What is the best singer of all time?

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What is the best singer and artist of all time in popular music?

Frank Sinatra
3
8%
Elvis Presley
1
3%
Aretha Franklin
2
6%
Stevie Wonder
2
6%
Freddie Mercury
5
14%
Ella Fitzgerald
0
No votes
Michael Jackson
1
3%
Billie Holiday
0
No votes
Bing Crosby
0
No votes
Miles Davis
15
42%
Ray Charles
0
No votes
Barbra Streisand
0
No votes
Ann Wilson
0
No votes
Marvin Gave
2
6%
Whitney Houston
0
No votes
Christina Aguilera
0
No votes
Prince
0
No votes
Elton John
1
3%
James Brown
0
No votes
Another singer (please, say what singer is the commentaries of the topic)
4
11%
 
Total votes: 36

mat.bez.lima
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What is the best singer of all time?

Post by mat.bez.lima »

What singer is your favorite? Please, say this in this poll and justify your preference. And, please, say if you consider you favorite singer also the best of all time in an objective analyse.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by prosecutorgodot »

When I first saw the title of this thread, I thought you were asking, "What does it mean to be the best singer of all time?" That wasn't it. (haha.)

If I were asked for the "greatest" or "best", I would vote Aretha Franklin, as I indeed did. She has an amazing range, notes are reached with ease, and she can definitely also convey passion and emotion.
If I were asked my favorite, it would be very difficult, but I guess I would say Norah Jones. Her PHRASING (the way you say words and sentences) is phenomenal. It is something I feel singers in general fail to master, but to Norah it comes incredibly fluidly. To add to the magic, Norah sings with the smokiest and sexiest voice to ever touch ears. Of course, I'm a straight guy, so this would not be apparent to everybody. I suppose a critique people could have is that Norah can't convey emotion. I personally don't feel this way, and I would suggest listening to "Miriam" (2013). It shows her voice can be the soundtrack to a scary movie.
Here's what a full list of favorites would look like:
1. Norah Jones
2. Hayley Williams (of Paramore)
3. Aretha Franklin
4. Thom Yorke (of Radiohead)
5. Janelle Monae
6. Kelly Clarkson
7. Robin Pecknold (of Fleet Foxes)
8. Michael Jackson
9. Whitney Houston
10. Axl Rose (of Guns N' Roses)
11. Kacey Musgraves
12. Adele
13. Mariah Carey
14. Sam Cooke
15. Jack White (of the White Stripes)
16. Beth Hirsch (from Air's album Moon Safari)
17. Agnetha/Anni Frida (of ABBA)
18. Brothers Gibb (aka Bee Gees)
19. Chester Bennington (of Linkin Park)
20. Tom Waits

Also, I just noticed, you have "Marvin Gave" in your poll, you need that "y"
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by mat.bez.lima »

prosecutorgodot wrote:When I first saw the title of this thread, I thought you were asking, "What does it mean to be the best singer of all time?" That wasn't it. (haha.)

If I were asked for the "greatest" or "best", I would vote Aretha Franklin, as I indeed did. She has an amazing range, notes are reached with ease, and she can definitely also convey passion and emotion.
If I were asked my favorite, it would be very difficult, but I guess I would say Norah Jones. Her PHRASING (the way you say words and sentences) is phenomenal. It is something I feel singers in general fail to master, but to Norah it comes incredibly fluidly. To add to the magic, Norah sings with the smokiest and sexiest voice to ever touch ears. Of course, I'm a straight guy, so this would not be apparent to everybody. I suppose a critique people could have is that Norah can't convey emotion. I personally don't feel this way, and I would suggest listening to "Miriam" (2013). It shows her voice can be the soundtrack to a scary movie.
Here's what a full list of favorites would look like:
1. Norah Jones
2. Hayley Williams (of Paramore)
3. Aretha Franklin
4. Thom Yorke (of Radiohead)
5. Janelle Monae
6. Kelly Clarkson
7. Robin Pecknold (of Fleet Foxes)
8. Michael Jackson
9. Whitney Houston
10. Axl Rose (of Guns N' Roses)
11. Kacey Musgraves
12. Adele
13. Mariah Carey
14. Sam Cooke
15. Jack White (of the White Stripes)
16. Beth Hirsch (from Air's album Moon Safari)
17. Agnetha/Anni Frida (of ABBA)
18. Brothers Gibb (aka Bee Gees)
19. Chester Bennington (of Linkin Park)
20. Tom Waits

Also, I just noticed, you have "Marvin Gave" in your poll, you need that "y"
Thanks for participate of the poll and show the justify of your opinion. Thanks also for mentionate Adele. She is a great singer, but I don't include her in the poll because her career is still relatively recent and she still have much more career in the future. We can't know the real status of Adele in this stage of her career.
Last edited by mat.bez.lima on Thu Aug 11, 2016 2:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by mat.bez.lima »

It's importante make clear: best singer is much more than vocal range. Bigger vocal ranges don't make necessarily great singers.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by Nick »

My favorite singers, if I had to narrow it down to just a couple, would be...

Thom Yorke
Prince
Michael Jackson
Brian Wilson
Frank Sinatra
Liam Gallagher
Elton John
Freddie Mercury
Morrissey
Art Garfunkel

...my two favorite of which are probably Yorke and Wilson, singers that weren't even listed among your picks!
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by bootsy »

Frank Sinatra
Luther Vandross
Michael Jackson
Marvin Gaye
Ron Isley
Madonna
Al Green
Stevie Wonder
Jill Scott
Charlie Wilson
David Byrne
George Michael
Donny Hathaway
Sam Cooke
Sting
Otis Redding
D'Angelo
Mary J. Blige
Bobby Womack
Maxwell
Sade
Erykah Badu
Amy Winehouse
Curtis Mayfield

These are my favorites in no order except Stevie Wonder is my all time favorite. I feel like his voice is so distinctive and recognizable at the same time and always puts me in a better mood.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by Nassim »

Voted for Miles Davis, such a great voice !
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by Honorio »

Me too. Hope Miles can win the poll. The few fortunate ones that heard him singing at the shower stated that he was the best singer ever.
Only joking, mat. :mrgreen:
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by Henrik »

We should have a proper poll for this, where everyone can list their top 50 or top 100!

Strange that David Bowie hasn't been mentioned yet.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by spiritualized »

Strange that Jeff Buckley has not either...Although I don't think Bowie was an exceptional singer - songwriter, yes, but singer ?
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by bootsy »

Yeah I didn't mention Bowie because although I'm a fan but not a huge fan of him. More of a casual fan. I respect his hustle, his songwriting and legendary albums. He would probably be in that next tier for me of the list I provided.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by karol »

Miles Davis? :mrgreen:
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by Henrik »

spiritualized wrote:Strange that Jeff Buckley has not either...Although I don't think Bowie was an exceptional singer - songwriter, yes, but singer ?
Really? His songs are amazing, but I think it's his voice that really puts him in the top for me. He is definitely one of my #1 contenders.

Most other of my favorites would probably be soul singers. And I think of David Bowie as a soul singer too. He had tons of it! Even when he sang rock or pop. It's that crossover that I love the most I think. And spiritualized, I have noticed that you are not much into soul, so that might be why we sort of disagree here.

Oddly, his most soul album, "Young Americans", is not one of my favorites.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by acroamor »

Of this list, I'd say Frank but in general, I prefer female singers to male, so...

Joni Mitchell
Beth Gibbons (Portishead)
Fiona Apple
Patti Smith
Julianna Barwick
Sharon Van Etten
Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs)
Julia Holter
Lucinda Williams
Angel Olsen
Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins)
Brittany Howard (Alabama Shakes)
Annie Clark (St. Vincent)
Chan Marshall (Cat Power)
Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
Kristine Leschper (Mothers)
Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star)
Mitski
The sisters of First Aid Kit
Nico
Aly Spaltro (Lady Lamb)

And then as far as men go, I'd probably say Tom Waits, John Fogerty, Colin Blunstone, and Roy Orbison would be my tops.
Norah Jones
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by bootsy »

Miles Davis leading the poll. :happy-partydance:
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by BleuPanda »

Little known fact; much like Bjork's Medulla, the entirety of Davis's Kind of Blue was performed a cappella.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by Live in Phoenix »

Sinatra

Maybe you're onto something with Miles -- I remember in Ken Burns' Jazz documentary something about guys back then hitting on the ladies using the Miles Voice.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by Bruno »

Now, seriously ... If we are not talking about favorites, but pure skilled/technicians singers, you will have to put, at least:

Males:
Jackie Wilson, Adam Lambert, Steve Perry, Michael Kiske, Geoff Tate, Freddie Mercury, Jeff Buckley, Tim Buckley, Chris Cornell, Mike Patton, Daniel Gildenlöw, Steve Balsamo, Michael Jackson, John Farnham, Stevie Wonder, Michael Bolton, Chang Yu-Sheng, Rob Halford.

Females:
Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Patti Labelle, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Bassey, Donna Summer, Beyoncé, Lisa Fischer, Lara Fabian, SoHyang, Monica Naranjo, Karen Carpenter, Annie Lennox, Ann Wilson, Céline Dion.

and many others ...
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by babydoll »

I totally chose Miles Davis because I assumed you meant Dusty Springfield. :mrgreen: :-P :whistle:
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by Rob »

Henrik wrote:We should have a proper poll for this, where everyone can list their top 50 or top 100!
I'm very much into this idea. I have been wanting to host a poll here and have some nice ideas for a presentation for this one. Also, this is a topic dear to my music heart, as I've noticed that the singing voice can play a really big part in my appreciation for a song. Singers can be great in many ways for me. I'm one of those people who actually think Bob Dylan is a brilliant singer, because of the emotion and delivery. But I can also love singers that are more traditional great. Weird I haven't seen Kate Bush, Joanna Newsom or Jacques Brel (the master of delivery) here yet, as I know these are popular here.

So, do more want to see a top 100 singers poll? As said, I would love to host, but work and road trip in the US in September make the timing wrong. Late November or December should be no problem though. Perhaps we can have a discussion and recommendation topic till then? Is there big interest in this? If so, I will start the discussion topic perhaps next week.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by JimmyJazz »

Rob wrote:
Henrik wrote:We should have a proper poll for this, where everyone can list their top 50 or top 100!
I'm very much into this idea. I have been wanting to host a poll here and have some nice ideas for a presentation for this one. Also, this is a topic dear to my music heart, as I've noticed that the singing voice can play a really big part in my appreciation for a song. Singers can be great in many ways for me. I'm one of those people who actually think Bob Dylan is a brilliant singer, because of the emotion and delivery. But I can also love singers that are more traditional great. Weird I haven't seen Kate Bush, Joanna Newsom or Jacques Brel (the master of delivery) here yet, as I know these are popular here.

So, do more want to see a top 100 singers poll? As said, I would love to host, but work and road trip in the US in September make the timing wrong. Late November or December should be no problem though. Perhaps we can have a discussion and recommendation topic till then? Is there big interest in this? If so, I will start the discussion topic perhaps next week.
Sounds like a cool idea.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by prosecutorgodot »

Miles Davis? What's happening here?
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by jamieW »

Was there any doubt I would vote for Elvis? Frankly, I don't even care that he didn't write his own songs - the emotion with which he sang them made them feel like his own. (And he was always very respectful of the many different styles he sang.) I'm all alone in enjoying his heartbreaking '70's output every bit as much as his '50's classics. As always, I won't even try to say who the objectively best singer of all time is. But Elvis will always be my completely subjective choice.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by mat.bez.lima »

I am regreted that I forgot put Louis Armstrong in this poll. His voice was so beautiful!
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by mat.bez.lima »

Bruno wrote:Now, seriously ... If we are not talking about favorites, but pure skilled/technicians singers, you will have to put, at least:

Males:
Jackie Wilson, Adam Lambert, Steve Perry, Michael Kiske, Geoff Tate, Freddie Mercury, Jeff Buckley, Tim Buckley, Chris Cornell, Mike Patton, Daniel Gildenlöw, Steve Balsamo, Michael Jackson, John Farnham, Stevie Wonder, Michael Bolton, Chang Yu-Sheng, Rob Halford.

Females:
Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Patti Labelle, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Bassey, Donna Summer, Beyoncé, Lisa Fischer, Lara Fabian, SoHyang, Monica Naranjo, Karen Carpenter, Annie Lennox, Ann Wilson, Céline Dion.

and many others ...
I wasn't understanding the abscense of Frank Sinatra in your list of male singers and I was doing a commentary criticizing this until I saw that you written in the end of your commentarie "And Many Others".
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by mat.bez.lima »

It's really surprising the big votation in Miles Davis! I am not saying that Miles David doesn't have merits for this, but this result until now is not expected.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by mat.bez.lima »

If we begin to thinking, there are many singers that deserve to be in this list. Example: Tony Bennet.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by Bruno »

mat.bez.lima wrote:It's really surprising the big votation in Miles Davis! I am not saying that Miles David doesn't have merits for this, but this result until now is not expected.
:?
mat.bez.lima wrote:
Bruno wrote:Now, seriously ... If we are not talking about favorites, but pure skilled/technicians singers, you will have to put, at least:

Males:
Jackie Wilson, Adam Lambert, Steve Perry, Michael Kiske, Geoff Tate, Freddie Mercury, Jeff Buckley, Tim Buckley, Chris Cornell, Mike Patton, Daniel Gildenlöw, Steve Balsamo, Michael Jackson, John Farnham, Stevie Wonder, Michael Bolton, Chang Yu-Sheng, Rob Halford.

Females:
Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Patti Labelle, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Bassey, Donna Summer, Beyoncé, Lisa Fischer, Lara Fabian, SoHyang, Monica Naranjo, Karen Carpenter, Annie Lennox, Ann Wilson, Céline Dion.

and many others ...
I wasn't understanding the abscense of Frank Sinatra in your list of male singers and I was doing a commentary criticizing this until I saw that you written in the end of your commentarie "And Many Others".
I love Sinatra's voice, but he's not at that level. Again, speaking only of vocal ability.
Last edited by Bruno on Fri Aug 12, 2016 12:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by mat.bez.lima »

Bruno wrote:
mat.bez.lima wrote:It's really surprising the big votation in Miles Davis! I am not saying that Miles David doesn't have merits for this, but this result until now is not expected.
:?
mat.bez.lima wrote:
Bruno wrote:Now, seriously ... If we are not talking about favorites, but pure skilled/technicians singers, you will have to put, at least:

Males:
Jackie Wilson, Adam Lambert, Steve Perry, Michael Kiske, Geoff Tate, Freddie Mercury, Jeff Buckley, Tim Buckley, Chris Cornell, Mike Patton, Daniel Gildenlöw, Steve Balsamo, Michael Jackson, John Farnham, Stevie Wonder, Michael Bolton, Chang Yu-Sheng, Rob Halford.

Females:
Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Patti Labelle, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Bassey, Donna Summer, Beyoncé, Lisa Fischer, Lara Fabian, SoHyang, Monica Naranjo, Karen Carpenter, Annie Lennox, Ann Wilson, Céline Dion.

and many others ...
I wasn't understanding the abscense of Frank Sinatra in your list of male singers and I was doing a commentary criticizing this until I saw that you written in the end of your commentarie "And Many Others".
I love Sinatra's voice, but he's not but at that level. Again, speaking only of vocal ability.
The people many times underrate the vocal abilities of Frank Sinatra. His technique, phrasing and singing's style were much terrific. He also was an actor singing the songs like very little other singers were (Elvis Presley is a an example). Sinatra has more voice that people think he had. I have a strong recommendation to you: listen the album The Concert Sinatra, that have the most challenging songs that Sinatra singed in his career. Sinatra shows his vocal range like he almost never had other times and face songs much difficult technically in other aspects also. This album was the most serious album that Sinatra made. The album had one of the biggest orchestras in Sinatra's career and the songs are about many themes that aren't necessarily love. The album is as if Sinatra was making a perfomance in Broadway. If you can't hear the whole album, please, hear at least these songs (you must have care when you will search the songs in youtube that you are hearding the versions of The Concert Sinatra because the best versions of these songs are of this album):
"Soliloquy".
"I Have Dreamed".
"Ol' Man River".
"Bewitched, Bothered And Bewilderd".
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by JimmyJazz »

Bruno wrote:
mat.bez.lima wrote:It's really surprising the big votation in Miles Davis! I am not saying that Miles David doesn't have merits for this, but this result until now is not expected.
:?
;) :mrgreen: :whistle:
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by BleuPanda »

I kind of don't want this running too long, since mat seems to actually be confused...

Miles Davis isn't a vocalist. He's known for the trumpet. Are you confusing him for someone else, mat, or...?
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by bootsy »

Look at Miles sing. Told y'all

Image



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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by luney6 »

Of the list, I'd say Ella Fitzergerald. Otherwise, Tim Buckley.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by Jirin »

Are we talking best artist among singers or most talented singer? A lot of posts are mentioning people I would consider amazing artists but only in the 'good' category for singing.

Having trouble settling on one for best singer.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by babydoll »

mat.bez.lima, it seems you stan hard for Ol' Blue Eyes and the Fab Four. I'm wondering if there is any other artists that you also are huge fans of, and if so, what are their songs? After all, this has been a place of discovery for me. :D
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by mat.bez.lima »

babydoll wrote:mat.bez.lima, it seems you stan hard for Ol' Blue Eyes and the Fab Four. I'm wondering if there is any other artists that you also are huge fans of, and if so, what are their songs? After all, this has been a place of discovery for me. :D
I also I'm fan of the brazilian singer Roberto Carlos. His best album is the album of 1971.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by mat.bez.lima »

Jirin wrote:Are we talking best artist among singers or most talented singer? A lot of posts are mentioning people I would consider amazing artists but only in the 'good' category for singing.

Having trouble settling on one for best singer.
Great singer many times are great artists, but the inverse situation is less common. Bob Dylan was and is a great artist, but not a great singer. John Lennon and Paul MacCartney were genial artists, but their voices were just good.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by JimmyJazz »

BleuPanda wrote:I kind of don't want this running too long, since mat seems to actually be confused...

Miles Davis isn't a vocalist. He's known for the trumpet. Are you confusing him for someone else, mat, or...?
Guess you aren't going to get an answer on this one, Bleu...
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by Bruno »

mat.bez.lima wrote:
Jirin wrote:Are we talking best artist among singers or most talented singer? A lot of posts are mentioning people I would consider amazing artists but only in the 'good' category for singing.

Having trouble settling on one for best singer.
Great singer many times are great artists, but the inverse situation is less common. Bob Dylan was and is a great artist, but not a great singer. John Lennon and Paul MacCartney were genial artists, but their voices were just good.
Lennon was good to decent. Macca is a very skilled singer, one of the most versatile singers of all time.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by Nick »

bootsy wrote: Maxwell
How do you feel about his latest album? I personally love it, but I've barely been hearing anybody talk about it, aside from a couple positive reviews here and there, like from Pitchfork and AMG. At this point I'm willing to say it's my third favorite album of the year thus far, only behind Bowie and Anohni. "1990x" also has to be one of the greatest songs of the decade thus far too (actually just heard it as I was driving to work on my local university's radio station on Friday. I may have freaked out a little in the car...).
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by mat.bez.lima »

Sarah Vaughan deserves be remembered also.
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by bootsy »

Nick wrote:
bootsy wrote: Maxwell
How do you feel about his latest album? I personally love it, but I've barely been hearing anybody talk about it, aside from a couple positive reviews here and there, like from Pitchfork and AMG. At this point I'm willing to say it's my third favorite album of the year thus far, only behind Bowie and Anohni. "1990x" also has to be one of the greatest songs of the decade thus far too (actually just heard it as I was driving to work on my local university's radio station on Friday. I may have freaked out a little in the car...).
Nick, I LOVE his new album. A lot more than his last album. I've listened to it twice but it is one of my favorites of the year so far. And you are right it faded away really quickly. There was a lot of buzz leading up to the album because of the anticipation of a new Maxwell album after about 7 years but once it came out it went away pretty fast. Maybe come the EOY when those lists start coming out and the Grammys may bring it back into the limelight. It has gotten very good reviews. He had a little tour here in the U.S. in June-August and is now touring in Australia and then will pick it back up in October in Sweden. i've seen him once in concert in 2008 with my wife and he put on a great show.
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Pierre
Into the Groove
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by Pierre »

After thinking about it a lot, although I'm someone who concentrates more on the music than the singing, I can say that Buckley father and son are by a good margin my favourite singers.

However, I voted Miles Davis, because even if the joke is tired at this point I'm still just baffled by his inclusion. mat.bez.lima, maybe you should give us an explanation someday...? :mrgreen:
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spiritualized
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Re: What is the best singer of all time?

Post by spiritualized »

Henrik wrote:
spiritualized wrote:Strange that Jeff Buckley has not either...Although I don't think Bowie was an exceptional singer - songwriter, yes, but singer ?
And spiritualized, I have noticed that you are not much into soul, so that might be why we sort of disagree here.
You are *partially* right - Soul is not indeed my favourite genre. But there are certain soul artists which will always hold a special place in my Pantheon of classics, one I can think of immediately is Al Green. He is very special indeed - there is a voice I will never tire to listen to.
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