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Adam Levine and Usher butchered Untitled (How Does it Feel" by D'angelo On the Voice tonight. AWFUL. "Lack of home training crosses all boundaries." | |
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How exactly is this supposed to be a butchering? By all standards it's performed very well. | |
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Usher sounds okay but yes this was a butcher. Why were they singing it? | |
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Adam Levine butchers ANYTHING! his voice is utter shit. Usher can sing... but his voice is not what it used to be. They were playing that Voice crap at the gym. And his cover of Every Breath You Take is Pistols sounded like "Fuck off," wheras The Clash sounded like "Fuck Off, but here's why.."- Thedigitialgardener
All music is shit music and no music is real- gunsnhalen Datdonkeydick- Asherfierce Gary Hunts Album Isn't That Good- Soulalive | |
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Timberlake thinks he's Michael Jackson! Usher and Adam Levine butchered "Untitled"! his unique gifts for background layering and vocal production. Adam Levine's voice is not suited for pure R&B and his timing in certain spots was off (like at 0:46-0:48) but this was hardly a butchering - I agree with you Nova. This rendition only makes you appreciate the original that much more, but hardly cause for the exaggeration that it's a debacle. | |
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This. I think it was a pretty good attempt at the song. Didn't sound terrible but wasn't D'Angelo to a tee either, but I don't think it was supposed to be. I liked their cover. I will forever love and miss you...my sweet Prince. | |
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My Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/tundrah | |
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Ducci, what do you mean by "idiosyncratic phrasing" and "unique gifts for background layering and vocal production"? What is so hard about background layering? I don't know the technical stufff, I just know it sounds good to my ear.
I agree that Adam's voice isn't suited for RnB and neither is Usher's. His ass would kicked out of an old school church choir in a minute.
And yes, if you were trying to sing Untitled and you fucked it up and we were having coffee, I would tell you. [Edited 5/20/14 7:57am] "Lack of home training crosses all boundaries." | |
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If you just happen to always know how to lay background vocals in a way that suits the song perfectly, adding something interesting to the whole sound other than just sounding like a random choir. Sometimes a choir sound perfect if every voice sounds almost the same singing in unison. Other times it's more suitable to blend different voices almost like soccer fans yelling the man united song... Like the hook on America could sound just about as funky if it was Parliament singing it. Just enough grit mixed with pure soul and gospelish vocals. Blending different techniques, intensity, Church inspired by western africa: "soul", vibrating, , [Edited 5/20/14 8:42am] My Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/tundrah | |
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Total layman here, but I liked it! At the same time, scriptgirl is more than entitled to her opinion. Assuming that Untitled is one of her all-time favourites, I can totally understand if she feels that this rendition does the original an injustice. . Me, I think Usher was in good shape, vocally, and Adam -whose recent output I don't have the greatest love for- handled himself alright, especially toward the end when they were one-upping each other with the 'yeah yeah yeah's. That was cool. . I don't want your rhythm without your rhyme | |
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Replica and Gin, thanks! "Lack of home training crosses all boundaries." | |
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guise of vocal production) is in the middle section of "Untitled." He uses his background vocals as if it's another instrument. approach to this type of vocal production is unique in R&B because he does his own background harmonies (where he adds, usually the 3rd, 5th, and 7th of the particular melody he's singing). But he does this in a way that it is polyphonistic - he's got more than one vocal melody at once and they are all executed in the way that the voice should be considered: as another instrument. He learned this, I'm willing to bet, by listening to how Prince did his backgrounds. But D'Angelo's approach to how he executes and produces his background vocals is taken to the 9th power because he is not simply embellishing the main vocal melody/chorus, as Prince would. Instead, as I just mentioned, he's essentially introducing another instrument to the mix by stacking and layering his backgrounds. In this particular song, it sounds like he added a phaser or some other effect to his vocals to give it spaced-out feeling to it. The only other singer who layered his back- ground vocals in this manner, similar to Prince and D'Angelo, was Elliott Smith (as far as I know). or good ear training) and you have to be melodically inventive. Again, if you listen to the middle section of "Untitled" where D'Angelo has all of those vocal melodies and background melodies twisting and turning into each other (start at 3:35 and ends at 4:19), you'll hear what I'm talking about. It sounds good because he's not simply singing background; he's producing them. My musician friends and I always marvel at D'Angelo's background vocals and how well he executes them. | |
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Ducci, thank you. Do you think D is a musical genius "Lack of home training crosses all boundaries." | |
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Ducci, but even with all those skills, D isn't a musical genius? How come? Not dissing you, just would love to hear why not. "Lack of home training crosses all boundaries." | |
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On one hand, I love everything D'Angelo has ever done so I could call him a genius. But he hasn't done enough material to determine whether he's a genius or not. I love the live CD they finally released in its entirety....Angie kills it on the background vocals.
I'm not feelin this live performance though. I hate Adam's voice anyway but this is too much. That timbre with this song... "Keep in mind that I'm an artist...and I'm sensitive about my shit."--E. Badu | |
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wasn't a genius, but merely a supremely talented individual who worked very hard at his craft. History is now revealing that Mozart was going to concerts every night, working hard, and that his first real triumph as a musician was when he was 21, but this is after eighteen years of musical training. History is also revealing that the word "genius" doesn't mean dick. The way we use words change over time. "Genius" is a prime example. Today, it just means "really talented" or "brilliant." the work ethic of Mozart, irrespective of Mozart's otherwordly talent. | |
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No shit. Those dipshits butcher their own music, too. They both suck so fucking hard it's pretty unimaginable. | |
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yeah, d's work ethic is an issue "Lack of home training crosses all boundaries." | |
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I'm reading many places that an IQ above 140 is also considered genius or close to genius. More than 1% of all people on this very planet are above that line. It must be at least some musicians today that both are naturally gifted, and has a higher learning capability than others. Exceptional music intelligence and problem solving skills that make them stand out from the other 99% of other people working just as hard in the same field. I'm quite sure D'Angelo are one of those. We have a lot of great musicians that can play like robots and know all theory like fanatics, but couldn't craft an interesting song for shit. There are natural geniuses whom many of them we never hear of, and there are geniuses that are fearless, extremely curious and has will power that make them stand out because they have a goal to conquer the world. You know, on IQ tests you'll have people that would score maybe even 150, and still be a truck driver. Their problem-solving skill, as logical thinkers don’t necessarily make them love school. My Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/tundrah | |
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140?
That's gone down fast.
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You're probabaly right, hehe. But different sources say it differently. And anyways, if you're born a genius, you'd still have to prove it somehow. And how do you really analyze it? Do you have to be a genius to recognize a genius? What level of intelligence is needed to recognize what a genius work of art is? In art it must be more difficult to define genius than in figure based logics where you are solving visual problems, or even logical mathmatics. Knowledge will still be an important tool to solve these problems. So this questions is impossible to give a 100% correct answer to. Atleast I personally see Prince as a genius. I'd also put producers like Flying Lotus in the genius box. But I can't prove it. I'm just as a musician amazed at his abilities, and I think they're far more than just work ethic. And what kind of work ethic does really D'Angelo have compared to Prince? If D'Angelo was the hardest working man in business, extremly curious, and always felt the need to prove something. Then I think he'd be able to pull off something that many would say was genius. It's all opinion though. And very difficult topic to discuss since we all have different background and perspectives. My Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/tundrah | |
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