Are male vocalists more popular than female inPROG

Mind_Drive wrote: Hi everybody, i have a big problem... I just wondered why all of my favourite vocalists are male.. then i was confused because i suddenly could not think of any band i really love with a female vocalist. is this a prog-related phenomenon or why are there so few female singers in this genre? (ok i have to admit i don´t know too much different prog bands by now). There are some beautiful female voices (i think of tarja turunen the ex-nightwish singer or the within temptation vocalist) but they´r all doing this melodic metal stuff wich i don´t like that much because of the lack of prog ;) Please don´t misunderstand me, i´m in no way misogynic or whatever.. i am just wondering... if i ask around in my family or my friends they all tell me that they do like male voices more than female. How about you? do you feel the same, or not? in fact i would be glad someone disagreed..

I think the first part of your post was addressed somewhat a few months ago and some people said maybe it's because rock is such a sausage fest and drives women away. Not an entirely far fetched perception because though you won't find them here, much of the rock crowd is rather chauvinist and don't think highly of women...in music (and hopefully not in all spheres of life in general!).  You will find a lot more female singers in R&B compared to rock, for instance. Come to think, there aren't even many female musicians in rock compared to the number of male musicians.  So, the point is, maybe you need to look elsewhere for female vocals.

Coming to prog, I am not generally very satisfied with the way female vocals are handled in prog...you'd rather use synthesizer instead to produce those airy-fairy effects (that's just my perception, by the way!).  Beats me why bands don't just let them actually sing their heart out, the way the great male prog singers do?  Oh, DO tell me it is because they don't know how to, that would be a truly enlightening perspective!    Anyway, with the sole exception of Annie Haslam, I prefer Ann Stewart or Stella Vander kind of female vocals in prog where their operatic tendencies are used to convey a effect similar to a musical instrument, except it's more dramatic.  Kate Bush is awesome of course but I don't really consider her albums prog.  Progressive perhaps, but that's a different story.   Those folk queens are terrific too, but well, they are folk!

I find female vocals very beautiful and sometimes more attractive than male, but only at first. Usually, I get tired of them rather quickly. Maybe that happens because at least in the metal wolrd female vocals are all too similar. Now, in other styles, the situation improves. Especially in genres closer to mainstream. Really. I think I can find better vocals in other styles, not in prog. I haven't heard more than, say, 10 or 15 bands with female vocals in non-metal-prog, but that gives me an idea about the general picture. I prefer male vocals in all rock.

Hi,

paulwalker71 wrote: There's a whole slew of female vocalists in prog bands that are in the celtic style. For example Heather Findlay  Mostly Autumn Anne Marie Helder of Karnataka and Panic Room Olivia Spearman of Breathing Space Joanne Hogg of Iona Rachel Cohen of The Reasoning In fact, bands that are in that musical style seem to invariably have a female vocalist (often more than one). Perhaps the celtic / light prog style suits female voice more than male?

Those girls (who, in my humble opinion, make a little too much use of their physical charms) are just keeping up with a tradition that has been going on for decades - that of folk-rock bands with female vocals. They are followers of the likes of Sandy Denny, Maddy Prior and Jacqui McShee, though - from I have heard - nowhere as good as these three, or as Barbara Gaskin when she sang with Spirogyra.

paulwalker71 wrote: There's a whole slew of female vocalists in prog bands that are in the celtic style. For example Heather Findlay  Mostly Autumn Anne Marie Helder of Karnataka and Panic Room Olivia Spearman of Breathing Space Joanne Hogg of Iona Rachel Cohen of The Reasoning In fact, bands that are in that musical style seem to invariably have a female vocalist (often more than one). Perhaps the celtic / light prog style suits female voice more than male?

I agree 100% (except it's Olivia Sparnenn!). All these vocalists are top notch and a match for any male vocalist.

Mind_Drive wrote: in fact i would be glad someone disagreed..

Uhhh, Christina from Magenta, anybody?

Well, even if it is just me, I absolutely love her voice.

Progosopher wrote: Many of my favorite vocalists are women: Maddy Prior Annie Haslam Ann Wilson Jon Anderson   In all honesty, it depends on the vocalist and not gender.

Edited by June - September 24 2009 at 20:43

terryl wrote: Hi I wonder why Great Gigs in the Sky never got mentioned. Annie Haslam in her rendition of Yes' Turn of the Century actually opened my eyes that female vocalists have a different allure in music. Before that I was like the OP who didn't really care much of women fronted bands.

 I love me some female vocalists. Ann Wilson, Stevie Nicks, Annie Haslam, Hiroko Nagai, Hannah Stobart, Marcela Bovio (not as much a fan of her bands as her voice), etc. Can't get enough.