so does" have u ever been to electricladyland "song sounds like jimi dont sing like some soul crunner?

thebanishedone said:

I think the Tempts are doing background vocals on that number.

Alicia Keys. I still think her voice is weak for R&B.....like half of the R&B singers out there now.

TonyVanDam said:

Shit, everyone knows Janis couldn't sing to save her life. But she isn't loved for her vocal chops. That woman sung with a realness and level of honesty that's rare in any genre or style. If she was singing a sad song, she could make your heart break with hers. And if she was happy, or angry, or crazy? You were happy, angry and crazy right along with her.

R.I.P. Ms. Janis.

The List of women Prince has had sex with!
[Edited 5/23/07 1:04am]

P2daP said:

but Sheena could sing..

meow85 said:

janis could too sing.

it's sad we live in a culture where technique has become so much more prized than emotion, and how much melisma and vocal runs you can cram in your singing is more important than how well you can convey the emotion of the words.

give me janis over beyonce, celine and mariah ANY DAMN DAY.

madonna

i swear that madonna voice was better before,she was great on love dont live here anymore,her voice is cold these days,maybe because of that fake british akcent

thebanishedone said:

i'm all for her voice pre-'evita'. i never thought she had a great voice, but at least in the old days she sounded comfortable with herself. these days, she sings like she's always out of breath. i think taking singing lessons messed her up.

ciara can dance, but sing, no

Anxiety said:

who is she now? she's like a Pygmalian experiment gone awry

P2daP said:

Seriously, though, there really are too many popular bad singers to name. In today's crop of so-called artists, it is actually easier to name the ones who can sing. Well, let me get back to you on that list...

Yes, look at the joni mitchell tribute album. not 1 cover is even nearly as good a vocal performance as the original.
Annie lennox has a good voice, but she's just not in the same league as Joni.

Anxiety said:

Hear hear!

What I meant was that in the purely technical sense, Janis couldn't sing. The ability to convey emotion and feeling is more important than being pitch-perfect though, and at that no one could, or can, touch her.

meow85 said:

She always was a bit of an eyesore though.

Her singin' about unrequited love wouldn't leave anyone thinkin', "oh but how could he have not wanted..." etc. for very long.


How did she die? choking on her own fingernails, or was it a nicotine overdose?

thedribbler said:

thedribbler said:

Who cares if she was homely? There's something wrong with digging an artist for their looks. You can't see someone over a set of speakers, can you?

She died of a heroin overdose. The batch she had was unusually pure, and was too much for her heart. Passing away at 27, she's a member of the 27 Club. What an honour.

meow85 said:

Ugly-ass men can sing all the love songs they want though, right?

And you can't say that he wasn't a popular artist either since the Pistols are still inspiring Punks around the world to this day.

sextonseven said:

Fer sure. Yet another example of the industry (and society's) double standard. Even now that looks are everything in the mainstream, men are still allowed to be average or goofy or even outright ugly, but a woman damned well better be a smokin' hottie, or no amount of talent will save her from obscurity.

Is it not a law of nature?

Fashion is not greater than nature!

There are some singers who technically can't sing, but who imo are effective as vocalists - such as -

Bob Dylan - He sounds like Bob Dylan, which is fine by me
Jimi Hendrix - While very variable as a singer, at times he could actually sing, as on '(Have You Ever Been To) Electric Ladyland', with his excellent post-Curtis Mayfield falsetto, and also imo on 'Drifting' and 'Angel'. Jimi probably had potential as a soul balladeer, on the strength of these.
Mick Jagger
Johnny Rotten/ Lydon
Jim Morrison - The Doors 'LA Woman' track is to me the ultimate 'singer clearly hilariously drunk but still somehow good' song
Billie Holiday (small range, not my fav jazz singer, but effective)

And arguably James Brown and Louis Armstrong, Louis being one of the major vocal stylists of the 20th century.

But sorry Janis fans, I could never stomach Janis Joplin. She tried so hard to sound black, it was painful. Give me her mentor, Bessie Smith, any day.

Miles said:

Miles said:

Ah... the voice of reason.

thedribbler said:

so? she was about 1,000,000 times more charismatic than any of the skinny trog bitches in the top 40 these days, and from the biographies i read on janis, she was never wanting for male companionship...or FEMALE companionship, for that matter. yeah, she was an ugly duckling - that was part of the drive that made her successful. she was made fun of throughout her youth by people like you for being a dumpy troll, and she wanted a big reason to tell them to fuck off.

Anxiety said:

I still can't believe that Celine once tried to cover AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long". There are no words.

Macy Gray. I know alot of you like her. But she sounds like Donald Duck to me.

Anxiety said:

And it certainly looks that way! ugly!
I don't think she enjoyed anything, too busy saying just that. god bless 'er if anyone must

she tried and she failed
The top 40 is nothing to go by these days, don't you know anything?

Try ing 2 b black doesn't necessarily mean 1 has soul - God forbid!

u wanna keep takin'your meds!

meow85 said:

actually neil for his genre has one of the best voices...
Dylan too (dylan can actually sing well, but chooses to sing a certain way for style purposes,
most folk singers do that