No female vocalists?
 darqDean wrote:
For me part of the charm of Prog is that the singers are quirky and idiosyncratic, that they have an individual vocal style with distinctive vocal phrasing, pitch, intonation, diction or some unusual affectation that singles them out from a crowd of "non-annoying" singers who, although may be technically perfect, are colourless and bland by comparision.
One quote from the fringes of Prog that I rather like was by Ron Mael, who when asked about his brother Russell's eccentric vocals answered with "If the songs are difficult to play, then they can damn well be difficult to sing". |
Good post, though of course not all of the singers in Prog are quirky or idiosynchratic (when looking across the gamut of musical styles). It's the ones that don't have an individual, bland style that quite often don't appeal for me too, though not necessarily. Prog is such a mixed bag, and you find those that seem to imitate other Prog singers, and those whose voices would not be unusual for other musical genres (for instance, AOR, pop, heavy metal, folk, musicals, jazz, light opera...). I enjoy many voices which are not that distinctive, actually (quite a few female Prog folk singers I could think of, but I enjoy them anyway).
I could understand someone not liking Dagmar Krause (Art Bears, Slapp Happy, Henry Cow), David Surkamp (Pavolv's Dog), Peter Hammill (VdGG and solo), and Norman Barrett (Gravy Train) for instance, and there are those who dislike the vocals in Bubu which I like very much, but for me it's rather typically AORish vocals that really don't appeal, as well as certain metal style vocals.
I have always had a bit of aproblem with one of the more idiosynchraticc singers in Prog, Peter Hammill, though I really like VdGG and still don't know his solo work well enough. he has a beautiful voice, but I do find his histrionics annoying and affected.
A male singer whose voices really appeal to me is Topi Lehtipuu from Hoyry-Kone, but I know others don't enjoy such singing so much. Francesco Di Giacomo of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso is one singer who I can't recall anyone saying was bad.
I used to like Annie Haslam's voice (Renaissance) quite a lot, but my wife found it very common and boring. She says much the same of Emily Hay's voice (U Totem, Motor Totemist Guild...). Robert Wyatt may not have a traditionally good voice, but I feel a sincerity and amicability in it that appeals.
My favourite vocals are often more operatic, and they can be typically operatic. I often like idiosynchratic voices, and do tend to prefer fairly distinctive vocals, but that can put me off too, depending on how its employed and the tone etc.
A few vocalists I don't care for are Roine Stolt, Neal Morse, Steve Walsh. The voices fit the music well, but then I don't care for the music. And a great deal of Neo Prog vocals don't appeal to me as it sounds AORish to me.
Interestingly, I often prefer Collins' voice over Gabriel's as it can be smoother and easier listening for me.
Much as I like distinct voices, if those distinct voices are pitchy and too raw, that can be a turn-off. It's got to be, for my ear, good and distinct, or good (highly trained) and not that unique. A bad-sounding unique voice still sounds bad to me, but in some cases I can find those enjoyable too...
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Most Annoying Singer
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