I don't think he's the best rock singer, though. He's not usually willing to do the damage that it takes to sing rock the right way.

andyman91 said:

PurpleCharm said:

He's got incredible control of his voice.

I'm not attracted to men so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but I don't think Prince has classic good looks. I think he's aged well, though.

It's interesting to me that in a lot of his early work, up to Dirty Mind, he uses falsetto almost exclusively. I wonder why he did this... mb because he liked that sound better or was just not that developed in his normal range yet.

In some interview I was reading, it included him in the studio singing and then saying to himself, something like "who can outsing prince? NO one, that's right". So does he think he's a very very good singer?

Off the top of my head, if I were to list some of his 1. best rnb vox, 2. best rock vox, 3. worst vox... it'd probably be something like...

1. damn u, let's have a baby, one kiss at a time, eye love u.., most beautiful girl.., do me baby,

ah... ill have to get back to u on this one.

supppedup said:

He said in a very early interview (For You era) that after his voice changed it hurt to sing in the normal range, that's why he sang in falsetto. I think his voice was very weak on his first record.

singing voice: no.

speaking voice: yes, at times.

There are songs with Prince vocals I truly can't stand, those that I can listen to in the pr9ivacy of my own noise-proof room and those I would play with the balcony bay window wide open. What you can say for his guitar work you can say for his vocals : that he may not be the absolute best one out there but no one is as compellingly versatile while remaining disctinctive. He doesn't have the most remarkable tone around, but he is amazing on stuff like Adore. For songs like International Lover, he was being cartoonis and over-the-top intentionally, so perhaps your friends didn't get the humour.

Believe it or not some people think he's as ugly as fuck and can't sing for shit!. I don't know why this is so hard for some people to grasp. Prince isn't the norm, that's why i think he's cool. he dares to be different.

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[This message was edited Tue Aug 3 14:55:15 2004 by Marrk]

Grrreeeat...just when you think you've heard it all, Larry Graham is ALSO responsible for Prince's supposed downfall vocally ...

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Only when he's saying, "Don't you know dead blood kills interferons!"

supppedup said:

OMG!!! eye just made a thread about this, saying that his voice is his best instrument LOL Personally eye think his style comes from listening to the Stylistics, and James Brown... eye love what he has done, cuz he has made the "sound" his OWN

Supernova said:

Obviously you've never heard Graham Central Station/Larry Graham live shows cos it's rather obvious that Prince adopted Larry Graham's singing style since about 1998 and even tried to speak and sound like him in concert...
All the preaching Prince did/does he does in this really akward and rather embarassing wannabe Larry Graham voice... Just listen to "The War"...
It's nice to be a fan of someone but trying to be like that someone (and thinking you are) is rather pathetic (all you dumbass Prince wannabe's who dress like him at concerts and all you dumbass wannabe look-a-like's take note...)
Just stay true to yourself...

Neversin.

I can't believe some people think PRINCE can't sing (shame!). No one has his voice. Others (like Dre and Bilal) try to copy it [his voice], but it doesn't work. PRINCE's voice makes me have to crawl up close to the speaker and place my ear against it. I try to hear every sound, every noise that he makes. I am always going back to certain parts in his songs, just to hear (over & over again) how he said a certain word or the background noises he makes.

If I could marry his voice, I would!

The Dreaming Peasant

supppedup said:

i see what you mean, but its interesting that your cousins and friends compare the notion of great singing to usher and beyonce when both have had plenty of moments of oversinging and modulation in their vocals (though if you check songs like 'say yes' by beyonce, her singing ability shines in my opinion).

wanya of boyz II men did that a lot too. it just depends on where your tastes are. one can find prince modulating his voice on several occasions throughout his career. but sometimes, this is what makes a vocal take interesting. doesn't always work depending on the song and that goes for any singer. but his mother was a vocal teacher and with a few misteps, i think he knows where he can pull it off. to some extent, i almost blame prince for the amount of r&b singers that came out thinking they can get away with whining and oversinging in their songs because most have little singing experience outside of the church. not that its a bad thing, not at all, but some don't actually know how to show restraint when it is necessary and many don't learn that outside of the church depending on what church you grew up in.

the screaming thing that prince does works for him, and i dig that in most songs he's done. its just part of his style. few people could get away with it. i don't think we'd tolerate that from other singers too much if done in the same way because that is associated with prince. just as michael jackson is known for doing certain things with his vocals. few singers have a style that is easy to identify. that is part of what makes them work, and why few others could duplicate certain techniques without getting ripped for it.

i'm curious about how old your cousins are if they are comparing his style to usher, beyonce, etc. singing ability overall, i'd put p above most r&b artists anyday. take 'adore' alone and that destroys entire catalogues of most r&b and pop acts.

He hasnt a great vocal range. But the WAY he sings is great!

sorry but this thread is a joke. Prince is an incredible singer with so much range. I always hear people comment on his crazy range.

Is he Josh Groban? No, but thats a totally different style (that I dont prefer, I might add).....but Prince can sing just about anything and do so with excellence!!!!!

LightOfArt said:

well, his ability to use a lower register, natural voice, and falsetto is pretty impressive i always thought.

Neversin said:

Yes, I have. And it's a ridiculous statement.

supppedup said:

Say.. that again

i'm curious about how old your cousins are if they are comparing his style to usher, beyonce, etc. singing ability overall, i'd put p above most r&b artists anyday. take 'adore' alone and that destroys entire catalogues of most r&b and pop acts.[quote]

my cousins r 19 and 21, both musicians, one's going to julliard for viola. they don't listen to rock or funk much, mostly rnb and pop...i guess they r more easy listening and smooth jazz type folks. i think what they meant by comparing to thoz young artists is that prince just isn't as smooth. its sad tho, they kept listening to justin timberlake, n sync, and 98 degrees over prince (noit that i don't listen to pop either, but NOT over prince!).

but it's just not limited to my6 cousins.. everytime i put on prince with other people around i get bad vibes from them in that htey aren't diggin the sound or vocals.

Supernova said:

for real. Wasn't 'The War' a few years BEFORE 1998 anyway? P wasn't under the influence of Larry back then, right?

I think a lot of us don't like Larry Graham because we feel that he is responsible for swaying Prince over to the Jehovah's Witness faith. I feel the same way to, but to be honest, Prince had always been a Sly and the Family Stone fan and a Graham Central Station fan even before he started hanging out with Larry Graham.

As far as Prince trying to make his voice sound like Larry Graham's, the first time I ever noticed Prince's voice sounding a slight bit similar to Larry's voice was on "Do Me Baby". Prince sang mostly in his falsetto on that song but there were sections in that song that he would get his voice deep....real deep. Right before the second scream in that song he gets real deep and his voice resembles Larry's slightly (in my opinion). Larry did a remake of "When We Get Married" the year before and at the very end of that song it sounds kind of like when Prince got his voice real low before the scream. "Do Me Baby" was in 1981 and that was LONG before he started hanging with Larry.

As far as musically, I think Larry is just one of many artists that influenced Prince growing up. I don't know about religiously though.....but of course that was MUCH later.

No-one's mentioned the nose!

P's voice is more than a little nasal. I had a friend who told me way back in '87 that he didn't like listening to P coz the vocals grated on him. It's true - they often have an "unclean" edge, which may be why your cousins don't like it if they're into "easy listening" and "smooth" music.

I think most fans like P bcoz of that edge.

His vocal range, pitch and performance are incredible. But the tone of his voice itself is far from perfect, and isn't as pleasing to the ear as some others. I think he knows that, and that's why he started adding others in the '90s to supplement it - Rosie, Kip Blackshire, the Steeles.

Marrk said:

"The War" was recorded on June 20th 1998... And Prince was already heavy "under the influence" of Larry Graham...
Just listen to that "The Christ" crap and his "stauros" bullshit, he did that months before he recorded "The War" and tell me he isn't channeling or trying to be Larry Graham...
Have you actually ever heard him preach that crap? That's not Prince, that's Prince being Larry Graham...

Neversin.

LightOfArt said:

Straight up horseshit, right there.

Prince can sing to the mid range of bass - see "Solo" and soprano - see "God" and many others. And yep, I do know what I'm talking about, so nyah.



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[This message was edited Thu Aug 5 19:45:06 2004 by mrdespues]

Whoever said prince doesn't have great range is an idiot.

He is a wonderful vocalist and his falsetto is to die for.

I can understand if people dont like the "tone" of his voice sometimes but to say he cant sing or is not a good singer is ridiculous.

Supernova said:

'Nova everything is Larry's fault, you didn't know this by now

mrdespues said:

I'll get stoned for saying this but I'll say anyway.

Ok I like the WAY he sings alot but his range is simply not that good. I have most of his albums and just finished listening Musicology from beginning to end. And NONE of his songs was made for great vocal performance. none of the songs get so high because he knows he cant hit real high notes. He knows it. That's why he produces them that way.

psykosoul said:

Yeah, I guess I should have known he was responsible for his apparent vocal downfall - but I didn't realize his voice wasn't that good anymore to begin with.

Supernova said:

he still sings?