Your Top-3 Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Vocal Performances (albums)

[Samsara]

In our Queensryche discography, a couple of folks (TAC and Bertielee pointed out what they considered to be their top vocal performances in the hard rock/metal genres (from the perspective of an album, not just individual songs or career). I thought it'd be cool to start a thread on that, and see what everyone's are.

Mine are a little tough. Geoff Tate is on the list, but I can't decide which record. So I am going with a tie.

1. Geoff Tate (The Warning/Operation: Mindcrime [tie]) - Not sure which one is best, but while The Warning has such an incredible showcase of range and power, Operation: Mindcrime showcases the range a little less, but incredible control and drama. Both are just amazing.

2. James Labrie (Images and Words) - Do we need to even explain this? JLB with his full power, control and operatic best.

3. Chris Cornell (Badmotorfinger) - I think people forget just how an amazing singer Chris was because of the era in which Soundgarden broke through, and then his subsequent more mellow work as a solo artist and then the union with Rage Against the Machine in Audioslave. His performance on Badmotorfinger runs the gamut from the highest highs to the lowest lows, with gritty delivery, cleans, and of course power and drama. Label it "grunge" or whatever, but Cornell was such a gifted singer. His high range was a notch below Tate and Labrie, and he wasn't an operatic metal singer. But he could have been had he wanted to. Out of these three, he is certainly the most emotive, and Badmotorfinger was his pinnacle to me.

[jingle.boy]

Maybe we should all do performances 3-5, since a good chunk of us are going to have the same #1/#2 ??

For me, it's James/Geoff as #1/#2.  The other members of the top 5:

Brad Delp - Boston/Boston... I mean, no man should be able to sing with that range
Meat Loaf - Bat out of Hell.... perfect for the mood/tone of the album.  The man personified teenage/sexual angst
David Gilmour - Momentary Lapse of Reason... sonic gold.

[Stadler]

Cornell belongs on there (same album), as does LaBrie (same album).

I'd add:
- Ian Gillan, In Rock
- Fred Mercury, Queen II
- Robert Plant, Zeppelin II

[Lowdz]

The ones that stand out would be

Geoff Tate - Peration:Mindcrime. Perfection in every department. As Samsara said though, you pick any of GT's first four albums really.

JLB - Images and Words. I loved WDADU when it came out but like most people, I wasn't struck on the singer. He was the weak link. When I&W came out (of the blue) with this amazing AOR style vocalist, it blew me away. Whenever anyone told me metal was all about screaming singers, I played them the intro to Surrounded and waited for jaws to drop.

3rd choice is harder - the first two pick themselves but to pick just one more is hard. I'll go with

Ronnie James DIO - Rainbow Rising. Invented the metal vocal with this one. Power, melody and that tone 

Good call on Meat Loaf Chad. Deserves to be mentioned.

[Mister Gold]

I'm gonna try to be a bit more out there...

1. Midnight - Crimson Glory's Transcendence - This is generally the album that comes to my mind for best metal vocals. Both Queensryche and Fates Warning were putting out better albums overall at that time frame, but there's something eerily haunting and almost supernatural when it comes to Midnight's vocals. There's that silky smooth quality to his high notes, even when he adds plenty of bite to 'em. It's like the man sold his soul to the Devil for those pipes.

2. Ronnie James Dio - Rainbow's Rising - I always go back and forth between Rising and one of Dio's Sabbath albums, as I find all of them to be major landmarks in the world of hard rock/metal singing. But for now, I'll stick with Rising. Like Lowdz said earlier, Dio arguably invented the blueprint for operatic metal singing on this album.

3. Freddie Mercury - Queen's Queen II - I feel like it'd be wrong of me to not include Freddie on here, so I'm putting up his best work here. Not only was he at the top of his game vocally on this album, but those overlayered melodies on "March of the Black Queen" are nothing short of mindblowing. Not to mention those shrieks on "Ogre Battle!"

I also think it's worth throwing in Tommy Karevik on Seventh Wonder's The Great Escape and Ray Adler on Fates Warning's A Pleasant Shade of Gray.

[TAC]

Hey..great idea!


Michael Kiske-Keepers Pt II
James Labrie-Images & Words
Geoff Tate-Operation Mindcrime

[mikeyd23]

Off the top of my head the first three that came to mind for me personally -

In no order:

JLB - I&W
Myles Kennedy - Blackbird
Plant - Zep IV probably

Also I’m fully prepared with my flame shield because I understand how much this forum loves him... Respectfully, I have never liked Tate’s voice at all. Just doesn’t do it for me.

[The Walrus]

Do live albums count? This is relevant to my list. I'm including one anyway.

James LaBrie - Dream Theater's Images and Words
Timo Kotipelto - Stratovarius's Episode
Matt Barlow - Iced Earth's Alive In Athens

AIA is just insane, and although it's 3 discs/3 nights, I'm not choosing just one, so there. 

[Mister Gold]

Do live albums count? This is relevant to my list. I'm including one anyway.

James LaBrie - Dream Theater's Images and Words
Timo Kotipelto - Stratovarius's Episode
Matt Barlow - Iced Earth's Alive In Athens

AIA is just insane, and although it's 3 discs/3 nights, I'm not choosing just one, so there. 

I feel a tad bit guilty breaking this to you, but at least some of the vocals for AIA were dubbed over in the studio. That doesn't take away from how goddamn amazing Barlow's performance is on that album- it's one of my favorites too-, but there's at least a touch of studio work there for the vocals.

[TAC]

My favorite Live Album Vocal is Dio on Rainbow's On Stage.

[The Walrus]

Do live albums count? This is relevant to my list. I'm including one anyway.

James LaBrie - Dream Theater's Images and Words
Timo Kotipelto - Stratovarius's Episode
Matt Barlow - Iced Earth's Alive In Athens

AIA is just insane, and although it's 3 discs/3 nights, I'm not choosing just one, so there. 

I feel a tad bit guilty breaking this to you, but at least some of the vocals for AIA were dubbed over in the studio. That doesn't take away from how goddamn amazing Barlow's performance is on that album- it's one of my favorites too-, but there's at least a touch of studio work there for the vocals.

Is nothing sacred, Mister Gold? Tell me A Question of Heaven was untouched, at the very least. I will temporarily nominate Robert Plant for Zeppelin's Zoso as a backup just in case...

[Mister Gold]

Do live albums count? This is relevant to my list. I'm including one anyway.

James LaBrie - Dream Theater's Images and Words
Timo Kotipelto - Stratovarius's Episode
Matt Barlow - Iced Earth's Alive In Athens

AIA is just insane, and although it's 3 discs/3 nights, I'm not choosing just one, so there. 

I feel a tad bit guilty breaking this to you, but at least some of the vocals for AIA were dubbed over in the studio. That doesn't take away from how goddamn amazing Barlow's performance is on that album- it's one of my favorites too-, but there's at least a touch of studio work there for the vocals.

Is nothing sacred, Mister Gold? Tell me A Question of Heaven was untouched, at the very least. I will temporarily nominate Robert Plant for Zeppelin's Zoso as a backup just in case...

I mean, even if it's not fully "live", that doesn't change the fact that it's one of the best vocal metal albums ever. It just means it's not necessarily entirely "live." I'd say keep AIA in the list.

[The Walrus]

I agree. I think it'll stay. Sorry Zoso 

[The King in Crimson]

I'm finding it very difficult to disagree with Samsara's choices (though I'd struggle between RFO and OM for Geoff) so instead I'll just list off 3 other vocal performances in metal/hard rock that are also totally worth consideration:

- Brad Delp - Boston - Boston - Kinda obvious but... it's Brad Delp.... c'mon.
- Einar Solberg - Leprous - Tall Poppy Syndrome/Bilateral - Einar's been a bit more restrained lately but on those two albums he's a beast. Easily one of my favorite newer vocalists on the metal scene.
- Hansi Kürsch - Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond - SFB, to me, marks a period in Blind Guardian's history before they started getting crazy with the vocal effects/overlays and when they were transitioning from being a pure trash/power metal band into something more progressive and different. Hansi may give better performances on other albums and songs, but I think this (and maybe Nightfall) are probably the best to showcase his voice and capabilities.

[Lethean]

I assume we're going with each vocalist only once (because otherwise, I'd just pick 3 albums with JLB and be done with it):

James LaBrie - The Astonishing
Jonas Renkse - Dead End Kings and The Fall of Hearts, tied
Einar Solberg - Coal

[The Silent Cody]

Wow this is hard....  Well definitly -
Geoff Tate - Operation Mindcrime / The Warning.
Second one... Could be something from Joey Tempest, Europe...probably Out Of This World.
And the third one... yeah, James Labrie but I have to put I&W and Awake on the same place.

[portnoy311]

Well, I'm just gonna post the ones I enjoy the most, even if they're not the most 'virtuoso.' In no particular order, and just off the top of my  head (I'll probably disagree tomorrow):

1. Maynard James Keenan - Lateralus (Tool)

2. Eddie Vedder - Vitalogy (I adore his voice Pearl Jam)

3. Thom Yorke - In Rainbows (Radiohead)

4. Chris Cornell - Superunknown (Soundgarden)

neither 2 nor 3 are metal at all, but I'd argue at least PJ is hard rock. But because of the grey area, I included 4.


edit: Dammit I forgot JH. So:
5. James Hetfield - Load (Metallica)

[Mladen]

1. Iron Maiden - A Matter of life and death
2. Led Zeppelin - Houses of the holy
3. Dream Theater - Awake

Even including Dream Theater isn't purely hard rock or heavy metal, but oh well, it's still metal and one of the best vocal performances I've ever heard.

[erwinrafael]

1. Freddie Mercury in Queen's A Day at the Races (well, yeah, it hardly even qualifies as hard rock but I would have Freddie in here  )
2. James LaBrie in Dream Theater's Awake
3. Chris Cornell in Soundgarden's Superunknown

[krands85]

1. James LaBrie - Images and Words (Dream Theater)
2. Ashe O'Hara - Altered State (Tesseract)
3. Vincent Cavanagh - We're Here Because We're Here (Anathema)

[Stadler]

I'm sorry, Portnoy311 is my friend, so I can say this, but Thom Yorke has no business in a "best vocal performances" thread, unless it is to show what DOESN'T apply.   Like nails on a chalkboard.

As for live albums, you need to put Ian Gillan's "Made In Japan" on there.  By all accounts, no overdubs and just... legendary.

[jingle.boy]

As for live albums, you need to put Ian Gillan's "Made In Japan" on there.  By all accounts, no overdubs and just... legendary.

Hard to argue that.   

[TAC]

I love Paul Stanley on 100,000 Years from Alive.

[KevShmev]

I love Radiohead, and In Rainbows is in my all-time top 10, but I would never put Yorke in any conversation for best vocal performances.  Especially one about hard rock and metal.

My hard rock/metal picks off the top of my head:

Rob Halford - Stained Class (although I could pick half a dozen other Priest records)
Devin Townsend - Accelerated Evolution
James LaBrie - Images and Words

I did not include any Steve Walsh or Freddie Mercury performances because I would not call Kansas or Queen hard rock (or metal).  Same goes for Boston and Brad Delp.

[portnoy311]

I'm sorry, Portnoy311 is my friend, so I can say this, but Thom Yorke has no business in a "best vocal performances" thread, unless it is to show what DOESN'T apply.   Like nails on a chalkboard.

As for live albums, you need to put Ian Gillan's "Made In Japan" on there.  By all accounts, no overdubs and just... legendary.

I'm gonna wager you've never heard this song, one of my favorite vocal performances ever (off that particular album, of course).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uofQD-N6UI


It's kinda interesting, everywhere else outside of DT related boards, you'd get much the same reaction you gave me were someone to mention LaBrie in a related vocal list.

[KevShmev]

I'm sorry, Portnoy311 is my friend, so I can say this, but Thom Yorke has no business in a "best vocal performances" thread, unless it is to show what DOESN'T apply.   Like nails on a chalkboard.

As for live albums, you need to put Ian Gillan's "Made In Japan" on there.  By all accounts, no overdubs and just... legendary.

I'm gonna wager you've never heard this song, one of my favorite vocal performances ever (off that particular album, of course).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uofQD-N6UI

Awesome song, and that would also be one of my favorite vocal performances of his.

[portnoy311]

I'm a pretty big Radiohead fan, but I think that album is the only one where he really impresses me from an individual standpoint. OK Computer is a great album overall, but I tend to agree his vocals are hardly the high point. The more recent work doesn't really do it for me vocally either. This and Amnesiac were really his high points. Reckoner, Videotape, and Weird Fishes (and How To Disappear Completely off Amnesiac) are as good as it gets.

[Cool Chris]

I'm gonna wager you've never heard this song, one of my favorite vocal performances ever (off that particular album, of course).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uofQD-N6UI

I've never heard that song either, but I would certainly rank that vocal performance along side such classics as the one time I stepped on my cat's tail, and the hand dryer in the bathroom of my office building.

[portnoy311]

That's nice.

[Cool Chris]

Sorry about that, dickish comment by me.

[portnoy311]

No problem, I just didn't know what to say, lol. We're good.

[Dream Team]

I love Radiohead, and In Rainbows is in my all-time top 10, but I would never put Yorke in any conversation for best vocal performances.  Especially one about hard rock and metal.

My hard rock/metal picks off the top of my head:

Rob Halford - Stained Class (although I could pick half a dozen other Priest records)
Devin Townsend - Accelerated Evolution
James LaBrie - Images and Words

I did not include any Steve Walsh or Freddie Mercury performances because I would not call Kansas or Queen hard rock (or metal).  Same goes for Boston and Brad Delp.

I love 2 of these, but would substitute Dickinson on Piece of Mind for Townsend.

[mikeyd23]

edit: Dammit I forgot JH. So:
5. James Hetfield - Load (Metallica)

Good call 311. I forgot about Het. For my money, his vocal work on TBA, Load, and ReLoad (probably throw in the Garage Days stuff as well) is among the best melodic metal/hard rock stuff ever.

[Zook]

Do live albums count? This is relevant to my list. I'm including one anyway.

James LaBrie - Dream Theater's Images and Words
Timo Kotipelto - Stratovarius's Episode
Matt Barlow - Iced Earth's Alive In Athens

AIA is just insane, and although it's 3 discs/3 nights, I'm not choosing just one, so there. 

I feel a tad bit guilty breaking this to you, but at least some of the vocals for AIA were dubbed over in the studio. That doesn't take away from how goddamn amazing Barlow's performance is on that album- it's one of my favorites too-, but there's at least a touch of studio work there for the vocals.

Is nothing sacred, Mister Gold? Tell me A Question of Heaven was untouched, at the very least. I will temporarily nominate Robert Plant for Zeppelin's Zoso as a backup just in case...

I mean, even if it's not fully "live", that doesn't change the fact that it's one of the best vocal metal albums ever. It just means it's not necessarily entirely "live." I'd say keep AIA in the list.

Still sounds more live than Live in Ancient Kourion.

[KevShmev]

I love Radiohead, and In Rainbows is in my all-time top 10, but I would never put Yorke in any conversation for best vocal performances.  Especially one about hard rock and metal.

My hard rock/metal picks off the top of my head:

Rob Halford - Stained Class (although I could pick half a dozen other Priest records)
Devin Townsend - Accelerated Evolution
James LaBrie - Images and Words

I did not include any Steve Walsh or Freddie Mercury performances because I would not call Kansas or Queen hard rock (or metal).  Same goes for Boston and Brad Delp.

I love 2 of these, but would substitute Dickinson on Piece of Mind for Townsend.

I know that many would put a Dickinson performance on a list like this, but while his vocal talent is more than obvious, I have never been much of a Maiden fan, outside of a handful or two of songs.