"...When he heard the sound, SOUND LIKE A GUITAR..."
-from "My name is Prince"

That's it. He got the instrument by God.
I completly agree with the "author"

joeycoco said:

No shit.

I remember sometime around the release of "Lovesexy", Robert Hilburn (L.A. Times) wrote about Prince's voice not being the greatest among R&B male singers. Certainly, Prince does not have the best voice, but he has the ability to layer in the studio....so well with one set of vocal chords.

Take a song like "Adore", in which Prince throws the whole house at you, and one would not figure that one person could make such beautiful sounds.... even a singer who is known as a "singer"( to me, Prince is known as a "musician") In that song there are so many degrees and sides, it's tough to imagine getting all of the timing down(with even 2 or 3 people)

Another thing, unlike a alot of singers, from any periods, Prince does not lose much from the studio to the live performance.... He sounds pretty much the same live as on record. And that says alot for a guy who is not known to be a "great singer".

it's also been said that there's no artist with such a range of notes as prince....

everybody knows that Prince's voice alone can bring anyone to a spontaneous orgasm.

I agree with the orgasm part. Ecstacy, Pleasure, deep sincerity is all of his message in his voice!

MontRoyal said:

I'm feeling your point. Prince's vocals over the years have most definitely been very versatile, just like his music. There are some vocalists who may have greater voices, but at the same time their singing isn't as versatile.

I think it's a huge exaggeration to say no other musician aside from Prince conveys pain and anguish through their voices. It's hard for me to believe that someone would even say such a thing.[/quote]

That's because, appearantly, your head is up your ass!

Supernova said:

Someone told me that Prince is in Guinness book of records for having the largest span from highest-lowest vocal range recorded...I'm just not serious enough to research that one, but anyone else ever heard that?

joeycoco said:

That's because, appearantly, your head is up your ass![/quote]

That's as good as you've got? Lame.

There's nothing really technically astounding about his voice. like he cant hit 10 million octaves like Miriah or hit the steady tones lie povarati, but theres this deep down emotion or lonliness that conveys and it's almost haunting. It's like he's singing from the lonely part of your own heart

DONT BELIEVE NONSENSE !!!! guiness book my black a--...
prince aint no where near being the greatest singer !!! please....WHAT about the range of all the opera singing fools that be breakin glass and sh-- !!! "what do i look like baby ? yesterdays fool?"

Yeah, I'm having a hard time with this one, too. I love Prince's voice, and yes, he is capable of conveying a large range of emotion with that voice, and those screams and what not. I actually tend to disagree with the term "pain and anguish." I don't think Prince does the pain and anguish thing much. He tends to take a different route. Listen to "Wasted Kisses" or "Comeback" or "Until U're In My Arms Again." His voice is more inspirational and uplifting. It doesn't bring you down, and that's what I think when I read "pain and anguish." Prince ain't Morrissey or Seal. You know what I mean?

I think his voice and songs have a lot of personality and they are story like, as if you were watching a movie. For instance, Raspberry beret, I can see all the things he sings about in the song, him working, his boss, the girl, the clouds as if he were looking at her with the clouds behind, If I was your girlfriend, him washing her hair, the movies, he just got an eye, and a mind, for these things in his lyrics, and his voice brings it our perfectly and different for each and every song! You can just 'feel' them and 'see' them! Other song lyrics has story too, but his are more vivid and just different everytime, therefore you really don't have to go the movies and listen to any other artist, hee hee:)

I agree with Nep2unes in the sense that it's not just about his voice. The man has the ability to touch your soul due to the fact that the music he creates is real. He creates what his heart tells him to (well most of the time!!) The true gift of Prince is that he can mean so many things to so many people and that each song he creates can have such a different effect. What is really so special about Prince is that it isn't just one thing about his art that is so great. He simply IS music. His voice, along with his instruments are merely tools to help him create his art and continue him along his journey.

Michael
mmagafa@optushome.com.au

Nep2nes said:

agree with Nep2unes in the sense that it's not just about his voice. The man has the ability to touch your soul due to the fact that the music he creates is real. He creates what his heart tells him to (well most of the time!!) The true gift of Prince is that he can mean so many things to so many people and that each song he creates can have such a different effect. What is really so special about Prince is that it isn't just one thing about his art that is so great. He simply IS music. His voice, along with his instruments are merely tools to help him create his art and continue him along his journey.

Michael
mmagafa@optushome.com.au

SEXUALCHOCOLATE said:

Uhh, read the quote. The point of contention was saying, "no musician, other than Prince...", that's the height of hyperbole.

On the 'Guinness Book...' issue. A number of years back I too heard a report on the radio that among popular artists, Mariah had the greatest range of any female vocalist, and yes, Prince had the greatest of any male. Not too hard to believe really - As regards all those 'opera singers' I really don't think that Pavarotti could quite manage The Most Beautiful Girl, or that Kiri Te Kanawa could rumble away on I Love U In Me. And I wouldn't expect Prince to try Nessum Dorma.

I haven't checked out the book - but I have listened to a lot of music and when it comes to range I have yet to find a male singer with more. Put that together with all the other stuff mentioned above regarding versatility, emotion,sexiness,soul etc - and I'd say he would be a pretty good contender for the best male voice , if such a thing were possible, but it's not so I'll just enjoy it.

LOL! @ to the backdrop of barking dogs but I agree totally... his voice is his blessing... but hey: he is a singer becuz of that right? Nice way of putting it by the way... you hit the nail on the head.
Peace

Listen 2 The beautiful Ones and feel the emotion just dripping from that song! And hate u , the way he sings,speaks the words, goosebuns..... Prince's voice can take u all the way, the complete rollercoaster and he knows it!

Not that it's a big deal, but the quote from the heading actually comes from Nelson George in the BBC Omnibus documentary about Prince from... '91, I believe.

Some guy, Benny Medina, I think, were saying that the way he screams and shouts "definitely" comes from a study of great gospel singers, and they cut to footage of him working with Mavis.

Mr George proceded with the word about how rare Prince's voice is, and they used some footage from Nude Tour in Tokyo (The Question of U).

All The Critics Love U In New York~

I remember an article on vocalists in Details magazine, waaaaay back in the late '80s, which said that the only modern music vocalist who had a wider range than Prince was Diamanda Galas.

And for those who know who Diamanda is, that's saying something.

Prince's voice affect me very much, simple said.

His voice is the best, and sexiest whether he's singing, talking, or anyting else...

Prince always sounds good. mmm mmmm mmmmm

Probably one of the reasons why his music is so diverse is cuz he always seems 2 find just a slight different tone 4 every song.

Like "There Is Lonely", "Dolphin", "One Nite Alone", "Come On", "Digital Garden [vocal performance of the year]" etc

Doesn't matter if it's his falsetto or a deep voice, they always sound different again.

I can't think of any other artist who managed 2 write that many songs and make m all sound so fresh vocally.

I agree with all the comments about:

The Beautiful Ones

His screams in that blew me away. We should probably start a thread called: Best non-verbal Prince vocal (scream, hoot etc.)