cungar

Yes I hate his voice. And he's docked 8 points for helping turn Chicago into bland MOR sludge.

hdnmickey

Cetera is proof that distinctive does not equal good, or acclaimed.

But I do like a lot of those Cetera Chicago songs. Even some of the solo/soundtrack stuff. But those same songs would be far better with a different singer.

dhmac

You had some good picks, but you are seriously out on a limb with this one.

I just don't know how anyone can think Natalie Merchant has one of the worst voices in music.

<iframe width="320" height="240" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Z-HLxpWGCzc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I don't care if anyone thinks she isn't one of the best, but I think she definitely is not one of the worst.

Mr. Flix

I know it's a matter of taste. It's not like she's off-key or anything like that, but I can't stand her tone. She's the vocal equivalent of squeezing Styrofoam to my ears.

Hiro11

I saw 10,000 Maniacs live once in 1995 on their last tour. I wasn't really a fan and expected a boring concert of adult contemporary-type indie rock for fans of NPR and Saabs.

Instead I got a full horn section, Prince and Sly Stone covers (they played a fairly gritty 8 minute version of "Thank You"), Natalie Merchant boucing around all over the stage and an almost three hour raucous show. They defied expectations live and her voice is pretty amazing.

EddieMoney

James Dean Bradfield
Bruce Dickinson

Numanoid

I agree with this. I can't hit the radio dial fast enough when I hear a 10,000 Maniacs tune come on. Same with Edie Brickell.

Norm de Plume

Among the worst for me would be someone like Alanis Morrisette. That ear-stabbingly unbearable bleating that so many female singers adopted in the '90s (Sarah McLaughlin, another Canuck, falls into the same category). The male equivalent is that awful post-Grunge snarl.

creekdipper

Some of the best:

Ruth Moody
Harry Nilsson
John Legend
Margo Timmins
Chris Isaak
Smokey Robinson
Alison Krauss
Marshall Crenshaw
Keb Mo
Nick Drake
Jennifer Warnes
Greg Lake
Sam Beam
Aimee Mann
Kate Bush
Gordon Lightfoot
Neko Case
Koko Taylor
Pete Yorn
Ryan Adams
Gillian Welch
Cat Stevens
Elliot Smith
Sinead O'Connor
Aretha Franklin
Johnny Cash
Emmylou Harris
Linda Rondstadt
Frank Sinatra
Tori Amos
Paul McCartney
Otis Redding
Bono
Tim O'Brien
Paul Rodgers



If you like slightly idosyncratic vocals, Richard Shindell & Greg Brown.

Worst:

Take your pick from current Top 40.

JZ1276

Are we talking the CURRENT best & worst or of all time? I've seen Axl Rose's name thrown around alot being one of the worst & although currently he might sound like a chipmunk, no one could touch this man in the late 80's/early 90's.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoSF...yer_detailpage

Everyone will name the Freddy Mercury's and Steve Perry's but what about Gary Cherone?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWlB...yer_detailpage

..or Rod Stewart?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Lw...yer_detailpage

Charlie_Saylor

Elvis Presley, beyond all doubt, is the best. I mean, just look at his songs - Loving You, One Night, It's Now or Never. Who can be better?!

EddieMoney

Best: Me.

inri222

Wilson Pickett

Ky-Fi

I'm mostly just a fan of "The Lion and the Cobra", but Sinead O'Oconnor is a pretty great singer, IMO.

edit: I see Creekdipper already mentioned her.

printerati

I had to look up their names, but Nick Hexum and S.A. Martinez of 311 are both terrible.

I can't stand his voice, but I like some of their stuff in spite of that.

You are worse than Hitler.

Norm de Plume

Either. Doesn't matter. Anyone who comes to mind.
I'm not a Rush fan, but I find Geddy's nigh-falsetto, eccentric vocal stylings give the band's music an interesting effect.
Then I guess I am Genghis Khan. Whatever one thinks of Journey, Perry has/had a fabulous voice.

Spiderbite

Best female voice ever was Karen Carpenter. I could listen to hersing the phone book.

Mr. Flix

So right. But she seems to have lost a lot of her vocal power over the years. In her prime she was a powerful singer. But over the past decade, she seems to warble or croon most of her songs (none of which are as good as the songs from her first two albums). I don't know if this is a choice on her part or a loss of ability.

Carpenter definitely had a pure, distinctive sound, with an edge of melancholy on everything she sang.

JZ1276

Terrible? For the type of music 311 is, their voices are perfect. I would in no way add them to the list of best voices, but their voices are not terrible at all.

printerati

They are one of my most-hated bands (right behind Journey), so yes.

starman9000

I really like Serj Tankians voice, but don't like almost anything he's put out.

Mark Oliver Everetts voice drives me crazy at times, but I like most everything he's put out.

edstein

Some of my favorites:

Maynard James Keenan - Tool
Brent Smith - Shinedown
Tyler Connolly - Thoery of a Deadman
Freddie Mercury - Queen
Geoff Tate - Queensryche
Ed Kowalczyk - Live (formerly)

Norm de Plume

Nico is an interesting one. By no objective measure does she have a great voice, but, as a German, I find her Kraut accent and pronunciations on the first V.U. album hilarious, endearing, and strangely effective.

van der graaf

Best voice:
Mike Patton
Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Maynard James Keenan
Francesco di Giacomo
Demetrio Stratos- from wiki: Besides the official Area discography, for which Stratos is remembered, it is important to remember his solo works, a massive set of productions full of experimentation and vocal research. His study of the voice used as a musical instrument carried him to reach for the limits of human capabilities. Stratos was able to reach 7,000 Hz, when a tenor normally reaches 523 Hz and a woman soprano 1,046 Hz (C6). He would hold notes for long periods of time, modulate them vibrato-like, and leap and dive from low to high and back again, with pinpoint accuracy. Using various overtone singing and other extended techniques, he was able to perform diplophony, triplophony, and also quadrophony, the ability to produce two, three, and even four sounds simultaneously (multiphonic) using only the human voice as the musical instrument.[52] In collaboration with the CNR of Padua, he has released many studies in ethnomusicology, vocal extensions and Asian music chant.[1][3]

Looking at what I have found during the emission, the vocal folds did not vibrate. The frequency (for a human voice) was very high (vocal folds do not succeed to exceed the frequencies of 1,000–1,200 Hz). In spite of that Demetrio obtained not one, but two not harmonic hisses, one that descended from 6,000 Hz, and the other that climbed from 3,000 Hz. Therefore, it could not be supposed that one hiss was the next harmonic of the other. I observed also the emission of three hisses simultaneously

— Professor Franco Ferrero (in Italian)[30]

Coral

James Taylor
Tom Waits (his young and old voices)
Aimee Mann
Fiona Apple
Sara Watkins
Mark Knopfler (better as a solo artist)
Damien Rice
Lucinda Williams
Norah Jones
Van Morrison (prefer his older voice)