Your opinion of the best singer of all time
 

If you go simply on range I would have to say Mariah Carey but a lot of people don't like her. If you go on style I would have to say Ben Gibbard

It's Mike Patton. No one has greater range than Mike Patton, and he's done more for music than so many people.

Ben Gibbard, bleh. I like The Postal Service. Doug Martsch is what Ben Gibbard wishes he could be, in like, everything.

I'm a big Ronnie James Dio guy.

OH MAN, I HAAATE DIO.

I really feel like a huge, jerky hatefest in this topic. Man, fuck me.

yes, he's amazingly diverse. either him or Bowie. me Bowie fanboy

AND

lest we forget, Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart had the definitive blues voice and the range to accomodate his music. He could sing lines like 'cheese in the corner with a mile long beard' and make them profound. infact he probably takes the title for me. could have been one of 'the greats' if he'd sung otis redding songs

Beefheart
Dio
Serj Tankian
Anthony Green
EDIT: hell how did I forgot the man on my wall Freddie Mercury?

This.

Past favorites of mine have included Layne Staley, Maynard James Keenan, and even Isaak Brock before he spelled bad news with Good News... I'm forgetting some I'm sure. I'm in a hurry.

yes and no.

i'm a huge Patton fan and while he's done a lot for his music i don't know how much i'd say he's done to spread that to the masses.

i'd say Freddie Mercury did more for bringing music (and an amazing voice) to the people.

i also think Chris Cornell had one of the best hard rock voices going while he was fronting Soundgarden.

Thom Yorke should at least be name dropped into this discussion as well. while the later Radiohead stuff colours everything with effects his vocal work on their early albums is definitely note worthy.

Tim Buckley, probably the best singer ever in any genre.
If you don't believe me then listen to "Starsailor" and prepared be blown the **** back...

I'd go with Mike Patton too. I also like Bjork and Jonsi from Sigur Ros.

I see your Tim Buckley and raise you Jeff Buckley.

Yes. Completely. Single most unique singer there is.

I knew this was going to happen, Jeff's voice was too soft and rounded for my taste. Tim can really blow a ****ing house down with his.

Maybe not greatest of all time, but my personal favorites:
http://www.furiacontralamaquina.com/...08/03/greg.jpg
Greg Puciato
http://www.skirtfulloffire.com/blog/...9/07/bjork.jpg
Bjork
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3296/...802fff5795.jpg
Keith Buckley
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3150/...4bed8c.jpg?v=0
HR

http://blog.rhapsody.com/Erika%20Wennerstrom.jpg
Erika Wennerstrom.
[IMG]http://api.ning.com/files/uBOcHiv99G1xS1OXI6idEu7XtWS6fhb8LTPvZzGm7ZUwxzL2gl CiQCjAaNK1iJyzUnnuOI*xxb62L1F0ngenHFpz-cRPgyMu/TomWaits.jpg[/IMG]
Waits.

Paul Robeson, an inspiration who stood up to his government for equality and justice and was the greatest voice of the 20th century, a deep bass that could be tender and confidential one minute and rattle foundations the next. He sang songs of struggle and revolution around the world in 20 languages... this guy is just purity to me; he never gave in, but they got to him in the end of course!
YouTube - The Volga Boatmen - sung by Paul Robeson

Freddie Mercury. He has a fantastic voice.

I think Frank Sinatra was the best singer of all time but I really like Freddie.

i really really like Black Francis, but David Bowie and Tom Waits can stir me too. what can i say? if i love the music, i love the singer, range or technical skill not important ... what's most important to me is that the voice matches the music perfectly as an instrument ...

Tom Waits, Otis Redding, Eric Burdon, Steve Marriott, Bob Dylan and Ian Curtis and all terrific in their own way, but I can't really pick a favourite.

without deepening the trough of psychoanalysis on myself i'd have to lean a hand for Tom Waits.

he probably doesn't have the range or ability of some others but where he overcompensates is in his expansive delivery. the man has as much character in his voice as his parlour predecessors but in lieu of the egregious honey sweetness that made Sinatra and Newman so unbearable. honestly i find it difficult to believe that his voice is entirely organic (abetted by a healthy dose of whiskey i'm sure).

plus he knows how to write a good fucking song.

Billy MacKensie(Associates)
Scott Walker

Ah yeah, Tom Waits is cool. His voice now sounds like Bob Dylan's in his 60's.

I'm not huge on his voice. I like his songwriting.

hey good f*cking call!

As always I am beaten to the Jeff Buckley card by dac...

Rivers Cuomo



Nah I'm just ****ing with ya, I might get shit on for saying this but I'd say Layne Staley is up there.

Not really, he was a great vocalist. He was one of my 2-3 favorites around 91-92.

http://themusicsover.files.wordpress...12/orbison.jpg

Roy Orbison

Mike patton

Mike patton

and Mike Patton

his work speaks for its self

mike patton. robert plant. geoff tate

Personal favorites: Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Mick Harvey, PJ Harvey, Leonard Cohen, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, Freddie Mercury, Isobel Campbell when with Mark Lanegan, and for some reason Jim Morrison.

Word.

Here's the "experts" take on the greatest singers of all time. Then again nowadays Rolling Stone is a lot reliable than it use to be.


The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time : Rolling Stone

I have this Rolling Stone edition. The names are right, but not in the right order.

that list was a laughable attempt to praise music's sacred cows. Rolling Stone's lists are almost always perpetually devoted to regressive cultural trends.

I agree heartily.

What order would you put them in?

lennon and charles in the top 5? come on...

it's 100 names ... and I don't think I have any order. But Aretha sure isn't number one.

You should see how far is little Richard and how high is Christina Aguilera!! Weird stuff.