estelle81 said:

Yes. Although I really, really, really adore her lower register so I wouldn't mind if she toned it down for one album (which I know she won't do )

Have you listened to Falling in Love Again?

I do hope she stops being all preachy with her lyrics

Alej said:

I never knew that was her. That movie, 'The Spirit', was pretty awful though, but I do like her version of the song.



Christina has such a versatile voice that she can pull off almost anything she does. What songs do you think have the most preachy lyrics?

estelle81 said:

It's not always preachy but songs like Oh Mother, Here To Stay, Still Dirrty, etc. really get on my nerves

Bryan Ferry.

I used to adooooore his voice - particularly around the 'Avalon'/'Boys & Girls' period - but the last few years/albums... It's almost like a parody of his vocal style. And it sounds as if he's struggling sometimes. It makes me cringe when I see clips these days.

Arnotts said:

Well, I still love her but I know what you mean. I was listening to the 'Bedtime Stories' album the other day - I think it was 'I'd Rather Be Your Lover' - and it was an immediate flashback of how she used to be. Raw. Less polished.

A song like 'Live To Tell'... the fact her voice is imperfect is what makes it so perfect.

I like that Mary J. Blige's vioce has improved over the years because I really used to hate to hear anything from her but now its the opposite.

Alej said:

Understood. I don't like being preached at either. Main reason I can't listen to certain Prince songs. Yes, Prince, I believe in God, now play 'Do Me, Baby' and save the preaching for Sunday morning church service. Thank you.

It feels good to know that the voice of Teena Marie has not change whatsoever.

great topic
ian gillan
robert plant
lionel richie

I've been really surprised with Morrissey's voice on Years Of Refusal.

He's hitting notes that he's never hit before. Really stretching himself in places.

At first I wasn't too sure about it, but now I'm growing to like it.

rocknrolldave said:

Woops! missed your post. Sorry.

I think I agree with you though. ....well maybe not with the 'yelping'!

Pretty much all singers lose some quality and pitch to their voice as they age. In fact im struggling to think of one who hasn't. Stevie Wonder still sounds pretty good, but he's an exception.

The most noteable ones are people who have BIG voices in the first place: Aretha, Mariah, Whitney. Whitney has obviously ravaged her voice through "partying" as she puts it. Mariah has probably lost it through lack of proper training and care, and she's tried to get around this by singing in that high pitched whisper. She still has range, but its lost the quality, consistency and power of her early 90s voice.

Prince has definitely lost some ability in his voice. His falsetto is much much weaker than it used to be, and he seldom uses it anymore.

Michael Jackson lost a lot of his vocal ability post HIStory, partly because of maturity, his voice deepened, and partly because he changed his singing style to that harsh nasal grunt that will have likely damaged his voice.

Paul McCartney lost alot of his vocal ability around 1980-ish, probably the result of smoking way too much cigs and weed, and ripping it to shreds in his early years. His voice sounds quite weak today, but he still seems capable of hitting most of the notes. Dylan's got (even) worse probably for the same reason as Macca.

Madonna has lost a lot of the higher range in her voice, and while her mid range has improved with maturity, she sounds horrendous when trying to hit much higher notes (see her try and perform borderline on her last tour). I agree that her voice on her last three records has been poor.

Debbie Harry has a much deeper range now, but it still works, probably because she sings rock, and she controls her voice well.

Tina Turner maintained her voice amazingly for years, despite ravaging it with extensive touring, and only when she got off the touring wagon did her voice beging to age, her live singing voice now has deepened and weakened considerably.

Elton John still has a powerful voice, albeit a lot deeper, but is completely incoherent singing live. Its just a bunch of vowels.

The artists who suffer the most are those who's careers were based on the quality of their singing, so someone like Paul McCartney can escape almost unnoticed from having a scrappy voice, as he has the songs and legacy to carry it off, whereas someone like Whitney will suffer greatly as the voice was everything she was about.
[Edited 7/17/09 18:04pm]

Prince's natural voice maybe become more nazal(see live rendations of Purple rain)

but to say his falsetto become weak?
i don't agree listen to his amazing peformance of somewhere here on earth from leno.
His falsetto is better then ever i beat Prince can deliver the most beautiful girl very easy.
what about acoustic or piano segments
of recent london concerts,Prince sang all the songs in original key and some of the songs he sounded even better then on recordings.

Bono sounded best in the 90s

thebanishedone said:

I agree that his voice has changed over the years. However, as someone else said, most singers who have been around for decades have seen their voices change. It's a part of life - period. However, I also agree with you that Prince's falsetto is still there. It might not be where it was 25 years ago, but listening to him sing some ballads live in recent years has amazed me because I did not expect him to still sound so good. I love his vocal delivery on Somewhere Here on Earth (recorded and live), Future Baby Mama and Better with Time to name a few newer songs.

-----

A singer who came to mind when I saw this thread was Stevie Nicks.

estelle81 said:

Jon B's voice has definitley gotten raspy.

Keith Sweat voice chaged dramatically just about after the "Twisted" and "Nobody" album..I forget the name of that one...was that self titled?

Aaron Hall's voice definitley doesnt sound the same on that live per4mance of I Like on the BET Awards.

Chaka seems to have gotten deeper on the Funk This album..however I seen her live in 04 and she sounded GREAT.

Madonna's voice started changing in the True Blue album...then changed again on Ray Of Light....now its like a cross between both (Hard Candy). Different vocal rainers have her singing different ways.

Prince started his gritty gospel wall of Prince's voice in 1990 on the Grafittit Bridge album however recently on Lotus Flow3r he hasnt used much of it and I thank him for it. Just listen to the new version of Large Room With No Light, his voice sounds GREAT.

CrozzaUK said:

have you HEARD the acapella version of Butterflies? Have you lost yo MIND?



Almost made me want to cry.

This man had not lost his voice at all....just about got better even... No one can really duplicate this ability.
[Edited 7/17/09 12:55pm]

estelle81 said:

!

paisleypark4 said:

i didnt say his voice had got shitty, but he'd lost a lot of his ability to sing in his upper range. His voice is deeper and has significantly less range. FACT. Why did he go from delivering 100% live sung concerts in 1987 to 100% mimed concerts in 1997? Because his voice had lost range and no where is this more exposed than when singing and dancing at the same time. Besides his peak vocal period was between 77-85, when he kept it soulful delivered clean vocals.

As for Prince having as good a falsetto as he always has, i dont know what bootlegs you've been listening to but they're labelled with the wrong year. Dont get me wrong, he can still deliver a killer falsetto, but nothing like he could back in the day. listen to recent interpretations of the beautiful ones and you will hear the difference.
[Edited 7/17/09 18:01pm]

prince sang the Beautiful Ones better in the 90s and00's
listen to any recording from Purple Rain tour and while very energetic his vocals were not that well in comparation to latter rendations of that song

For me, the only thing that has changed in Princes voice is how that strained sound in his higher register (normal voice) manifests. In the 80's it was a real gutteral scraping sound, which, if pushed, would turn into an almighty squeal (eg, Beautiful Ones). He really can't do that any more. He still screams, but it sounds closer to a gargle. For me, you can hear that progression right throughout the 90's albums.

His falsetto, however, has changed very little. It is just as likely to sound crystal clear, or appear to have cracks, now as it did 25 years ago. Listen to things like Scandalous or Rave, recorded 20 years ago, you'd swear that his falsetto was about to give out altogether! While 'Future Baby Mama' or 'Better with Time' sound as crisp and as clean as any other track.

I've mentioned this in another post before, but for me, Prince's greatest falsetto moment was on 'When the Lights Go Down. Having the control, variety, and expression to sing that low in his falsetto is breath taking. Always gets me. I'm not sure he would have had the control or depth of expression to do that in the early-mid 80's.

TyphoonTip said:

I agree with your overall assessmen, though I don't know if I can identify a greatest Prince falsetto moment. However, he sounded good singing "When the Lights Go Down" when I saw him in L.A. back in March. I didn't expect that song at all, let alone at 2 a.m. after doing two earlier shows. I really don't know how many other folks could pull that off this late in their careers. He was singing ballads - and quite well - late into the night/a.m. I saw him do the same thing in Minneapolis during the 07/07/07 shows. I was shocked at the quality of his voice at the First Avenue show after performing two earlier shows.

David Bowie became significantly better after Ziggy Stardust/Aladdin Sane.I loved the music, but his voice sounded whiney.

He became better over the years and when he sings live, he sounds even better than the albums. He started to croon a bit more and his vocals at times matched the ambiance of the song.

Some songs that showcase his vocal ability:

Sweet Thing suite (from Diamond Dogs)
Sorrow (from Pin Ups)
Wild is the Wind (Station to Station)
Warsawa (Low)
Ashes to Ashes (Scary Monsters)
Heaven's in Here

paisleypark4 said:

That was great!

paisleypark4 said:

That was outstanding! I love 'Butterflies' album version, but this is 10 times better IMO. I love when artists sing acapella. For me, it shows true vocal talent because you don't have anything to distract you from their voice. That's probably why soo much music today is over-produced. They want to drown out singers with mediocre or terrible vocal abilities. Any artist who has loads of production on the majority of their album really shouldn't be getting loads of praise, but that's just my

STEVIE NICKS. Huge changes over the years.

Ever since his failed experiment with Van Halen, Gary Cherone seems to think he has a couple of octaves he doesn't actually have!

_____

Someone swapped David Bowie with Bing Crosby after Diamond Dogs.

_____

Freddie Mercury's voice changed quite a lot over the years. Early on it was quite thin and falsetto like. By the eighties, it became quite gruff and powerful, without losing any of his range (he flippantly attributed it to smoking!) .

Then the strangest thing happened. On Innuendo, when Freddie very ill, he delivered his most powerful vocal of any album. His voice had brute force, beautiful subtlety, and a seeming new ease at hitting ridiculously high notes.I get still get chills listening to the last minute or so of The Show Must Go On. (Interestingly enough, other sources also attributed this to him giving up smoking a year or so earlier ....go figure).

_____

Liam Gallagher used to be able to sing, now he can't.

_____

Bono has lost an octave ...and the power and expression that came with that.

_____

Something happened to Tim Rogers on the Hourly Daily tour. He pretty much struggles with everything live now. (....see Liam Gallagher)

Aretha Franklin stands out most to me. Her voice was fucking incredible in her prime. I'm not totally up on her career but I'd say by the 80's the shit just got weaker & raspier & it seems like she couldn't catch her breath (probably the weight gain). I know she's had a long career but I don't think I've heard such a drastic change in a singer's ability/delivery. Sad, really...

CalhounSq said:

Although I don't think it sounds much different now since the 80s (when I first started hearing her) so I don't think she sounds all that bad these days.