Neal Morse's voice: do you like it?

[King Postwhore]

No, I don't like his voice.


I love it

+1,000,000

[fibreoptix]

I actually first happened upon Neal whilst listening to Transatlantic. His voice was the very first drawing point for me. I fell in love with his voice then and never looked back.

My first song was We All Need Some Light.

[VanBrandevoort]

Neal is a great vocalist in my opinion. Add his keyboard, guitar and compisition chops and you have one skilled musician. Even if you're not a christian, Testimony 2 is an album you simply must hear.

[bosk1]

Wait, where is this supposed death growl on T2?

The Truth Will Set You Free at 5:30-5:35.  The second one is at the end. 

Okay, if this supposed growl is that brief thing at the end of The Truth Will Set You Free, that is not a death growl by any stretch of the imagination; it is barely even a scream (which Neal does well on occasion..see: right before the last chorus in SB's Devil's Got My Throat). 

Um...no.  Watch the section of Stranger In Your Soul on The Whirlwind Live after the instrumental jam where Neal and Mike are goofing around trying to do death growls, and then listen to this section again.

[KevShmev]

I wouldn't call those death growls.  Doing pale imitations of death growls doesn't make them death growls.  Besides, a real death growl will feature singing actual lyrics while growling, as opposed to what Neal does, which is more or less a wordless vocal with some roughness to it.

[bosk1]

Doing pale imitations of death growls doesn't make them death growls. 

  I don't see much point in that distinction, but whatever.  By the same token, I don't see much point in continuing to argue whether they are or aren't.  But I will say, again, check that part of Stranger that I referenced if you don't recall it.  Whether they are doing a good job of it or not, Mike and Neal certainly think they are doing growls, because they even say so.  And it is exactly the same sound you hear on TTWSYF.

[KevShmev]

Okay, but that is a growl that almost any decent singer could do.  Heck, I could do a growl like that.  It wouldn't sound good, but I could still do it. 

Either way, I would never use that as a reason why Neal is such a good singer.  Not that you necessarily did either, but I am just saying.

[Ħ]

It's a growl but not a death growl.

[ddtonfire]

I present my case:

Bridge Across Forever
The Land of Beginning Again
Made Alive

I rest my case.

[Sketchy]

Wait, that wasn't a picture of Neal Morse?

Also: Yeah, I enjoy his voice, it's good. It fits with whatever he's trying to apply it to. Same for Steven Wilson's voice. I love that too, as it fits anything he likes to apply it to.

[Jaq]

Neal Morse isn't a singer whose participation in a project makes me want to listen to it because of his singing. He's an amazing songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose voice suits the music he writes. He's not a top tier, amazing OMG vocalist, but then I don't think anyone claimed he was. 

[7thHanyou]

Neal has one of the most exceedingly pleasant, inoffensive singing voices I have ever heard.  It helps that he's able to stack genuine emotion on top of it.

At first, I didn't notice his voice much.  Now it's one of my favorites in prog.  It's rare for someone in the genre to have an overtly "friendly" voice, but Neal really does, and it perfectly matches any project he's ever undertaken (especially Spock's Beard).  It also makes those moments when he goes absolutely crazy ("The Light," "Lay Down Your Life," the entirety of "Sola Scriptura") really stand out.

[ZirconBlue]

Even if you're not a christian, Testimony 2 is an album you simply must hear.

No, I mustn't.

[Silver Tears]

No, I don't like his voice.


I love it

+1,000,000

+1,000,001