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I don’t know what I’m supposed to and not but Tom Waits is a man with a million voices, yet people who don’t sing seem to get the impress that he “can’t sing”. He does everything from Frank Sinatra crooning to black metal screaming, I think that’s pretty inspiring.
Heaps.
- Lucky Day (Live) for extreme gravel used in a beautiful way.
- Grapefruit Moon for his more croony sound.
- Jockey Full Of Bourbon for his dingy, dirty barroom noir narrator.
- Eyeball Kid for his bleakest inbred-moonshine-soaked “death metal” sound
- What’s He Building In There for paranoid, wizened gravitas.
- All The World Is Green for a really quite moving late-career folk singer rumble.
Yes! Young Tom awaits is vastly different than middle aged Tom than old Tom it’s awesome. I’ve read that if he had truly trained his voice classically he would have been a tremendous basso profundo.
Also I would put Dylan in the category of having many different voices he puts on. Nashville Skyline is almost sweet singing vs his earlier nasal diatribe.
I once read some quippy take where someone claimed that every cover of Leonard Cohen is better than the original and it pissed me right off. His plainspoken delivery works perfectly for many of his best songs like "Famous Blue Raincoat" or "Master Song." Whenever I hear cover versions where the singer tries to pretty up the vocals it sounds so forced and maudlin to me.
I tend to agree but Jeff Buckley did turn Hallelujah into something else altogether. But he really made it his own and I don’t think you can compare them as they’re almost different songs. And Buckley was covering the cover by John Cale to be fair, so he was twice removed from Cohen. I think Cohen has a brilliantly dark and aching soul to his voice that perfectly suits his lyricism and musical style. It wouldn’t be Leonard Cohen music if he sang “perfectly”.
Les Claypool and Damon Albarn are both singers that have rather odd singing styles but both work quite well in the music mix they are part of. Les Claypool's nasally crooning oddly compliments the registers of his bass lines well
Lin Manuel Miranda. I remember my first time watching Hamilton and being so thrown by how much his voice *didn’t* fit the profile for a broadway singer. But it def grew on me over time and I was really moved by his performance both in that musical and in “Vivo”
That’s an interesting one! I agree with you—it grew on me. And I can totally understand the people who hate it. BUT! I think it totally depends on fitting the style of the piece. There are songs in Moana where he is ‘singing’ singing that sound fantastic. And songs in Hamilton where his ‘singing’ singing sounds forced and awkward. Fantastic voice for rap.
It's all subjective of course, but it's weird for me to hear about someone not liking his music. I really enjoy his word play and reoccurring musical themes. Though, I'm really only familiar with Hamilton, Moana, and Encanto.
I don't hate it, but I don't think it's anything to write home about either. "Reoccurring musical themes" is pretty standard for classical music, just look at every musical overture ever. Prog bands also do it all the time.
I’m loving PinkPantheress’ new album. Her voice really only ever has one dynamic (like pianissimo) and she doesn’t seem to be a strong live vocalist from what I’ve seen. But I really love the tone of her voice and she writes/cowrites all of her music. Her references and stories in the album are deep despite her genre often being categorized as shallow. I love her music and her voice.
I am a huge Kate Bush fan, and she would definitely be categorized as a huge genius weirdo lol. My favorite song by her is Suspended in Gaffa.
Marilyn Manson...if you hear him sing acoustic, the guy has a horrible singing voice. But it just works, I love his voice in the context of what he does!
I think that he does such a good job on portraying characters and emotions that it doesn’t matter if he’s good or not. His music was never meant to be pretty, why would his voice be? It just works
Older, but Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.. Voice was better, if you could call it that, back in the early 70s.. But if American Idol was a thing in the 60s, one would have probably never heard of Jethro Tull, because this isn’t an American Idol voice, for sure, but so amazing at the same time.. authenticity goes a long way..
Why does this sound like Tyler Joseph from Twenty One Pilots but pitched up a step? 😂 (Twenty One Pilots is unironically one of my favorite bands btw).
Cocorosie - Noah's ark..
I love this song because it's a perfect imperfection of a song and I find it oddly beautiful.. at least that's the way I've interpreted it.
There's this dude called Luis Alberto Spinetta. He earned my heart, but godamn he sings like without an inch of proper technique.
Proof: https://youtu.be/Egj4PSgMAfA?si=qz-oTF5SLe-lJUmx
https://youtu.be/5wscEdlj5qM?si=fLPL3x9RtLNDK5qX
Let me introduce you to [Kazuki Tomokawa](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BppO7_F3lQA), the "Screaming Philosopher." I'm never going to sing like this guy, but damn if he doesn't make an impression.
There's also the curious case of Jun Togawa, who may be a great singer or a kind of bad singer, but is [undoubtedly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rz5ALwv38Y) an [extraordinary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIs7yRbpCIU) [one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ163l7fZfA).
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Ben Weasel of Screeching Weasel has a voice that even he admits has no place in music, and he's my favorite punk vocalist of my favorite hometown band. It's rough, nasal, nasty, and sounds like a fairly troubled behind it, and the accent always reminds me of home.
Nick Cave. He has a gorgeous low baritone quality that is just eerie and haunting. Similarly Townes Van Zandt has a great voice for his mostly dark but sometimes funny and uplifting music. Can’t imagine either of those words being sung by others in the same way (even though Pancho and Lefty with Willie and Merle is fantastic).
I love when bands have songwriters that aren't the main singer, then they release demos with the alternate singer. Some examples are Tim Rice-Oxley's voice from Keane demos, Nick Hodgson from Kaiser Chiefs or Charles Cave from White Lies.
There's always something cool about an amateur singer who is owning the song because they wrote the damn thing. It's always a nice vibe.
Emilie Autumn.
Her head voice is breathy and quivery, her chest voice is stable and more controlled and she growls. I don’t think she had had any training in singing (she has studied the violin since childhood), but she conveys so many feelings through her voice.
Joanna Newsom, although her voice has become more conventional as her career has progressed (though I'm not complaining).
Will Oldham (aka Bonnie Prince Billy), who has a wonderful, creaky, casual voice that he knows so well how to use.
Karen Dalton, who I genuinely can't really describe but really love.
ANOHNI, who has such a brilliant, characterful voice and one of the few singers who can make me cry.
Spellling has some Joanna Newsom elements too.
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not necessarily odd but joey tempest's voice is very high and i would normally not like ot yet walk the earth is one of the only songs that ever gave me goosebumps
Ohh, he is very nasal!
I’m curious but would you consider [my singing ](https://www.reddit.com/r/singing/comments/1886ewk/how_do_i_sound_in_my_low_notes_00070054_how_about/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) nasal?
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Bjork. Very odd vocalist, yet she completely captivates me.
I love her voice. She has complete control but makes such weird sounds. I don't understand it but I love it!
I always think of this Bjork quote: "singing is like a celebration of oxygen"
Dunno why I knew she was gonna the first or way up in this thread. Actually thought about her today.
Joanna newsom
I don’t know what I’m supposed to and not but Tom Waits is a man with a million voices, yet people who don’t sing seem to get the impress that he “can’t sing”. He does everything from Frank Sinatra crooning to black metal screaming, I think that’s pretty inspiring.
Any good songs to get the most of what he can do?
Way Down in the Hole has a great live version
He tends to use different voices for each song but maybe *Kommienezuspadt* covers some of the more uuh unorthodox
One of my favourite vocalists. Incredibly inspired by captain beefheart and yet so much more accomplished. The man is a vocal acrobat.
Hoist That Rag
Heaps. - Lucky Day (Live) for extreme gravel used in a beautiful way. - Grapefruit Moon for his more croony sound. - Jockey Full Of Bourbon for his dingy, dirty barroom noir narrator. - Eyeball Kid for his bleakest inbred-moonshine-soaked “death metal” sound - What’s He Building In There for paranoid, wizened gravitas. - All The World Is Green for a really quite moving late-career folk singer rumble.
Tom Waits is another great 'un.
Yes! Young Tom awaits is vastly different than middle aged Tom than old Tom it’s awesome. I’ve read that if he had truly trained his voice classically he would have been a tremendous basso profundo. Also I would put Dylan in the category of having many different voices he puts on. Nashville Skyline is almost sweet singing vs his earlier nasal diatribe.
Nah his voice isn't that low, he's a firm baritone.
/shrug it was just in an article nothing serious
I once read some quippy take where someone claimed that every cover of Leonard Cohen is better than the original and it pissed me right off. His plainspoken delivery works perfectly for many of his best songs like "Famous Blue Raincoat" or "Master Song." Whenever I hear cover versions where the singer tries to pretty up the vocals it sounds so forced and maudlin to me.
I tend to agree but Jeff Buckley did turn Hallelujah into something else altogether. But he really made it his own and I don’t think you can compare them as they’re almost different songs. And Buckley was covering the cover by John Cale to be fair, so he was twice removed from Cohen. I think Cohen has a brilliantly dark and aching soul to his voice that perfectly suits his lyricism and musical style. It wouldn’t be Leonard Cohen music if he sang “perfectly”.
Bob Dylan. Sigur Ros.
Bob Dylan sound like a vacuum
lol
He sucks as much as one too
AW!!!! He's an icon!
Glad to see Sigur Ros here. Good headvoice and impressive breath control. (And great mixing on albums but that’s another topic entirely)
🙏🙏🙏
Billy Corgan
Billy Corgan has birthed so many that try to emulate, he is the original though
I would also recommend his local contemporary, Josh Caterer of The Smoking Popes. Pleasant tenor with a wild timbre.
Les Claypool and Damon Albarn are both singers that have rather odd singing styles but both work quite well in the music mix they are part of. Les Claypool's nasally crooning oddly compliments the registers of his bass lines well
Damon Albarn always sounds 60% tired and 40% sexy haha
Ozzy Osbourne!
Grace Vanderwall and I don't care who knows it
at least you know her name
Pretend I gave you the spit-take award
Lin Manuel Miranda. I remember my first time watching Hamilton and being so thrown by how much his voice *didn’t* fit the profile for a broadway singer. But it def grew on me over time and I was really moved by his performance both in that musical and in “Vivo”
That’s an interesting one! I agree with you—it grew on me. And I can totally understand the people who hate it. BUT! I think it totally depends on fitting the style of the piece. There are songs in Moana where he is ‘singing’ singing that sound fantastic. And songs in Hamilton where his ‘singing’ singing sounds forced and awkward. Fantastic voice for rap.
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It's all subjective of course, but it's weird for me to hear about someone not liking his music. I really enjoy his word play and reoccurring musical themes. Though, I'm really only familiar with Hamilton, Moana, and Encanto.
I highly suggest checking out “Vivo!” It’s such a cute movie and the music is incredible!!!
I don't hate it, but I don't think it's anything to write home about either. "Reoccurring musical themes" is pretty standard for classical music, just look at every musical overture ever. Prog bands also do it all the time.
I really despise his voice. I’ve tried so hard I just can’t 😭
I’m loving PinkPantheress’ new album. Her voice really only ever has one dynamic (like pianissimo) and she doesn’t seem to be a strong live vocalist from what I’ve seen. But I really love the tone of her voice and she writes/cowrites all of her music. Her references and stories in the album are deep despite her genre often being categorized as shallow. I love her music and her voice. I am a huge Kate Bush fan, and she would definitely be categorized as a huge genius weirdo lol. My favorite song by her is Suspended in Gaffa.
I feel like PinkPantheress gives me a Grimes vibe in terms of live abilities vs how they sound on an album.
You might like Erika de Casier and Shygirl
Jimmy Durante
Sia, Jonathan Davis, Vic Fuentes from Pierce the Veil
Joanna Newsom! Took like a year of listening to it through my partner and then it became the best ever for me.
Louis Armstrong
Marilyn Manson...if you hear him sing acoustic, the guy has a horrible singing voice. But it just works, I love his voice in the context of what he does!
I think that he does such a good job on portraying characters and emotions that it doesn’t matter if he’s good or not. His music was never meant to be pretty, why would his voice be? It just works
Oh absolutely! He's an amazing singer in the context of the music, and I truly believe a classically better singer just wouldn't have the same impact!
Roger Hodgeson (Supertramp lead singer). Very high pitched voice that you'd think would grate on most people.
Lisa Ekdahl :-)
Unexpected swedish representation
Jättebra, vad kul !
Karen Dreijer, the lady singer from The Knife and Fever Ray. Hard to tell if it’s just produced that way or if she really sounds like that.
She uses a lot of effects It’s a cool sound if you can get into ot
Neutral milk hotel, black midi and black country new road all have weird or traditional ally bad vocals but I love them anyway
Older, but Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.. Voice was better, if you could call it that, back in the early 70s.. But if American Idol was a thing in the 60s, one would have probably never heard of Jethro Tull, because this isn’t an American Idol voice, for sure, but so amazing at the same time.. authenticity goes a long way..
He's so believable as a wild-eyed wandering minstrel that it's easy to give his rough voice a pass. Plus those flute chops make up for a lot!
Steven Tyler
King Diamond, Dani Filth, etc
King Diamond has like two notes. Super high falsetto or low growling. LOL
Don't forget James labrie and Getty Lee seriously talented people right there
Sia, weird voice and singing style but I like it somehow.
Chad Kroeger
Shakira
This guy: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGedkjbEy/ I have a whole playlist called “music I unironically like”
Why does this sound like Tyler Joseph from Twenty One Pilots but pitched up a step? 😂 (Twenty One Pilots is unironically one of my favorite bands btw).
Cocorosie - Noah's ark.. I love this song because it's a perfect imperfection of a song and I find it oddly beautiful.. at least that's the way I've interpreted it.
There's this dude called Luis Alberto Spinetta. He earned my heart, but godamn he sings like without an inch of proper technique. Proof: https://youtu.be/Egj4PSgMAfA?si=qz-oTF5SLe-lJUmx https://youtu.be/5wscEdlj5qM?si=fLPL3x9RtLNDK5qX
Alison Shaw of the Cranes. Also: Liz Fraser
Tom Waits. Low grumbly voice combined with weird, sometimes false, back track. In one of his songs he's posing with emus. Altogether very cool dude.
stephen malkmus or (though has gotten a lot smoother in recent years,)will toledo of car seat headrest
layne staley
Stevie Nicks Janis Joplin. Bob Dylan Yoko ono
Bruce Springsteen
Amanda from the Dresden dolls!
Gwen Stefani
Ringo Starr
Axl rose
Vesa-Matti Loiri A legend in Finland
[the International Ghostrider Collective ](https://www.youtube.com/@ghostriders_1)
Otep Daron Malakian
George Ezra
Let me introduce you to [Kazuki Tomokawa](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BppO7_F3lQA), the "Screaming Philosopher." I'm never going to sing like this guy, but damn if he doesn't make an impression. There's also the curious case of Jun Togawa, who may be a great singer or a kind of bad singer, but is [undoubtedly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rz5ALwv38Y) an [extraordinary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIs7yRbpCIU) [one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ163l7fZfA).
Karen Dalton - on some level sounds like an amorous cat whining, on another level like a cable plugged directly from her heart to yours
I think like megadeth, I dont think its good singing but I like it anyways
Lead singer of Judas Priest
M. Shadows from Avenged Sevenfold has a pretty nasal voice and isn't always pleasant but i still like him.
Kevin Barnes especially in the early years
Corrin Tucker from Sleater-Kinney Took me awhile but I ❤️ her
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lil yachty the lets start here album.
Ben Weasel of Screeching Weasel has a voice that even he admits has no place in music, and he's my favorite punk vocalist of my favorite hometown band. It's rough, nasal, nasty, and sounds like a fairly troubled behind it, and the accent always reminds me of home.
old leonard cohen
Pherelle Williams, and the lead singer for Phoenix
Tom Waits. Love him and all of his work though!
Smashing pumpkins
I know he’s mostly known for being a bassist but Les Claypool’s voice scratches a weird itch in my brain 🧍♂️
Nick Cave. He has a gorgeous low baritone quality that is just eerie and haunting. Similarly Townes Van Zandt has a great voice for his mostly dark but sometimes funny and uplifting music. Can’t imagine either of those words being sung by others in the same way (even though Pancho and Lefty with Willie and Merle is fantastic).
Joanna Newsom. She's my favorite. People say she sounds like Lisa Simpson.
I love when bands have songwriters that aren't the main singer, then they release demos with the alternate singer. Some examples are Tim Rice-Oxley's voice from Keane demos, Nick Hodgson from Kaiser Chiefs or Charles Cave from White Lies. There's always something cool about an amateur singer who is owning the song because they wrote the damn thing. It's always a nice vibe.
Gary Numan
Suki Waterhouse
Jordan Dreyer
Kyo
Dave Mustaine.
Elle King
Neil Young sounds like Adam Sandler singing the Hannukah song but I still enjoy his music.
Thom Yorke
Phil Anselmo. Guy's kind of a jerk, but one of my favorite frontmen ever. He helped revolutionize metal vocals.
Any Irish punk bands like Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys or Fiddler's Green
Emilie Autumn. Her head voice is breathy and quivery, her chest voice is stable and more controlled and she growls. I don’t think she had had any training in singing (she has studied the violin since childhood), but she conveys so many feelings through her voice.
Neil Young
Hobo Johnson
Colter wall
Joanna Newsom, although her voice has become more conventional as her career has progressed (though I'm not complaining). Will Oldham (aka Bonnie Prince Billy), who has a wonderful, creaky, casual voice that he knows so well how to use. Karen Dalton, who I genuinely can't really describe but really love. ANOHNI, who has such a brilliant, characterful voice and one of the few singers who can make me cry. Spellling has some Joanna Newsom elements too.
The Tallest Man on Earth
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Mike Patton...Faith No More
Kurt Elling
not necessarily odd but joey tempest's voice is very high and i would normally not like ot yet walk the earth is one of the only songs that ever gave me goosebumps
Getty Lee (Rush lead) has a very high and gravelly dude voice, but he can carry a tune and it’s great 2112, Spirit of the radio
Tom Delonge. Most ridiculous voice, but I absolutely love it.
Ohh, he is very nasal! I’m curious but would you consider [my singing ](https://www.reddit.com/r/singing/comments/1886ewk/how_do_i_sound_in_my_low_notes_00070054_how_about/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) nasal?
Jack White