I am NOT talking about anything other than vocal prowess and range - with that in mind, I think George Michael's voice, much like Freddie Mercury's with Rock, is perfect for the genre. In his prime, if I want a pop song to have competant (and even better than that) vocals, I would always go with GM.

Same with Freddie, if I want a fantastic rock song (or varient on the genre), I will always go with his voice - it is just so suited for the genre.

Thoughts?

I agree, George Michaels voice was so good and it had so much warmth and gravitas, everything from a growl to falsetto, but the warmth sells it. He is one of the few artists, like Prince who can do ballads and the upbeat stuff, many artists can't do that like Lionel Richie, his upbeat stuff is incredible, but some of his ballads are just dreadful.

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To me it is the conviction and passion in his singing - Keep the Faith, Cowboys and Angels, Jesus to a Child, Kissing a fool - I mean just wow, I can never get enough of that voice, even Careless Whisper - been listening to the LWP re release set a lot and my Faith CD's along with Older and it is obvious he was just way too talented in a good way. Add the extra attraction, he wrote 90% of his stuff and he plays guitar and keys too - this is not a Pop artist - this is a real Musician.

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I would even go so far to say he has the Black R & B vibe down well too, his voice covers the range, depth and has all the warmth of most Black singers. A true genius and missing him, knowing his anniversary is less than a week away.

Adorecream said:

purple05 said:

Honestly GM is a better singer than Freddie. Live and studio. But there are r&b singers who are just as good if not better than GM. There are definitely rock singers who are better than Freddie. Both are still great vocalist though

I hear where you're coming from there.

GM had a smoothness to his voice, a velvety quality. He could hold a note forever, had a vibrato we've rarely seen in performers in the last twenty years. While I love Boy George's higher tenor voice and silky delivery, and I do believe he's one of the better voices in my generation of singers, GM rises above even that by far delivering a beauty in tone and register that remains unparalleled.

FM had a power that was different. He was loud and brash yet controlled. When you hear that acapella leak of "Under Pressure" with Bowie, it truly is just mind-blowing. FM didn't tire easily when singing song after song with high notes, rousing choruses, audience chants, and verbal volleying that we'd previously only seen in opera houses.

They both definitely set the bars extremely high in their respective genres. GM was attracted to R&B and soul music, and was in the Stevie Wonder vein of artists, in singing and writing prowess. He also fully appreciated and admired FM's talent and emulated it often. FM full-on loved being on stage and being a rock star. He pranced, showboated, and galavanted around shirtless in tights with a fucking crown and cape like the king of queens that he was to audiences worldwide. Yet he didn't do it to distract from a lack of talent. Rather, it was the accessory on the main garment that was his vocal ability and showmanship.

When it boils down to it, two things are clear: 1) it is apples and oranges as to who is better; and 2) I miss that they never did a proper duet on record.

Both are incredible, seperate entities. To compare or measure one over the other IMO is simply not fair.

Mikado said:

TrivialPursuit said:

purple05 said:

Honestly GM is a better singer than Freddie. Live and studio. But there are r&b singers who are just as good if not better than GM. There are definitely rock singers who are better than Freddie. Both are still great vocalist though

I hear where you're coming from there.

GM had a smoothness to his voice, a velvety quality. He could hold a note forever, had a vibrato we've rarely seen in performers in the last twenty years. While I love Boy George's higher tenor voice and silky delivery, and I do believe he's one of the better voices in my generation of singers, GM rises above even that by far delivering a beauty in tone and register that remains unparalleled.

FM had a power that was different. He was loud and brash yet controlled. When you hear that acapella leak of "Under Pressure" with Bowie, it truly is just mind-blowing. FM didn't tire easily when singing song after song with high notes, rousing choruses, audience chants, and verbal volleying that we'd previously only seen in opera houses.

They both definitely set the bars extremely high in their respective genres. GM was attracted to R&B and soul music, and was in the Stevie Wonder vein of artists, in singing and writing prowess. He also fully appreciated and admired FM's talent and emulated it often. FM full-on loved being on stage and being a rock star. He pranced, showboated, and galavanted around shirtless in tights with a fucking crown and cape like the king of queens that he was to audiences worldwide. Yet he didn't do it to distract from a lack of talent. Rather, it was the accessory on the main garment that was his vocal ability and showmanship.

When it boils down to it, two things are clear: 1) it is apples and oranges as to who is better; and 2) I miss that they never did a proper duet on record.

Both GM and FM had incredible gifts that served them best in their respective genres - I think that's the best way to describe it.

Imagine if you could combine the pure power and endurance of Freddie with the smooth and velvet-y qualities of George? The best voice of all time.

TrivialPursuit said:

NorthC said:

Mikado said:

I am NOT talking about anything other than vocal prowess and range - with that in mind, I think George Michael's voice, much like Freddie Mercury's with Rock, is perfect for the genre. In his prime, if I want a pop song to have competant (and even better than that) vocals, I would always go with GM.

Same with Freddie, if I want a fantastic rock song (or varient on the genre), I will always go with his voice - it is just so suited for the genre.

Thoughts?

For rock, which, after all, comes from the blues, I prefer those rough voices. Jagger, Richards, Dylan, Hendrix, Sprinsteen, Steven Tyler, Lou Reed, Johnny Rotten, they may not have (had) the most beautiful voice and they probably couldn't have done Bohemian Rhapsody, but they captured that rough and dirty spirit of rock & roll. I like my rock rollin' an' tumblin', humpin', bumpin' an' thumpin', raw and rebellious and kickin' ass. I don't hear that in the music of George Michael or Queen, no matter how beautiful they sang. [Edited 12/21/17 12:18pm] [Edited 12/21/17 12:32pm]

Queen could pretty much do it all, and that is one of the reasons they were so great. Queen touched on all types of music as you are probably aware. It's Late, Fat Bottomed Girls, Hammer To Fall and I Want It All are good examples (just a few) of Freddie and Queen doing the style of Rock & Roll you mentioned.

alphastreet said:

Both are incredible, seperate entities. To compare or measure one over the other IMO is simply not fair.

Agreed! Both had beautiful voices.

purple05 said:

Yep the only thing I disagree with is that FM was a standard in R&B. There are many other r&b singers that were just as good or better and more influential

¿Que?

Well let's put up the goods, so we can at least, all decide fairly.

TrivialPursuit said:

purple05 said:

TrivialPursuit said:

¿Que?

Umm no! He's not even thought of. There are many more r&b singers that are just as good(in there own way) or better and are more influential. These men voices are the standard in r&b: Sam Cooke, David Ruffin, MJ, Stevie, Luther and it's a few more that I can't think of. GM voice isn't even the standard in pop music. The men above names are even standard there. I'm pretty sure anyone saying that doesn't know r&b music. It's appalling to even suggest what y'all are saying.

You said FM, meaning Freddy. I never mentioned Freddy with R&B. (typo?)

As far as GM, You have to remember that the old ones from the 50s aren't the only ones. Prince didn't get traction until the early 80s, and he's certainly a go-to. GM had great R&B influence in his voice & style, but he also kept a foot firmly in the pop field as well. GM's voice is a standard of excellence, though. When you hear him on that Live in London DVD, it's pretty astounding the notes he's hitting for a man not in his 20s anymore.

There is always room for a new standard, or augmented. I would agree that today, right now, I'm not sure there are those artists out there. With P and MJ gone, we don't even have a short-term flashback to reference.

TrivialPursuit said:

I love both to death..still can't get over the fact that we've now lost both of them.

Still, they both had their own style.

I just listened to George Michael's rendition of Somebody to love together with Queen at Freddie's farewell show from '92 and he killed it.

Couldn't picture George rippin' into Fat Bottomed Girls or Stone Cold Crazy, though

Freddie was almost more of an operatic singer than your standard rock'n roller...he just had immsense power in his voice, he probably could have sang without a mic in a small arena and you still would have been able to hear him

George's voice was just butter smooth and so full of emotion...I dare anybody to listen to his cover of the Long and Widning road and not burst our crying, he was simply amazing: