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

[Stadler]

Yeah she's taking one for the team.

Yes, she's sublime, but it hurts my eyes looking at these random schmucks who photo-bombed DTFers taking a photo of her.

So I'll do my part:




I will say this:  I think Anneke is hot as heck; the video of Devin in London where she's dressed in black and dancing next to him is sexy as all hell. 

[TAC]

The words "hot as heck" and that picture should not be in the same post.

[cramx3]

  and yeah, Anneke is very sexy on the Retinal Circus live album with Devin.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Yeah she's taking one for the team.

Yes, she's sublime, but it hurts my eyes looking at these random schmucks who photo-bombed DTFers taking a photo of her.

So I'll do my part:

So nice of you to pose with that homeless man. 

Is mine the first #1 vote revealed?

Nope. 

It occurs to me that perhaps you meant revealing who cast the #1 votes, and in that case I suppose it was the first. 

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Listen, I'm not saying everyone should have had Anneke in their top 10.



But....yes, I am saying that.

Indeed!

Jon Anderson - Didn't make my shortlist, but would definitely have made my top 100. I like his voice, but don't absolutely love it. The fact that he's been singing for so long and still hasn't really lost anything in his voice is also part of the reason I like him. Definitely deserving of being on the the aggregate list.

Anneke Van Giersbergen - She came in at number 4 on my list and is one of 4 people that could sing the phonebook to me and I'd be happy. Just an incredible voice. So unique and yet, not that annoying kind of unique. You definitely know it's her when she is singing. Love her in pretty much everything she has done. Discovered her when she started working with Ayreon, then got into her stuff with The Gathering. I was ecstatic when I found out she would be working with Devin before Addicted came out. Just an amazing vocalist.

[lonestar]

Is mine the first #1 vote revealed?

Nope. 

It occurs to me that perhaps you meant revealing who cast the #1 votes, and in that case I suppose it was the first.

Yup, that's what I meant, and I think mine was.

[cramx3]

Haven't watched this in awhile until just now, but the Addicted! album by the Devin Townsend Project is my favorite album of his that heavily features Anneke. Here's a performance of the entire album and Anneke is fantastic here. I also love Devin's performance too and his facial expressions are epic  but seriously, if you want to hear Anneke, this is a great example IMO https://youtu.be/lqnBn1c0lbs?t=1307 (time stamped for her introduction during Hyperdrive)  Devin's only performed with Anneke live once in the US, at a Progpower festival which is the driving force for me to attend that.  It goes down as one of my favorite concerts ever (day 4 of the festival specifically, it had Haken followed by DTP with Anneke).

[TAC]

Haven't watched this in awhile until just now, but the Addicted! album by the Devin Townsend Project is my favorite album of his that heavily features Anneke. Here's a performance of the entire album and Anneke is fantastic here. I also love Devin's performance too and his facial expressions are epic  but seriously, if you want to hear Anneke, this is a great example IMO https://youtu.be/lqnBn1c0lbs?t=1307 (time stamped for her introduction during Hyperdrive)  Devin's only performed with Anneke live once in the US, at a Progpower festival which is the driving force for me to attend that.  It goes down as one of my favorite concerts ever (day 4 of the festival specifically, it had Haken followed by DTP with Anneke).

Yeah, her part of that video is phenomenal.

[Glasser]

Jon Anderson renders Yes unlistenable to me.


0-8!!

[KevShmev]

I'm a big fan of Mark Knopfler but who the hell put him on #1?

That is a bit of a head scratcher.

I'm a big fan of his playing and writing, but his voice, while effective, is seemingly adequate, at best, IMO.

The guy who put him at No. 1 can certainly carry his own water in terms of defending him, but Mark Knopfler at No. 1 is no more crazy than some of the picks we've seen already.  It's the same lecture I got when I posited Elvis for number one; it's who you like, who resonates.

Bingo. It's why Thom Yorke made my top 25. 

[lonestar]

Jon Anderson renders Yes unlistenable to me.


0-8!!

Normally I'd be miffed as well, especially since Jon was my #1, but it's Tim, he kind of has an eternal hall pass when it comes to stupid opinions.

[Dave_Manchester]

I'm a big fan of Mark Knopfler but who the hell put him on #1?

Me. He's my favourite singer, for reasons I've already given.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Haven't watched this in awhile until just now, but the Addicted! album by the Devin Townsend Project is my favorite album of his that heavily features Anneke. Here's a performance of the entire album and Anneke is fantastic here. I also love Devin's performance too and his facial expressions are epic  but seriously, if you want to hear Anneke, this is a great example IMO https://youtu.be/lqnBn1c0lbs?t=1307 (time stamped for her introduction during Hyperdrive)  Devin's only performed with Anneke live once in the US, at a Progpower festival which is the driving force for me to attend that.  It goes down as one of my favorite concerts ever (day 4 of the festival specifically, it had Haken followed by DTP with Anneke).

Yeah, her part of that video is phenomenal.

I'm pretty sure the Youtube algorithm just gave up trying to keep track of the number of times I watched that performance of "Supercrush!"

[lonestar]

Anneke in Supercrush is just 

The other favorite of hers is when she does Untouchable with Danny Cavanaugh.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Me. He's my favourite singer, for reasons I've already given.

Have you heard this track?  Someone on my list, and Mark is featured on it.  Mostly his guitar playing, but a bit of backing vocals as well. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4KweWynxa8

Anneke in Supercrush is just 

The other favorite of hers is when she does Untouchable with Danny Cavanaugh.

Yep, both in my top performances of her's. 

Jon was my #1

Do you know this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wAlJWpxWTk

[Cool Chris]

Anneke is the first name that has been on my list so far, and my 3rd highest ranking woman.

[Animal]

I'm a big fan of Mark Knopfler but who the hell put him on #1?

That is a bit of a head scratcher.

I'm a big fan of his playing and writing, but his voice, while effective, is seemingly adequate, at best, IMO.

The guy who put him at No. 1 can certainly carry his own water in terms of defending him, but Mark Knopfler at No. 1 is no more crazy than some of the picks we've seen already.  It's the same lecture I got when I posited Elvis for number one; it's who you like, who resonates.

Bingo. It's why Thom Yorke made my top 25. 

We can see it right here. Anderson, n.1 for Lonestar, renders Yes unlistenable to TAC and, I am sure, quite a few others(like my wife...and me 25 years ago - I used to think that singing like Anderson was ridiculous but have come around over the years and now I ranked him at 19th).
    I am probably more into big operatic voices that could be easily defended as "objectively good" from a vocal coach perspective than almost anyone - but I still ranked quite a few "non-technical" singers such as Michael Stipe. And I even considered ranking Leonard Cohen for a while.

[Animal]

4 out of 8 so far.
  Might have been 5, I considered ranking Anneke too but as with many other Ayreon singers, I am familiar with too little of her output outside Arjen Lucassen projects. Anyway, as with Layne Stanley, I'll take this as an inspiration to explore her music a bit more.

Jon Anderson - had him at 19th. His voice is almost too unique, maybe the only natural countertenor in rock I know of, so it can't really be an influence or inspiration for almost any vocalist, it makes whatever it sings into something special.

His top performances.
Gates of Delirium (Soon)
Awaken
Turn of the Century

[KevShmev]

It's Friday (!!), which means we get three today!!

(and the funny thing is that I had no clue what two of these singers today looked like, so I hope the pictures I am posting are actually of them )

17 Michael Kiske

Appeared on 8 of 36 lists
Highest Finish: 1 (TAC)
6 Top 10 Finishes

I had no clue who this was when he started appearing on lists.  I tried Helloween many, many years ago. I will be kind and say it was not for me.


16 Chris Cornell

Appeared on 10 of 36 lists
Highest Finish: 5 (Metropolaris, coz)
5 Top 10 Finishes

Good singer, and I like a few songs by Soundgarden, but I always thought he got extra credit for being one of the few good singers from a genre largely bereft of them.  Maybe that is the non-grunge fan in me talking.


15 Robert Plant

Appeared on 14 of 36 lists
Highest Finish: 5 (DragonAttack)
2 Top 10 Finishes

I love Led Zeppelin and love quite a bit of Plant's solo work, but I didn't rank him.  I actually think he became a better singer once LZ was over, although there is a charm to his reckless vocals in his early days that add a lot of character to those albums and songs.  An iconic singer to say the least, and I am glad he made it here.

[SwedishGoose]

I had none of them on my list

[twosuitsluke]

I nearly guessed few weeks back that Kiske would be Tim's top pick! I've tried with Helloween many times over the years and they've always just been 'alright' for me. Vocally they just always felt a bit of an Iron Maiden clone.

Chris Cornell is OK, I was just never into Soundgarden.

Robert Plant is the only one that made my list, and I think he's a great singer, great frontman and an iconic voice. Wasn't he like 19 when Led Zep I came out? Amazing!


25.
24.
23.
22.
21.
20.
19. Paul McCartney
18.
17. Robert Plant
16.
15.
14.
13.
12.
11.
10.
9.
8.
7.
6. Einar Solberg
5. Mikael Åkerfeldt
4.
3.
2.
1.

[SeRoX]

I ranked Michael Kiske #14

He has an extremely powerful voice, even now. His prime was almost godly and signature voice of Helloween and power metal genre. OK, Andi Deris is quite good but  Michael Kiske is completely another thing.

I ranked Robert Plant #22

The thing is he is getting bigger on the stage than being on the records. I love his stage presence and wild voice.


I honestly don't know what makes Chris Cornell to get top 25 list. Nothing special about his voice. So ordinary and simple.

[lonestar]

0/3 on that dump, Plant is definitely worthy of being in the conversation though

[ReaperKK]

I've never heard of Michael so I'll have to check out his work. I am a fan of Chris Cornell and Robert Plant, with that though I think Robert Plant is a little overrated and wouldn't have made my list personally.

His voice is the perfect fit for LZ though.

[Adami]

Not super familiar with Michael Kiske's work, but have heard his name enough to know he's well respected. Obviously both other singers deserve to be on this list.


Sadly, none were on my list. So I'm still just 1 for 10 thus far.

Looks like classic rock/prog is going to be pretty dominant on this list.

[HOF]

None of these ranked for me, but Cornell was on my big list and may have been in the next group of 25. He really did have an incredible voice in the early days, and he especially nailed the Temple of the Dog album. His performance on that album alone merits him consideration for this list IMO. Later Soundgarden and Audioslave not so much, but he does have one solo cut that I always loved, Sunshower, which is an amazing performance as well.

Plant didn’t get any consideration from me, as I’m just not a big fan of Zeppelin. He has his moments though and is definitely one of the most iconic rock singers.

Kiske I only know because he came up during the recent QR countdown thread, and TAC sent one of his solo tracks that was pretty awesome. That’s all I’ve heard from him though.

[ZirconBlue]

Cornell is the first of mine to make the list!

[Tomislav95]

Had Cornell at #8. His voice just works for me even though I'm not the biggest fan of bands he was in.

[Metro]

Never heard of Michael Kiske.
Robert Plant oddly didn't cross my mind when putting this list together. He certainly deserves to be here though.
Chris Cornell has one of the most powerful voices I've ever heard.


25. Layne Staley
24.
23.
22.
21.
20.
19.
18.
17.   
16.   
15.
14.
13.
12.
11. Jon Anderson
10.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5. Chris Cornell
4.
3.
2. Peter Gabriel
1.

[jingle.boy]

Unsurprisingly, Bobby Plant made my list - #12.  I've listened to too much LZ in my life not to adore him, and the opening of Black Dog was my gateway to expanding my musical horizon to all things Rock/Metal, and thus my lifelong addiction to music at the tender age of 15.

Kiske... I can definitely hear/see it, but I'm just not familiar enough with his stuff outside of Avantasia to rank him.

I'll just say right now that NO singer originating from the 90s/grunge era got a vote from me, nor would they sniff my top 100.  Sorry/not sorry.

[cramx3]

Kiske.... really good singer but I'm not much of a Helloween fan so he really didn't come to mind.  I enjoy him in Avantasia, but he's not my favorite of the guests singers there. No shock he's Tim's #1.

Cornell... goes back to my feelings about Layne.  I'm just not a fan of grunge.  I get why he's listed, but like Jingle, I didn't consider any grunge singers for my list because I'm simply just not a fan of the music generally.

Plant... I strongly considered him for my list.  Love his singing on the LZ albums.  However, I've heard he's not very good live and I have no experiences myself with him.  He simply missed the cut because I can't properly rate him compared to the ones that did make my list. 

While I'm 1 for 10, I think these are all fine picks again.

[Lethean]

Plant and Kiske didn't make my list but Kiske is awesome.  I just don't listen to enough of his stuff to have thought of him.

Chris Cornell was #19 for me.  Awesome singer and I love Soundgarden.

[hefdaddy42]

I'm a big fan of Mark Knopfler but who the hell put him on #1?

That is a bit of a head scratcher.

I'm a big fan of his playing and writing, but his voice, while effective, is seemingly adequate, at best, IMO.

The guy who put him at No. 1 can certainly carry his own water in terms of defending him, but Mark Knopfler at No. 1 is no more crazy than some of the picks we've seen already.  It's the same lecture I got when I posited Elvis for number one; it's who you like, who resonates.

Well, I'm not lecturing anyone, and I didn't say that I think whomever ranked him that high is a moron.  I just listed my thinking on how he ranks with me.  I don't care who ranks who where, it's all subjective.

As to the new rankings revealed:

Michael Kiske: never heard of him.

Chris Cornell: phenomenal voice, really no one else exactly like him, and he has sung on some of my favorite songs ever.  I had him at # 24 on my list.  My favorite vocal from him, I think, is Temple of the Dog's Say Hello 2 Heaven.  Just glorious.

Robert Plant: He actually didn't make my final list, but his influence is enormous.  I also like how he has adapted his output to the changes in his voice as he has aged.  In particular, his decision to make music with Alison Krauss was a bold one, and has resulted in two absolutely delightful albums.

[Samsara]

I had all three.

Michael Kiske is my #7. The guy has phenomenal range and control. And so amazing how he's kept it all these years. Helloween was NOT the same without him. He brings extraordinary drama and power to their performance.

Chris Cornell is my #8. So much talent. I was fortunate to get to see him solo in...I want to say 2007. And again with Temple of the Dog several years ago. Such tortured beauty in that voice. I remember my wife telling me how blown away she was at Day on the Green in 1991 in Oakland when Soundgarden opened for Metallica/Queensryche/Faith No More in 1991. No one had heard of Soundgarden really, as Badmotorfinger was just catching on. Just an amazing singer and frontman.

Robert Plant came in at #18 for me. Not sure what needs be said about Mr. Plant. Just one of the iconic voices in hard rock. Really set the tone for so many vocalists that followed him.

[cfmoran13]

Cornell's voice is just so damn powerful!  Even putting Soundgarden aside, his Euphoria Morning solo album is fantastic.  And, his vocals on the Temple Of The Dog album are amazing.