Cornell vs. Vedder...

[jmattbassplaya]

^ Besides Ten I've found most of PJ's material to be rather dull and 'safe'. I think Soundgarden is the better band because they were unique and took risks with their music. Then again, I think the DeLeo brothers were the best song writers in that era.

 

[Essen]

Vedder has THE best voice ever IMO.

 

[PopaWoody]

Staley had the most melodic vocals, combined with another superb and complementary vocalist in Jerry Cantrell. Hands down the most appealing music vocally of that genre.

Vedder and Cornell are both fantastic. Tough to choose one over the other when you like both equally. I would side with sound garden because there sound was so 'away' from the rest of the Seattle sound. Superb musicianship vs catchy tunes.

 

[duderasta]

I prefer chris cornell, and soundgarden.... but I would say andrew wood beat them all. and of course, without his demise pearl jam would have never happened.

 

[Gus Borden]

The Staley/Cantrell dynamics really Cantrell/Staley. Which is evident from listening the new AIC record. But hands down, Temple of the Dog was the best Seattle record from the whole Grunge era, bar none.

 

[jrthebassguy]

Even though only their first two albums are grunge, my favorite grunge vocalist has always been Scott Lucas of Local H.





Of Vedder v. Cornell, then I'll pick Cornell every time. Heck, I'll also pick Scott Weiland and Layne Staley over Vedder. But I do like Pearl Jam, don't get me wrong .

 

[johnnycat42]

I think Cantrell was the one driving the bus for AIC most of the way. Staley was an excellent front man and singer though. But w/o Cantrell, there is no AIC. Go see them live today and you'll see what I mean. I also think AIC has the most interesting music of that era. I personally like Vedder much better than Cornell though. I dig some of Vedder's solo stuff too. I think Cornell is a great vocalist with the most range of anyone discussed here but I have never liked much of what he has done outside of Temple of the Dog. I dig STP. Ahhh, opinions....

 

[FunkyMan]

Oh dude.. Layne Staley... I never forget the first day i heard "Rooster"... you aren't going to believe me, but there were a few months that I was sentimental for his death.. What a powerfull voice!

 

[ciubz]

..... Then again, I think the DeLeo brothers were the best song writers in that era.

Amin bro!!

Scot Weiland and Chris Cornell are both VOCALISTS, while Eddie Vedder and Layne Staley are SINGERS.

 

[MJ5150]

.....Temple of the Dog was the best Seattle record from the whole Grunge era, bar none.

Dig a little deeper into the Seattle grunge scene. There are some records that blow TOTD away.

-Mike

 

[6jase5]

I'm a 90's music fan, so I can't do the "he's better than him" thing with any of the main guys. Just me.

Your Saviour, Temple of Dog, god I love that song.....so much so that I probably spelled it wrong like an idiot. Just love the groove and vocals. I once saw a really good mostly beatles cover band whip into that song and it blew me away.

I think that song could come out on the radio today redone or even left alone and be a hit.

 

[Gus Borden]

I've.definitely dug.deeper, like.most.of.us posting here, I think, I was in my twenties during the.Seattle/grunge period, so it was big for me in terms of music. I had the misfortune of working in a music store during the whole grunge thing's beginnings, so I heard so much of it as promos. I just personally love Temple of the Dog.

 

[EdHunter]

Of these two, Vedder. Saw Pearl Jam in the sumemr and he as supremely awesome.

But to settle the issue of the best '90s vocalists:

 

[s_mcsleazy]

cornell in soundgarden yes

cornell solo/audioslave NO

 

[I<34080]

Cornell peaked on Louder Than Love for me. Power, Vedder never had it.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

The Staley/Cantrell dynamics really Cantrell/Staley.

Not really. Cantrell said it himself that what made AIC special was Layne's outlook on harmonization with vocals. He sang everything 'wrong' from the traditional sense, and it gave them their eerie and dissonant signature sound. Listen to Cantell's solo material and you could easily mistake some of it for AIC songs, but they all would be missing what made AIC's music special - Layne's voice and approach to harmonies and melodies. So while Cantrell definitely was the drive behind the band, he didn't give them their unique distinction.

IMHO, YMMV.

 

[madbassplaya]

The Beatles version. period. But between these two? Vedder. Cornell definitely has more range, but Vedder puts the soul into it that Cornell can't seem to muster in his version.
Staley definitely rocked, but he was nothing without Cantrell. And I love Weiland, but EVERYTHING he did came after Cornell, Vedder, Cantrell and Staley.

agreed 100%

 

[Unrepresented]

Wasn't this question answered in the song "Hunger Strike" when Cornell blew Vedder completely away?

Cornell has range, passion, pitch, and soul.

Vedder has... vibrato?

 

[Tylerrr51]

I think it was both of them that gave AiC its signature sound, sure Jerry wrote most of the songs, but without layne there wouldnt be the eerie face melting vocals that gets you hooked. and the harmonies those two had together might as well have been magic.

Songwriting - Jerry > Layne
Appeal - Jerry=Layne

 

[Hoover]

I could never get into any of that yarling characteristic of underbite rock.

BWA-HA-HA! Holy crap, I love that description! "Underbite rock", that is awesome. I had a friend back in the 90s who used to do this hysterical impersonation of all the grunge singers: He'd basically clench his teeth really tight and then try to sing through them.

Thing is, he sounded exactly like Eddie Vedder when he did that.