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Freddie Mercury is still the best rock vocalist

MrS

Banned
If by expressive you mean wailing like he's having his testicles removed, then yes, it's extremely expressive.
Haven't you ever listened to Ten Years Gone, Please Read The Letter, Tangerine or The Rain Song? His voice is incredible and he can do delicate, he isn't just about 'wailing'. Plant has the Midas touch.

No, Plant is an absolutely awful singer. Led Zeppelin could have been one of the greatest bands of all time if they had ditched Plant. He had no clue what he's doing.
Just realised it's pointless trying to reason with you because you don't have a clue.
 

tekumseh

a mass of phermones, hormones and adrenaline just waiting to explode
Freddie Mercury had an absolutely beautiful voice. Axl Rose sounded like a car caught in the fan belt of a car when singing. Steve Perry from Journey would be my second choice.

A special note I would add about Queen. While Mercury is unparalleled, both Brian May and, particularly, Roger Taylor, had spectacular voices as well. I believe in terms of the greatest GROUP of vocalists, Queen was unrivaled as a band, and by a substantial margin...
 
Historically speaking Freddie's da best but, "is still"?

Um, you may want to be sitting down for this but Freddie ain't singing much these days.
 

Staccat0

Fail out bailed
I think so.

I might give it to Michael Jackson, but then I would have to deal with people pretending rock music is a clearly defined genre.

My personal FAVORITE rock vocalist is Elvis Costello though.
 
Well fuck. Nothing to discuss here really.

tumblr_mudu7onjEK1rleb45o1_500.gif
 

Camwi

Member
yeah props to mercury, cornell and I will give layne stalley a mention as he was siiick especially in his early years.

but cmon people, nobody... NOBODY in any rock band EVER can sing better than Mike Patton.

i'm not starting a joke, it's that easy... no evidence required.

cfbab664301912d1418c338be8b1a615--mike-patton-guns-n-roses.jpg

I was waiting for Patton to pop up in this thread.
 
Yeah I've never been a Queen fan. I find the whole resurgence of Queen with the younger internet generation amusing.
Queen, Radiohead and Muse - the Internet Trifecta of sheeple masturbation.

Resurgence

Buddy Queen has been in "Resurgence" for the past 30 years, then. Queen bypasses time at this point.
 

AlphaDump

Gold Member
Ronnie James Dio is definitely up there. Very clean sound, never unintentionally screechy.

Dio - Heaven and Hell

Rainbow - Man on a Silver Mountain

Great examples of his voice.
 

Osukaa

Member
Hmmm Best Rock Vocalist.... Ill agree.
His charisma was also just awesome I wish I could have seen one Queen show before he passed away.
 

nw3

Member
No one else comes close. Lennon has an iconic voice but not a patch of Freddie, McCartney comes way closer in terms of technique, power & range. Dylan - you've got to be kidding. Anyone mentioned Van Morrison? He's a phenomenal vocalist.

If you're throwing R&B heavyweights in the ring and looking at the bigger picture then for me Marvin Gaye (and maybe even Otis Reading beat Freddie.

And shout-out to Daryl Hall from Hall & Oates if you want to hear someone so pitch-perfect that they sound like an Autotuned vocal 20 year before it was invented.
 

Borinot

Member
I love queen but freddie live performances always dissapoint me. He didn't take any voice risk, i guess it was to avoid running out of voice in the middle of a concert, i dont understand the love for wembley86, it is a dissapointment in the most waited moments.
 
I'd also place Jim Morrison above Freddy.
Jim Morrison is not a good singer.
Call me when one of those guys can do something like this!
It's amazing in clips like these how young everyone in the front of the crowd is. Even into the '90s big arena rock act tickets were in the $20 range. Now all I see in the front rows are older people who can afford the $100's of dollars those seats command.
Yeah this is a pretty good list of rock singers not generally known for being great singers.
He forgot Neil Young and Jerry Garcia!
 

Manzanas

Neo Member
It seems like when judging a great vocalist, most of you are going by the American idol standard. I view it by how the singing has emotional weight behind it as well as how the singing fits the music being played.
John Lennon's vocals in the ending of Mother is a good example of what I mean.
Then you have people like Bob Dylan or Roger Waters. Many people consider them to have bad voices. It's true they don't have that American Idol voice, but that doesn't stop them from singing with passion. They never let their "bad" voices stop them from singing their emotions and complimenting the music being played.
Passion in a voice is far greater than hitting those high notes is all I'm trying to say. Don't get me wrong I think Freddy has a great voice. The vocalists I listed earlier just moved me in a way that no other singers have.
 
C

Contica

Unconfirmed Member
Lane is easily my all time personal favorite from an aesthetic standpoint, but from a purely technical standpoint, Rose and Mercury are definitely ahead

Honestly, I'm so biased it's hard to say. It would be interesting to see these giants of rock being put head to head in a song competition with lesser known singers.
 

AcridMeat

Banned
Can't believe some people are putting Thom fucking Yorke as a comparison to Freddie.

In terms of showmanship and range, Freddie is unmatched.

I love Cornell and Staley but it's Mercury.

Also Devin Townsend really is amazing in terms of range. He, like Freddie, could be an opera singer. If you've never heard him please take the time to listen to the opening of this live performance (the first verse). It made me a fan instantly.

I time stamped it but it may not work (on mobile)
 

Xun

Member
I don't have a favourite singer, but Freddie is most definitely up there.

Fantastic performer.

Also to see Plant be hated on by some is incredibly sad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYnyVe2GKa0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LynX_3ve6BI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8ma1_gyXVE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YAtbROFfqU (The whole performance is brilliant, but the call and response at 5:00 in is insane)

He had a truly fantastic set of pipes.

Terry "Superlungs" Reid gets my money.
Reid is far too under-appreciated.

Phenomenal singer.
 
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