Beat me to the punch. Most 'indie' bands have singers who can't really sing. Thing is, if they could the bands wouldn't sound like they do. I know Wayne can't sing, and I don't care. Clouds Taste Metallic is still one of my favorite albums of all time and they put on one hell of a show.
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Famous bands with bad singers
- Thread starter Nowhere Man
- Start date
Beat me to the punch. Most 'indie' bands have singers who can't really sing. Thing is, if they could the bands wouldn't sound like they do. I know Wayne can't sing, and I don't care. Clouds Taste Metallic is still one of my favorite albums of all time and they put on one hell of a show.
I may have to say it: The Police.Honestly, who really thinks that Sting is a vocal master? I can't understand a word he says unless I've seen the lyrics and listened to the song a good deal. (Which I do. I really enjoy the Police, and would have loved to see them live).
Oh no you didn't...
Anyway, much has been said about what makes a "bad singer" and I will push the point that this means the person is technically bad, not simply that you hate the voice. Celine Dion is an oversinging hack that I would rather stab pencils into my ears than listen to, but she is undeniable a "good singer" in that she has a technical mastery of her instrument.
I have to go +100 with Anthony Kedis. The guys voice just sucks, he has no control, is more cartoonish than than the (purposefully cartoony) Claypool, and the 5 times I have seen the RHCP in concert he is always out of both tune and breath. He appears to me a man who spends exactly 0% of his time working on his intrument.
P.S. Sting is indeeed the vocal master
I like to believe there is a special place reserved in hell for Anthony Kiedis. He just seems to choose his own key to sing in, no matter what the band is playing. I can't imagine being their producer.
I don't know if she's improved since her first single, but Fiona Apple has that disgustingly flat extended note in "Shadowboxer" that made me physically ill every time I heard it (working in a record store when that was a huge single meant I heard it a lot).
Axl Rose, definitely. He ruins some very good songs (who thought the ending of "Don't Cry" was a good idea? Seriously?).
I don't know if she's improved since her first single, but Fiona Apple has that disgustingly flat extended note in "Shadowboxer" that made me physically ill every time I heard it (working in a record store when that was a huge single meant I heard it a lot).
Axl Rose, definitely. He ruins some very good songs (who thought the ending of "Don't Cry" was a good idea? Seriously?).
I punch the dashboard when that putrid sound comes out of my radio. What is interesting about that statement is that I did not know who it was when I was first offended by that sound.
I absolutely despise the sound of Rush. If I want 3 piece there is only one. CREAM.
Say what you want about the band as a whole (I like em..) but Robert DeLeo is a monster bass player.
WOW!!! On a serious note, I have seen people list Thom Yorke, Robert Plant, and Matt Bellamy. Who are you kidding? I understand that their voices may grate on your last nerve, But Bad? WOW!!!
Oh, i'll add modern voice james hetfield
Haha, the problem with modern voice hetfield, is that he CAN sing.
It's impossible to tell with Thom Yorke. He just hums impotently into the mic.
I got quite a shock when I actually heard Phil Collen sing. He's surprisingly good.
You're judging a guy who has been singing for the better part of 40 years and expecting him to sound the same now as when he was 18 or so and had just joined Rush. Seriously, few, if none, singers will be able to do that.
People's voices change. In the case of Geddy Lee, he was actually suffering throat damage from singing as he did in the early Rush albums.
No, I'm not expecting him to. But with the way he sounds these days the least they could do is retire, make new music that actually doesn't suck but doesn't require the vocal range of their yesteryear music, or just get someone else to sing. Its becoming a bit of a laugh show compared to what he used to sound like.
Seriously? I think Taking Back Sunday's vocalist MAKES the band! Not that I am the biggest fan, just sayin
Proving without a doubt that you haven't listened to Snakes And Arrows properly, or their new songs BU2B and Caravan, and realized that he's changed singing style completely now. It's much lower and toned-down.
I could also post a few clips from live shows where the song was originally sung high, only to have him change some sections deliberately because even he knows that he can't go that high now. It still sounds great.
Exhibit A: Invalid Link Removed
Rush has always been three members and you can guarantee that adding a new singer would cause a riot, as well as not even being a guarantee that they'll be any 'better'. Plus, you're talking about one of the tightest bands on the planet- the way they work together is something that the addition of a new singer is only going to upset, and it's not something that a band who is as well-known as Rush, or indeed who work in the way Rush do, want to lose.
. And they're not plannig to retire yet, they've said themselves. They're still touring and people still want to see them play.
Fat Mike from NOFX gets my vote. That guy can't sing at all AND his voice is nasal and thin. However, I still love them. 
There seems to be quite a few here who seems to confuse the terms "bad singer" and "having a voice one doesn't care for". I, for one, don't really care for Bruce Dickinsons style of singing, or his voice. But I won't say the guy is a bad singer. Or, as someone before me mentioned, Celine *ugh* Dion...
There seems to be quite a few here who seems to confuse the terms "bad singer" and "having a voice one doesn't care for". I, for one, don't really care for Bruce Dickinsons style of singing, or his voice. But I won't say the guy is a bad singer. Or, as someone before me mentioned, Celine *ugh* Dion...
a-Ha with Morten Harket. He can sing beautifully on studio track, but he can't sing live, always messing with his ear monitor.
Fassa Albrecht said:
Agree, Geddy is a great singer, also now. He allowed to get older with respect from us his fans. How can we except that he should manage to sing just like when he was 25?
Rockmusician said:
Yeah I saw them last august, and Pauls voice was pretty bad. That being said it was very late in the tour. I'm gonna see them again on July 28th. It's a mini tour so maybe it'll be better.
His voice in the 90s was really good though!
Joe Gress said:
Geddy is a fantastic singer, live or studio. You might not like his voice but the man can sing and he is in tune.
