on the list, but ultimately I'll just put any discrepancies up to me being an elitist snob who understands music and other people thinking that, as RK! or whomever said, they should just vote for the singers of their favourite bands.

I mean, I've yet to come across a single good singer in any sort of metal genre. Above-average at best. A test: imagine the singer singing something far outside their normal genre, would you still like it?

(Then again, I voted Raine Maida as #1, so...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH-AC4Z2CeI

It's not a showy-off song with regards vocals - but it proves that some metal singers sound quite good

[Liam]

People do realise that what people consider as good singers isn't restricted to what scales, how many notes or anything like that? If it was, we'd be looking at a list of opera singers.

Lemmy can't sing great, but he has a distinctive (and to some, likeable) voice. Same with Maynard. It's about preference and enjoying the way someone sings or at least sounds when they sing.

Seriously, as much as some of the WOMG gets funny, it starts to get a little tiring when this is about the 20th list in the past month to surface on EWB.

That being said, I shoulda editted my votes and put in Mike Patton, just to get him on the list. I was being uber lazy.

And yeah, MPH, you are talking rubbish. I'm not putting metal singers on some pedestal or anything, but there are definitely singers in bands with large ranges, all the more impressive for being able to not only do the growl rar-rar stuff, but do good clean singing. Plus, most singers who are taken far out of thier own style, like you suggested, would struggle.

EDIT: Fuck it, Morrissey is the only deserved winner.

Edited September 28, 2010 by Liam

[ClaRK! Kent]

As I said in my votes, for me there's a big difference between my favourite singers and my favourite bands. There's some overlap (The singers from Fleetwood Mac and The Detroit Cobras made my top 10 for example) but it's a different set of criteria that leads me to place Elvis Presley as my #1 choice, because he is the greatest rock'n'roll singer of all time, but he'd struggle to place so highly on an all-around best/favourites list for me because, for example, he didn't write his own songs and his output declined rapidly in quality as he got older/fatter/druggier.

Similarly, I love bands like Be Your Own PET and artists like Bob Dylan, but I recognise that the vocals aren't exactly the strongest.

Of course, Lemmy as a singer and Motorhead as a band are both equally bad.

[gunnar hendershow]

I hope Triple H doesn't read your comment RK or he'll make sure to bury all your favorite wrestlers.

[DMN in the House]

I like Lemmy, but he's no Al Green.

Also, Hayley Williams would list on a 'Musical Artists DMN Would Like to Fuck', but she'd still finish below Gwen Stefani.

[Skummy]

If you dare turn this into another thread insinuating that Motorhead are anything less than godly than, by God, I will kill again :@

I can (obviously) see why Lemmy wouldn't exactly be to most people's tastes, but I fucking love Motorhead, and Lemmy's voice is a part of that. Motorhead are fast, hard, simple, sleazy rock and roll. And Lemmy's voice fits that better than anyone else. Nobody could ever sing their songs quite like him. It's not the best voice in the world, but I like my male singers to be a little ravaged and gravelly (see also: Waits, Tom; MacGowan, Shane), and Lemmy fits the bill. Probably wouldn't make my personal top list, but it's a voice I enjoy listening to. This isn't a list of "best" singers, it's the list of "favourite" singers. Hell, if I was going with best on any kind of technical level, I sure as hell wouldn't be holding out hope for Mark E. Smith making the list.

As for the rest of the list, Paramore are forgettable. Maybe they're dreadful, but they've never made enough of an impact on me for me to even remember any of their songs, so she's probably boring, if nothing else.

Al Green's good, but not really my style.

Bon Scott's dreadful. I really can't stand AC/DC at all, and his voice is just silly, and not enjoyable to listen to.

Thom Yorke's voice pisses me off. It's fine on one or two songs - well, mostly Street Spirit - but for the most part I find Radiohead to be incredibly dull to listen to. It's "experimental" music for people who have never listened to experimental music. And Thom Yorke's voice just makes the whole thing such an underwhelming dirge, I can't understand how anybody could find it enjoyable to listen to. A load of wank, quite frankly.

Maynard James Keenan is dull. Tool are dull. A Perfect Circle are dull. There is nothing interesting or remarkable about him as a vocalist, and his talent in and of itself certainly isn't worth a mention above a thousand other equally tedious metal vocalists, so I'm curious as to how he made the list at all.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Motherfucker I didn't vote for Shane MacGowan.

[Quom]

Snap Cloudy. As soon as I saw his name I thought "shit" or maybe I did, I meant to but now I can't remember but I don't think I did.

[zap]

Maynard James Keenan is dull. Tool are dull. A Perfect Circle are dull. There is nothing interesting or remarkable about him as a vocalist, and his talent in and of itself certainly isn't worth a mention above a thousand other equally tedious metal vocalists, so I'm curious as to how he made the list at all.

The emotions that someone can feel when listening to him sing, maybe? When I listen to him on 'Eulogy', I feel like I've lost a friend. Same goes for pretty much everyone on my list. I don't care about the vocal range of the singers I listen to, it's mainly a case of the emotions they give me. Brent Hinds from Mastodon and Jimi Hendrix I feel are both shithouse when it comes to singing a song the 'right' way, but I'll be damned if they don't send shivers up my spine at certain times.

Besides, as you said this is 'favourite' singers, not best. 'Best' singers would be a boring list full of guys and gals the majority have never heard of.

[GoGo Yubari]

Bickering over what good singing is, bickering over what good singing is will tear us apaaaaaaaaaart agaiiiiiiiiiin

44. Ian Curtis (15 points, 2 ballots) (Last Time: N/A)

44. Ann Wilson (15 points, 2 ballots) (Last Time: N/A)

40. Matt Bellamy (15 points, 3 ballots) (Last Time: #38)

40. Rod Stewart (15 points, 3 ballots) (Last Time: N/A)

40. Nick Drake (15 points, 3 ballots) (Last Time: #44)

40. Jack White (15 points, 3 ballots) (Last Time: N/A)

39. James Brown (15 points, 4 ballots) (Last Time: N/A)

NEXT TIME: Five-way tie for 34th place! And then a really hilarious tie.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I think I said it in the voting thread, but whatever my current views on Muse are there is no denying that Matt Bellamy has an excellent range and a stunning set of lungs on him.

[LittleDaniel]

What do the people recommend I check out from Nick Drake, he's a name I hear often but have never really investigated.

[gunnar hendershow]

If we do this another 10 times, Nick Drake is going to move up to the top spot. He improves 4 places on every list.

[ClaRK! Kent]

Dan, check out the Bryter Layter album, probably his best work IMO. Cracking record.

Rod Stewart only placed in at #40? Boo. But I suppose, with Nicks/Bjork/Lennox missing out, one should be glad he features at all. Ditto Nick Drake.

I could live without Jack White on this list, but given that my reaction to the White Stripes is one of total and utter indifference I'll just say "meh."

[Sousa]

I cannot stand Rod Stewart just now, mostly because I went to a wedding a week or two ago and the DJ looked just like him and played about 15 of his songs. Did I mention that this DJ also punched me? Yeah, he was an insufferable jackass basically.

[New Damage]

I cannot stand Rod Stewart just now, mostly because I went to a wedding a week or two ago and the DJ looked just like him and played about 15 of his songs. Did I mention that this DJ also punched me? Yeah, he was an insufferable jackass basically.

Yeah, looks like.

[Sousa]

Oh yeah, like we weren't making that joke all night.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

I like Rod Stewart, but I've never found him to be a particularly great singer.