I haven't actually made my way through all of this, because JESUS CHRIST is it long, but look at how much time he spent doing this! It's a fucking novel!
I'm considering featuring more people's Facebook notes in the future, as long as they are really long, and around the same level of pointless. Let me know if you find any other great ones.
- Dmur
Someone asked me the other day when I was online what some of my favorite vocalists were – note, that doesn’t say singers. To be exact, they said, “So B, I saw you had a bunch of quotes from metal bands on your away messages, Facebook, everywhere. Bands are one thing, but what about the guys themselves? You can tell a band sounds good, sure, but what about the guys who sit there and sing their hearts out and don’t have three guys behind them?”
This friend of mine is very long distance (in fact an ocean and a half away), and no one on here really knows him at all, but he and I have been talking for almost seven years now. He’s very into music, but much more classical than the stuff I listen to. He’s big into opera, as is his fiancĂ©, which is actually how they met and will hopefully be married in September of next year. Music and performance are big in his life, so we tend to have these conversations anyway.
Well, long story short, I listed to him my favorite vocalists right before he had to head out for the night with his better half. Earlier today he emailed me asking what I meant by some of the names I gave him, because he couldn’t understand what I meant. See, he asked about solo vocalists, and I gave him names like Corey Taylor, Lacey Mosley, Serj Tankian, and Till Lindermann. In the list, of course, were Brian Johnson, Robert Plant, and the incendiary Jello Biafra, as well as numerous other throwbacks to great artists.
I just finished talking to my friend while he was at work, and he explained to me his trouble with my answer. Considering it is a valid concern, I figured I would share it here and see what your thoughts are, to anyone who reads this. My friend’s concern was that true vocal geniuses are buried by the people playing the instruments behind them to the point where you cannot really tell how great they are.
I’ll give you an example. Corey Taylor was on the list. Corey is the lead singer of Stone Sour, as most people know. He’s got a great voice that really comes through in popular songs such as “Bother” or “Through the Glass.” Yeah, that’s the guy I mean. Great vocals right? Right. I think we can all agree Corey is one of the most pleasing voices in the music world today. However, what some people don’t realize is that Corey is all the head-banging, mosh-pitting, screaming and yelling lead singer of SlipKnoT, where he goes under the title of “#8.” When I shared that with a much more local friend about a month ago, she was in a bit of shock. Someone who sings “Through the Glass,” a very soft song, also sings “Duality” and “Psychosocial”? Yes, that’s the same guy, and that’s why I love his voice and his performances. I won’t beat a dead horse when it comes to Corey, but if you want a good study go YouTube “Vermillion (Part 2)” by SlipknoT, and you’ll see what I mean when it comes to his voice.
My friend brought up Till Lindermann as a prime example of what he meant by a singer, not a vocalist. Lindermann is the long-time lead singer for Rammstein, the infamous German metal band. They also, like SlipKnoT (9 members), keep a large set of band mates – six. One would think with five or eight members standing behind you, it would be a bit difficult to extract the nuances that make a good singer great, or pick out exactly what makes him/her bad. (I slip in “her” by the way because I put Lacey from Flyleaf on the list up there. More on chick singers later.) But look, it all depends on what you focus on, and this is what I told my friend – what makes a good singer great is the ability to listen to a song, and hear only their voice. If all you need to do is listen to it once and you dial in on them, that means they can hold your attention and you don’t worry about the few guys behind them. If they can hold onto you for four minutes (or eight if your name is Robert Plant), and you can distinctly recall how they sounded, then they are a great singer. That’s what guys like Corey and Till do for me, and I think they would do for anyone who sat down and gave them a chance.
Now, before I continue know that this isn’t at all a flame of musicians. Those of you who knew me in my formative years know that I was once one, and some argue you never quite loose the touch. Heck when I’m home I love to pull out my old acoustic and fiddle around a bit, even if I never go pro with it. Musicians are the strength behind their vocalist, and no song or band would be complete without them. A good drummer, guitarist, sampler, DJ, percussionist, or bassist knows just how to sound good while highlighting those around them more.
That being said, I owe a special honorable mention to Lacey. Like I mentioned, she’s the lead singer of the alt rock band Flyleaf, a band I got addicted to my sophomore year up here thanks to a friend of mine burning me their CD. Now, I own pretty much anything they’ve ever put out, and are eagerly awaiting their new CD, which word is they’ll be recording in January. Anyway, Lacey is an oddity when it comes to female singers and I’ll show you why – go listen to “I’m So Sick” by them and listen to her voice especially. I’m warning you now, she’s a screaming singer, at least for that song. Then, after you’re done with that, go check out “All Around Me” by the same band. Once you compare those two, you’ll see why I love singers like that.
She, like Corey, has a versatility that is very rare among singers in general, and especially young singers. Last I remember, Lacey was only twenty-five or so, making her on the very young side of a very male-dominated genre. I like to think that I know a bit about metal bands, but I struggle to think of many more female singers in a male band, besides maybe Cristina from Lacuna Coil and Angela from Arch Enemy. (Side note, those two you should definitely check out if you like a good vocals with a VERY heavy band. ) Oh and no, I do not at all count Amy Lee as a hardcore singer. Sorry. A beautiful vocalist, yes. A rock singer, definitely. But sorry, there’s a whole other level that women like Lacey and Cristina and Angela go to that Amy Lee will never, EVER reach. Although look up “Freak on a Leash (feat. Amy Lee)” by KoRn on YouTube. I always enjoyed that version.
But hey, I digress. This was meant a bit more of an explanation of what I tried to explain to my friend, and turned into a bit more about bands I like and things I think you should check out. Such is life when you blog at six AM after staying all night working on Race, Racism and Law homework while listening ONLY to SlipKnoT for six hours. I know, it’s almost as bad as driving from Buffalo to Albany with Mike listing to ONLY Rush the whole way.
I don’t know guys. If I had to answer, “where to go from here?” after this little shindig, I would say go over to YouTube and go exploring. I found Flyleaf through a friend, SlipKnoT cause I used to be scare of them as a kid, and Rammstein cause of a movie. It’s all chance to find a band you really like. If you want any info on any of these guys, or recommendations on what else you can look up, feel free to pull and Lindsay and ask. If you like a band (i.e. Nine Inch Nails) and want a song like that, there are bands that can easily do that. You’d be surprised what doesn’t make it onto a record or EP, but they play live or do limited releases of. I own every song SlipKnoT has put out since ’95, and the same is true of Rammstein (since 94 or so), and Flyleaf, as well as dozens of others.
Just ask =) [Dmur's Note: The smiley "=)" should be pronounced "melt in my ass, please!"]
P.S. Tags are done cause I mentioned Lindsay, and Russ is big on music. Oh and Tina cause I'm trying to get her to go to her first SlipKnoT concert in February =)
P.P.S. [Dmur's Note: Haha, pee pee! =)] Please note, this is only a SMALL fraction of the great singers and bands out there, especially the ones I like. The list is very long, and most of you have to hear me speak all the time anyway. Just so it's out there, this is only a very small sample of the musicians and singers that I find noteworthy, so don't flame just yet. Eventually I'll pay tribute to all of them, but for now this will work just fine for a start.
And I thought the way I talk about music was gay! See ya later!