Top 25 Favorite Singers countdown thread! (Top 2 Revealed!!!)

[wolfking]

To be fair, the whole spotlighting thing was a big deal at the start of all these.  I'd be surprised if Kev allows it.  I'd rather not speculate, it does kind of take the excitement off it.

[cramx3]

Maybe my bad though? I guess I forgot the rule since I brought up who I expect will make appearances now that we are getting near the end

[twosuitsluke]

I'm starting to feel less confident that the two other singers I hoped would make it, are gonna make it.

Yikes

[cramx3]

To be fair, the whole spotlighting thing was a big deal at the start of all these.  I'd be surprised if Kev allows it.  I'd rather not speculate, it does kind of take the excitement off it.

I feel like speculation is the entire excitement of it though.  Especially now that we are at top 10, I don't know if there's going to be a lot of oh "wow" moments at this point of the list, just placement.  Maybe I'm wrong.

[wolfking]

To be fair, the whole spotlighting thing was a big deal at the start of all these.  I'd be surprised if Kev allows it.  I'd rather not speculate, it does kind of take the excitement off it.

I feel like speculation is the entire excitement of it though.  Especially now that we are at top 10, I don't know if there's going to be a lot of oh "wow" moments at this point of the list, just placement.  Maybe I'm wrong.

Perhaps.  I see both sides of the argument.  Up to Kev really.

[Glasser]

Still waiting for Ross Jennings, especially with the Haken love here. I should have ranked Ross as Haken is one of my favorite bands.

[cramx3]

Still waiting for Ross Jennings, especially with the Haken love here. I should have ranked Ross as Haken is one of my favorite bands.

But do those who love Haken rank Ross as the reason? I'm not sure they do. As a Haken fan myself, I did not rank Ross. 

[Glasser]

All I can say is if my number one didn't rank, well, shame!!!!!

Not gonna lie: I would have gotten physically ill had your number 1 made the top 25.

No way. I had him at #11. He's the most underappreciated frontman and singer of his generation. He really doesn't get the respect he deserves for his talent.

Who are we talking about? I missed it if Glasser revealed his number 1.  Lemmy?

Stadler, Paul Stanley is a no competition number one for me. I've seen Kiss about 30 or so times. Paul is a great writer, performer, singer.... As far as Lemmy, he didn't make my list but I love what he did.

[KevShmev]

That's Kev's rule, jeesh. Have some damn respect for the guy that worked hard to put this thing together. WTF??

Appreciate that! 

To be fair, the whole spotlighting thing was a big deal at the start of all these.  I'd be surprised if Kev allows it.  I'd rather not speculate, it does kind of take the excitement off it.

Well, I can't tell anyone what and what not to post, but my hope is that the community as a whole does the respectful thing and not throw some obvious names still to come.  Sadly, that seems to have gone out the window today. 

It's like when I did the DT top 100. When we got to the top 2, it was obvious that the top 2 would be Learning to Live or A Change of Seasons, and someone felt the need to actually post that the top 2 would be those two and wondered which one would be number 1 (the mod squad kindly deleted that post), which I thought was a dick move.  I get wanting to speculate, but not everyone is a smarty pants/know-it-all. Some want to be surprised with the reveals, rather than some just blurting all or most of the names still to come.

[pg1067]

Ray Alder - just missed the cut. I guess I am a bit surprised to see Ray so high but maybe I shouldn't be.

I wonder if the results would have been different had 19 of us spent a hefty amount of time with the FW catalog in that countdown.

[lonestar]

My bad.. To me speculating is half the fun, but I'll respect Kev's wishes.





Tim can still suck it though. 

[Glasser]

Still waiting for Ross Jennings, especially with the Haken love here. I should have ranked Ross as Haken is one of my favorite bands.

But do those who love Haken rank Ross as the reason? I'm not sure they do. As a Haken fan myself, I did not rank Ross.

Excellent point. Is Geddy's voice the main reason people love Rush? I'm surprised he was ranked that high but goid for him. If you read back, a few said his vocals are the reason they don't listen to Rush. I personally enjoy his voice but it wasn't what grabbed me in. Ross on the other hand is a very talented singer and can pretty much sing any genre.

Going to go listen to Exit Stage Left now!   

[TAC]

Excellent point. Is Geddy's voice the main reason people love Rush? Ranked or not I'm pretty sure its not. If you read back, a few said his vocals are the reason they don't listen to Rush.

The vocals are a huge part of mostly any band to me. Geddy's voice was what turned my onto Rush in the first place. I mean is it Neal's drumming? His overrated lyrics? Alex's guitar..er..virtuosity?

Rush was the sum of its parts. If Jon Anderson sang for Rush and Geddy sang for Yes, I'd be a Yes fan right now instead.

[KevShmev]

Excellent point. Is Geddy's voice the main reason people love Rush? Ranked or not I'm pretty sure its not. If you read back, a few said his vocals are the reason they don't listen to Rush. I personally enjoy his voice but it wasn't what grabbed me in. Ross on the other hand is a very talented singer and can pretty much sing any genre.

Going to go listen to Exit Stage Left now!   

Okay, but why does that matter?  This is about favorite singers, not favorite singers whose voice stood out more than anything else in their band.   Many bands have multiple things that stand out in a positive way. 

[Glasser]

Excellent point. Is Geddy's voice the main reason people love Rush? Ranked or not I'm pretty sure its not. If you read back, a few said his vocals are the reason they don't listen to Rush. I personally enjoy his voice but it wasn't what grabbed me in. Ross on the other hand is a very talented singer and can pretty much sing any genre.

Going to go listen to Exit Stage Left now!   

Okay, but why does that matter?  This is about favorite singers, not favorite singers whose voice stood out more than anything else in their band.   Many bands have multiple things that stand out in a positive way.

It really doesn't matter, you're right Kev.

[cramx3]

That's Kev's rule, jeesh. Have some damn respect for the guy that worked hard to put this thing together. WTF??

Appreciate that! 

To be fair, the whole spotlighting thing was a big deal at the start of all these.  I'd be surprised if Kev allows it.  I'd rather not speculate, it does kind of take the excitement off it.

Well, I can't tell anyone what and what not to post, but my hope is that the community as a whole does the respectful thing and not throw some obvious names still to come.  Sadly, that seems to have gone out the window today. 

It's like when I did the DT top 100. When we got to the top 2, it was obvious that the top 2 would be Learning to Live or A Change of Seasons, and someone felt the need to actually post that the top 2 would be those two and wondered which one would be number 1 (the mod squad kindly deleted that post), which I thought was a dick move.  I get wanting to speculate, but not everyone is a smarty pants/know-it-all. Some want to be surprised with the reveals, rather than some just blurting all or most of the names still to come.

It was my fault so I won't do it again.  I think Tim took the blame for my mistake.

Having said that, I can't understand how it makes a difference here.  I think everyone knows some of the names left to unfold and it's mostly a matter of placement. You also had the Geddy talk before his announcement. But it's not my poll so I will respect your rules.  Sorry.

[jingle.boy]

I get the whole spotlighting/speculation thing when it's a fairly finite list of songs - though, in your example Kev... I think any reasonable DT fan keeping track of songs and NOT seeing ACOS or LTL in a top 100 countdown would quickly pick that up.

As for this countdown, with 350+ singers (iirc), there's still a healthy amount of speculation that would (imo) be part of the fun and not spoil anything.  Like, does Dio make it or not (he should, but maybe he doesn't)?  Does Ross Jennings make it or not (he shouldn't  ).  Does Kip Winger make it or not?  Does JLB? Does Elvis? Does Perry?  There's 8 slots left, and I'm looking at a few (on and off my list) that are clearly beloved here... BY MANY, are amazing vocalists, and yet the math says more than a few won't make it - and I'll be damned if I have a clue who they are/aren't.

And yeah, Tim can always suck it.   

[WardySI]

Also had Coverdale and Jorn in my own list albeit with how the rankings have gone so far would be foolish to speculate 

Aside from Huey, another I had who I doubt anyone else would have in their 25 was Kevin Martin of Candlebox.  The guy can 'sing' and has always ticked that box fer my ears

[KevShmev]

Excellent point. Is Geddy's voice the main reason people love Rush? Ranked or not I'm pretty sure its not. If you read back, a few said his vocals are the reason they don't listen to Rush. I personally enjoy his voice but it wasn't what grabbed me in. Ross on the other hand is a very talented singer and can pretty much sing any genre.

Going to go listen to Exit Stage Left now!   

Okay, but why does that matter?  This is about favorite singers, not favorite singers whose voice stood out more than anything else in their band.   Many bands have multiple things that stand out in a positive way.

It really doesn't matter, you're right Kev.

All good! 

It was my fault so I won't do it again.  I think Tim took the blame for my mistake.

Having said that, I can't understand how it makes a difference here.  I think everyone knows some of the names left to unfold and it's mostly a matter of placement. You also had the Geddy talk before his announcement. But it's not my poll so I will respect your rules.  Sorry.

True, but it's still a matter of courtesy to let me, or the thread starter if someone else runs a similar-type countdown, do the reveal. 

Yes, there was Geddy talk, but that seemed more like a natural part of the conversation rather than someone posting, "Okay, there are x-number of spots left and we know a, b, c, d and e are five of them, so it's just a matter of who the others are." 

Obviously, the lines can get a little blurry, and it's been a little fun to see chatter about singers who didn't make the countdown (think of it as a not-so clever way of saying, "This singer didn't make it").   I mean, I have zero love for Kiss and Paul Stanley, but for those who are fans, it's almost like he was sorta featured as he had his hour or two in the sun. That is the fun of these kinds of threads, IMO.

[The Realm]

I get the whole spotlighting/speculation thing when it's a fairly finite list of songs - though, in your example Kev... I think any reasonable DT fan keeping track of songs and NOT seeing ACOS or LTL in a top 100 countdown would quickly pick that up.

As for this countdown, with 350+ singers (iirc), there's still a healthy amount of speculation that would (imo) be part of the fun and not spoil anything.  Like, does Dio make it or not (he should, but maybe he doesn't)?  Does Ross Jennings make it or not (he shouldn't  ).  Does Kip Winger make it or not?  Does JLB? Does Elvis? Does Perry?  There's 8 slots left, and I'm looking at a few (on and off my list) that are clearly beloved here... BY MANY, are amazing vocalists, and yet the math says more than a few won't make it - and I'll be damned if I have a clue who they are/aren't.

And yeah, Tim can always suck it.   

I agree I don't think you can spoil this list at all by spotlighting as you can with other countdowns. I think if we all named our own picks for the top 8 or top 5 when we get to it, it would be fun and none of us would probably get it right.

[lonestar]

I get the whole spotlighting/speculation thing when it's a fairly finite list of songs - though, in your example Kev... I think any reasonable DT fan keeping track of songs and NOT seeing ACOS or LTL in a top 100 countdown would quickly pick that up.

As for this countdown, with 350+ singers (iirc), there's still a healthy amount of speculation that would (imo) be part of the fun and not spoil anything.  Like, does Dio make it or not (he should, but maybe he doesn't)?  Does Ross Jennings make it or not (he shouldn't  ).  Does Kip Winger make it or not?  Does JLB? Does Elvis? Does Perry?  There's 8 slots left, and I'm looking at a few (on and off my list) that are clearly beloved here... BY MANY, are amazing vocalists, and yet the math says more than a few won't make it - and I'll be damned if I have a clue who they are/aren't.

And yeah, Tim can always suck it.   

I agree I don't think you can spoil this list at all by spotlighting as you can with other countdowns. I think if we all named our own picks for the top 8 or top 5 when we get to it, it would be fun and none of us would probably get it right.

I mean, I can speculate based on my general knowledge of forum tastes after being an active member for years here, and I bet I'd get at least half the remaining singers... But my personal list, I probably got one guy remaining who will make the top 8.

[pg1067]

I'm pretty sure about 5 of the remaining 8, but the other 3?  Could be just about anyone.

[DTwwbwMP]

Alright, let's kick off the top 10!!

Last night's convo probably could have waited a day, given who's at number 10...

10 Geddy Lee

Appeared on 12 of 36 lists
Highest Finish: 5 (KevShmev)
5 Top 10 Finishes

Yes, I had him ranked 5th. Rush has been my favorite band now for 31 years, so how could he not rank very high for me?  His vocals were a bit spastic in the early days, and his last few years were pretty rough, but his 1980-1993 years showed what a damn fine singer he was in his prime. 


09 Ray Alder

Appeared on 10 of 36 lists
Highest Finish: 1 (pg1067, Tomislav95)
7 Top 10 Finishes

Fates Warning is one of those bands where I get the appeal, but they simply have never really grabbed me, outside of A Pleasant Shade of Gray.  Alder is a good singer for sure.

0/2 here.

LOVE RUSH, but never considered Geddy as a GREAT singer (not on my list).... now, BASSIST is another story! I really like Ray's vocals, just not in my top 25!

[DTwwbwMP]

Very disappointed Stadler. How is Paul Stanley NOT iconic?

He IS iconic, though.  If we were doing "front men" he'd be in the top three.  Maybe top two (Freddie would be number one).   Paul is more the "total package" though, than just his vocals.   And to be honest, I prefer Gene's vocals - just the vocals.

To be honest, I expected both to be on your list.

Paul was #32, Gene was #50.

I'm a BIG Kiss fan, but neither P or G would make my top 50! No way.

[DTwwbwMP]

I'm starting to wonder where JLB gets ranked.

Not on my list.

[DTwwbwMP]

I went with my favorite singers in their prime

I did the same ranking. For instance, guys like Daltrey, Halford, etc would have been much lower on my list if I didn't.

[jingle.boy]

Hey Kev… don’t forget to update the thread title tomorrow morning.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I came close a couple times to soliciting predictions about the collective top 10, but given everyone's reticence to name anyone at first, I backed off.  Good thing, I didn't realize it was an unspoken rule for some.  Personally the speculation would have made it even more interesting to me, but it's not my thread. 

Excellent point. Is Geddy's voice the main reason people love Rush? Ranked or not I'm pretty sure its not. If you read back, a few said his vocals are the reason they don't listen to Rush.

The vocals are a huge part of mostly any band to me. Geddy's voice was what turned my onto Rush in the first place. I mean is it Neal's drumming? His overrated lyrics? Alex's guitar..er..virtuosity?

Rush was the sum of its parts. If Jon Anderson sang for Rush and Geddy sang for Yes, I'd be a Yes fan right now instead.

To unintentionally butcher a metaphor and pun, I think some people are more of "forest" people and others are more "tree" people when it comes to analyzing bands.  I'm more often the latter, so I can quite easily think of bands where I like neither the band nor the singer, others where I like the singer but don't like the band, vice versa, and then ones where I like both.  There sometimes is a synergy to the output as well, but trying to break the components down is also fun. 

[lonestar]

I probably wouldn't have broken said unspoken rule if it was spoken.

[The Realm]

At the moment I have highlighted 11 names on my list who could fill the remaining 8 spots. Of these 11, I'd say 3 of these are a certainty. I also think at least 1 singer (and maybe 2) I didn't have in my top 25 list is also a very good chance.

In summary, very confident of 3 of the remaining 8!

[LithoJazzoSphere]

There's 8 slots left, and I'm looking at a few (on and off my list) that are clearly beloved here... BY MANY, are amazing vocalists, and yet the math says more than a few won't make it - and I'll be damned if I have a clue who they are/aren't.

I suspect a few of those will be in the top 50 when that's unveiled.  Always interesting to see who is a bit more or less popular than we expected. 

[KevShmev]

I meant to address this earlier, but there were so many new posts between the time I logged off and went to work this morning and then looked again later today.

As noted, Ray Alder was my #1 (you couldn't have found a better picture, Kev?!). 

I could not find a single good gif of Alder.  I try to find a good gif, as I like those better than still pics, but I came up empty for him.

I was actually surprised I couldn't find better ones for Geddy as well.  I wanted one that showed him singing rather than just playing since this is a singer thread, otherwise a pic of him playing the double neck would have been a given.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Geddy Lee - First things first, I screwed up my list. Geddy was supposed to be at #8 and my #8 was supposed to be at #11 where I ended up putting Geddy. Would this have made any difference in the ranking, Kev? Anyway, Rush is and will always be my favorite band and I first heard Rush when I was 5 years old (my dad's copy of Moving Pictures) and it was the vocals that immediately drew me in. Of course I would take up the drums when I was 13 and thus took far more interesting in Neil Peart. However, Geddy is a great vocalist, imo. Just listen to 2112, with the power he could get in some of those parts while singing way up high, as well as the tenderness in the softer sections. Or listen to something like Marathon, those key changes! The dude had so many facets to his voice that he used throughout Rush's career. Yes he dropped off in quality starting in about 2003ish, but in his prime he was fantastic.

Ray Alder - My #10. Between his prime with Fates and his best material with Redemption this guy could do no wrong. He got a bit squirrely live once in a while, but mostly he was good.

I was actually surprised I couldn't find better ones for Geddy as well.  I wanted one that showed him singing rather than just playing since this is a singer thread, otherwise a pic of him playing the double neck would have been a given.

Here you go Kev

[coz]

Rush has been my favorite band for thirty years and Ged's voice is why almost as much as any other reason.  Love Alder's voice both in Fates and Redemption.

Where the selections placed on my list:
8. Geddy Lee
6. Robert Plant
5. Chris Cornell
2. Layne Staley

And selections from my long list: Alder, Ann Wilson, Jon Anderson, Åkerfeldt, McCartney, Gabriel, Delp

[Cool Chris]

I'm pretty sure about 5 of the remaining 8, but the other 3?  Could be just about anyone.

That's about where I am at.