Cream of the crop. The brotha has some chops.

i have no idea what happened to my post...let me try to type it again...

We all know that P is very underrated, eventhough he is multi-talented...but even with the recent accolades, not once have I seen or heard a comment about P's vocal range. I can't even think of another male singer that has the range he has....I just melt when he sings in his falsetto voice..like in 'Adore' or 'Do Me Baby'.....but don't sleep on P when he sings in his lower range...damn he just sounds so good, so masculine....Prince is so unappreciated, yet he is so talented....

Bull said:

I completely agree

co-sign. He does know howda switch his voice up @ times. Have ya'll eva heard of 'Work That Fat'? In that 1 his voice is deep u'd swear it isn't him but it is. Taka listen 2 that 1 & see 4 yaselves. & 'Adore' & 'Do Me Baby' are very good examples,2.

Totally agree with your statement about Prince's vocal qualities, but do you still think he is underrated?? I almost started to think some of the big names in music business these days are thinking very highly of him in public. Like it;s cool to praise Prince, or something...

I wonder what IS his vocal range???? I noticed it to when listening to Do Me Baby, perfect physics studying music btw.

Bastian said:

Yes, I still think that P is still underrated. Although a lot of music industry people are now coming out of the woodwork to give all praises to Prince, it seems to be more of a bandwagon mentality, but I may be wrong...maybe Prince is just so talented that he can no longer be denied.

PurpleCharm said:

I'd like to think that he can no longer be denied, however, I agree that a lot of the attention he's been getting lately is a "bandwagon mentality". For example, look at RS Immortals list. RS hasn't put Prince on any of their lists in years and now all of a sudden they include him. Seems fishy to me. Everyone wants to seem cool and in the know so they all praise Prince and act like they've been dedicated fans for years, when in fact, most haven't listened to a Prince song since TMBGITW! I'm very happy for him that he' s getting the props he so deserves, but I find it a bit sickening that everyone loves him all of a sudden and wouldn't give him the time of day before the Grammy's.

your bandwagon idea makes sense kisscamille, but it makes me think: when will credit people give Prince seem real and be well received by prince-fams like us? i mean, personally i think it's kinda cool when people like Alicia and Andre are praising him, only because of their change to make a new generation curious about P. Sounds old-fashioned huh??? it worked for me though, when P was talking about other artists in the past i started to listen to those.

Prince is underrated both as a vocalist and a guitar player. The only male vocalist I can think of who competes with Prince vocally both in terms of range and the different "voices" is Barry Gibb.

prince is my favorite artist, but falsettes aside, his range is not very impressive compared to cats like stevie wonder, terence trent d'arby, or hard rock singers like sebastian bach.

7salles said:

what????? I think u deserve this... and this and this too

How can u compare his purple highness with terence trent d'arby of all people? He was just another reject trying to be like prince, yeah granted he was talented but where is he now...exactly. Stevie wonder is a legend and prince learned from, but sebastian bach????? How in the hell can you compare such a prolific artist as P to a hard rock singer? That not even in Prince's class. Please get some help

missfee said:

You must be joking. Prince's voice comes not even close to TTD's vocal abilities. Prince is a great musician, but his vocals are not that impressing compared to really great singers like TTD/Sananda . BTW, TTD/Sananda is still making great music, his last album was brilliant and he is currently recording his new one.

missfee said:

Yeah, I gotta agree. I have respect for the artists you named, particularly Mr. Wonder, but even with him there is little comparison: in terms of sheer vocal range, Prince's is definetely greater. Stevies greatest contribution was as a songwriter, not a singer.

Cheers,

JJ

P is the most versatile pop music vocalist, ever, period. There is no one better in terms of dynamic singing in a number of different registers. I always knew he was baaad, but this was solidified for me by my aunt, whose musical opinion I value... my aunt is a professional opera singer,and not too long ago she asked me to make a CD of "modern music" I thought she might like. I loaded it up with Prince. After about a week she gave me her opinion--she thought the lyrics were shite and the music was "frivolous"...but, here's the rub... she couldn't stop talking about how INCREDIBLE a pure vocalist Prince is. She has since converted completely and now owns a number of his CDs, even jamming them backstage before big opera productions. I also foisted some TTD on her but she didn't bit.

missfee said:

What being profilic has to do with vocal range? Sebastian bach is not even in Prince's class, I agree, prince is much more talented, but Bach has a more powerfull voice. Prince could never sing 18 n life to save his life, he cannot reach those notes without falsete. Why do you think Prince covers whole lotta love with falsete? cause he don't have a powerful head's voice. bach could sing whole lotta love running and jumping. terence d'arby's natural voice is much more powerful than prince's voice, even lenny kratiz must have a better natural voice than Prince. Prince is good because he layers his voice like noone, and because he is very versatile, and he has one of the best falsete of all pop singers. nothing more than that.

kisscamille said:

Although everyone has a right to their opinion, and from what I've seen many share your position, I disagree. I truly think Prince would have been geting some press, inducted into the Hall of Fame, and on RS Immortals list even if he was still in relative seclusion. The fact of the matter is, he chose to drop out of sight for a while, largely anticipating the consequences, and his groundbreaking critically acclaimed work from the 80's virtually assured his status as one of the most important artists from that period. Now, capitalizing on the Hall of Fame and other honors, he has chosen to re-emerge, going so far as to professionally shoot a video, market a single, and mount an arena tour playing songs he's arguably grown tired of.

The reason the tour is getting good reviews is because he is playing some of the music that made him great as only he can play it. I think the reason Musicology has been well received by Rolling Stone and others is that it is a genuinely tight album, unlike the "filler-packed" efforts from the mid to late 90's where his talent only came through on a couple of well-crafted tracks.

Cheers,

JJ

johnnyj said:

Stevie wonder reach higher notes, i don't want to be repetitive but all high notes that you hear prince singing is falsete. Stevie Wonder tone is more relaxed, he can carry higher notes (no falsete please), he has a better vibrato. Stevie Wonder could probably sing any prince song, but Prince could never sing even overjoyed, cause he can't carry tenor range.

noflashagain said:

Mike Patton is more versatile than Prince. You should check him out. He can rap, he can sing queen tunes, he even covered Prince, lionel richie, he scream like the nu metalz guys too. Prince could never touch nu metal. i hate new metal but as a matter of fact you got to respect a guy who can scream like a nu metal boy and still sing with delicate falsete, even prince cant do this. :p he is great, but prince is the secodn more versatile. ;P

7salles said:
Mike Patton is more versatile than Prince. You should check him out. He can rap, he can sing queen tunes, he even covered Prince, lionel richie, he scream like the nu metalz guys too. Prince could never touch nu metal. i hate new metal but as a matter of fact you got to respect a guy who can scream like a nu metal boy and still sing with delicate falsete, even prince cant do this. :p he is great, but prince is the secodn more versatile. ;P[/quote]


I dig Mike Patton. But I did say Prince is the most versatile POP vocalist. Even Patton would concede that mastery of pop forms is NOT what he's after. Sure, Patton can do weird stuff on Tzadik CDs, play with Faith No More, and do some crooning for the Automator, but there's no way he's singing "Damn U", "Seven", "Kiss", "I Like it There", "The Human Body", "The Truth", "Adore", or even "I Wanna Be Your Lover" with the authority Prince can. And screaming? Heard the screams on "Endorphinmachine" or "The Beautiful Ones" lately?

I really don't know his range, but to listen to SOLO (COME CD) is enough to feel it
[This message was edited Tue Apr 13 18:39:51 2004 by tritoncin]

noflashagain said: "I dig Mike Patton. But I did say Prince is the most versatile POP vocalist. Even Patton would concede that mastery of pop forms is NOT what he's after. Sure, Patton can do weird stuff on Tzadik CDs, play with Faith No More, and do some crooning for the Automator, but there's no way he's singing "Damn U", "Seven", "Kiss", "I Like it There", "The Human Body", "The Truth", "Adore", or even "I Wanna Be Your Lover" with the authority Prince can. And screaming? Heard the screams on "Endorphinmachine" or "The Beautiful Ones" lately?"

I am pretty sure Mike Patton could sing damn u, seven and i like it there. But i agree he could'nt sing adore nore kiss to save his life. But if you think, you cannot deny that Prince could never sing dillinger scape plane's or fantomas songs. As far as scream goes, Prince can scream high, like steven tyler for instance, mike patton can do this too, not as good as prince, but prince cannot scream like Mike Patton does on dillinger, i am pretty sure of it. I think Prince is a very versatile singer, the only reason I think mike patton is more versatile is because of his work on his more underground and heavy projects. to resume what i think, in my opinion, it is very difficul for mike patton to sing prince songs, lke how come you don't call me anymore, because he didn't mastered falsete. But it is IMPOSSIBLE for prince to sing and scream like Patton does on some of his projects, because if he did that, he would problably lost a lot of his falsete.
[This message was edited Tue Apr 13 18:50:51 2004 by 7salles]

I think all this who's the better singer talk is missing the major point - the essence of the person doing the singing.

Whether in the lower, mid or upper registers, Prince sings with an attitude and personality that no one else has. Whether he's as technically polished as so and so or has as strong a voice as somebody else is entirely immaterial. Nobody else even comes close to the quality of energy he carries. There's only one Prince and what he may lack in strength or precision when gauged by a theoretical standard he more than makes up for in a unique character that grabs you in your guts and makes you feel him/yourself in a very real way.

Very few singers have this ability to evoke essence at this strong a level.

And when you're listening to Prince (either live or elctronically) do you sit around and critique his performances or do you let him take you there?

Prince is Prince and that's the bottom line. I mean, you wouldn't get the same kind of emotional reaction from his songs if he sang them as if he were Pavoratti, right? It ain't about perfection according to an intellectual idea. There's a magic at work that has all the unique elements that only Prince can deliver the way that he does. It's his essence and he gets it over.

Which doesn't mean that other singers aren't great at being themselves when they sing too.

Terence is unquestionably quite talented... at being him. Seal- awesome, nobody like him. Al Geen-the one and only, Rugs Clarke form the reggae band Third World is so powerful that he can paste you against the back wall if he wants to but it's not just his volume it's the power of his spirit. etc.

To me it's not about who can be technically precise but who can offer it up with such honesty that it gets inside you and takes you on the ride.

My point is that it's pointless to argue or compare the soul of a man (or woman) when s/he's singing his or her heart out for you because we are all unique and individual.

Better we should cultivate an appreciation for every singer's uniqueness than set them up like they were cocks in a cock fight.

As Nikka Costa sings, "everybody's got their something."

y'all are CRAZY.

Prince can singer higher (mezzo soprano) and lower (bass) than both Stevie Wonder AND Terence Trent D'Arby.

In fact Prince has the widest range of pitch in his vocals than most singers in the WORLD.

.
[This message was edited Tue Apr 13 20:25:40 2004 by mrdespues]

mrdespues said:

he is not mezzo soprano, he is a man, he uses falsete. He is a baritone. Stevie wonder and Terence are tenors. Stevie wonder could probably sing with falsete, but he does not sing because he does not need it, cause he have a wonderful natural voice, prince only uses falsete cause he cant cary high notes without it. even tought he is great at it. he over uses it.

mrdespues said:

Prince does not sing bass. I'm a bass singer, and he never gets that low - he's baritone.

7salles said:

Oh, you already said it! fair enough.

A singers voice is important to me, and I love Prince's voice. Also like Mike Pattons voice too, and love Jeff Buckley's voice.

I'm sorry, but I am a trained musician by trade and a vocalist and I gotta tell you, Prince's natural voice is TENOR, but he can also reach the depths of BASS (see "Solo" on Come) and also Mezzo Soprano (see the screams on "God").