Greatest Female Singer of Rock Era?

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

Olivia Newton John...LET'S GET PHYSICAL, PHYSICAL

ohh, she was purdy

HAR!

[Mr. Wednesday]

I like some of Olivia Newton John's music, but I think her voice is too thin (for want of a better description) to qualify. I continue to be surprised that only a couple of us have picked Amy Lee.

[Suicane75]

As long as we're talking pure voices I think i need to throw out a vote for KD Lang, a beautiful voice with an amazing amount of soul.

[WSUCougar]

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

Olivia Newton John

No mention of her would be complete without saying the magic word...

Xanadu

[dawgfan]

Thought of another one - Lisa Gerrard, formerly of Dead Can Dance. She has a phenomenal voice, incredibly powerful, and she's a very skilled singer. You may also have heard her on the Gladiator soundtrack.

I'm also a fan of Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins - a very pleasant voice and a uniquely interesting singer.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

The Live in Seattle one? Or was there a studio album?

If anyone wants to check out Ann and her voice away from the sound of Heart, I strongly recommend Whirlygig when she did her stint as the Lovemongers with Nancy. It wasn't that long ago. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...014229-0318352

Sand is probably my favorite of all of the Wilson sister's tracks but also check out Kiss.

Sorry for the slow reply. I believe it was a brand new studio album. I bought Whirlygig, but only really like Miracle Girl. Maybe I was looking for it to be more Heart-ish.

[timmynausea]

For the old school - Joan Jett.

Currently - Brody from the Distillers.

[bamcgee]

any votes for Neko Case (solo or New Pornographers)?

[timmynausea]

Oh yeah, the girl from the gossip is awesome, too.

[Fritz]

Lisa Marr

[sachmo71]

Dido

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

Dido

HAR!!!!

[Abe Sargent]

I still think Alison Moyet is worth more love then you folks gave her. Great pipes, very soulful, just happened to be early 80's synthpop instead of a guitar and drums.

[Kodos]

No Cher?

[Buccaneer]

I was thinking about this thread after seeing Ann Wilson live last week. She can still bring it, despite being closer to 60 years old, as evident in one of my favorite songs of all time

[Mike1409]

Pat Benatar

8 octave range and classically trained as well

[SFL Cat]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

I was thinking about this thread after seeing Ann Wilson live last week. She can still bring it, despite being closer to 60 years old, as evident in one of my favorite songs of all time.

I'll second this...I Heart the Wilson sisters.

[JeeberD]

Bumped for Bucc

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by SFL Cat

I'll second this...I Heart the Wilson sisters.

Thirded, Pat Benatar has great pipes as well.

[Rizon]

No love for Susanna Hoffs?
She should get in for looks alone.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Thought of another one - Lisa Gerrard, formerly of Dead Can Dance. She has a phenomenal voice, incredibly powerful, and she's a very skilled singer. You may also have heard her on the Gladiator soundtrack.
.

+1


(That might be the longest delayed +1 in FOFC history...)

[Groundhog]

For some reason I just don't enjoy female voices nearly as much as male ones. I don't really think I have a "top female rock singer". Maybe the chick from Skunk Anansie.

[Oilers9911]

Janis Joplin

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Chaka Khan

Seriously. She can sing ANYTHING.

[King of New York]

Janis Joplin is in a league entirely by herself as a singer. She is one of the very few female singers who got by entirely on talent rather than on looks.

Honorable mention: Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney, PJ Harvey, Beth Gibbons of Portishead, Bjork, Margaret Garrett of Mr. Airplane Man.

I am surprised at all the love for Alanis Morisette: the ultimate one-hit wonder who somehow managed to spin a decade-long career out of a single so-so album.

[Fidatelo]

I don't really know what defines the 'Rock Era', but my favorite female rock singer is Emily Haines from Metric.

[Fidatelo]

Dola

I'm also a little surprised that, unless I missed it, no one has mentioned Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth.

[weegeebored]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

I don't really know what defines the 'Rock Era'...

Call me a purist but the 'Rock Era' has to be pre-MTV. Video music has changed the scene from an aural medium to a (mostly) visual one. Some of the popular artists over the last couple of decades probably would not have become so if the music had to stand by itself. (You remember what that is -- the music sans hot video babes and Hollywood-like production.)

That said, Annie Wilson easily if we're talking about vocals. Had (and still has for the most part) power, range, and a pleasing tone (unlike Joplin who was a bit nasally/squeally for my tastes, and unlike Benatar whose voice was rangy but a bit 'thin'). Ann could sing the softer ballads and scream the jams. As much as I like them, I think the problem with Heart is that the songwriting was pretty inconsistent. For every Barracuda and Crazy on You song there was This Man is Mine and the dog that was the Magazine album.

But if Greatest = Most Impact then Joplin.

All that said, my favorite contemporary female vocalist is Amy Lee from Evanescence. Same reasons as Ann Wilson only smoother and creamier.

[rowech]

I don't really think this can be between anybody except Janis Joplin, Ann Wilson, or Stevie Nicks. There are others I like but those three stand out to me. As good as Joplin is, her career was way too short to be considered the greatest. Stevie Nicks has shown an ability to do it in a group setting as well as on her own and I still believe she has one of the most unique voices ever.

For me though, it's Ann Wilson. Classic Heart is the only group involving a woman lead singer that can hold their own against the great classic rock bands.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by weegeebored

Call me a purist but the 'Rock Era' has to be pre-MTV. Video music has changed the scene from an aural medium to a (mostly) visual one. Some of the popular artists over the last couple of decades probably would not have become so if the music had to stand by itself. (You remember what that is -- the music sans hot video babes and Hollywood-like production.)

That said, Annie Wilson easily if we're talking about vocals. Had (and still has for the most part) power, range, and a pleasing tone (unlike Joplin who was a bit nasally/squeally for my tastes, and unlike Benatar whose voice was rangy but a bit 'thin'). Ann could sing the softer ballads and scream the jams. As much as I like them, I think the problem with Heart is that the songwriting was pretty inconsistent. For every Barracuda and Crazy on You song there was This Man is Mine and the dog that was the Magazine album.

But if Greatest = Most Impact then Joplin.

All that said, my favorite contemporary female vocalist is Amy Lee from Evanescence. Same reasons as Ann Wilson only smoother and creamier.

Although we all know that MTV has changed things, that is not to say that good artists who are not photogenic won;t make it. For proof, I submit Jill Scott, a heavy set black woman with major, major pipes and not that attractive, but still gets nominated for awards and video play, because she's talented.

[ageofquarrel]

i dont know whats worse this thread or the chain restaurant one. whats next picking a winner at the special olympics?

[EagleFan]

Ah yes, a thread from the good old days. Back when VPI97 could see into the future and predict posts befoer they happened...

It's just a shame that didn't work for lottery numbers.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by Rizon

No love for Susanna Hoffs?
She should get in for looks alone.

Amen brother!!!!

I really never get tired of saying this, but I met her and she was just as smoking hot in person.

[DrAFTjunkie]

Originally Posted by King of New York

Janis Joplin is in a league entirely by herself as a singer. She is one of the very few female singers who got by entirely on talent rather than on looks.

Honorable mention: Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney, PJ Harvey, Beth Gibbons of Portishead, Bjork, Margaret Garrett of Mr. Airplane Man.

I am surprised at all the love for Alanis Morisette: the ultimate one-hit wonder who somehow managed to spin a decade-long career out of a single so-so album.

Blasphemer. First of all, we're talking about singers and voices, but...

The ultimate one hit wonder? What planet are you from? Over her career, she's been nominated for 14 Grammys and has won 7 of them. I won't get into any of the lesser awards because this would be one helluva long post if I did. As for album sales, if you take all of the names you mentioned (including Joplin) and combined their album sales, Alanis has them topped 10 times over.

As far as her singing goes, she's up there with Ann Wilson for me. She's got the range to go from a beautiful whisper to powerful wail in a single breath, but...lyrically speaking, she's got Wilson beat hands down. Her lyrics are phenominal.

Aside from Alanis, I'm surprised that Louise Post from Veruca Salt hasn't been mentioned. She's fantastic.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by weegeebored

That said, Annie Wilson easily if we're talking about vocals. Had (and still has for the most part) power, range, and a pleasing tone (unlike Joplin who was a bit nasally/squeally for my tastes, and unlike Benatar whose voice was rangy but a bit 'thin'). Ann could sing the softer ballads and scream the jams. As much as I like them, I think the problem with Heart is that the songwriting was pretty inconsistent. For every Barracuda and Crazy on You song there was This Man is Mine and the dog that was the Magazine album.

Since I have pretty much listen to all of the Heart's songs (as well as Lovemonger and her solo album) on my iPod regularly, one comes across a song like Break (from Bebe Le Strange) and wonder how did she do that? I agree about Magazine but Little Queen made up for it. The only song I have from Magazine is Without You (oft-covered rock ballad). Another thing about Ann that amazes me is her live performances - they sound nearly as good as in the studio.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by DrAFTjunkie

Blasphemer. First of all, we're talking about singers and voices, but...

The ultimate one hit wonder? What planet are you from? Over her career, she's been nominated for 14 Grammys and has won 7 of them. I won't get into any of the lesser awards because this would be one helluva long post if I did. As for album sales, if you take all of the names you mentioned (including Joplin) and combined their album sales, Alanis has them topped 10 times over.

As far as her singing goes, she's up there with Ann Wilson for me. She's got the range to go from a beautiful whisper to powerful wail in a single breath, but...lyrically speaking, she's got Wilson beat hands down. Her lyrics are phenominal.

Aside from Alanis, I'm surprised that Louise Post from Veruca Salt hasn't been mentioned. She's fantastic.

Alanis is pretty good. I've said I think she would be one of the more interesting people to talk to in all of music. Not about music but about just about everything else.

[weegeebored]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

Although we all know that MTV has changed things, that is not to say that good artists who are not photogenic won;t make it. For proof, I submit Jill Scott, a heavy set black woman with major, major pipes and not that attractive, but still gets nominated for awards and video play, because she's talented.

Strangely, I wasn't really thinking about attractiveness when I referenced the effect of MTV on music. I was thinking more along the lines of the MC Hammer Can't Touch This phenomenon.

[King of New York]

Originally Posted by DrAFTjunkie

Blasphemer. First of all, we're talking about singers and voices, but...

The ultimate one hit wonder? What planet are you from? Over her career, she's been nominated for 14 Grammys and has won 7 of them. I won't get into any of the lesser awards because this would be one helluva long post if I did. As for album sales, if you take all of the names you mentioned (including Joplin) and combined their album sales, Alanis has them topped 10 times over.

There's usually--not always, but usually--an inverse relationship between Grammy nominations and talent. The same goes for album sales. Lowest common denominator and all that

Alanis has Jagged Little Pill and...the acoustic re-release of Jagged Little Pill that she did ten years later and...the big band re-re-release of Jagged Little Pill that she is going to do in a few years and...the Gregorian chant re-re-re-release that she is already preparing to mark the thirtieth anniversary of Jagged Little Pill's initial debut.

Her voice is fine.

[AgustusM]

I like Pat Benitar.

[Groundhog]

I thought the album that came after Jagged Little Pill was pretty good from memory. It's probably been more than a decade since I heard it, but I remember that I much preferred it when my gf at the time put that Alanis album on instead of JLP.

[Subby]

Originally Posted by ageofquarrel

whats next picking a winner at the special olympics?

That's a shitty thing to say.

[TexasT]

Stevie Nicks
Grace Slick
Janis Joplin

[Huckleberry]

Damn, I didn't know Patsy Cline was eligible when I first posted on this thread 3-1/2 years ago.

Got to go with Patsy if that's the case.

[Buccaneer]

Came across this, as I was reminiscing on the 35th anniversary of one of the greatest albums of all time: Rumours. Here is Stevie Nicks performing live at the age of...64! She looks and sounds great.

[cuervo72]

Aretha Franklin tops Rolling Stone's list of "Women Who Rock" - Celebrity Circuit - CBS News

When it comes to rock, the Queen of Soul is top notch.

The 70-year-old singer landed at No. 1 with her 1967 album "I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You."

Joni Mitchell's classic 1971 album, "Blue," came in second, followed by British singer Dusty Springfield's 1969 set "Dusty In Memphis."

Rounding out the top five were Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" and Patti Smith's "Horses."

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by VPI97

Stevie Nicks

I can never tell the difference.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by TexasT

Stevie Nicks
Grace Slick
Janis Joplin

Yes these answer the questions of:
Female singer that:
Most sounds like a farm animal
Slept with the most band members
and
Is most overrated AND most affected voice

But we want singers here.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by M GO BLUE!!!

Chaka Khan

Seriously. She can sing ANYTHING.

AMEN! First real singer I've seen on this list so far.

[CrimsonFox]

Oh yeah Ann Wilson too. Amazing vocals there.

I do like Alanis' singing ability as well.

[Grover]

Fiona Apple, Marissa Paternoster, not generally considered rock, but Amy Winehouse had an incredible voice.