80s Glam/Metal Vocal Showdown #17: Tate vs Perry

[jingle.boy]

Yes, THAT 'Tate' vs THAT 'Perry'.  I know I said I wasn't going to match them up, but after the debacle that was Dickinson vs Fish, I wasn't going to throw another proverbial lamb to the slaughter against either.  So, screw it... Round 1, heavyweight matchup of the 80s voices.  I know they're totally different styles, but they are without a doubt, 2 of the premier voices coming from the 80s.  If/when I continue with subsequent rounds, these two would undoubtedly have been matched up at some point, so let's just get it out of the way now.

I love me my melodic voices, but for some unknown reason, Journey was only a 'best of' band for me.  I just never bought any of their albums on their own.  But man, there isn't a song I've ever heard with Perry (Journey or solo) that isn't stellar.  Tate... was the god of prog-metal for 6 albums.  Then he slowly deteriorated, gave up (on his band and their fans), and is just bat-shit crazy now.

How to vote?  How ... to .... vote??

I'm going to go with Tate.  Although I can barely stand anything post PL, his voice didn't start to really tank until after Tribe.

[BlobVanDam]

PERRY!

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Tate. Perry is awesome, but Tate at his peak was pretty much untouchable.

[Mister Gold]

Steve Perry. Awhile back, when the whole Robert Plant vs Freddie Mercury poll was happening, I mentioned that I felt that the only rock singer that could hold his own in a poll against Mercury was Perry. Neither of them are my personal favorite singer ever (that'd be Bruce Dickinson), but those two are the Vocal Gods of rock.

Besides, while Perry was a bit of a dick back in the Eighties and Nineties, I get pissed off whenever I think about Geoff Tate these days.

[Bolsters]

I'm not even much of a fan of Tate when he was at his peak. Perry gets my vote easily here.

[wolfking]

Tate. Perry is awesome, but Tate at his peak was pretty much untouchable.

[masterthes]

Perry

[Cruithne]

Tate. Perry is awesome, but Tate at his peak was pretty much untouchable.

[MoraWintersoul]

Besides, while Perry was a bit of a dick back in the Eighties and Nineties, I get pissed off whenever I think about Geoff Tate these days.

This swayed my judgment too.

[Mister Gold]

Besides, while Perry was a bit of a dick back in the Eighties and Nineties, I get pissed off whenever I think about Geoff Tate these days.

This swayed my judgment too.

Yeah, Tate's managed to get himself expelled from any personal rankings of high standard due to his behavior over the past year and a half. That being said, while I'm a big fan of Queensryche, I've never gotten the hype about Tate as a singer. He was talented back in the day, sure, but I always thought that his peers were better.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Perry, easily.

[bosk1]

I hate you, Chad. 

As much as I can't stand Tate now, I have to respect his abilities in the '80s and not factor his present idiocy and vocal deterioration into the equation.  So while I love Perry:

Tate. Perry is awesome, but Tate at his peak was pretty much untouchable.

[nicmos]

I love QR more than Journey, but I like the quality of Perry's voice better.  I think of it this way:  if I had to have one of them sing a song that I hadn't heard before, it would be Perry.  They're both impeccable though.

[KevShmev]

Tate. Perry is awesome, but Tate at his peak was pretty much untouchable.

Tate wins this, and he was awesome in his prime, but untouchable?  I can think of a handful of rock/metal singers who were his equal or better at their respective peaks.

[jjrock88]

Tate. Perry is awesome, but Tate at his peak was pretty much untouchable.

[ZirconBlue]

Tate. Perry is awesome, but Tate at his peak was pretty much untouchable.

[jingle.boy]

Tate. Perry is awesome, but Tate at his peak was pretty much untouchable.

Tate wins this, and he was awesome in his prime, but untouchable?  I can think of a handful of rock/metal singers who were his equal or better at their respective peaks.

Out of curiosity, who?

[Big Hath]

he ain't called "The Voice" for nothing.

[Mister Gold]

Tate. Perry is awesome, but Tate at his peak was pretty much untouchable.

Tate wins this, and he was awesome in his prime, but untouchable?  I can think of a handful of rock/metal singers who were his equal or better at their respective peaks.

Out of curiosity, who?

Midnight, Ray Alder, Freddie Mercury, Rob Halford, Michael Kiske and Roy Khan would all be great examples of better singers than Geoff Tate. 

[Rattlehead]

I like both but I had to go with Perry...

[jingle.boy]

Tate. Perry is awesome, but Tate at his peak was pretty much untouchable.

Tate wins this, and he was awesome in his prime, but untouchable?  I can think of a handful of rock/metal singers who were his equal or better at their respective peaks.

Out of curiosity, who?

Midnight, Ray Alder, Freddie Mercury, Rob Halford, Michael Kiske and Roy Khan would all be great examples of better singers than Geoff Tate.

I'll grant you a couple of those, but not all.  Midnight?  You can't compare his 3-album 80s output to Tate's, then followed with a 10-year hiatus.  I haven't heard his solo stuff, so can't comment.  Hardly anyone knows Midnight as well (only 16 people voted in the 'showdown' he was in).  Alder... is hit and miss.  For years, he was a miss for me.  Now I can appreciate.  No way he compares to Tate's 80s work.  I can't argue Mercury/Halford one way or the other.  I would say Kiske and Khan are debatable.  Great in their own respect, but debatable when compared to Tate (on the whole, not simply looking at current state).

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I'd vote for Khan or maybe even Kiske, but I never really think of them as 80s singers, even though I suppose Kiske at least technically was.

[bosk1]

Midnight:  Assuming, arguably, that he is on the same plane as Tate and Perry, I would argue that CG was too underground to make him a serious contender.  But I also wouldn't quite put him on the same plane as '80s Tate either.
Alder:  No way.  He had range, sure.  But he was never quite the caliber of singer that Tate or Perry were.
Mercury:  I hear you.  Not sure he fits the genre we are talking about, though.
Halford:  I disagree that he is better, but I'll give you that one because he definitely deserves to be in the conversation.
Kiske:  I would probably put him in the same category as Alder.  Yeah, he had range and talent.  But probably a cut below guys like Tate and Perry.  Also more of an underground cult following than bands like Priest or Queen.  Not that that takes away from his abilities, but I'm not sure that a relatively underground band in the '80s like Helloween really qualifies to put this guy in the category of all-time '80s glam/metal vocalist, at least in my mind.
Khan:  Not really '80s.

[Mister Gold]

Tate. Perry is awesome, but Tate at his peak was pretty much untouchable.

Tate wins this, and he was awesome in his prime, but untouchable?  I can think of a handful of rock/metal singers who were his equal or better at their respective peaks.

Out of curiosity, who?

Midnight, Ray Alder, Freddie Mercury, Rob Halford, Michael Kiske and Roy Khan would all be great examples of better singers than Geoff Tate.

I'll grant you a couple of those, but not all.  Midnight?  You can't compare his 3-album 80s output to Tate's, then followed with a 10-year hiatus.  I haven't heard his solo stuff, so can't comment.  Hardly anyone knows Midnight as well (only 16 people voted in the 'showdown' he was in).  Alder... is hit and miss.  For years, he was a miss for me.  Now I can appreciate.  No way he compares to Tate's 80s work.  I can't argue Mercury/Halford one way or the other.  I would say Kiske and Khan are debatable.  Great in their own respect, but debatable when compared to Tate (on the whole, not simply looking at current state).

I don't see how the number of albums Tate did makes him better than Midnight. I personally rank the first two Crimson Glory albums over most of, if not all, the Queensryche albums. I listen to QR more often because they have a wider selection of great songs overall, sure, but that's not solely because of Tate. I like Queensryche because they're one of those bands where they're more than the sum of its parts. Tate's the least interesting part of the classic material IMO. On the other hand, Midnight is easily the highlight on the two CG albums.

Alder's voice is admittedly an acquired taste, but personally speaking, I just flat-out prefer him over Tate. Then again, I'm a bigger Fates Warning fan than I am a Queensryche fan.

Certainly Kiske and Khan are debatable, and both are clearly influenced by Tate, but the minor differences both singers have over Tate are what make the difference for me. For example, Khan has this darkness to his voice that I absolutely love.

To bosk and Shadow Ninja, I'm not looking at purely singers from the 80's. I'm just thinking in general. The other thing is that I'm not looking at overall popularity. I'm also not trying to compare those singers to Steve Perry either. The only two that could compare with him would be Halford or Mercury.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Well, yeah, if we're talking about all time favorites, I could probably come up a dozen or so that I'd put ahead of Tate.

[jingle.boy]

*what Bosk said*

Exactly spot on.

Well, yeah, if we're talking about all time favorites, I could probably come up a dozen or so that I'd put ahead of Tate.

Ditto.

[Lowdz]

I hate you, Chad. 

As much as I can't stand Tate now, I have to respect his abilities in the '80s and not factor his present idiocy and vocal deterioration into the equation.  So while I love Perry:

Tate. Perry is awesome, but Tate at his peak was pretty much untouchable.

When I think of the vocalists that have got through already and  one of these legends has to go out at round 1? You're a cruel man Chad.

Tate was my favourite vocalist ever. Those 1st 4 QR albums 
Perry is a great singer but not as much my style. I don't have any soul 

[KevShmev]

Freddie Mercury
Steve Walsh
Rob Halford

Those three are a good start.  Even if you think Tate's prime was better than the prime of those three (which I do not), saying their primes cannot touch Tate's prime is just, well, erroneous. :biggrin

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

erroneous statement is erroneous.

Oddly enough, I normally find this meme annoying, but it's amusing me today, so what the heck.

[Lolzeez]

Perry is amazing but Tate is just another level.

[TAC]

I'm taking Tate in this easily.

Alder couldn't touch Tate at their peaks.

And I'm a Kiske guy. No one is better to me. Keepers Pt.2 slightly beats out O:M.

[senecadawg2]

Steve Perry, for sure

[pogoowner]

Definitely Tate.

[jingle.boy]

I hate you, Chad. 

As much as I can't stand Tate now, I have to respect his abilities in the '80s and not factor his present idiocy and vocal deterioration into the equation.  So while I love Perry:

Tate. Perry is awesome, but Tate at his peak was pretty much untouchable.

When I think of the vocalists that have got through already and  one of these legends has to go out at round 1? You're a cruel man Chad.

Tate was my favourite vocalist ever. Those 1st 4 QR albums 
Perry is a great singer but not as much my style. I don't have any soul 

I know, but truthfully, when it comes to 80s and metal vocalists, any other singers against either of these two would've been a landslide.  This is like the irresistible force against the immovable object.     And the poll results validate that (so far).

[bosk1]

Face it, Chad.  You are just an evil, wicked person.