OT: 20 Most Distinctive Voices

[Triple S]

Just watched this on Canada’s muchMOREmusic ‘Listed’ segment.

“muchMOREmusic Listed - 20 Most Distinctive Voices
Not only do these singers have the raw pipes, their voices can be recognized a mile away. They have a unique singing style that's often imitated, but never duplicated. Which artists have the distinct and distinguished vocal power to be Listed?” (Their quote, not me)

20. Geddy Lee
19. Shakira
18. Snoop Dogg
17. Rod Stewart
16. Barry White
15. Stevie Nicks
14. Freddie Mercury
13. Eddie Vedder
12. Cher
11. Ozzy Osbourne
10. Dolly Parton
9. Barry Gibb
8. Elvis
7. Neil Young
6. Bon Scott and Brian Johnson (tied)
5. Robert Plant
4. Johnny Cash
3. Tom Waits
2. Janis Joplin
1. Bob Dylan

Um – I guess I can buy some of them. Snoop Dogg??? Shakira? - distinctive I guess, if you like that billy goat sound

I think they've missed a few

[artist4perry]

Yeah, like Steve Perry......duh!

[Loneman1]

Pretty damn good list, I must say. The writer must not be a Journey fan however, or surely he would have replaced one of them with Perry. I would have easliy replaced Waits with Perry. Hell, IMO James Hetfield should be on that list as well. Alot of metal vocalists can growl, but just like Perry, you know Jaymz IMMEDIATELY.

[Enigma869]

Perry absolutely belongs on this list and so does Axl Rose!


John from Boston

[kgdjpubs]

Pretty damn good list, I must say. The writer must not be a Journey fan however, or surely he would have replaced one of them with Perry. I would have easliy replaced Waits with Perry. Hell, IMO James Hetfield should be on that list as well. Alot of metal vocalists can growl, but just like Perry, you know Jaymz IMMEDIATELY.

I can see Perry NOT being on the list. Distinctive, yes....but not the "nobody-sounds-like-him" thing that Rod Stewart and several others have. There are several singers who have the high-pitched clean tenor thing going--no disrespect intended. I think they are going on that regard of simply different as opposed to rating singers. One absolute glaring omission I can see is Phil Collins. Nobody sounds like Phil.

[Ratgirl]

Perry absolutely belongs on this list and so does Axl Rose!


John from Boston

and Geoff Tate.. I can spot his voice a mile away.

[finalfight]

Wot no Halford...purlease!

[Just Mindy]

1. Bob Dylan

Like nails on a chalkboard distinctive.

[Saint John]

Steve Perry, Brad Delp and Lou Gramm are 3 voices I immediately recognize. Klauss Meine as well.

[Diffworlds]

I'd say Daryl Hall and Bruce Springsteen. You can spot lead vocals by these guys by the first few words. I can pick up Hall's background/harmony work in second.

Mike

[LtVanish]

Neil Diamond is missing from the list.

[Behshad]

They forgot Weird Al !!!

[Arianddu]

Pretty damn good list, I must say. The writer must not be a Journey fan however, or surely he would have replaced one of them with Perry. I would have easliy replaced Waits with Perry. Hell, IMO James Hetfield should be on that list as well. Alot of metal vocalists can growl, but just like Perry, you know Jaymz IMMEDIATELY.

I can see Perry NOT being on the list. Distinctive, yes....but not the "nobody-sounds-like-him" thing that Rod Stewart and several others have. There are several singers who have the high-pitched clean tenor thing going--no disrespect intended. I think they are going on that regard of simply different as opposed to rating singers. One absolute glaring omission I can see is Phil Collins. Nobody sounds like Phil.

I don't know, I can pick Perry's voice in about 2 seconds flat, even singing backing on someone else's song.

[Behshad]

Add to the list Michael Jackson and Madonna. and Gwen Stefani. And dont forget Cyndi Lauper and Hendrix..

[kgdjpubs]

I can see Perry NOT being on the list. Distinctive, yes....but not the "nobody-sounds-like-him" thing that Rod Stewart and several others have. There are several singers who have the high-pitched clean tenor thing going--no disrespect intended. I think they are going on that regard of simply different as opposed to rating singers. One absolute glaring omission I can see is Phil Collins. Nobody sounds like Phil.

I don't know, I can pick Perry's voice in about 2 seconds flat, even singing backing on someone else's song.

I can too, but it is not as distinctive as someone like Phil Colllins, Rod Stewart or Bob Dylan. This isn't a topic of good, it's simply different, and there are a lot of singers (some even mentioned on this thread) who have a more distinctive voice than Perry. He might be in my top 30, but not top 20. Some singers are just THAT unique.

[4everkop]

someone got to it first but michael jackson, and Stevie Wonder, and I'd also say Little Richard

[Triple S]

I was a little 'outraged' at first to not see SP on here. But then I thought – this should be someone whose voice is such that you’ve never heard anyone who sounds even remotely like them – for me that’s Burton Cummings (and maybe a few others on this list).

[Angiekay]

Sting
Michael McDonald

[MarcelJordan]

Billy Joel, John Wetton, Tom Petty?

Someone mentioned Daryl Hall, he SHOULD be in there.

[Deb]

I was a little 'outraged' at first to not see SP on here. But then I thought – this should be someone whose voice is such that you’ve never heard anyone who sounds even remotely like them – for me that’s Burton Cummings (and maybe a few others on this list).

True, Burton Cummings should be on there. Another one I recognize instantly is Steven Tyler's.....it's pretty distinct.

Sometimes those MMM Listed lists crack me up.

[yogi]

Dennis DeYoung - There is no other like his. Lady, Babe, Come Sail Away, Desert Moon- There is NO mistaking that voice.

[Ehwmatt]

I was a little 'outraged' at first to not see SP on here. But then I thought – this should be someone whose voice is such that you’ve never heard anyone who sounds even remotely like them – for me that’s Burton Cummings (and maybe a few others on this list).

Without a doubt Burton. He always says the greatest compliment people have paid him over the years is that he sounds like no one else they've heard. You can't beat Burton's voice.

[S2M]

I couldn't tell if this was Lou Ferrigno, or the person I wanted it to be....

[Arianddu]

If the criteria is 'sounds like no one else', then Barry Gibb shouldn't be there, as all the Gibb brothers sound alike, and Tiny Tim should, because NO ONE else sounds like that (thank god!)

[Triple S]

If the criteria is 'sounds like no one else', then Barry Gibb shouldn't be there, as all the Gibb brothers sound alike, and Tiny Tim should, because NO ONE else sounds like that (thank god!)

So true - I actually thought of Tiny Tim last night when I was watching this!

[Enigma869]

I can too, but it is not as distinctive as someone like Phil Colllins, Rod Stewart or Bob Dylan. This isn't a topic of good, it's simply different, and there are a lot of singers (some even mentioned on this thread) who have a more distinctive voice than Perry. He might be in my top 30, but not top 20. Some singers are just THAT unique.

This all really comes down to who you listen to. Someone else mentioned Dennis DeYoung. I've never been much of a Styx fan, so couldn't pick out the guy's voice on a bet! That said, I have NEVER mistaken Perry's voice. I also don't buy the argument that just because there were other high tenors, that they sounded anything like Perry. There was NOBODY who sounded like Perry...NOBODY! Brad Delp hit insanely high notes on "More Than A Feeling", and I certainly never thought it sounded like Perry. Perry's voice is VERY distinct to Journey fans. As for Stewart and Dylan, I agree... Dylan, especially. The guy sounds like shit, and once again proves that having the ability to sing isn't a pre-requisite to be a singer. He's "distinct", because he's the only guy on the planet who even knows how to sing through his nasal cavity! As for Phil Collins, I've always been a fan of Phil Collins but wouldn't put him in the same class (as far as having a very distinct voice) as Perry.



John from Boston

[annie89509]

Just watched this on Canada’s muchMOREmusic ‘Listed’ segment.

“muchMOREmusic Listed - 20 Most Distinctive Voices
Not only do these singers have the raw pipes, their voices can be recognized a mile away. They have a unique singing style that's often imitated, but never duplicated. Which artists have the distinct and distinguished vocal power to be Listed?” (Their quote, not me)

20. Geddy Lee
19. Shakira
18. Snoop Dogg
17. Rod Stewart
16. Barry White
15. Stevie Nicks
14. Freddie Mercury
13. Eddie Vedder
12. Cher
11. Ozzy Osbourne
10. Dolly Parton
9. Barry Gibb
8. Elvis
7. Neil Young
6. Bon Scott and Brian Johnson (tied)
5. Robert Plant
4. Johnny Cash
3. Tom Waits
2. Janis Joplin
1. Bob Dylan

Um – I guess I can buy some of them. Snoop Dogg??? Shakira? - distinctive I guess, if you like that billy goat sound

I think they've missed a few

All distinctive, I'd agree. But who would want to imitate some of those voices. (blech)

[kgdjpubs]

I can too, but it is not as distinctive as someone like Phil Colllins, Rod Stewart or Bob Dylan. This isn't a topic of good, it's simply different, and there are a lot of singers (some even mentioned on this thread) who have a more distinctive voice than Perry. He might be in my top 30, but not top 20. Some singers are just THAT unique.

This all really comes down to who you listen to. Someone else mentioned Dennis DeYoung. I've never been much of a Styx fan, so couldn't pick out the guy's voice on a bet! That said, I have NEVER mistaken Perry's voice. I also don't buy the argument that just because there were other high tenors, that they sounded anything like Perry. There was NOBODY who sounded like Perry...NOBODY! Brad Delp hit insanely high notes on "More Than A Feeling", and I certainly never thought it sounded like Perry. Perry's voice is VERY distinct to Journey fans. As for Stewart and Dylan, I agree... Dylan, especially. The guy sounds like shit, and once again proves that having the ability to sing isn't a pre-requisite to be a singer. He's "distinct", because he's the only guy on the planet who even knows how to sing through his nasal cavity!

I think that is the key though. To have a distinct voice, you have to be very distinct to MUSIC fans. Put the poll to Journey fans, of course they will say Perry's voice is distinct. Put the poll to Styx fans, of course they will say DeYoung's voice is distinct. Same goes for Queen fans and whoever else there is out there. You listen to Journey, I listen to Journey, so we SHOULD be able to pick out Perry's voice, but your average non-Journey fan might not, and that disqualifies him. Good example of this is seeing several songs (REO and Cutting Crew come to mind) as listed by "Journey" on Napster back in the day. You did NOT see this with some of the extreme voices like Dylan.

To get an accurate reading though, the poll should work for the casual fan, and Perry doesn't stick out nearly as much as someone like Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart. I'll be the first to admit that Dylan is a perfect example of proof that ANYBODY can be a singer in that he can't...but you can tell it is him. I think some of the singers mentioned in this thread (Michael Jackson comes to mind easily) as a voice someone who isn't necessarily a fan of them would recognize. I'd be tempted to put Tina Turner in there also and definitely Jimmy Barnes--though I admit most people outside of Australia (and maybe parts of Europe) have ever heard him. One of those singers that NOBODY sounds like, even though ability to sing might cause debate for some...

I don't think this was a scientific poll type of list anyways. A few of the listed ones don't stand out to me at all, and some glaring omissions also of those who I'm not even a fan of.

As for Phil Collins, I've always been a fan of Phil Collins but wouldn't put him in the same class (as far as having a very distinct voice) as Perry.

Maybe I haven't been scouring the planet for Phil Collins clones (of which I am sure there are some somewhere), but the tone of his voice has a sound that I just don't hear from anyone else. It's that quality that can make him sound like a machine if you over-process his voice too much. Peter Gabriel is the only one who comes close.

[journel]

mick jagger and so is mr. morrison of the doors and don't forget hendrix. dylan absolutely!

[Ehwmatt]

Maybe I haven't been scouring the planet for Phil Collins clones (of which I am sure there are some somewhere), but the tone of his voice has a sound that I just don't hear from anyone else. It's that quality that can make him sound like a machine if you over-process his voice too much. Peter Gabriel is the only one who comes close.

I agree completely - I've always felt like Phil's voice almost sounds like it has some kind of "natural" processing on it - so distinctive. Almost like his voice has a natural reverb filter on it or something. It's hard to explain, but I can tell you hear the exact same thing I do.