Post by Osmosis on Feb 26, 2022 12:19:59 GMT
Richard Paul Ashcroft (11 September 1971)
Member of: The Verve (1990 - 1995, 1995 - 1999, 2007 - 2009), Solo (2000 – Present)
Vocal Range: E2 – F♯5
Voice Type: Bitter Sweet Baritone
{Vocal Summary}Introduced by Chris Martin at Live 8 as ‘the best singer it in the world’, Ashcroft’s renown as a vocalist and frontman, particularly in the UK, cannot be understated. During The Verve’s early years, Ashcroft’s voice served more as a texture, blending into the backdrop created by Nick McCabe’s magnificent guitar parts. His voice was heavily treated with reverb and delay to amplify its ethereal and ambient quality. The vocal rose in prominence in the heavier A Northern Soul and eventually became the main feature with the release of Urban Hymns. Songs like “Bittersweet Symphony” and “Sonnet” would typify much of the sounds he would explore with his solo career – swapping out Nick McCabe’s guitar for string sections.
Not one for high note belts, most songs tend to feature a midrange E3-E4 vocal melody sandwiched between lower harmony and soaring falsetto parts - the number of these often increasing as the song progresses, building towards a crescendo. His lower register gets a real work out in his solo career, particularly on the album Human Conditions which features vocal melodies that regularly dip into the mid-2nd octave. It is in these moments where his baritone voice is allowed shine. Though once capable of ragged and gutsy prolonged 4th octave singing which typified A Northern Soul, the early 2010s saw his voice become progressively raspier, making his high notes less accessible, sounding more like barks or roars rather than well supported notes. This would be a problem for most artists but in the case of Ashcroft, it adds to the earnest and often bleak nature of his songs like “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “History” and helps to make the warm embrace of his 2nd and 3rd octaves all the more welcoming. His voice continues to be a huge draw - even with just an acoustic guitar backing him.
Not one for high note belts, most songs tend to feature a midrange E3-E4 vocal melody sandwiched between lower harmony and soaring falsetto parts - the number of these often increasing as the song progresses, building towards a crescendo. His lower register gets a real work out in his solo career, particularly on the album Human Conditions which features vocal melodies that regularly dip into the mid-2nd octave. It is in these moments where his baritone voice is allowed shine. Though once capable of ragged and gutsy prolonged 4th octave singing which typified A Northern Soul, the early 2010s saw his voice become progressively raspier, making his high notes less accessible, sounding more like barks or roars rather than well supported notes. This would be a problem for most artists but in the case of Ashcroft, it adds to the earnest and often bleak nature of his songs like “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “History” and helps to make the warm embrace of his 2nd and 3rd octaves all the more welcoming. His voice continues to be a huge draw - even with just an acoustic guitar backing him.
Significant High Notes
F♯5 (“She Brings Me the Music”)
E5 (“A Song for the Lovers”, “Noise Epic”, “This Could Be My Moment”)
D5 (“Appalachian Springs”, “Lucky Man”, “Make a Wish”, “She Brings Me the Music”, “Wednesday Madness”)
C♯5 (“Bright Lights", "This Is How It Feels”, “Velvet Morning” Live Glastonbury 2008, “Wednesday Madness”)
C5 (“The Drugs Don't Work" Live Glastonbury 2008/Urban Hymns, Mover" Live Greater London Radio 1994, “Science of Silence", "Sonnet” Glastonbury 2008)
B4 (“A New Decade”, “Already There”, “Bitter Sweet Symphony”, “Brave New World", "Come On”, “Drive You Home”, “Everybody”, “I See the Door”, “Jalfrezi”, “Judas”, “Ma Ma Soul”, “Man on a Mission”, “Money to Burn”, “MSG”, “On Your Own", "She Brings Me the Music”, “Stamped”, “The Thaw Session”, “They Don’t Own Me”, “This Is How It Feels”, “Wednesday Madness”, “Where the Geese Go”, “Words Just Get in the Way”)
B♭4 (“Born to Be Strangers”, “New York”, “Slip Sliding”, “The Test”, “Virtual World”)
A4 (“Ain’t the Future So Bright”, “Are You Ready?”, “Beatitudes”, “Black Lines”, “Check the Meaning”, “Chic Dub”, “C’mon People (We’re Making It Now)”, “Columbo”, “The Direction”, “Echo Bass”, “Future's Bright", "God in the Numbers”, “Good Loving”, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "History” Glastonbury 2008, “Judas”, “King Riff 2”, “Life’s An Ocean”, “Lonely Soul", "Lord I’ve Been Trying”, “Love Is Noise”, “Ma Ma Soul”, “Make a Wish”, “Make It ‘Til Monday”, “Neon Wilderness”, "Never Wanna See You Cry", “Oh Sister”, “One Day”, “Paradise”, “Songs of Experience”, “Space and Time”, “Stamped”, “Stormy Clouds”, “Streets of Amsterdam”, “The Sun, the Sea”, “Surprised by the Joy”, “The Thaw Session”, “This Is How It Feels”, “This Time”, “Three Steps”, “Velvet Morning”, “Weeping Willow”, “Where the Geese Go”, “You on My Mind in My Sleep”)
G♯4 (“Blue”, “Born to Be Strangers”, “Butterfly”, “Buy It in Bottles”, “Come On”, “Drive You Home”, “Echo Bass”, “Everybody Needs Somebody to Hurt”, “Grey Skies”, “King Riff 2”, “Lead the Way”, “Leave Me High”, “Long Way Down”, “Lord I Guess I’ll Never Know”, “Monte Carlo”, “No Come Down", "Royal Highness”, "This Could Be My Moment", “Three Steps”, “Valium Skies”, “You and Me”)
G4 (“All Night Long”, “America”, “Beautiful Mind”, “Bitter Sweet Symphony", “Bright Lights", "Check the Meaning”, “Chic Dub”, “Columbo”, “(Could Be) A Country Thing, City Thing, Blues Thing”, “Crazy World”, “The Drugs Don’t Work”, "Everybody", "I See the Door”, “The Journey”, “Judas”, "Let My Soul Rest”, “Let the Damage Begin”, “Little Gem”, “Love Is Noise” Glastonbury 2008/Urban Hymns, “Make a Wish”, “Misty Morning June", "Mona Lisa”, “Money to Burn”, “Muhammad Ali”, “Nature Is the Law”, “Neon Wilderness" Live High Haigh Hall Wigan 1998, "Noise Epic”, “Oh Sister", “On Your Own”, “Paradise”, "One Day" Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1, “She Brings Me the Music”, “Slide Away”, “Slip Sliding”, “Songs of Experience”, “Sonnet”, “Streets of Amsterdam”, “The Test”, “That’s How Strong”, “This Is Music”, “Virtual World”, “Weeping Willow”, “World Keeps Turning”, "Words They Just Get In the Way" Live King's College London 2006)
F♯4 (“A New Decade”, “A Northern Soul”, “All My Dream”. “All Night Long”, “Appalachian Springs”, “Back on My Feet Again”, “Beatitudes”, “Beautiful Mind”, “Blue”, “Blue Pacific Ocean”, “Born Again”, “Brave New World" Demo, "Butterfly”, “Columbo”, “Come On”, “The Direction”, “Everybody", "Everybody Needs Somebody to Hurt”, "It Takes Two", “Keys to the World”, “Lead the Way”, “Leave Me High”, “Let the Damage Begin”, “Life Can Be So Beautiful”, “Life’s An Ocean”, “Life’s Not a Rehearsal”, “Lord I Guess I’ll Never Know”, “Lord I’ve Been Trying”, “Lucky Man”, “Man on a Mission”, “The Miracle”, “Misty Morning June", "Money Money”, “Mover" Live Greater London Radio 1994, "Neon Wilderness”, “No Come Down", "The Rolling People", "Simple Song”, “Sit and Wonder”, “The Sun, The Sea”, “The Thaw Session”, “This Could Be My Moment”, “Three Steps”, “Tina Turner”, “Valium Skies”, “Velvet Morning”, “Who’s Clean?”, “Why Not Nothing?”, “Words They Just Get In the Way”, “You and Me”, “You on My Mind in My Sleep”)
F4 (“6 O’Clock”, “75 Degrees”, “A Song for the Lovers" In Studio 1997, "Black and Blue" Live The Schlachthof Frankfurt 1994, "Born Again”, “C'mon People (We're Making It Now)", "Country Song”, “The Drugs Don’t Work”, “King Riff 2”, “Let My Soul Rest”, "The Longest Day", “Monte Carlo”, “Never Wanna See You Cry" Live Astoria 2002, "Oh Sister”, “One Day”, “Screw You Screw Me”, “Slip Sliding”, “Slow Was My Heart", "So It Goes”, “That's How Strong" Live Versions, “World Keeps Turning”)
E4 (“A New Decade”, “A Northern Soul”, “A Song for the Lovers", "All in the Mind”, All My Dreams”, “All Night Long”, “Already There", "America”, “Appalachian Springs”, “Are You Ready?”, “Beautiful Mind”, “Birds Fly”, “Bittersweet Symphony”, “Black Lines”, “Blue Pacific Ocean”, “Brave New World", "Break the Night with Colour”, "Bright Ligths", "Buy It In Bottles", “Catch the Butterfly”, “Check the Meaning”, “Chic Dub”, “C’Mon People (We’re Making It Now)”, “Come On”, “Columbo”, “Country Song”, “The Crab”, “Crazy World”, “Cry ‘Til the Morning”, “Dance on Your Bones”, “Drive You Home”, “Echo Bass”, “Endless Life”, “Future's Bright", "Get Up Now”, “Glory”, “God in the Numbers”, “Grey Skies”, “Guilded Halls”, “History”, “Hold On”, “I Get My Beat”, “I See Houses”, “I See the Door”, “The Journey”, “Keys to the World”, “Let My Soul Rest”, “Let the Damage Begin”, “Life Can Be So Beautiful”, “Life’s An Ocean”, “Life’s Not a Rehearsal”, “Lonely Soul”, “Long Way Down”, “Lord I Guess I’ll Never Know”, “Lord I’ve Been Trying”, “Lucky Man”, “Man on a Mission", "Major Force”, “Make It ‘Til Monday”, “Money Money”, “Muhamad Ali”, “Music Is Power”, “Nature Is the Law”, “Neon Wilderness”, “Never Wanna See You Cry”, “New York”, “No Knock on My Door”, “Noise Epic”, “Now and Then" Live Knitting Factory 2001, "On Your Own”, “One Way to Go”, “Paradise”, “Rather Be”, “The Rolling People", "Royal Highness”, “Science of Silence”, “Simple Song”, “Sit and Wonder”, “Slide Away”, “Slow Was My Heart", "So It Goes”, “So Sister”, “Songs of Experience”, “Sonnet”, “South Pacific" Sawmill Studios, "Space and Time/Space & Time" Urban Hymns/Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1, “Star Sail”, “Stormy Clouds”, “Streets of Amsterdam”, “The Sun, The Sea”, “Surprised by the Joy”, “The Test”, “That’s How Strong”, “That’s When I Feel Like It”, “ This Could Be My Moment”, “This Is Music”, “This Time”, “Three Steps”, “Tina Turner”, “Twilight”, “Valium Skies”, "Weeping Willow" Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1, “Why Do Lovers?”, “Words They Just Get In the Way”, “World Keeps Turning”, “XXYY”, “You and Me”)
Significant Low Notes
D3 (“6 O’Clock”, “75 Degrees”, “A Man in Motion”, “A Song for the Lovers", "Ain’t the Future so Bright”, “All My Dreams”, “All Night Long”, “All Ways Are Maybes”, “Bitter Sweet Symphony”, “Black Lines”, “Blue Pacific Ocean”, “Brave New World”, “Break the Night with Colour”, “Butterfly”, “Catching the Butterfly”, “Check the Meaning”, “(Could Be) A Country Thing, City Thing, Blues Thing”, “Country Song”, “Don’t Take Me In”, “Everybody”, “Fly to the Sun” Live Villa Victoria Boston 2011, “Glory”, “Guilded Halls”, “Hold On”, “I Get My Beat”, “I See Houses”, “I See the Door”, “Jalfrezi”, “King Riff 2”, “Life Can Be So Beautiful”, “Lonely Soul", "Lord I’ve Been Trying”, “Love Is Noise”, “Lucky Man”, “Ma Ma Soul”, “Muhammad Ali”, “Nature Is the Law”, “Numbness”, “One a Beach”, “One Day”, “Out of Body”, “Paradise”, “Picture of You”, “Rare Vibration", “Running Away”, “She Brings Me the Music”, “Slip Sliding”, “Space and Time”, “Stormy Clouds”, “Streets of Amsterdam”, “Sweet Brother Malcolm”, “That’s How Strong”, “The Journey’s Just Begun”, “The Longest Day”, “The Sun, The Sea”, “The Test”, “These People”, “They Don’t Own Me”, “Verve Are Rising”, “Why Do Lovers?”, “Why Not Nothing”, “Words Just Get In the Way”, “You on My Mind in My Sleep”)
C♯3 (“Buy It in Bottles”, “Catching the Butterfly”, “Dance on Your Bones”, “Drive You Home”, “Lead the Way”, “Leave Me High”, “Lord I’ve Been Trying”, “Ma Ma Soul”, “Open Your Eyes (It’s Worth It)”, “Sweet and Sour”, “The Direction”, “The Higher I Go”, “This Is How It Feels”, “Velvet Morning”, “Virtual World”, “We All Bleed”)
C3 (“75 Degrees”, “Ain’t the Future so Bright”, “Black Lines”, "Break the Night with Colour" Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1, “Bright Lights”, “Check the Meaning”, “Circles”, “C’mon People (We’re Making It Now)”, “(Could Be) A Country Thing, City Thing, Blues Thing”, “Country Song”, “Don’t Take Me In”, “Drive You Home”, “Get Up Now”, “God in the Numbers”, “Guilded Halls”, “Hold On”, “I See Houses”, “Little Red Corvette" BBC Radio 2 2016, Make a Wish”, “Money to Burn”, “Never Wanna See You Cry”, “Out of Body”, “Rather Be”, “Running Away”, “Science of Silence”, “Screw You Screw Me”, “Slow Was My Heart”, “Streets of Amsterdam”, “That’s How Strong”, “The Drugs Don't Work”, “The Test”, “These People”, “Why Do Lovers?”)
B2 (“All My Dream”, “Appalachian Springs”, “Buy It in Bottles”. “Buy It in Bottles”, “Catching the Butterfly”, “Chic Dub”, “Everybody”, “Guilded Halls”, “I Get My Beat”, “I See Houses”, “Jalfrezi”, “Lead the Way”, “Life Can Be So Beautiful”, “Ma Ma Soul”, “Man on a Mission”, “MSG”, “Noise Epic”, “Numbness”, “On a Beach”, “Rare Vibration”, “Simple Song”, “Sweet Brother Malcolm”, "The Drugs Don't Work" The Chris Evans Breakfast Show With Sky 2019/Urban Hymns, “The Journey”, “The Longest Day”, “The Rolling People”, “Three Steps”, “Weeping Willow”, “Words Just Get In the Way”)
B♭2 (“How Deep Is Your Man?”, “Leave Me High”, “The Higher I Go”)
A2 (“6 O’Clock”, “75 Degrees”, “A Man in Motion”, “A Song for the Lovers”, “Bitter Sweet Symphony”, “Blue Pacific Ocean”, "Break The Night With Colour" Keys to the World/Late Night With Conan O'Brien 2006, “Check the Meaning”, “C’mon People (We’re Making It Now)”, "(Could Be) A Country Thing, City Thing, Blues Thing", “Everybody", "God In the Numbers”, “How the West Wast Lost”, “I See Houses”, “Keys to the World”, “Lonely Soul", "Lord I’ve Been Trying”, “Lucky Man" Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1, "Ma Ma Soul”, “Man on a Mission", "Make a Wish”, “Never Wanna See You Cry", "Noise Epic”, “Numbness”, “Out of Body”, “Paradise”, “Precious Stone", "Rather Be”, “Running Away”, “Science of Silence”, “Space & Time" Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1, "That’s How Strong”, “The Drugs Don't Work" Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1, The Thaw Session”, “This Is How It Feels”, “This Thing Called Life”, “Three Steps”, "Velvet Morning" Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1, “We All Bleed”)
G♯2 (“Bitter Sweet Symphony”, “Circles”, “How Deep Is Your Man?”, “Lead The Way”, “Running Away”, “The Higher I Go”, “The Miracle”)
G2 (“A New Decade”, “A Song for the Lovers”, “Bright Lights”, “C’mon People (We’re Making It Now)”, “Don’t Take Me In”, “God in the Numbers”, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "How the West Was Lost”, “I See Houses”, “Let My Soul Rest”, “Life Can Be So Beautiful”, “Lonely Soul", "Lucky Man" Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1, Make a Wish”, “Money to Burn”, “Paradise”, “Science of Silence" Jool's Holland 2002, "Sonnet" Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1, "That’s How Strong”, “These People”, “This Thing Called Life”)
F♯2 (“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "How Deep Is Your Man?", "Life Can Be So Beautiful”, “Man on a Mission”, “MSG”, “On a Beach”, “One Day" Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1, "This Thing Called Life", "We All Bleed”)
F2 (“God in the Numbers”, “How the West Was Lost”, “The Test”)
E2 (“(Could Be) A Country Thing, City Thing, Blues Thing”, “On a Beach”, “The Miracle”, "Velvet Morning" Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1)
{Questionable Notes}A5 (“The Sun, The Sea”[1a])
E5 (“America”[2a], “Long Way Down”[1a], “Three Steps”[1a])
G2 (“A New Decade”[1b])
E2 (“America"[1c], "How Deep is Your Man?”[1d])
D2 (“How the West Was Lost”[3a])
.......................................................
[1] Questionable Quality
a. Short yelp/shriek
b. Anacrusis
c. Insufficient sustain
d. Probably doesn't get there
[2] Questionable Identity
a. Cannot for sure be attributed to the singer in question
[3] Questionable Legitimacy
a. Non-melodic notes with pitch too insignificant to warrant inclusion
Questionable notes are any notes with a questionable significance. In short, this spoiler acknowledges notes that I am aware exist, but do not want to contribute to the singer's range. These involve (but are not limited to) weak vocal fry, uncontrolled slides, very short notes, notes hit at an ambiguous pitch and notes where it is unclear who is singing.
E5 (“America”[2a], “Long Way Down”[1a], “Three Steps”[1a])
G2 (“A New Decade”[1b])
E2 (“America"[1c], "How Deep is Your Man?”[1d])
D2 (“How the West Was Lost”[3a])
.......................................................
[1] Questionable Quality
a. Short yelp/shriek
b. Anacrusis
c. Insufficient sustain
d. Probably doesn't get there
[2] Questionable Identity
a. Cannot for sure be attributed to the singer in question
[3] Questionable Legitimacy
a. Non-melodic notes with pitch too insignificant to warrant inclusion
Questionable notes are any notes with a questionable significance. In short, this spoiler acknowledges notes that I am aware exist, but do not want to contribute to the singer's range. These involve (but are not limited to) weak vocal fry, uncontrolled slides, very short notes, notes hit at an ambiguous pitch and notes where it is unclear who is singing.
………………………………………………
*Boldface marks notable passages and examples of the singer's capabilities.
*Blue marks notes sung in a soft falsetto.
*Green marks harshly distorted passages.
*Italics mark non-melodic notes.
*Underlines mark notes in backing vocals or otherwise obscured.
{Best Vocal Performances}
- That's How Strong
- A Northern Soul
- This Could Be My Moment
- No Knock on My Door
- A New Decade
- God in the Numbers
- Bitter Sweet Symphony
- Let My Soul Rest
- All Night Long
- Never Wanna See You Cry
{Album Ranges}The Verve
The Verve EP (1992): E3 – E4
A Storm In Heaven (1993): C♯3 – G4 - A4 – B4
A Northern Soul (1995): C3 – G4 – B4
Urban Hymns (1997): G♯2 - C3 – A4 – C5 - D5
Forth (2008): G2 - A2 – F♯4 – E5
Solo Act
Alone With Everybody (2000): E2 - B2 – E4 – E5
Human Conditions (2002): F2 – G♯4 – C♯5
Keys to the World (2006): A2 – G4 – B4
The United Nation of Sound (2010): E2 – G4 – D5 - F♯5
These People (2016): G2 – E4 – C♯5
Natural Rebel (2018): F♯2 – A4 – B♭4
Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1 (2021): E2 - B2 - F♯4 - E5
The Verve EP (1992): E3 – E4
A Storm In Heaven (1993): C♯3 – G4 - A4 – B4
A Northern Soul (1995): C3 – G4 – B4
Urban Hymns (1997): G♯2 - C3 – A4 – C5 - D5
Forth (2008): G2 - A2 – F♯4 – E5
Solo Act
Alone With Everybody (2000): E2 - B2 – E4 – E5
Human Conditions (2002): F2 – G♯4 – C♯5
Keys to the World (2006): A2 – G4 – B4
The United Nation of Sound (2010): E2 – G4 – D5 - F♯5
These People (2016): G2 – E4 – C♯5
Natural Rebel (2018): F♯2 – A4 – B♭4
Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1 (2021): E2 - B2 - F♯4 - E5
