well I am going to divide my list into male and female:

Male:
Boyd Rice
Peter Murphy (solo and Bauhaus)
Ville Valo (HIM)
David Bowie
Maynard James Keenan (Tool and APC)
Billy Corgan
Greg Graffin (Bad Religion and American Lesion)
Mike VanPortfleet (Lycia)
Oscar Herrera (Black Tape For A Blue Girl)
Leonard Cohen
Eyedea
Syd Barrett
Morrissey (surprised no one has mentioned him)
Antony (Antony and the Johnsons)
Lou Reed

Female:
Bjork
Tori Amos
Liz Fraser
Poe
Billie Holiday
Tina Root (Switchblade Symphony)
Jessicka (Jack Off Jill/Scarling)
Elysabeth Grant (Black Tape For A Blue Girl)
Tara VanFlower (Lycia)
Sinead O' Connor
Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance)
Nico (shes amazing!)
Rose McDowall (Spell/Death In June/Current 93/Strawberry Switchblade)
Marcella Detroit (Shakespeare's Sister)
Skeeter Davis
Anne Murray
Kylie Minogue

quote:

Originally posted by J.T.:
I thought this was a "general music" discussion. With the exception of Marvin Gaye, all these lists contain alt rock singers. While I agree Perry Farrell is an excellent singer, the best pop vocalists of all time imho are Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Nat Cole. Confining your list to best rock singers is like having a list of the best fry cooks at McDonald's. Rock singing is not that hard. I think any honest rock singer would tell you that. I love rock, but don't delude yourself it's great art. By the way, do you know how much singer's voices are altered at the mixing board? Going by recordings it's almost impossible to accurately compare one singer to another.

let me see...
Jonsi's voice is naturally stunning, I've recently seen Sigur Ros live and it's that awe-inspiring all the time. No studio effects needed. Same goes for Bjork.

Mark Kozelek uses a lot of echo, but his voice is just as affecting without it.

Elliott Smith, I've heard live recordings and there's not much difference between the recorded versions. And studio effects couldn't have made his voice any better, the whole point was that he sounded so fragile.

Win Butler wouldn't have had anything done to his voice, this would be obvious considering they record at Hotel2Tango. The whole idea goes against the principals of Howard, Efrim and Thierry (the people who run the place if you didn't know).

I can't speak for Method Man, but I suspect his voice is actually like that all the time.

Tom Waits, how could any studio make him sound like that?

Liz Fraser used a few effects, but just to make her already stunning voice sound even more ethereal: she didn't need to.

Jeff Buckley, no studio effect could make someone sound like that, and besides, live recordings show the obvious, his voice was naturally stunning.

Stevie Wonder probably has used studio effetcs, but he blatantly doesn't need them.

Greg out of the Delays can reproduce his vocals live, and as far as I know, they don't use effects anyway.

David Byrne, it's all about the way he yelps and howls, no studio effects there.

Ian Curtis, you could hear how fragile/powerful his voice was, clearly no effects were needed.

Paul Banks sounds just as amazing live.

Hamilton Leithauser, does a drunken soul effect exist?


Perry Farrell, Marvin Gaye, Nick Drake, I don't need to explain.

as for the 'alt-rock' complaint, only 7 of the 18 are 'alt-rock' singers, and they're no average 'alt-rock' singers anyway.

And besides, they're some of my favourites.

oh, and I'd just like to second Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance, words fail me...

and the man in DCD.

oh, and I like Efrim's voice (Don't laugh!) And all of The Futureheads!

and Marissa Nadler.

Varied in both styles and eras but these are some of my favourites-

Aretha Franklin, pre 90s Tom Jones, Antony Hegarty, Beth Gibbons, and Neko Case

quote:

Originally posted by RavingLunatic:
Thanks for the info on Jeff Buckley, dano and ericg. How tragic. I'll definitely make a note to look into his stuff.

Wow, I know you're a serious muso, but never heard Jeff Buckley? Get Grace immediately. I'd love to know what you think!

I've just been listening to some scattered tracks from the band Hem, and their singer has got to have the most impeccable female voice that I've ever heard. Listening to the song "Half-Acre" her voice just blows me away every time.

In no order:

Linda Ronstadt
Patty Loveless
Neko Case
Nick Saloman (Bevis Frond)
Jack White
Stevie Wonder
Marvin Gaye
Curtis Mayfield
Elvis Presley
John Lennon
Jay Farrar
Levi Stubbs (The Four Tops)
Burton Cummings
Joan Jett
Van Morrison
Brian Wilson
Neil Young
Holly Golightly
David Bowie
Aretha Franklin

Emmylou Harris. Hands down. Game over. Her voice is absolutely spellbinding to me. It can sound so sexy and seductive, and yet so heartbroken. I guess I should say Emmylou Harris' for about the past 10-15 years. I think she has always had a beautiful voice, but it has aged like a fine...well, you know.
I also love Alison Krauss. Her's may be the most perfect voice. Some other of my favorites are:
Freddy Mercury
Morrissey
Richard Butler
Johnny Cash
Linda Ronstadt
Fiona Apple

A couple more recent additions:

Devendra Banhart
Leslie Feist (Of Broken Social Scene and Feist)

In no particular order

Mike Patton
Adrian Belew
Bjork
Yako (Melt Banana)
Yamatsuka Eye
Rahzel
Thom Yorke
John Tardy
Al Jourgensen
Morrissey
Devin Townsend
Captain Beefheart
Scott Ian
Jello Biafra
Frank Zappa
John Lydon

I could go on all night. Does anyone read these lists?

If you write 'em, we read 'em.

I forgot Peter Gabriel.

Here are two of my favorites:

Stevie Nicks
Britt Daniel

quote:

Originally posted by purple:
Here are two of my favorites:

Stevie Nicks
Britt Daniel

Definitely Stevie Nicks. I can't believe I forgot to include her on my list.

Yeah, she's awesome. I could listen to her recite a grocery list.

isaac brock a million times

I can't believe I didn't put Johnny Cash in my original list...

In no particular order:

Guy Gavey (Elbow)
Eva Cassidy
Jolie Holland
Thom Yorke (Radiohead)
Chris Cornell (Audioslave)
Lisa Hannigan (Damien Rice's co-vocalist)
Mark Lanegan
Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley)
Stephen Fretwell
and Finn Andrews (The Veils)

Maynard James Keenan from Tool and A Perfect Circle

Liesje Sadonius from Hooverphonic
Beth Gibbons from Portishead
Esthero
Tracey Thorn from Everything But The Girl
A Girl Called Eddy
Gordon Gano from the Violent Femmes
Wayne Coyne from The Flaming Lips

Rod Stewart
McCartney (such versatility!)
In loving memory: I loved John Lennon's voice!
Also in loving memory: Marvin Gaye
Van Morrison
Bob Seger
Sheryl Crowe
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