Greatest Prog Rock Singers - Top 30 Countdown - Progressive Rock Music Forum

According to UDiscover...

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/best-prog-rock-singers/?fbclid=IwAR3mWrGDHSEuDCZjwyMlayzqhKjG_Rv7Vug75LZvnYjQmS64u-PvMYQwya8

jc

I think the list is actually a fairly good one, if a little predictable, but not with the adjective greatest, or any similar superlative. A lot of the singers there are not great singers by any objective measure, but they are effective and memorable. The thing is you don’t have to be a great singer to make a great impact, and this is true across all music. Bono is hardly a great singer, for example, but despite whether you like or don’t like U2, most people would still agree he does a good job even if he doesn’t have great vocal ability.

I love a lot of Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson music, but I think he’s a particularly weak singer and that really comes across live. I found parts of Home Invasion (I think it was that one, anyway) almost painful to listen to. Without studio tweaking, live music always brings out any weaknesses in a singer - and if they have weaknesses, then as well as they work with the music, they cannot really be considered great singers.

Anyway, that’s probably just me opening up a can of worms.... 🍿🍿🍿

Reviewer for The Progressive Aspect

I would have put Hammill at number one too. His career actually spans over 50 years, not just 40.

The saying "What Jimi Hendrix did for the guitar Peter Hammill did for the vocals" is actually from the autobiography of Robert Fripp.

BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.

In spite of some interesting, rather unusual entries, this list is far from ideal (and this is an understatement). First of all, with the sole exception of Thijs van Leer (who sang in English anyway), there are no singers from outside the English-speaking world. Not mentioning Francesco di Giacomo or Demetrio Stratos (to name but two) renders this list incomplete to say the least. In terms of female vocalists, including Sally Oldfield and Maddy Prior, but not Sandy Denny or Jacqui McShee, is another oddity. Regarding "crossover" singers, I find both Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies of Supertramp would have deserved inclusion, as would have Bryan Ferry.

On the other hand, I am positively surprised by the inclusion of Richard Sinclair and Robert Wyatt (who in my personal list would be among the top 10), and also of Gary Brooker, Justin Hayward, Adrian Belew and Roger Chapman. As for the endless Collins/Gabriel debate, though I know my opinion is rather heretical, I feel Collins did a better job as a singer with Genesis than Gabriel did. The latter (always IMHO, mind you) really came into his own when he went solo.

Not bad list. But way too 70s centric for one thing and for another, the ranking is all over the place. Shulman above Fish, are you f**king kidding me? LOL

Had I done the list Inga Rumpf would certainly have been on it as a female vocalist from Germany. She sings in both German and English.

Here a clip with her (why they show the Swedish flag at the beginning is a mystery to me; Frumpy are a German band):

Edited by BaldFriede - January 16 2021 at 08:27

BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.

Unbelieveable..........no James Labrie or Neal Morse or Portnoy. Krappy list LOL

Yea its too much of an old man list. Hasse Froberg, Bruce Soord maybe some other modern singers. Overall the list is fine and predictable, except for SWilson remove him and add in Hasse or Soord.

"Greatest" is a terrible descriptor too..

rogerthat wrote:

Not bad list. But way too 70s centric for one thing and for another, the ranking is all over the place. Shulman above Fish, are you f**king kidding me? LOL

Exactly. Minnear is the missing piece. I would give him a high ranking. The middle section of Wreck requires a lot of control and Kerry achieves it Clap