24 replies to this topic

[SammyBirdland]

By saying "great bands", does that mean that we have to actually like the band?

 

Because I can't stand the guy's voice from Jane's Addiction.  But because of that I dislike them as a band as well.

 

I was thinking of bands that are great, in spite of the fact that you can't imagine how the lead singer got through the audition process to be a professional vocalist.

[Mike in STL]

Ha. My favorite band. Metallica. James Hetfield is not a great vocalist. Hes ok at getting the crowd involved and makes live show fun. But hes not a good "vocalist" by definition.

[Bmore Irish]

I think a pretty significant number of great rock bands today have lead singers that wouldn't be considered particularly good technically.

But that's the draw with a lot of these guys, they have a unique sounding voice that fits with the music being played.

Matt Schultz from Cage the Elephant is another guy you can throw on this list. He has a kind of whiny sounding voice that I'm sure many people would find annoying, but I think their overall sound is awesome and his voice just fits.

[Coker]

Tom Waits. See: avatar

/end thread

[RShack]

Tom Waits. See: avatar

/end thread

 

But he's so bad, he's good...

 

Lotsa singers stopping by Letterman to say goodbye... they *all* sing way better than him... but the song Waits' did captured the very essence of saying goodbye... and the way he did it, well, you just couldn't turn away...