Worst singing voice ever - who would you pick ?

[Richard J. Fowlks]

For my money... William Shatner. He turns the corner on so bad its good. BTW, a friend and I animated Shatner's "Mr. Tambourine Man" using old Super Friends footage a couple of years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f78srcYQHy0

Just a little time waster that still makes me smile.

[huedell]

Man, it blows me away that anybody hates Axl Roses voice that like rock n roll, It was that voice that made the band the best thing in decades. Of course Slash was huge. But it was Axl, he was the man.

The "song writing of the original GNR camp" plus the "visual image" were
what made a typical 80s screechy singer and a typical post 60s bluesy hard
rock guitarist into what became a powerful force in the biz.

In the wake of AFD and LIES the biz were looking at GNR as the
ROLLING STONES'/(or at least) AEROSMITH's heir apparent...and,
us (as teens at the time) thought simillarly.

As Axl & Slash's youthful image diminished and the songwriting politics
of being a duo in the same band dispersed along with the abscence of
major songwriting contributor Izzy Stradlin, Axl and Slash began riding on
the fumes of their debut for a long time not accomplishing anything
near what their predecessors (STONES/'SMITH) had accomplished
after their first few albums.

Long story short: Axl's voice wasn't what "sold" the band... Axl's voice is
what REPRESENTED the band....he's still a pretty rough singer who had
a decent run in the biz at the top of the rock world. It's common consensus that neither Axl nor Slash have released anything of high quality since LIES
...altho I'll concede a decent amount of people draw that era into the UYI albums as well.

[jp1969]

I disagree with most of the posts here.
My Mom bought a Slim Whittman album in the late 70s.
I begged her to never play it again.
I hate yoddeling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndChcyOAEcs

[Brazoo]

I already posted it... I even labelled mine so people knew what they were clicking on.

Opps - Sorry man!

[huedell]

Opps - Sorry man!

No biggie, just was compelled to give a "heads up".

(Who woulda thought a Kahn/Grover duet would make it ONCE into a thread
let alone TWICE!)

[Zemo]

The "song writing of the original GNR camp" plus the "visual image" were
what made a typical 80s screechy singer and a typical post 60s bluesy hard
rock guitarist into what became a powerful force in the biz.

In the wake of AFD and LIES the biz were looking at GNR as the
ROLLING STONES'/(or at least) AEROSMITH's heir apparent...and,
us (as teens at the time) thought simillarly.

As Axl & Slash's youthful image diminished and the songwriting politics
of being a duo in the same band dispersed along with the abscence of
major songwriting contributor Izzy Stradlin, Axl and Slash began riding on
the fumes of their debut for a long time not accomplishing anything
near what their predecessors (STONES/'SMITH) had accomplished
after their first few albums.

Long story short: Axl's voice wasn't what "sold" the band... Axl's voice is
what REPRESENTED the band....he's still a pretty rough singer who had
a decent run in the biz at the top of the rock world. It's common consensus that neither Axl nor Slash have released anything of high quality since LIES
...altho I'll concede a decent amount of people draw that era into the UYI albums as well.

Agreed, sort of, If Axl didn't have that nasal rough sound, I just don't see the success. Can you imagine Paul Rodgers singing those songs?

[huedell]

Agreed, sort of, If Axl didn't have that nasal rough sound, I just don't see the success.

I concede that kind of tone is helpful to the songs... at the same time I believe that w/out the songs and the band image, and then with that
voice style, Axl'd've been a "Sunset Strip dime-a-dozen".

Nothing wrong with that, but this thread is focusing on vocals.

Also, I'll note I happen to like a lot of early GNR actually quite a bit.

Agreed, sort of, If Axl didn't have that nasal rough sound, I just don't see the success. Can you imagine Paul Rodgers singing those songs?

I don't think Rodgers would push his range that much to try (especially after
hearing him take on Mercury's parts)

[jwyblejr]

I disagree with most of the posts here.
My Mom bought a Slim Whittman album in the late 70s.
I begged her to never play it again.
I hate yoddeling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndChcyOAEcs

Well,his music does make Martian heads explode.

[Hector]

Bob Dylan, great influence, great songwriter, but what a HORRIBLE singer...oh dear...

[GSPUSA]

Barbara Strysand, worst looking and sounding.

[huedell]

Barbara Strysand, worst looking and sounding.

She' s really kicked butt in creating an audience for her talent...
which was even HARDER going due to her looks.

I don't hate her voice, but I don't see the appeal of it either.

I consider my dad to be a great judge of music, and it boggles me that
he likes her voice so much.

[jp1969]

Well,his music does make Martian heads explode.

Nearly made mine explode also!

[johnnystorm]

Tom Petty

[The Toyroom]

Tom Petty

To tie it all together I always thought if Bob Dylan and Tom Petty had a kid, vocally, he'd turn out to be Axl Rose.....

[huedell]

To tie it all together I always thought if Bob Dylan and Tom Petty had a kid, vocally, he'd turn out to be Axl Rose.....

Mom & Dad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8s9dmuAKvU&ob=av2e
Father & Son:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_VL8ZU5fSI