Best 1990's rock vocal performance?

Rhinocerous Surprise

Mike Patton - Angel Dust
Mark Lanegan - Whiskey For The Holy Ghost
Chris Cornell - TotD
Eddie Vedder - Vitalogy

Pearl Jam and toast

tonadax wrote:

and definitely maybe by oasis...

I dunno if I'd say they had the best vocal performances..

Certainly could say the wrote some of the best songs and melodies though..

Goddamn that Champagne Supernova.. I can't listen to that album much because that song gets stuck in my head for days and makes me depressed.

soclose

I'm not as much of a Chris Cornell fan as I used to be, but I recently got my Temple of the Dog CD out for the first time in a while, and I was impressed by the guy's performance. I don't have a complete view of everything he's done (I've got the latter three Soundgarden CD's, Euphoria Morning and the first Audioslave CD), but I think the bluesy style of TotD best fit Chris' voice. At this point in time i can only take so much high-pitched screaming, and his solo record always more or less bored me. I think the TotD record provides just the right combination of hard rock power and beautiful vocal work. It's definitely not my favorite album of the 90's, but vocally speaking it is pretty great.

I generally prefer singers with rougher voices that no one would ever refer to as technically superior. I'm listening to Son Volt at the moment, for instance. I love the sound of Jay Farrar's voice, but I'll be the first to admit that the man can hardly hold a note. His voice appeals to me, but I won't try to convince anyone that Trace or Straighaways contain the 90's greatest vocal performances. I appreciate Jeff Buckley's vocals on Grace - it's a beautfiul album - but I still prefer Jay Farrar mumbling and croaking his way through "Ten Second News" to a perfect rendition of "Lilac Wine."

I'll take a worn out, distinctive voice over a pitch-perfect one nine times out of ten. To me, music is about an emotional response and what simply feels good, so that makes it hard to judge a musician (especially a singer) on a technical level.

Scarfish

James Hetfield - Black Album
Eddie Vedder - Ten,Vs
Axel Rose - Appetite for destruction

facepollution

I can only concur with others about Temple of the dog. I know we all have our favourite performers and what not, but it's pretty damn rare for a singer to put all that emotion in and still be so technically capable. It was also such a departure from the balls out wailing of Soundgarden (ok I know there was a lot of wailing, but he proved he could actually sing too). Plenty of singers during the 80's and early 90's had those really high voices, but Cornell had a lot more grit and passion in his voice.

I find these kind of questions kind of difficult, cause you'll get people who say 'I don't rate Cornell at all', and I can appreciate his vocal tone or whatever might not suit some people's taste, but looking at it purely from a vocal ability kind of way, it's hard to see how people can deny his talent.

Anyway, my other choices based on ability are:

Jeff Buckley - Grace
Eddie Vedder - Ten/Vs/Yield
Maynard James Keenan - Aenima/Lateralus
Layne Staley - Dirt/Jar of flies
Adam Duritz - Recovering the Satelites
Scott Weiland - Purple
Michael Stipe - Automatic for the people
Thom Yorke - The Bends
Skin - Stoosh

transplant

spat wrote:

not sure what kind of reaction this will get, but i was listening to quicksand jesus by skid row the other day, which actually came out in 1991, and i was really blown away by sebastian's vocals on that song. he's got a really good voice for a 80's metal band anyway, but that song inparticular is amazing.

it would probably get the same reaction as yours if people would actually take the time to listen to it with an open mind.

intodeep

SavedFucker wrote:

jeff buckley

Please lock the thread. we have a winner

Lifted

Eddie Vedder on ten. (black)...i only say ten because the way the rest of their albums were produced, his voice didn't sound as good in the studio but we all know it was just as great live.... anything by rem, michael stipe has an amazing voice. anything by radiohead, thom yorke another amazing voice. and early my morning jacket was late 90's and jim james has one of the best voices in rock music. chris martin has a great voice too....wish coldplay would experimented a little more with their music, a lot of it sounds the same but that doesn't take away from the voice.

gleemonex

Some of my favourite particular vocal performances from the 90s include

Nirvana - Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Unplugged)
Pearl Jam - Porch, Do The Evolution, and In Hiding
Jane's Addiction - Ted, Just Admit It..., Jane Says
I Mother Earth - So Gently We Go, Used to be Alright
Kyuss - Space Cadet, Thong Song
Beastie Boys - Sabotage, Sure Shot, Intergalactic
Dandy Warhols - Be-In, (Tony, This Song is Called) Lou Weed
Foo Fighters - Weenie Beenie, Monkey Wrench
Weezer - el Scorcho, Pink Triangle, My Name is Jonas
Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun, Limo Wreck, Outshined
Stone Temple Pilots - Crackerman, Big Empty, Tumble in the Rough
Sublime - Waiting for my Ruca, Get Ready
The Hip - Greasy Jungle, Blow At High Dough, Boots or Hearts, Fiddler's Green, Long Time Running, Wheat Kings, Fully Completely, Gift Shop, etc.
Tom Petty - You Don't Know How It Feels
Pixies - Planet of Sound, Head On, Wave of Mutilation
Radiohead - Stop Whispering, Airbag, Fake Plastic Trees
RHCP - Sir Psycho Sexy

Last but definitely not least: Absolutely everything by Mark Lanegan!!!!

pirlo21

Anything by Cornell & Mark Lanegan. Quick mention also to James Dean Bradfield. Great singer, underrated guitarist.

pjoasisrule

Richard Ashcroft on The Verve - Urban Hymns

Coathanger Halos

Chris Cornell in every album he ever released in the 90's.

Jeff Buckley- Grace

Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell- Jar of Flies

Ed Vedder- VS

Bruce Dickinson- Fear of the Dark

Mikael Akerfeldt- Still Life

Jon Oliva (Savatage)- Gutter Ballet and Streets

Axl Rose- Use Your Illusion I

Sebastian Bach- Slave to the Grind

Maynard James Keenan- Undertow and Aenima

Chuck Schuldiner- Symbolic, The Sound of Perseverance

facepollution

pirlo21 wrote:

Anything by Cornell & Mark Lanegan. Quick mention also to James Dean Bradfield. Great singer, underrated guitarist.

Totally agree on JDB, he has a fantastic voice, reminds me a lot of Freddy Mercury.

LuthienTinuviel

i agree with chris cornell on totd, especially say hello 2 heaven and reach down...
and unplugged in nyc...lake of fire and where did you sleep last night? are incredible
and everything eddie did...

nowadays such passion is hard to find...maybe this is the reason why modern rock music is so boring in most cases...

Jeremy1012

after two days of solid listening, I have never heard a vocal performance like Say Hello 2 Heaven. it was high on my list before but it hit me today. so much emotion in that song, and the whole album. cornell's greatest moment without a doubt. the ending of that song blows my mind, when he hits the highest note... its just incredible.

Pearl Jam and toast

facepollution wrote:

Totally agree on JDB, he has a fantastic voice, reminds me a lot of Freddy Mercury.

I think Cornell and Buckley, Thom Yorke, Vedder, and even Stanley could be put on the list of 'best voices in rock music history'. Put HIGH on the list.

Scratchin a Letter

I don't think Thom Yorke can sing for shit. He has a really bad voice. Neil Young and Bob Dylan have demonstrated less than conventional singing voices and, become part of their sound. Yorke just sounds terrible. On High And Dry and Street Spirit he puts it to good use, but Idioteque? :eek: Airbag :eek: No Surprises? :eek: I think you'd have to be insane to call him a good singer.

Jeremy1012

Scratchin a Letter wrote:

I don't think Thom Yorke can sing for shit. He has a really bad voice. Neil Young and Bob Dylan have demonstrated less than conventional singing voices and, become part of their sound. Yorke just sounds terrible. On High And Dry and Street Spirit he puts it to good use, but Idioteque? :eek: Airbag :eek: No Surprises? :eek: I think you'd have to be insane to call him a good singer.

Oh my god, I can understand why you might not like his voice but for christ sake, you named three of the songs that best display his voice. Airbag is brilliant.

ryantremor

i love pearl jam and eddie vedder just as much as the next guy but to put him in the same breath as chris cornell is not right imo. Chris Cornell has the greatest voice in rock history (of course my opinion). As mentioned before, totd is unbelievable. some of the notes he reaches are simply stunning, his range is unbelievable, and i get goosebumps listening to the last part of say hello 2 heaven. i also like to point to never the machine forever as a song that only chris cornell could sing.

facepollution

Jeremy1012 wrote:

after two days of solid listening, I have never heard a vocal performance like Say Hello 2 Heaven. it was high on my list before but it hit me today. so much emotion in that song, and the whole album. cornell's greatest moment without a doubt. the ending of that song blows my mind, when he hits the highest note... its just incredible.

Yep, that's why it kind of makes me laugh when you get people saying, oh he aint as good as people like Robert Plant or Freddy Mercury. As much as I like both those artists, neither would have touched Say hello 2 heaven with such clarity and emotion. Particularly Plant who's upper register, whilst mighty impressive, could sound quite thin. Cornell's voice on the other hand, still sounded really rich and strong, which probably has to do with the fact he's a baritone hitting high notes, and not a tenor.