I don't think his voice holds up the way it used to do anylonger. Listen to Invinceble and MSG. Of course the voice changes with age. But I'm not talking about the voice getting lower and darker what I'm aiming at is that he doesn't seem to have the ability sing in the smooth soulful way he did on songs like

Who's loving you
A Fool for you
All I do is think of you
Show me the way to go
Enjoy yourself
Don't stop
Rock with you
Heartbreak Hotel
Man in the mirror (the live part at the end of the Grammy's awards 1988)
etc

On Invincible I love the songs:
Break of dawn
Heaven can wait
Butterflies

and I like You rock my world

He sings good on those but I don't think his ad libs are what they used to be.

Compare Michael's voice nowdays to Stevie's who still can wail his ass of and Prince who sounds as good as ever live.
[Edited 10/30/05 5:47am]
[Edited 10/30/05 5:47am]

I agree. After "Thriller", it seemed like he had lost much of his smooth, soulful vocal power and his abilities were reduced instead to a watered-down, almost nasal growl/croon plus excessive, forced vocal hiccups, whether this was by choice, by too much rhinoplasty, etc., I don't know.

Then again, performances such as his rendition of "You Were There" at that Sammy Davis Jr. tribute a decade and a half ago and the song "Butterflies" (to a degree) is proof he can still beautifully sing like a mofo... he should sing like that more often. The growling and hiccuping is seriously played-out now.
[Edited 10/30/05 6:36am]

agreed, the last time he sounded good was in 94 and he has rarely sung live since then, on MSG he was average for him; just acceptable.

but Stevie has also lost it. Live, and on this record he doesn't sound that good.
[Edited 10/30/05 6:38am]

lilgish said:

I don't hear that.

CinisterCee said:

even as compared to something 15 years ago like Jungle Fever, the smoothness is not there, each word is not sung with brillant clarity and range. He's compensated with a slightly different style on some tracks, but no doubt, Stevie has lost speed of the fastball.

The Thriller and Off The Wall (also Destiny and Triumph) vocals sounded so care-free and so warm!
I think his post-1987 voice is more penetraded with anger and frustration.

There is nothing wrong with his voice that I've noticed.

dreamfactory313 said:

Listen to this videoclip:

http://media.putfile.com/Movie_00016948

Have you ever heard him sing with this incredible smooth care-free and soulful voice the last 10 years? I know I haven't. Of course he cannot sing in the same key and take those high notes anymore, but that it not what I'm talking about; I never hear him wail or do those flexable runs anylonger - that is what I'm talking about.
[Edited 10/30/05 13:41pm]

this is the last time in 93 when i thought he still had it http://media.putfile.com/gts

lilgish said:

Thank you very much, I was captivated by how Michael seemed to touch Mr an mrs Clinton...

I agree with a lot that's been said already. Dem nose jobs have done something to his tone. It's been a while since he could blow live, which is no big shocker. But it was very obvious when I first heard the R. Kelly penned One More Chance. That vocal just sounds...wrong.

BT11 said:

I agree with this! I don't know what happened (too many nose jobs? Aging?),but his voice after 1987 just isn't the same.Nowadays,his singing is filled with anger and it has lost much of the smoothness of his 'Off The Wall' and 'Thriller' days.

lilgish said:

Every career has it's peak . Age is an undoubtly factor
which you don't have control of .

And although the natural talent for vocal-ability is there ,
you have to keep it in shape ( like a workout )
and by visiting a vocal-coach or something .

This is essential for the more speed & uptempo songs .
For the easier slow-tempo genre it might work better
after having upshaped your vocal-skills .

The voice is a powerful instrument , but also a human instrument
which can be easily harmed . Any now and then we experiment concert-cancellations because of that reason .

Now i can't tell if , or how much MJ and Stevie
kept their voice in shape , but i keep the above possibilities in mind .
[Edited 10/31/05 4:49am]

I prefer MJ's voice as it is now. He's somewhat of a song stylist these days.

All his vocals used to sound the same back in the day.

Variety is the spice of life, didn't you know.

Cloudbuster said:

Even so, give me smoothness, beauty, and power over grunting, fake yipping, and that same old angry (sometimes constipated) growl vocal any day.

squiddyren said:

Oh, go away. If you think there's no smoothness, beauty or power in a song like Speechless then you need a new set of ears.

Cloudbuster said:

Yeah, but he doesn't seem to be able to do those fast bluesy and soulful vocal runs as he did in Who's loving you, A fool for you, All I do is think of you etc anymore.

He had throat surgery in 1992.

Cloudbuster said:

Ellie said:

Does anyone know why?

Ellie said:

Stevie or MJ?

manthevan said:

That's when Mike was a baaad asss. Cool ass purple pimp hat tilted to the side...

"I gave her my cookies!"

Is this Goon Too Soon at Clinton inauguraion? I love that performance so much! I hope the fill will be there still by thursday when I get home and be able to download it.

That was a great clip. I personally like the way his voice is now because it seems like he puts all of his emotions into it, OTW was smoother but I like it rougher. Kinda like Ike on What's Love Got To Do With It. "rougher Annie Mae, rougher" lol
[Edited 10/31/05 8:09am]

MJ has the best singing voice in history. FACT.

Still one of my fave trax :
http://mfile.akamai.com/1...obj=v11010






[Edited 10/31/05 15:11pm]

somebody should link the 'Elisabeth, I love you'-performance from around '97.

But Manthevan is right. When you listen to that rendition of 'who's loving you', it's just mind-blowing. The same goes for the 'Jacksons Live' cd and many of the Bad-tour performances. After that, it became more hit-and-miss, and you get the impression he can still let his body overcome his physical or mental pain, but no longer his voice. Actually, the dancing also, but you could argue the dancing improved by the 'angst' behind it. Not so for the voice (although i love some of the almost-desparate Gonna Be Startin' Something's from the HIStory Tour, the closest I've seen him to James Brown). I think he can still sing amazingly, but only in studio conditions where you can try and try again, and don't need the power and easy a live performance requires.

dag said:

yes it is, and it's there forever as long as people continue to view it every so often.

He sounds great on "liz i love you".


He seems so happy during that perfomance, bless him.