Best Performances by Vocalists (16,989 views)

[innuendo]

Roger Taylor:

1. I'm In Love With My Car
2. In The Lap Of The Gods
3. I Wanna Testify
4. Rock It (Prime Jive)
5. Let's Get Crazy
6. The Loser In The End
7. Drowse
8. Heaven For Everyone (Cross version)
9. Tenement Funster
10. Liar (Cross)

[innuendo]

Speaking about Robert Plant, I'd probably put Black Dog at the third Place. He's hitting so many effortless E5s, and Black Dog from Belfast 1971 could be a nice top 7 for live performances

[halloweenjack95]

Jan 4, 2022 3:09:50 GMT @ianvector said:

Here are my choices for Harry Nilsson’s top 10 vocal performances:
1. Down
2. How to Write a Song
3. Jump into the Fire
4. Sail Away
5. Without You
6. River Deep, Mountain High
7. Many Rivers to Cross
8. I Never Thought I’d Get This Lonely
9. Salmon Falls
10. Daylight

Without you is top 3 material imo. He may has not written it. But he owns the Song

[Brenda]

Since I sent Elis' thread for review, I'm gonna give a shot at ranking her studio performances.

1. Como Nossos Pais
2. Black Is Beautiful
3. Travessia
4. Eu Hein, Rosa!
5. Aos Nossos Filhos
6. These Are The Songs
7. Pra Dizer Adeus
8. Por Um Amor Maior
9. O Medo de Amar é o Medo de Ser Livre
10. Aprendendo a Jogar

[innuendo]

Redoing my Freddie Mercury's list, since my choices are changed:

Studio:
1. The Show Must Go On - very emotional singing, lots of full B4s and D5s (with the one take line "On with the show"), one of the greatest vocal performances ever
2. Gimme The Prize - very powerful singing, extremely difficult chest B4s, C♯5s and D5s
3. Don't Try So Hard - very emotional singing, beautiful switching between head voice and full voice, superb D5s
4. Innuendo - very emotional and powerful singing, extremely difficult song, with B♭4s, C♯5s and E♭5s
5. Guide Me Home/How can I Go On (Alt. Version) - very emotional and chest singing, great head voice in the first part and very powerful B4s in the second
6. All God's People - very powerful vocals, ranging from B♭2 to A5, hitting a lot of C5s and higher notes in full voice, such as the F5
7. Somebody To Love - very strong vocals, very good agility and switches between head voice and full voice
8. Barcelona (Early Version) - very powerful vocals, very good duet between head voice and full voice
9. Bohemian Rhapsody - just Bohemian Rhapsody
10. Who Wants To Live Forever (Highlander version) - very emotional, operatic and powerful vocals, very strong B4s, C5s and D5

Live:
1. See What A Fool I've Been, London 1977 - very strong singing, he hits very powerful A4s and B4s, plus the Plant-esque B4 at 2.27
2. Spread Your Wings, 2nd Newcastle 1979 - very emotional and powerful singing, he outshines the studio version, going for most A4s and B4s, plus the B4s in the outro
3. Need Your Loving Tonight, Oakland 1980 - very good singing, he completely nails the song, going for all B♭4s and B4s
4. Radio Ga Ga, London 1985 - very strong singing, he nails the song with a very clean tone
5. Bohemian Rhapsody, 2nd Glasgow 1979 - he nails all the notes, inculding "Carry on" B♭4 and rock section C5
6. Somebody To Love, 6th London 1979 - he destroys the vocals, going for all B♭4s and a C♯5 in the outro, plus a 7-seconds long G♯4 in the intro
7. Now I'm Here, 1st Liverpool 1979 - he nails the song, and he goes for very strong A4s and B♭4s in the improv. section, plus one of his strongest live C5
8. Hammer To Fall, London 1985 - he goes for most key notes, hitting very strong B4s throughout the song
9. White Man, 3rd London 1978 - very strong vocals, he nails the song, hitting some of his strongest A4s ever
10. Staying Power, London 1982 - he nails the song, going for every high notes (aside the D5s), with incredible agility

[clem]

Trying to decide on a Kanye list. There aren't many virtuosic performances of his. But there are certainly a few impressive vocal takes across his discog.

Provisional List (let me know if I'm forgetting any big ones)
1. Come to Life
2. Runaway
3. Coldest Winter
4. Blood on the Leaves
5. Say You Will
6. Love Lockdown
7. Only One
8. FourFiveSeconds
9. Jail
10. New Slaves

[innuendo]

Here's my list for Ralf Scheepers:

1. Space Eater - great showcasing of low and high range, hitting many effortless B4s and G5s throughout the song
2. 18 Years - great emotional singing, amazing vocals throughout the song ranging from E2 to E5
3. Running In The Dust - very powerful singing, with many incredible C♯5s and F♯5s
4. Sign Of Fear - full verses sung on F5s, reaching even A5s, and really powerful singing
5. As Time Goes By - very powerful and emotional singing, with effortless D5s and E5s and an insanely powerful A5
6. Heading For Tomorrow - amazing singing, effortless singing in the B4 area (hitting a 11 (!) seconds long B4) and great high singing up to G5s
7. Chainbreaker - very powerful singing and really effortless verses on B4s/C♯5s
8. Nuclear Fire - again, very powerful singing with amazing and even more powerful backing vocals up to A5
9. Speedking - I dare to say that Ralf even outsing Ian Gillan here
10. Diabolus - maybe his most emotional singing, with many (spoken) B1s and Greta singing up to D5

[Osmosis]

For Liam Gallagher I propose

1. Champagne Supernova - his best performance bar none. Probably the only song where he plays with dynamics
2. Rockin' Chair
3. My Generation - in my view, the best display of his typical apporach to rock songs which sees him singing full voice G4s, A4s and Bb4s
4. She's Electric - his best use of falsetto to date
5. I Hope, I Think, I Know - unrelenting pace with constant F#4s and G4s throughout the entire song. Rip roaring
6. Roll It Over - very powerful G#4s.
7. Some Might Say
8. Listen Up - great distortion in the bridge on the F4s and G#4s
9. Slide Away - probably his most empassioned performance
10. Don't Go Away

[Dark Star]

A redux of Mick Jagger' list:

1. Almost Hear You Sigh - his best high singing, bar none. Strong, clean belted A4s and B4s on the bridge. Also a very emotional performance with great dynamics.
2. Monkey Man - Mick pushes his usable range to its limits, capturing the demented mind of the narrator to great effect.
3. Let It Loose
4. Sway
5. Beast Of Burden
6. Worried About You
7. Can't You Hear Me Knocking - a one note performance that only really lasts two minutes, but Mick's pushing his voice to the limits with a great amount of grit and distortion, and he knocks it out of the park.
8. I Got the Blues
9. Paint It Black
10. Emotional Rescue - some write it off as goofy, but it shows just how flexible his falsetto had become since its earliest uses. Some great lower register talk-singing at the end as well.

Phil Collins

1. Mama
2. Feeding the Fire
3. I Wish It Would Rain Down
4. Against All Odds
5. Burn Down the Mission
6. Undertow
7. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
8. Ripples...
9. Man Of Our Times
10. You Might Recall

[halloweenjack95]

Apr 30, 2022 22:55:12 GMT Dark Star said:

A redux of Mick Jagger' list:

1. Almost Hear You Sigh - his best high singing, bar none. Strong, clean belted A4s and B4s on the bridge. Also a very emotional performance with great dynamics.
2. Monkey Man - Mick pushes his usable range to its limits, capturing the demented mind of the narrator to great effect.
3. Let It Loose
4. Sway
5. Beast Of Burden
6. Worried About You
7. Can't You Hear Me Knocking - a one note performance that only really lasts two minutes, but Mick's pushing his voice to the limits with a great amount of grit and distortion, and he knocks it out of the park.
8. I Got the Blues
9. Paint It Black
10. Emotional Rescue - some write it off as goofy, but it shows just how flexible his falsetto had become since its earliest uses. Some great lower register talk-singing at the end as well.

Phil Collins

1. Mama
2. Feeding the Fire
3. I Wish It Would Rain Down
4. Against All Odds
5. Burn Down the Mission
6. Undertow
7. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
8. Ripples...
9. Man Of Our Times
10. You Might Recall

Great List(s). But personally I'd put Let it Loose over Monkey Man at any time of the Day.
Its his finest hour in terms of vocals imo.
And I miss "Winter'. His tone was never better than here.
I am not saying you are wrong or my ranking would be any better. But I always think "Winter" gets overlooked.

[Subterranean Homesick Ålien]

Jul 15, 2022 17:39:54 GMT halloweenjack95 said:

Apr 30, 2022 22:55:12 GMT Dark Star said:

A redux of Mick Jagger' list:

1. Almost Hear You Sigh - his best high singing, bar none. Strong, clean belted A4s and B4s on the bridge. Also a very emotional performance with great dynamics.
2. Monkey Man - Mick pushes his usable range to its limits, capturing the demented mind of the narrator to great effect.
3. Let It Loose
4. Sway
5. Beast Of Burden
6. Worried About You
7. Can't You Hear Me Knocking - a one note performance that only really lasts two minutes, but Mick's pushing his voice to the limits with a great amount of grit and distortion, and he knocks it out of the park.
8. I Got the Blues
9. Paint It Black
10. Emotional Rescue - some write it off as goofy, but it shows just how flexible his falsetto had become since its earliest uses. Some great lower register talk-singing at the end as well.

Phil Collins

1. Mama
2. Feeding the Fire
3. I Wish It Would Rain Down
4. Against All Odds
5. Burn Down the Mission
6. Undertow
7. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
8. Ripples...
9. Man Of Our Times
10. You Might Recall

Great List(s). But personally I'd put Let it Loose over Monkey Man at any time of the Day.
Its his finest hour in terms of vocals imo.
And I miss "Winter'. His tone was never better than here.
I am not saying you are wrong or my ranking would be any better. But I always think "Winter" gets overlooked.

I like your picks, but I’m surprised you didn’t have “Angie” and “Moonlight Mile” on there. I actually think those might be my two favorite Vocals of his.

youtu.be/mwBmff1DYpE

youtu.be/qpB8XyFSY5E

Also, I 1000% agree with you about ‘Let it Loose’. Definitely one of his best vocals.

[halloweenjack95]

Nov 30, 2022 15:33:44 GMT Subterranean Homesick Ålien said:

Jul 15, 2022 17:39:54 GMT halloweenjack95 said:

Great List(s). But personally I'd put Let it Loose over Monkey Man at any time of the Day.
Its his finest hour in terms of vocals imo.
And I miss "Winter'. His tone was never better than here.
I am not saying you are wrong or my ranking would be any better. But I always think "Winter" gets overlooked.

I like your picks, but I’m surprised you didn’t have “Angie” and “Moonlight Mile” on there. I actually think those might be my two favorite Vocals of his.

youtu.be/mwBmff1DYpE

youtu.be/qpB8XyFSY5E

Also, I 1000% agree with you about ‘Let it Loose’. Definitely one of his best vocals.

Right.. I didnt included them because I forgot about them. Ups.
Especially Moonlight Mile is a great vocal performance from jagger

[queenfan11]

Looking at the Ozzy Osbourne list, i'm thinking "Killer of Giants" should be replaced. His tone on it sounds especially good there, but otherwise it isn't a very demanding performance for him. I think in its place should be "My Jekyll Doesn't Hide" from the Ozzmosis album. Possibly his most-demanding post-Sabbath song.

[Bink]

As the current owner of the David Coverdale thread, I would like to propose an update to the best vocal performances list
1. Mistreated
2. Blindman
3. Northwinds
4. Crying in The Rain ['87 version]
5. Ain't Gonna Cry No More
6. Still of The Night
7. Fool for Your Loving ['80 version]
8. Sailing Ships
9. The Last Note of Freedom
10. Sail Away

[Steingrim]

I've thought of Mistreated as having one of the best guitar solos in history, since childhood in fact. It's easy to like that song. But the vocals are good too, no doubt about it.

[Rodney Blazershorts]

Jan 3, 2023 10:53:15 GMT Bink said:

As the current owner of the David Coverdale thread, I would like to propose an update to the best vocal performances list
1. Mistreated
2. Blindman
3. Northwinds
4. Crying in The Rain ['87 version]
5. Ain't Gonna Cry No More
6. Still of The Night
7. Fool for Your Loving ['80 version]
8. Sailing Ships
9. The Last Note of Freedom
10. Sail Away

Big demotion for the current #1

[falsetokaiba]

Can I nominate this Baltimore '82 'Children of the Damned' performance to replace the Hammersmith '82 one on Bruce's list? Similarly great belts but he adds some additional highs in, and nails the E5 at the end.

SPOILER: Click to show

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[queenfan11]

I think this could be a candidate for Elton John's live list:

He sings both his and Kiki Dee's parts from the original, and does it very well.

[Subterranean Homesick Ålien]

Apr 30, 2022 9:36:22 GMT Osmosis said:

For Liam Gallagher I propose

1. Champagne Supernova - his best performance bar none. Probably the only song where he plays with dynamics
2. Rockin' Chair
3. My Generation - in my view, the best display of his typical apporach to rock songs which sees him singing full voice G4s, A4s and Bb4s
4. She's Electric - his best use of falsetto to date
5. I Hope, I Think, I Know - unrelenting pace with constant F#4s and G4s throughout the entire song. Rip roaring
6. Roll It Over - very powerful G#4s.
7. Some Might Say
8. Listen Up - great distortion in the bridge on the F4s and G#4s
9. Slide Away - probably his most empassioned performance
10. Don't Go Away

I’m really surprised you had “Listen Up” that low. I legitimately think that might be the best Vocal he’s ever recorded.
My list would be something along the lines of:
1. Listen Up
2. Champagne Supernova
3. Slide Away
4. Rockin’ Chair
5. I Hope, I Think, I Know
6. Don’t Go Away
7. All Around The World
8. Morning Glory
9. D’You Know What I Mean
10. Girl In The Dirty Shirt/Cast No Shadow/Live Forever

[Osmosis]

I used to rate it along with Slide Away in the top 3 next to Rockin' Chair, but I don't actually rate the high notes that majorly on the recordings done for the definitely maybe record - I think he sounds a bit rough on a lot of them. Don't get me wrong it is a great performance, but compared to the high notes in Morning Glory and Be Here Now, they just don't sound as powerful or confident and I think the way he navigates verses is also more compelling. I'd say too that the high notes in Roll it Over are better and that was recorded in 1999. The Definitely Maybe vocals kind of sound like different live takes, where as what we have on Morning Glory and Be Here Now is truly special.

My list propably has My Generation as a big outlier, but the aggression is papable and it considering the year that recording is from makes it all the more impressive. I don't really disagree with any of your picks to be honest, he was a monster in the studio in the 90s.

[queenfan11]

I'm admittedly biased in this because I prefer his tone in the 1980s to the 2000s, but I personally think the 2005 "Hallowed Be Thy Name" performance for Bruce Dickinson's live list should be replaced by a 1982-1983 performance. Some that come to mind:
Oxford 1982
London 1982 ("Beast Over Hammersmith")
Stuttgart 1982
London 1983

[mls1996]

Teddy Pendergrass:

Studio:


1. I Miss You (Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes)
2. Turn Off the Lights
3. Close the Door
4. Wake Up Everybody (Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes)
5. If You Don't Know Me By Now (Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes)
6. Come Go With Me
7. You're My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration
8. The Whole World's Laughing at Me
9. Love TKO
10. It Don't Hurt Now

Live:

1. Lady (Live in London 1982)
2. All By Myself (Live 1979)
3. You're My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration (Live in London 1982)
4. I Miss You (Live at the Fairmont Hotel with Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes 1973)
5. Love TKO (Live in London 1982)
6. Close the Door (Live 1979)
7. Come Go With Me (Live in London 1982)
8. The Whole World's Laughing at Me (Live in London 1982)
9. I Can't Live Without Your Love (Live in London 1982)
10. If You Don't Know Me By Now (Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes Live 1972)

[Yojojo]

Rivers Cuomo's studio performances:

1. Longtime Sunshine
2. Jacked Up
3. Everybody Needs Salvation
4. Tired of Sex
5. The Angel and The One
6. Say It Ain't So
7. Sandwiches Time
8. Take On Me
9. Peace
10. The Greatest Man That Ever Lived

Best live performance? IDK but the performance of Memories in the car is easily his best non-studio work

[Yojojo]

here's a top 5 for neil ciciciciciciiciicegra lol.

1. Lifetime Achievement Award
2. Touch Tone Telephone
3. Reaganomics
4. This Is Youmacon
5. Ivanushka

Go figure almost all of it is Spirit Phone lol

[Yojojo]

and lastly a bunch of goofy bois who i can't make full threads for cos too bored

Gene Ween: If You Could Save Yourself, You'd Save Us All (with 2nd being Freedom of 76)
Tom Cardy: Your Love Is Not Enough (I Want Some Cool Shit Too)
Bo Burnham: Welcome to the Internet
Dan Avidan: uhhh shit idk he kills any song he's on and he's usually consistent in quality so uhhh... i can tell you Arin? probably the transformers acapella