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Best Female Singing Voice

#593
TyBo said:
Celine is an example, to me, of why you can't go exclusively by the voice itself. There are a number of other things that factor in - timing, phrasing, affect and expressiveness, explosiveness or dynamic range, hearing the changes, etc ...

Celine has a great set of pipes, and has done a few songs I like. But her stuff seems to go toward mediocre lowest common denominator arrangements of (mostly) crummy songs. Imo. I suppose she's a good fit for Vegas, which does require a certain level of talent. Seems like a lot of unrealized potential there, with those vocal chords.
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Celine is an interesting case. I am a massive fan. And with her, a lot of it has to do with timbre, the way she shapes vowels and the power she puts behind them. And there is indeed a lot of explosiveness, used well and in the right places.

To me, her strongest material is her first three English records: Unison, Celine Dion, and The Colour Of My Love. These records are very stylistically consistent. You'll love Unison if you like late-80's/early 90's dance pop and power ballads. Every song is very strong.

Her self-titled is nearly perfect, with just two songs I'd regard as filler. It's a long record and didn't need those songs, but there they are. You need to appreciate early-mid 90's pop RnB, and if you do, the album is epic.

Colour Of My Love is slicker than Celine Dion, with a touch more filler. Her vocal acrobatics take a step forward.

After that, my interest in her full albums starts to fade. There is some very strong material on Falling Into You, including Because You Loved Me, which is an all-time masterpiece of a pop song and vocal performance. But the consistency of the material on the albums really starts to get spotty with this one. On all subsequent records, I only have interest in the hits, because the filler starts to take the lion's share of play time.

At some point, I should listen through her French catalog, which is larger than her English material. The last performance I heard of hers, it sounds like her voice is completely done at this point and should probably retire.

Now I will certainly admit that Celine is a guilty pleasure type of artist. I can't put the artistic and/or cultural impact of her music on the same level as someone like Kate Bush for example, because the music is trying to do a completely different thing. It doesn't ask a lot of the listener, it is ear candy. But for me, when I think of my favorite singer, Celine is the name that comes to mind.
 
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#596
Snarf said:
Celine is an interesting case. I am a massive fan. And with her, a lot of it has to do with timbre, the way she shapes vowels and the power she puts behind them. And there is indeed a lot of explosiveness, used well and in the right places.

To me, her strongest material is her first three English records: Unison, Celine Dion, and The Colour Of My Love. These records are very stylistically consistent. You'll love Unison if you like late-80's/early 90's dance pop and power ballads. Every song is very strong.

Her self-titled is nearly perfect, with just two songs I'd regard as filler. It's a long record and didn't need those songs, but there they are. You need to appreciate early-mid 90's pop RnB, and if you do, the album is epic.

Colour Of My Love is slicker than Celine Dion, with a touch more filler. Her vocal acrobatics take a step forward.

After that, my interest in her full albums starts to fade. There is some very strong material on Falling Into You, including Because You Loved Me, which is an all-time masterpiece of a pop song and vocal performance. But the consistency of the material on the albums really starts to get spotty with this one. On all subsequent records, I only have interest in the hits, because the filler starts to take the lion's share of play time.

At some point, I should listen through her French catalog, which is larger than her English material. The last performance I heard of hers, it sounds like her voice is completely done at this point and should probably retire.

Now I will certainly admit that Celine is a guilty pleasure type of artist. I can't put the artistic and/or cultural impact of her music on the same level as someone like Kate Bush for example, because the music is trying to do a completely different thing. It doesn't ask a lot of the listener, it is ear candy. But for me, when I think of my favorite singer, Celine is the name that comes to mind.
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I agree that Celine was much better early on. I remember seeing what I believe was her U.S. debut, on the Tonight show, singing "Where Does My Heart Beat Now?" if I recall. A bit of a shlocky song, but she just nailed it. I thought she had a marvelous voice and huge potential. But it's mostly been a long downhill slide, since. Imo. I'm just disappointed in her, I was hoping for more.

Edit: I looked it up, yeah, Tonight Show 1990. Saw this and just thought, "Wow, who is this girl? Damn she's got a voice." Huge audience reaction at the end, Carson saying, "You're going to be hearing a lot from her ... " Yep.:)
 
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#597
Best is dependent on what you're looking for - different genres demand different voices. There is a place where Celine Dion's voice is (or maybe was) exactly what you want, and there is a place where Tom Waits' voice ...works. Yeah, thats pushing it, but hopefully you know what I mean.

I have worked with a lot of female vocalists who's voices work phenomenally well.. in certain circumstances. While they sing well in other genre's, their voices flat out kill if the music/genre/vibe is right. No list from me, as it isn't possible in my mind to specify a "best" - anyone you put forward, I have worked with someone who's voice is better - in the right situation.
 
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#598
TyBo said:
I agree that Celine was much better early on. I remember seeing what I believe was her U.S. debut, on the Tonight show, singing "Where Does My Heart Beat Now?" if I recall. A bit of a shlocky song, but she just nailed it. I thought she had a marvelous voice and huge potential. But it's mostly been a long downhill slide, since. Imo. I'm just disappointed in her, I was hoping for more.

Edit: I looked it up, yeah, Tonight Show 1990. Saw this and just thought, "Wow, who is this girl? Damn she's got a voice." Huge audience reaction at the end, Carson saying, "You're going to be hearing a lot from her ... " Yep.:)
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That's one of my favorite songs of hers. That performance feels a little flat though, literally. She's singing down a half or whole step on the show. The original album version is a bit livelier due to the verses being in a better spot in her range.

Take a few minutes and listen to this one all the way through, it's my favorite from Celine. She's certainly done more impressive technical things with her voice, particularly on her following two albums where she just rips some spectacular vocal feats. But this song's vibe, arrangement, and the great belts near the end make it a great song. Also, the big note near the end is unique to the video version of this song; on the album it's a different take.

 
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