There are singers and then there are singers. Who do you think has the greatest vocal range, or has the remarkable ability to alter their voice (without technology)? My initial offering would have to be Paul McCartney. This is not a statement that he is the best. He is one of many. But he is a good one in discussing this subject. Not only can he make his voice soar into ranges that others would have to go into falsetto to reach, his voice is so versatile. From the softness of "Let It Be" he can growl with the best on "Baby I'm Amazed." One can hear his gift of versatility on the end of Abbey Road.

You'd never know it, but Captain Beefheart has a ridiculous range. Like 4 octaves or something like that.

Oh yeah, forgot about Serj Tankian from System of a Down. Growls, screeches, whispers, vibrato...you name it. Great voice, could be an opera singer if he wanted.

Both McCartney and Lennon had tremendous "rock" voices. Lennon's "Mother" is a good example of his talent.

He might not have a great range, but nobody can change the meaning of a word or phrase better than Dylan with one of his trademark snarls.

There is also that Arcade Fire guy, Win Butler. He can do that thing with his voice where he makes it kind of trail upwards...hard to describe, but cool.

Patti Smith has also always been one of my favorite vocalists. Very sultry.

I don't know if she fits under the rock category, but Bjork has the greatest voice of any woman ever. Angelic and divine are words that spring to mind when I hear her sing anything.

Jeff Buckley had a 3 or 4 octave range. He could change his voice pretty effectively in other ways as well.

I do love Bjork and Jeff Buckley, somewhere around here.

Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio (just reminded of them because their album just came out) has a huge range too.

An obvious choice would be Chris Cornell, more so during his days with Soundgarden. I'm surprised that he can still sing at all with Audioslave, though, with the strain on his voice during the 12 years or so with Soundgarden. I was dreading an Axl Rose like comeback from him.

Mike Patton

Meatloaf used to have a pretty sweet range, but when I last saw him on American Idol, it was was kind of painful to listen to.

The voice "altering" was done epically on the Bob Dylan album Nashville Skyline. He sounds almost like Kermit the Frog or something. Very strange results.

Steven Tyler used to sound raw and gravelly on early 70's Aerosmith albums, his voice is much different now. Also, he can hit the high notes pretty well.

My current favorite range-wise would be Rufus Wainwright, he really gets up there in the song Beautiful Child (during the bridge). Neko Case has the best voice I've ever heard.

As far as "rock singers" go, I think that Jim James from My Morning Jacket can wail with the best of them.

quote:

Originally posted by Musicalifragilistic:
As far as "rock singers" go, I think that Jim James from My Morning Jacket can wail with the best of them.

I have no idea about the Dylan quote, but I can gey behind this one.

I agey with both of you.

That Wolf Eye's singer can go from really screechy to nice and mellow very quickly.

Mark Lanegan has a massively deep and growly voice with beautiful vibrato, but he can certainly bring that up whenever he wants; he has amazing control.

quote:

Originally posted by Tenacious Z:
Mark Lanegan has a massively deep and growly voice with beautiful vibrato, but he can certainly bring that up whenever he wants; he has amazing control.

I've always thought Mark Lanegan had a pretty cool voice, but I've never been all that impressed by any of his songs for some reason. I keep hoping he'll release something I really like someday, because I love his voice.

quote:

Originally posted by less_success:

quote:

Originally posted by Tenacious Z:
Mark Lanegan has a massively deep and growly voice with beautiful vibrato, but he can certainly bring that up whenever he wants; he has amazing control.

I've always thought Mark Lanegan had a pretty cool voice, but I've never been all that impressed by any of his songs for some reason. I keep hoping he'll release something I really like someday, because I love his voice.

I'm kind of in the same boat, though Whiskey for the Holy Ghost had some really good songs on it. Check out "Carnival," "Pendulum," and "Borracho" from that album. Bubblegum had a number of good songs as well. Though there's nothing outstanding there, it's pretty solid all the way through. His other releases are much weaker.

David Longstreth of the Dirty Projectors has incredible, unique range

based on voice alone, axl.

kurt cobain had a surprisingly high range. it just doesn't seem that way because his voice didn't change that much over his range. people think u2s bono has this big range, when he doesn't -- his voice just sounds really different high or low.

oh! james hetfeild from metallica! that guy has suuuuch a good voice. totally underrated.

come on guys, Joni Mitchell. I can't think of anyone in popular music with a better voice than Joni Mitchell.

Also, Chris Cornell has a great voice even though the recent Audioslave stuff hasn't been that good. It really shone through during the Soundgarden years.

Also, Brian Wilson during the early days of the Beach Boys, especially "Pet Sounds". Now he's kind of lost it, as have most great vocalists of his generation, but his tones were just so, so sweet back then. Even when the Boys' incredible harmonies weren't behind him, Brian had a great, unique, utterly unforgettable voice.