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Thread started 04/02/15 3:15am

mrgone777

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Young Ms. Hannah's voice....its ok for what she does with it!

I notice Hannah is catching a lot of hell in here about her voice, but I wonder what people's expectations of a pop/rock female singer are; expecially since Prince pretty much eschews autotune. I like her voice, its works for me with the rock stuff that 3rdeyegirl is about. She's not rocking out like Janis Joplin or Tina Turner...but it works for me maybe because I don't expect her to be Rosie Gaines or Liv Warfield....different side of Prince's music and different singing styles. If Hannah was singing deep funk or house music I'd have an entirely different opinion

The other day shopping someplace they were playing Sheryl Crow's "Soak in the Sun" which is a nice tune by a woman that sings "ok" but writes nice tunes. I saw her at a Lilith Fair in Pasadena...and her voice is ok...but combined with the songs she has written very nice. The same for pop rock or rock band female leads like Beth Gibbons (Portishead), Shirley Manson (the band Garbage), Liz Phair, Belinda Carlisle (the Go-Gos), Blondie (obviously Blondie), Suzanna Hoff (the Bangles), PJ Harvey etc. For rock and pop rock the Bjorks (Sugarcubes), the Sinead O'Connors, the Pink's, the Ann Wilsons (Heart), and the Pat Benatars are the exceptional cases it seems to me. Don't you all agree?

Plus, like Madonna, Hannah can learn to use her voice better sing from her diaphram etc.....this can be taught....Madonna's mid 1990s to early 00's are much better records then her major hits in the 1980s and early 1990s because the "Evita" role made her learn to actually use her voice. But of course.....this is all my opinion.

[Edited 4/2/15 3:22am]

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Reply #1 posted 04/02/15 4:01am

KeithyT

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There'll always be some that love it, some that like it, some who are indifferent, and some who hate it.

Just somewhere in the middle,
Not too good and not too bad.
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Reply #2 posted 04/02/15 4:29am

NorthC

All the singers Mrgone mentions are better than Hannah, but overall I agree. Her singing works fine on the 3EG stuff.
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Reply #3 posted 04/02/15 4:30am

TheEnglishGent

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I don't want to hear Hannah when I want to listent to Prince. If I want to hear a female singer, I'll listen to one with a voice I like.

RIP sad
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Reply #4 posted 04/02/15 4:35am

nosajd

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I want to like her voice, but it's just not possible sad

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Reply #5 posted 04/02/15 5:00am

vinaysfunk

Alot of what you say is true in my eyes mrgone777. Hannah's voice and what she does for 3EG are decent and enjoyable for my ears. I just think the problem here is that so many people love Prince's vocals and get enough of them. Same goes for me. I would love to hear Prince deliver on the mic and anytime he passes the torch to someone else I just can't wait for him to take over the vocals. I think that's all there is to it.

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Reply #6 posted 04/02/15 5:16am

mrgone777

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NorthC said:

All the singers Mrgone mentions are better than Hannah, but overall I agree. Her singing works fine on the 3EG stuff.

The second set of singers (Bjork, Ms. Wilson, Ms. Benatar) are certainly better singers than Hannah. I'm sorry but its a draw elsewhere and, of course, Hannah is brand spankin' new....hasn't even learned how to use her rock and roll pipes yet! I love Portishead, I think Garbage is a cool band, love Liz Phair, and PJ......but if they are "better" than Hannah its because they sing within the range of the songs they compose for themselves kinda like Sheryl Crow.

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Reply #7 posted 04/02/15 5:17am

mrgone777

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NorthC said:

All the singers Mrgone mentions are better than Hannah, but overall I agree. Her singing works fine on the 3EG stuff.

And one more thing.....she can already outsing Blondie....she never could sing but she was a rock and roll personality....kinda like Grace Jones can't really sing...but she is larger than life as an artist. Patti Smith too right?

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Reply #8 posted 04/02/15 5:22am

nosajd

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vinaysfunk said:

Alot of what you say is true in my eyes mrgone777. Hannah's voice and what she does for 3EG are decent and enjoyable for my ears. I just think the problem here is that so many people love Prince's vocals and get enough of them. Same goes for me. I would love to hear Prince deliver on the mic and anytime he passes the torch to someone else I just can't wait for him to take over the vocals. I think that's all there is to it.

Not so true for me, I very much enjoy the vocals from Andy Allo & Lianne La Havas on AOA. The only female vocal performance I like on PLEL is Boytrouble. Hannah has moments where she doesn't flat out suck, but c'mon, if that's the best you can do, is to not suck, just stick with the drums please.

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Reply #9 posted 04/02/15 5:26am

antonb

Well that's rubbish. Saw Blondie in concert and surprised how well she sounded. And no, she wasn't mimeing.
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Reply #10 posted 04/02/15 3:44pm

terrig

mrgone777 said:

And one more thing.....she can already outsing Blondie....she never could sing but she was a rock and roll personality....kinda like Grace Jones can't really sing...but she is larger than life as an artist. Patti Smith too right?



you should punch yourself in the face for this comment lolololol
eek

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Reply #11 posted 04/02/15 10:54pm

artist76

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NorthC said:

All the singers Mrgone mentions are better than Hannah, but overall I agree. Her singing works fine on the 3EG stuff.

You are right that all the listed singers are better than Hannah - the main difference is the "personality" (or, "expression") in the voice. They all have it. Hannah lacks vocal technique, but also this other, interpretive factor.
If her singing works fine on the 3EG stuff, that may be because the 3EG stuff is similarly crap.
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Reply #12 posted 04/02/15 10:55pm

artist76

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antonb said:

Well that's rubbish. Saw Blondie in concert and surprised how well she sounded. And no, she wasn't mimeing.

Yes, and she sang Rainbow Connection beautifully on the old Muppets show.
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Reply #13 posted 04/09/15 4:04pm

JoshuaWho

Lets face it - no matter how much you like the cute face and blonde hair, her voice blows and she wouldnt stand a chance if she looked like Liv Warfield (who is beautiful but isnt recognized as such by society)

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Reply #14 posted 04/10/15 1:23am

mrgone777

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artist76 said:

NorthC said:
All the singers Mrgone mentions are better than Hannah, but overall I agree. Her singing works fine on the 3EG stuff.
You are right that all the listed singers are better than Hannah - the main difference is the "personality" (or, "expression") in the voice. They all have it. Hannah lacks vocal technique, but also this other, interpretive factor. If her singing works fine on the 3EG stuff, that may be because the 3EG stuff is similarly crap.

artist76, she will learn she is really young. another artist i love and am a big fan of wynton marsalis (been down since his first album with CBS in 1983).....wynton in 1980 with art blakey and the jazz messengers was a far cry from wynton in 1987 with his album "jmood"...and his playing & interpretive powers increased tenfold by the time he released "the magic hour" in 2004. she's ok and she'll get better.....she is really young!

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Reply #15 posted 04/10/15 1:31am

mrgone777

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JoshuaWho said:

Lets face it - no matter how much you like the cute face and blonde hair, her voice blows and she wouldnt stand a chance if she looked like Liv Warfield (who is beautiful but isnt recognized as such by society)

Wow...while I sorta agree with you.....thats pretty cruel. I mean its true to a great extent.....but that could be said for just about every major pop singer in the "reality show" Simon Cowell era couldn't it? Applies to men too right? Rueben Stoddard...you can even go back to the late 1970s....Christopher Cross...Alexander O'Neal pre crack habit? Maybe this is a post MTV thing.....but its all marketing and looks now. But my point was for the kind of music Prince is asking her to sing and the kind of band 3rdeyegirl is...doesn't her voice work? Besides Rosie Gaines and Liv Warfield....who has Prince been associated with that could really "blow" (in the good way not the way you suggest). Carmen Electra, Jill Jones, Vanity, Appolonia etc. Some of the women he wrote songs for could blow (Sheena Easton could sing)....but as much as I love Sheila E the musician....her voice was about the same as the rest.

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Reply #16 posted 04/10/15 6:22pm

JoshuaWho

mrgone777 said:

JoshuaWho said:

Lets face it - no matter how much you like the cute face and blonde hair, her voice blows and she wouldnt stand a chance if she looked like Liv Warfield (who is beautiful but isnt recognized as such by society)

Wow...while I sorta agree with you.....thats pretty cruel. I mean its true to a great extent.....but that could be said for just about every major pop singer in the "reality show" Simon Cowell era couldn't it? Applies to men too right? Rueben Stoddard...you can even go back to the late 1970s....Christopher Cross...Alexander O'Neal pre crack habit? Maybe this is a post MTV thing.....but its all marketing and looks now. But my point was for the kind of music Prince is asking her to sing and the kind of band 3rdeyegirl is...doesn't her voice work? Besides Rosie Gaines and Liv Warfield....who has Prince been associated with that could really "blow" (in the good way not the way you suggest). Carmen Electra, Jill Jones, Vanity, Appolonia etc. Some of the women he wrote songs for could blow (Sheena Easton could sing)....but as much as I love Sheila E the musician....her voice was about the same as the rest.

Looks matter all the time - just far more with female singers. It is an outgrowth of an general scial dynamics tha has been in place for almost as long as man has walked upright.

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Reply #17 posted 04/11/15 10:42am

leonche64

mrgone777 said:

artist76, she will learn she is really young. another artist i love and am a big fan of wynton marsalis (been down since his first album with CBS in 1983).....wynton in 1980 with art blakey and the jazz messengers was a far cry from wynton in 1987 with his album "jmood"...and his playing & interpretive powers increased tenfold by the time he released "the magic hour" in 2004. she's ok and she'll get better.....she is really young!

That is a different story. We can not see the future, all we have is right now. She is not that good. There is no way you can play thoses songs for someone unfamilure with the group and they become impressed. She would be the worst female singer in my local club circuit. I realize she is put out there for some sort of "shared ownership" of the project, but recognize what it is.

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Reply #18 posted 04/14/15 12:13am

7roses

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Somebody should make sure Hannah never sings again, unless it's in the shower or something...but not in front of an audience please.

She can consider herself lucky that she's the drummer in the band as she isn't very good at that either...she's been tolerated for too long imho.

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Reply #19 posted 04/23/15 10:35pm

artist76

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mrgone777 said:



artist76 said:


NorthC said:
All the singers Mrgone mentions are better than Hannah, but overall I agree. Her singing works fine on the 3EG stuff.

You are right that all the listed singers are better than Hannah - the main difference is the "personality" (or, "expression") in the voice. They all have it. Hannah lacks vocal technique, but also this other, interpretive factor. If her singing works fine on the 3EG stuff, that may be because the 3EG stuff is similarly crap.

artist76, she will learn she is really young. another artist i love and am a big fan of wynton marsalis (been down since his first album with CBS in 1983).....wynton in 1980 with art blakey and the jazz messengers was a far cry from wynton in 1987 with his album "jmood"...and his playing & interpretive powers increased tenfold by the time he released "the magic hour" in 2004. she's ok and she'll get better.....she is really young!



I'm a fan of Wynton Marsalis. Bought all his CDs from 89 for about a decade.
You make a very bad analogy, because Wynton was great from the beginning of his career. His talent was obvious. Did he get better with time? His technique, his abilities - YES. He's matured, gotten more experience. Has Prince gotten better technique, abilities - YES. But he was obviously talented from the beginning too. Both Wynton and Prince have periods that I didn't really like, but their musical/vocal abilities after 10+ years of performing were better than before, yes.
With, Hannah, the talent simply is not there as a vocalist. If she really tries, she might a bit better, like Madonna did, but she won't be great. Ever.
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Reply #20 posted 04/24/15 4:42am

mrgone777

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artist76 said:

mrgone777 said:

artist76, she will learn she is really young. another artist i love and am a big fan of wynton marsalis (been down since his first album with CBS in 1983).....wynton in 1980 with art blakey and the jazz messengers was a far cry from wynton in 1987 with his album "jmood"...and his playing & interpretive powers increased tenfold by the time he released "the magic hour" in 2004. she's ok and she'll get better.....she is really young!

I'm a fan of Wynton Marsalis. Bought all his CDs from 89 for about a decade. You make a very bad analogy, because Wynton was great from the beginning of his career. His talent was obvious. Did he get better with time? His technique, his abilities - YES. He's matured, gotten more experience. Has Prince gotten better technique, abilities - YES. But he was obviously talented from the beginning too. Both Wynton and Prince have periods that I didn't really like, but their musical/vocal abilities after 10+ years of performing were better than before, yes. With, Hannah, the talent simply is not there as a vocalist. If she really tries, she might a bit better, like Madonna did, but she won't be great. Ever.

I'm confuse.....if Wynton-Prince is such a bad analogy....why are you agreeing with me? They both were obvisously talented and they both got better over time.......Hannah will not be Bjork or Joni Mitchell....but she will, with practice be a better singer like Madonna who has improved. She might be as good as Sheryl Crow with practice but never Nancy Wilson from Heart. I get that. So where are we differing? I don't see your point or the clear difference in our arguments? You agree with me. I said "she'll get better" but I didn't say she will become Annie Lennox.

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Reply #21 posted 04/26/15 1:45am

artist76

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mrgone777 said:



artist76 said:


mrgone777 said:


artist76, she will learn she is really young. another artist i love and am a big fan of wynton marsalis (been down since his first album with CBS in 1983).....wynton in 1980 with art blakey and the jazz messengers was a far cry from wynton in 1987 with his album "jmood"...and his playing & interpretive powers increased tenfold by the time he released "the magic hour" in 2004. she's ok and she'll get better.....she is really young!




I'm a fan of Wynton Marsalis. Bought all his CDs from 89 for about a decade. You make a very bad analogy, because Wynton was great from the beginning of his career. His talent was obvious. Did he get better with time? His technique, his abilities - YES. He's matured, gotten more experience. Has Prince gotten better technique, abilities - YES. But he was obviously talented from the beginning too. Both Wynton and Prince have periods that I didn't really like, but their musical/vocal abilities after 10+ years of performing were better than before, yes. With, Hannah, the talent simply is not there as a vocalist. If she really tries, she might a bit better, like Madonna did, but she won't be great. Ever.

I'm confuse.....if Wynton-Prince is such a bad analogy....why are you agreeing with me? They both were obvisously talented and they both got better over time.....Hannah will not be Bjork or Joni Mitchell....but she will, with practice be a better singer like Madonna who has improved. She might be as good as Sheryl Crow with practice but never Nancy Wilson from Heart. I get that. So where are we differing? I don't see your point or the clear difference in our arguments? You agree with me. I said "she'll get better" but I didn't say she will become Annie Lennox.


You compared Wynton's progression to Hannah's (hypothetical) progression. Wynton and Hannah are in no way analogous. Wynton went from great to greater. Hannah may go from "totally sucks" to "I can bear to listen."
Just plain ridiculous to mention Wynton and Hannah no-name in the same conversation in any kind of comparison or analogy.
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Reply #22 posted 04/27/15 5:28am

mrgone777

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artist76 said:

mrgone777 said:

I'm confuse.....if Wynton-Prince is such a bad analogy....why are you agreeing with me? They both were obvisously talented and they both got better over time.......Hannah will not be Bjork or Joni Mitchell....but she will, with practice be a better singer like Madonna who has improved. She might be as good as Sheryl Crow with practice but never Nancy Wilson from Heart. I get that. So where are we differing? I don't see your point or the clear difference in our arguments? You agree with me. I said "she'll get better" but I didn't say she will become Annie Lennox.

You compared Wynton's progression to Hannah's (hypothetical) progression. Wynton and Hannah are in no way analogous. Wynton went from great to greater. Hannah may go from "totally sucks" to "I can bear to listen." Just plain ridiculous to mention Wynton and Hannah no-name in the same conversation in any kind of comparison or analogy.

Even more ridiculous to assume that I was elevating Hannah to that level of comparison. Obviously a Julliard trained trumpeter is not completely "analagous" to a inexperienced singer chosen for whatever reasons where in Prince's mind. The point, and I think you got it, is that people can grow and Wynton was a convenient vehicle to get that message across. Could have easily used Madonna instead or way back in the beginning of this thread Sheryl Crow. Here it is more clearly stated for you....Hannah will improve as a singer as she is relatively young and since she is singing rock songs she might be able to tailor her music to her voice? I trust she is committed to the task, and I don't find her vocals god awful...I hear inexperience and youth when I hear her voice. Is that better?

[Edited 5/2/15 7:21am]

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Reply #23 posted 04/27/15 10:11am

motherfunka

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7roses said:

Somebody should make sure Hannah never sings again, unless it's in the shower or something...but not in front of an audience please.

She can consider herself lucky that she's the drummer in the band as she isn't very good at that either...she's been tolerated for too long imho.

lol lol lol

Well at least we won't ever have to hear her sing live.

TRUE BLUE
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Reply #24 posted 05/04/15 6:33pm

mrgone777

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antonb said:

Well that's rubbish. Saw Blondie in concert and surprised how well she sounded. And no, she wasn't mimeing.

Update on my comment, in a coffee house right this second and they are playing "Blondie" the debut album of the band Blondie. I agree with you calling me out as making a "rubbish" comparison. You were right, I was wrong....but not by much. I give it to Blondie by about one foot or the length of two noses. She can carry a tune; "rip her to shreads", "look good in blue" and "in the flesh" are nice and she's singing stuff within her range with music composed to take advantage of her vocal strengths, if she was asked to sing "tell me something good" or "heartbreaker" she would have would have sounded crappy. When "Blondie" was recorded Deborah Harry was little older than Hannah was when "PlecElec" was recorded. In "Blondie" Harry displays a better than average voice, but not a strong one...nevertheless better singing than Hannah on PlecElec so I stand corrected antonb! I still feel that if 3RDEYEGIRL continues to record and if Hannah becomes a true lead vocalist she'll probably sound more like Deborah Harry as she grows as an artist and realizes what her voice can and cannot do [and the songs are tailored to her while Prince handles other stuff]. Harry was in a band in the late 1960s and Blondie's debut didn't come out until 1976's so she had time to grow from Playboy bunny to new wave/punk legend. Not saying Hannah will be a legend, but she is bound to improve from ok to better than average given work and time and maturity...she's quite young.

[Edited 5/4/15 19:04pm]

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Reply #25 posted 05/04/15 7:57pm

terrig

mrgone777 said:

antonb said:

Well that's rubbish. Saw Blondie in concert and surprised how well she sounded. And no, she wasn't mimeing.

Update on my comment, in a coffee house right this second and they are playing "Blondie" the debut album of the band Blondie. I agree with you calling me out as making a "rubbish" comparison. You were right, I was wrong....but not by much. I give it to Blondie by about one foot or the length of two noses. She can carry a tune; "rip her to shreads", "look good in blue" and "in the flesh" are nice and she's singing stuff within her range with music composed to take advantage of her vocal strengths, if she was asked to sing "tell me something good" or "heartbreaker" she would have would have sounded crappy. When "Blondie" was recorded Deborah Harry was little older than Hannah was when "PlecElec" was recorded. In "Blondie" Harry displays a better than average voice, but not a strong one...nevertheless better singing than Hannah on PlecElec so I stand corrected antonb! I still feel that if 3RDEYEGIRL continues to record and if Hannah becomes a true lead vocalist she'll probably sound more like Deborah Harry as she grows as an artist and realizes what her voice can and cannot do [and the songs are tailored to her while Prince handles other stuff]. Harry was in a band in the late 1960s and Blondie's debut didn't come out until 1976's so she had time to grow from Playboy bunny to new wave/punk legend. Not saying Hannah will be a legend, but she is bound to improve from ok to better than average given work and time and maturity...she's quite young.

[Edited 5/4/15 19:04pm]

go home you're drunk lololol

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Reply #26 posted 05/11/15 5:49pm

CandaceS

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artist76 said:

If her singing works fine on the 3EG stuff, that may be because the 3EG stuff is similarly crap.

.

idea yeahthat

"I would say that Prince's top thirty percent is great. Of that thirty percent, I'll bet the public has heard twenty percent of it." - Susan Rogers, "Hunting for Prince's Vault", BBC, 2015
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Reply #27 posted 05/12/15 5:33am

Empress

I hate her voice! It's damn awful and I'm surprised Prince likes it. She sings out of tune most of the time too.
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