lately it has been really sub par, even for her. she was doing so good on her last tour...

It's probably because her performances are more dance oriented for this era.

Cause she's actually attempting to sing live now?

badujunkie said:

Wow! That's pretty bad... Good thing her guitar skills have improved...

i think it may be a combination of several things - first off, i don't know that vocal training helped her, because i think she sings better from the throat (like most rock/pop singers) than she does from the diaphragm (like most opera/musical theater performers) - giving birth to two kids in her mid 30s couldn't have strengthened her diaphragm much, though i'm sure the yoga helps immensely...and, quite simply, i think the end result was better when she was younger, cockier, and wasn't as critically self-conscious about fame.

mind you, all of these thoughts are coming directly from my ass, and i have little idea what i'm talking about.

Anxiety said:

Hahahaha, for someone who supposedly knows nothing about singing, you sure seem to know your way around a microphone! Good job with the analysis!

Alasseon said:

i took a pop vocals class for a couple of years in college. but thanks!

It's what's dogged her fame since the beginning: Girl can't sing!

She's been dogged by pieced-together-in-the-studio-vocal-harmonizer-tricks rumors for years. Most of her live performances have been amatuerish except one (her Oscar performance).

This may be a stretch but I've always had a theory that her live performances she did to promote "American Life" probaby didn't help her sell too many of those albums. What a bad way to kick off a project.

the same thing thats up with Mary J. Blige when she sings live...the hoez just can't sing...plain and simple.....

missfee said:

lilgish said:

i mean seriously, everybody knows that the only time Mary J. sounds tight is on wax...point blank...same goes for Madonna too, even though her current album is the shit

missfee said:

funny..they used to say the same about aretha before she was "the queen".

i think theres a huge difference between mary and madge.

mary can sing...if she actually attempted to stay focused. madonna's vocal chords just dont have that much range...even when she attemps to concentrate (ala her two oscar performances and evita) she cant achieve anything beyond "okay".

mary has it...if she wanted it. but her thang is passion and emotion, not perfect vocal execution.

for that we have celine dion. ask yourself which one you would prefer to see sing live for two hours...

sosgemini said:

easy, neither....

ok i gots to defend mah w0man.

madonna can sing. CAN sing. is she in the league of mariah or celine? HELLS NO. but she's a performance artist who can carry a tune (usually) and sound good SOMETIMES. there is also a lot of raw passion and energy in her vocals that is not there for many technically perfect performers.

lately though her live vocals are SHITE.

badujunkie said:

Well, shouldn't she then have considered some other career than that of a SINGER'S?

I wouldn't pass a job interview if I had to admit that I was only passable at the skills only half the time,

from what i've noticed, mary's live singing problem seems to be more with pitch, whereas madonna's problem seems to be more with her breathing.

also, while i wish madonnaholics would own up once and for all to the fact that she's not a great singer, i wish everyone else would get it through their heads that madge is an ENTERTAINER, and she really isn't meant to be thought of as some great vocal talent. she sings a bit, she dances a bit, she has great stage presence, she says interesting things in interviews, she wears fun clothes. she's good at being a celebrity, and she's good at keeping an audience's attention. she's basically cher 2.0 - what's the big whoop?

WHen does Madonna actually SING live anyway?

I didn't see her first tour, but I think she did sing live, although got bafd reviews.

Her other tours like Blonde Ambition, The couploe that came after that, were basially lyp synched (which pissed me off).

The one where she learned to play guitar I guess seh was singing but I Didn't see that one either.

Personally, I liked her original style of lower register, sligly pitchy style of her eralier years.

BUt why does the industry let them get away with this stuff? Remember on MTV when she usd to do Vogue "live" she didn't even BOTHER to pretend to be using a mic.

Plus, Mary J is so overrated. Even Chaka Khan said the girl can't sing and needs to get some lessons!

GaryMF said:

obviously you haven't seen any of her tours. because the bulk of them are live. with one or two tracks that aren't.

i have over 50 live recordings of Madonna, to prove it with

Anxiety said:

cher is a much better singer and actress.
cher can't dance very well.
cher hasn't been as consistently on top.
cher hasn't had the commercial success with music that madonna has.

i dont think they are much alike other than being gay icons and divas with longevity.

ehuffnsd said:

amen! people are so ignant when they say Madonna only lipsynchs. they obviously missed the VMAs in 98.

badujunkie said:

they obviously haven't seen her live and just repeat things they have heard.

she doesnt even use vocal track guide thingies? thats the impression i got when i saw her live.

"Obviously" you are making assumptions.

I have seen Madonna live. Saw the Blonde Ambition tour twice, as well as various "live" videos such as Girlie Show, the Virgin Tour, THe OPen Your Heart Tour, and the Ray of Light era one.

BLonde Ambition is full of lyp synching, and when she does sing it's over backing tracks of herself on pre recorded vocals. Girlie Show is worse.

I don't memorize award show dates, so not sure which performance the VMAs in 98 you are referring to. I believe the Ray of Light tourwhere she played guitar she was singing.

But you can't deny that she has done TONS Of lip-synching throughout her career and on many "live" performances.

Virgin all live
Who's That Girl all live
Blonde Ambition Express Yourself Guide Vocal, Where's the Party part guide part lyp, Now I"m Following You Lyp, Vogue Guide first half of tour lyp second part of tour.
Girlie Show Lyp on Erotica Vogue Justify My Love Guide on Fever Express Yourself Deeper and Deeper
Drowned World all live
ReInvention Lyp on Vogue Nobody Knows Me and Die ANother Day

ehuffnsd said:

You just proved my case.

If an artist wants to be taken seriously as a musician, he/she should do a show with 100% live vocals and 100% live band.

GaryMF said:

lord... she's a performace artist. get over it. she transcends music and is Pop Culture Icon.

Madonna pre 83 meant the mother of God

Madonna post 83 means Pop star from Detroid.

GaryMF said:

and if you read your previous posts you were saying the whole show more or less, and when did 3-4 songs make up the bulk of a 20 song performance?

fams.

ehuffnsd said:

I don't remember the tours or study them as closely as you have, so I'll take your word for now on which songs were synch vs guide etc. although I thought it was more than that that was synche.

The songs you mention are the most memorable ones which is probably why I'm left with the impression the tour was "lip synched".

I never was trying to say she "never sings live" but that a big part of her "live show" is often not really live (and I would say that doing the biggest hits lip-synched counts as that).

I find the whole topic of lip-synching interesting and always try to tell in a live show what parts are live and what is pre recorded. I"m assuming your lists above are from listnening and knowing the songs intimately to be able to tell.

but how did you know that Vogue was done 1 way the 1st part of the tour and another way the 2nd? I"m not doubting you, I{m curious as to how you know, and more importantly, why did she change it?

I'm very interested in the thought process that artists go through when they make these decisions (if they do! )>

FOr example, Mariah Carey at one time used to do a combination of vocal guides with live singing, although more recently she does it mostly live (at least on the Charmbracelet tour), but then on some live tv shows it seems like parts of the song are "too exact a copy of hte record" but then other part of the same song are live, and I always wonder why she's doing that when she can clearly do it live if she wants.