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Freddie Mercury is still the best rock vocalist

D

Dhx

Member
Let's do this right. First of all, paging Mumei. He does this better than anyone, and I'm going to steal one of his posts from years ago that I revisit when I'm in a vocal appreciation mood.

First, be sure to start with checking out the a cappella tracks:

Don't Stop Me Now (my personal Queen GOAT): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or6nB5iDlUA
Show Must Go On: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GGFdY3Sopc
I Want it All: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4b0MarojNI

There are many more tracks down the rabbit hole from those.

As for specific notes, I'll leave it to Mumei..

Mumei said:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=37286387&postcount=5671

High Notes (Falsetto):
Mid / High Notes (Modal):
Low Notes
Click to expand...

That said, let's not forget Bruce Dickinson. Tate and Plant belong someone in the conversation as well.

Honorable mentions for pure range to David Lee Roth and Axl Rose, but I wouldn't put either in the conversation for "greatest."
 
S

Sesha

Member
Nah, Mike Patton is. Widest range, most versatile in terms of technique, most diverse musically.

I guess Freddie Mercury's voice is "prettier", and he's arguably more influential, but eh.
 
P

PHOENIXZERO

Member
BobLoblaw said:
Steve Perry should get more love.
Click to expand...

Searched to see if Steve Perry was mentioned and glad I'm not alone. I'd put Steve Perry above Freddie when it comes to pure vocal ability though Freddie as a more complete package as a frontman/showman and Queen was more molded to Freddie's voice.

Brian May also probably deserves a lot more credit.
 
R

Randam

Member
collige said:
If we're talking from a purely technical perspective, sure.

If we're using charisma and creativity as measures, I give it to HR, no question.
Click to expand...
Who is HR?


And yeah, Mike Paton has great voice.
So does Jonathan Davis from Korn.

Corey Taylor is good too.
And one always overlooked singer is Joey Belladonna from Anthrax.
 
A

acheron_xl

Member
I really want to know when the memo went out that said that Freddy Mercury was the greatest talent rock ever produced. Many people clearly got it, since I don't remember people frothing this much about Queen 10 years ago. Is it all the same people that followed MJ until the end instead of getting off that particular boat in 1993?
 
D

Dr Duncan Steel

Member
Not only the best rock vocalist; but also the best figure Bandai has ever released from their SH Figuarts line.

2HBsF8M.jpg
Click to expand...

The gun is from the MGS2 Solid Snake Figma. It's not included.
 
P

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
No Michael Stipe mentions? Come on.

Also, another vote here for Steve Perry.
 
B

Boy Wander

Member
Steven Tyler from Aerosmith is my personal favourite. He's not as good a singer as Mercury and likely not as good a showman, but I prefer him.
 
C

cpp_is_king

Member
Cranster said:
Pretty sure that is not true. I remember reading a few years back that the highest vocal note as a live performance was done by Rob Halford at a Montreal performance in the early 80's.
Click to expand...

Not the highest note, the highest range. Halford may have been able to go higher, but Rose could go (much) lower
 
QuantumZebra

QuantumZebra

Member
neurosisxeno said:
Most singers do. Mercury didn't even do a lot of the high notes in concert--for example I am yet to hear a live version of Under Pressure where he even tries to go high like he does in the album version. Shit, I go higher doing that song for Karaoke than Freddy does in most of their recorded live performances. Obviously he has a smoother voice across the board than I could even dream of, but a lot of his iconic segments are lackluster live compared to the crisp sound they achieved in the studio. In fact, a lot of the higher notes in Queen songs are secretly Brian May. Mercury was a phenomenal talent, but I wouldn't say he was consistent with his live performances--granted most singers of that caliber rarely are. The only people I've ever seen/heard do better live than on their albums are the guys from Baroness, and Tommy Giles Rogers from Between The Buried And Me. I think Baroness is mostly because their sound mixing is terrible on most of their albums but they sound way better live than they do on albums.
Click to expand...

This is a very interesting take.

I do agree Tommy from BTBAM and the dudes from Baroness are way better live.

My top 5:

Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog)
Vedder (Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog)
Mercury (Queen)
Plant (Led Zeppelin)
McKinney (Karnivool)

Honorable Mentions:

Rob Halford (Judas Priest)
Maynard J Keenan (Tool, APC)
 
V

V1ctIm

Neo Member
Yup. I can't understand why or how this can be an argument anymore. Freddie's power and range are quite seriously second to none. There are other talented folks out there to be sure, but no one comes close.
 
MrS

MrS

Banned
Plant is better, and Zep are better than Queen. I really dislike Queen. Too theatrical for my tastes.
 
L

lightskintwin

Banned
V1ctIm said:
Yup. I can't understand why or how this can be an argument anymore. Freddie's power and range are quite seriously second to none. There are other talented folks out there to be sure, but no one comes close.
Click to expand...

Freddie Mercury was indeed talented, but this nonsense has to stop.

LMAO @ no one else comes close.
 
T

teruterubozu

Member
MrS said:
Plant is better, and Zep are better than Queen. I really dislike Queen. Too theatrical for my tastes.
Click to expand...

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.
 
B

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
A shame that such a great singer had to die so young. Who knows what else he could have given us.
 
A

acheron_xl

Member
teruterubozu said:
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.
Click to expand...

I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed.

He's great, but come on. There have been a ton of amazing rock singers. At some point during the 80's, the cup runneth over with virtuosos in all rock fields.
 
QuantumZebra

QuantumZebra

Member
teruterubozu said:
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.
Click to expand...

Oh come the fuck on.

Radiohead and Muse, ok, yes, they are as annoying as Apple/Mac snobs... but Queen deserves every bit of praise they get.

lightskintwin said:
Freddie Mercury was indeed talented, but this nonsense has to stop.

LMAO @ no one else comes close.
Click to expand...

As an overall talent/frontman? Who else? Stevie Nicks, Robert Plant, and... ? Maybe Steve Perry or Axl?

acheron_xl said:
One can make a claim that Stipe wasn't even the best singer in his own band.
Click to expand...


oKV3Fdd.gif



... I'm out
 
P

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
acheron_xl said:
One can make a claim that Stipe wasn't even the best singer in his own band.
Click to expand...

I love Mike Mills (and many favorite REM songs are him leading on vocals) but this is a ludicrous notion.
 
H

Harmen

Member
No one comes close is nonsense, but he is one of my favourite vocalists ever for sure. And a unique one. But still, Queen deserves the praise they get in my opinion. They have been incredibly influential on many artists spanning many genres and generations with a reason. Incredibly versatile music with quality on all fronts, not only vocally. People tend to think about Queen only for their greatest hits (of which there are many), but beyond those are so much other of tracks that are fantastic, a lot of them of different styles as well.

That said, most of my favourite rock/metal singers are not nearly as well known. These include Russel Allen, Floor Jansen, Tom Englund, Tony Kakko, Carl Anderson etc. So many great versatile rock voices out there.
 
B

Bloodporne

Member
Are we judging purely based on technique/skill? If not, this motherfucker is my favorite Rock 'N Roll singer, obviously technically not in the same league:

bf892256-7306-4cbb-b501-bdfc13c2ae10
 
R

RionaaM

Unconfirmed Member
TheSkullPrince said:
I'll add two more to list: John Fogerty and Stephen Malkmus.
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Creedence is my favorite band ever, and I believe Fogerty had a terrific voice (I say "had" because I'm not really a fan of how his voice aged, even though I really like his solo stuff), but I still think Freddie was a better singer than him.

Manzanas said:
Off the top of my head these guys are so much better:
John Lennon
Thom Yorke
Jim James
Eddie Vedder
David Gilmour
Roger Waters
Paul McCartney
Bob Dylan
Click to expand...
Same deal with Gilmour. I like his voice a lot, but he's nowhere near Freddie. Neither are Waters (which I consider worse than Gilmour), Lennon, McCartney (my favorite Beatle) nor Yorke. Haven't listened much to the others, so I don't have any opinions about them. This doesn't mean these guys are bad singers, far from it, only that I think Freddie was more skilled.

Bitanator said:
Brad Delp has my favorite classic rock voice, he was such a fantastic singer. Dio, Steve Perry, Roy Orbison are up there too next to Freddy, all legends.
Click to expand...
Delp was amazing, and could maybe rival Freddie, or at least come very close. His voice in "Hitch a ride" and "Long time" is breathtakingly beautiful.
 
R

RMI

Banned
Freddie has an awesome voice, but greatest? I don't know.

teruterubozu said:
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.
Click to expand...

I've read some stupid shit on this website but this is something else.

also Muse... gtfo they are not even in the same league as Radiohead and Queen.
 
E

Ethelwulf

Member
As usual for these type of things, naming one is impossible. Rather, I would consider him one of the best and most iconic rock singers of all time.
 
R

RDreamer

Member
We really having a thread on some of the best vocalists of all time and no one has mentioned this man yet:

f9bFYTw.jpg


Devin fucking Townsend. Seriously, the guy is insane and his voice holds up live.
 
T

TheBowen

Sat alone in a boggy marsh
It just amazed me how alot of even great studio artists cant sound too great live

You watch queen live and freddie bursts out those notes sometimes even better then the album versions

Im not much of a rock guy, but freddie seems like a safe bet
 
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