Post by falsetokaiba on Sept 22, 2019 21:53:06 GMT
Miljenko Matijevic (30 November 1964 -)
Years Active: 1989 - present
Associated Acts: Steelheart (1990 - present- the band were also known as 'Red Alert' for a number of years prior to signing their first record deal), The Doors (one-off tour in 2010)
Vocal Range: F2-B5 (3 Octaves + 6 Semitones)
{Vocal Summary}Miljenko Matijevic in his prime was best known for his extremely strong and agile upper register. He was in a similar mould to other rock and glam metal singers to emerge at the time, such as Sebastian Bach and Mark Slaughter, known for his powerful fifth octave and Plant-esque stylistic approach. As he was comfortable singing softly throughout the fourth octave, it is hard to judge exactly where he normally bridged- he displayed exceptional control over his mixed voice, with even his highest notes in the fifth octave sounding extremely well connected, demonstrated on tracks such as 'Sheila' and 'Can't Stop Me Loving You' where he was able to reach as high as B♭5-B5 mid-melody. He was capable of producing both a heavily distorted mixed or head voice sound similar in stylistic approach to Brian Johnson or Axl Rose, as well as the cleaner and more resonant mixed sound he showcased on songs like 'She's Gone' and 'I'll Never Let You Go." He would also often modify vowel sounds on his sustained high notes. By comparison, Matijevic's mid-range was a lot more mellow and reserved, and he often formed the basis of his vocal melodies in verses singing in his lower mid-range before the soaring highs would come in on the choruses. Matijevic very rarely made use of actual lows in his younger days, only grazing the top of the second octave on a couple of occasions. His lowest note came on 1996's 'Say No More', an F2 in a semi-sung, semi-spoken passage. In general, Matijevic's lower register is softly sung with a breathy tone.
Matijevic’s stage accident in 1992 changed his career forever; a lengthy recovery period from his injuries followed, and it was four years before he released any more music. Some have commented that Matijevic’s head voice did permanently suffer following the accident. I am not inclined to agree with this view- his use of fifth octave highs on his third album, Wait, was a little less than on the first two, but certainly did not sound like it had suffered to any great degree, and stylistically he also opted for more gritty sustained mixed notes around E♭5-F5 on this album. Since then, his voice has, in some respects, aged pretty well- in studio, he was still going up to B♭5 on 2008’s Good 2B Alive, though overall his fifth octave highs were less frequent. In the 21st century, Matijevic has at times also offset his signature head voice by utilising some quite gritty chest belting up around G#4-B4. Live, he was still performing ‘She’s Gone’ in the original key pretty well as recently as 2011. Matijevic’s live performances throughout his career have ranged from satisfactory to note-perfect, sometimes being a little poorer in longer concerts due to Steelheart's set list being so vocally taxing. If he did have a problem in his younger days, it was that, like many rock singers who share his 'heady' mixed style, he would sometimes suffer from a nasal tone live in some parts of his mixed voice. Even though his style makes it a little hard to judge where his tessitura sits naturally, I would not say Matijevic’s voice has darkened that much with age, and there are many singers from the same era who sound much worse, but his style was always going to be one hard to maintain with the passage of time. Even to the present day, Matijevic has not lost a great deal of his upper range at all, with some respectable G5s on Steelheart's most recent album, though he does have to adopt a more conservative approach overall, particularly live, saving himself for climactic notes rather than continually super-high melodies, though he is still capable of singing in the lower fifth octave with good control, and generally hits the required notes in most of his live performances. Overall, I’d call him one of the most gifted rock singers from his musical scene.
Matijevic’s stage accident in 1992 changed his career forever; a lengthy recovery period from his injuries followed, and it was four years before he released any more music. Some have commented that Matijevic’s head voice did permanently suffer following the accident. I am not inclined to agree with this view- his use of fifth octave highs on his third album, Wait, was a little less than on the first two, but certainly did not sound like it had suffered to any great degree, and stylistically he also opted for more gritty sustained mixed notes around E♭5-F5 on this album. Since then, his voice has, in some respects, aged pretty well- in studio, he was still going up to B♭5 on 2008’s Good 2B Alive, though overall his fifth octave highs were less frequent. In the 21st century, Matijevic has at times also offset his signature head voice by utilising some quite gritty chest belting up around G#4-B4. Live, he was still performing ‘She’s Gone’ in the original key pretty well as recently as 2011. Matijevic’s live performances throughout his career have ranged from satisfactory to note-perfect, sometimes being a little poorer in longer concerts due to Steelheart's set list being so vocally taxing. If he did have a problem in his younger days, it was that, like many rock singers who share his 'heady' mixed style, he would sometimes suffer from a nasal tone live in some parts of his mixed voice. Even though his style makes it a little hard to judge where his tessitura sits naturally, I would not say Matijevic’s voice has darkened that much with age, and there are many singers from the same era who sound much worse, but his style was always going to be one hard to maintain with the passage of time. Even to the present day, Matijevic has not lost a great deal of his upper range at all, with some respectable G5s on Steelheart's most recent album, though he does have to adopt a more conservative approach overall, particularly live, saving himself for climactic notes rather than continually super-high melodies, though he is still capable of singing in the lower fifth octave with good control, and generally hits the required notes in most of his live performances. Overall, I’d call him one of the most gifted rock singers from his musical scene.
Significant High Notes:
B5 ("Can't Stop Me Loving You", "Like Never Before", "Love Ain’t Easy", "Sheila" Live unplugged 1992)
B♭5 ("Good 2B Alive", "Electric Love Child", "Loaded Mutha", "Rock N Roll (I Just Wanna)", "Sheila", "Sticky Side Up")
A5 ("Dancin' in the Fire", "Steelheart", "Wait")
G♯5 ("All Your Love", "Black Dog", "Can't Stop Me Loving You", "Down N Dirty", "Everybody Loves Eileen", "Gimme Gimme", "Girl Gone Crazy", "I’ll Never Let You Go", "Late for the Party", "Like Never Before", "Loaded Mutha", "LOL", "Love Ain't Easy", "Love 'Em and I'm Gone", "'Red Alert' Demo", "Rock N Roll (I Just Wanna)", "Sheila", "She's Out There Somewhere", "Sticky Side Up", "We All Die Young")
G5 ("I Still Got Rock N Roll", "I Won't Be There to Catch Ya", "Lips of Rain", "Mama Don't You Cry", "My Dirty Girl", "My Freedom", "My Word", "She’s Gone", "Stay", "Steelheart", "Stream Line Saving", "Take Me Back Home", "Wait", "Waysted")
F♯5 ("Cabernet", "Can't Stop Me Loving You", "Dancin' in the Fire", "Electric Chair", "Garden of Delight", "Girl Gone Crazy", "Like Never Before", "'Red Alert' Demo", "Rock N Roll (I Just Wanna)", "Sheila", "Steelheart", "Twisted Future", "We All Die Young")
F5 ("Electric Love Child", "I'll Never Let You Go", "Late for the Party", "Live To Die", "Mama Don't You Cry", "Say No More", "Sticky Side Up", "Stream Line Saving", "We All Die Young", "Waysted")
E5 ("Down N Dirty", "Electric Chair", "Girl Gone Crazy", "I Breathe", "I Still Got Rock N Roll", "I Won't Be There to Catch Ya", "LOL" Live, various performances, "Wasted", "We All Die Young")
E♭5 ("All Your Love", "Black Dog", "Cabernet", "Can't Stop Me Loving You", "Everybody Loves Eileen", "Gimme Gimme", "Good 2B Alive", "I Breathe", "I'll Never Let You Go", "Late for the Party", "Like Never Before", "Live to Die", "Loaded Mutha", "Love Ain't Easy", "Love 'Em and I'm Gone", "Shangrila", "She's Gone", "She's Out There Somewhere", "Take Me Back Home", "Twisted Future")
D5 ("Electric Love Child", "I Still Got Rock N Roll", "I Won't Be There to Catch Ya", "Lips of Rain", "Stay", "Steelheart", "Take A Little Time", "Wait")
C♯5 ("Aah Song", "Buried Alive", "Dancin' in the Fire", "Electric Chair", "Electric Love Child", "Everybody Loves Eileen", "Garden of Delight", "Girl Gone Crazy", "I'll Never Let You Go", "Late for the Party","Live to Die", "LOL", "Love 'Em and I'm Gone", "Mama Don’t You Cry", "Samurai", "Say No More", "Shine a Light for Me", "Stand Up and Shout", "Sticky Side Up", "Take A Little Time", "Twisted Future", "Underground", "You Showed Me How 2 Lv")
C5 ("All Your Love", "Come Inside", "Everybody Loves Eileen", "Got Me Runnin'", "I'm So in Love With You", "Late for the Party", "Lips of Rain", "Live to Die", "LOL", "My Word", "She's Out There Somewhere", "Stream Line Savings", "Wait", "You Got Me Twisted")
B4 ("Aah Song", "Black Dog", "Buried Unkind", "Down N Dirty", "Electric Chair", "Garden of Delight", "Gimme Gimme", "I Breathe", "I Still Got Rock N Roll", "Loaded Mutha", "Love Ain't Easy", "Love 'Em and I'm Gone", "Rock N Roll (I Just Wanna)", "Shangrila", "Take Me Back Home", "Underground", "You Showed Me How 2 Lv")
B♭4 ("Buried Unkind", "Cabernet", "Good 2B Alive", "I'm So in Love With You", "Lips of Rain", "Mama Don't You Cry", "My Dirty Girl", "My Freedom", "My Word", "Roadhouse Blues" Live with The Doors, "Samurai", "Say No More", "Shangrila", "Sheila", "Shine a Light for Me", "Stand Up and Shout", "Stay", "Take Me Back Home")
Significant Low Notes:
F3 ("Come Inside", "I'll Never Let You Go", "Live to Die", "Love 'Em and I'm Gone", "My Word", "Stream Line Savings", "Wait", "We All Die Young", "With Love We Live Again", "You Got Me Twisted")
E3 ("Dancin' in the Fire", "Garden of Delight", "Roadhouse Blues" Live with The Doors)
E♭3 ("Aah Song", "Buried Unkind", "Down N Dirty", "Everybody Loves Eileen", "Mama Don't You Cry", "My Freedom", "My Word", "Sheila", "Stream Line Savings" "Take Me Back Home")
D3 ("I Breathe", "Light My Fire" Live with The Doors, "Lips of Rain", "Roadhouse Blues" Live with The Doors "Wait", "You Got Me Twisted")
C♯3 ("Aah Song", "All Your Love", "Buried Unkind", "Cabernet", "Down N Dirty", "Hallelujah", "Late for the Party", "Shangrila", "Sheila", "Shine a Light for Me", "The Christmas Song", "Underground", "We All Die Young")
C3 ("Down N Dirty", "I'm So in Love With You", "My Word", "Say No More", "Stream Line Savings", "The Christmas Song")
B2 ("Down N Dirty", "Love 'Em and I'm Gone")
B♭2 ("Say No More", "Shine a Light for Me", "Stay", "Take Me Back Home")
G♯2 ("Aah Song", "The Christmas Song")
G2 ("I'm So In Love With You", "Stay")
F2 ("Say No More")
Range-iest Song(s) "Say No More" (F2-F5, 3 Octaves), "Stay" (G2-G5, 3 Octaves)
{Bio}Miljenko Matijevic was born just outside Zagreb in modern-day Croatia. He emigrated to the USA with his parents at the age of three. Matijevic in his teens sang for various musical outfits in the locality, and eventually joined the hard rock band Red Alert aged sixteen after being spotted by some of his future bandmates. After a number of years in the underground circuit, the group signed a professional record deal, upon which they changed their name to Steelheart, and released two albums from 1990 to 1992 with Matijevic on vocals. In 1992, whilst performing at a concert with the band Slaughter, Matijevic was badly injured by being struck by a falling lighting rig. With his injury, the general decline of the mainstream rock scene at the time and various battles with their record label, Steelheart subsequently disbanded. However, Matijevic eventually recovered and went on to release a third album under the Steelheart name, Wait, in 1996, with an entirely changed line-up. Matijevic was often inactive from 1996 to 2006, though he lent his vocals to the 2001 film Rock Star, providing the singing voice of the lead character played by Mark Wahlberg. In 2006, Steelheart staged something of a reunion with some of the original members, recording some demo tracks which eventually led to the release of a new album, Good 2B Alive, in 2008. Steelheart's most recent release was 2017's Through Worlds of Stardust, and Matijevic continues to perform with the band. He also joined the remaining members of The Doors on a one-off 2010 tour, and has also performed frequently in recent years in South Korea where he has a cult following, even appearing on the talent show "King of Mask Singer" where he sang in Korean. In addition to vocals, Matijevic also played rhythm guitar on the album Good 2B Alive, and has sometimes contributed piano and acoustic guitar in some live performances.
{Questionable Notes}G♯2 ("Loaded Mutha" [2a])
F♯2 ("Dancin' in the Fire" [2a])
E2 ("Dancin' in the Fire" [2a])
E♭2 ("Loaded Mutha" [2a], "Say No More"[3][1])
C♯2 ("Love 'Em and I'm Gone" [2a][5])
B1 ("Loaded Mutha" [2a])
.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
a. All of these notes are most likely sung by a different backing vocalist, possibly Jeff Scott Soto, who sang backing vocals on the Steelheart album 'Tangled in Reins'.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.
F♯2 ("Dancin' in the Fire" [2a])
E2 ("Dancin' in the Fire" [2a])
E♭2 ("Loaded Mutha" [2a], "Say No More"[3][1])
C♯2 ("Love 'Em and I'm Gone" [2a][5])
B1 ("Loaded Mutha" [2a])
.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
a. All of these notes are most likely sung by a different backing vocalist, possibly Jeff Scott Soto, who sang backing vocals on the Steelheart album 'Tangled in Reins'.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.
{Notewatched Material/Album Ranges}
Steelheart (1990) B2-B5
Tangled in Reins (1992) B♭2-B♭5
Wait (1996) F2-G♯2-A5
Good 2B Alive (2008) B♭2-B♭5
Through Worlds of Stardust (2017) G2-G5
Steelheart (1990) B2-B5
Tangled in Reins (1992) B♭2-B♭5
Wait (1996) F2-G♯2-A5
Good 2B Alive (2008) B♭2-B♭5
Through Worlds of Stardust (2017) G2-G5
.......................................................
Blue marks falsetto or whistle notes.
Underlines mark notes that are obscured in the song mix.
Italics mark non-melodic notes.
Boldface marks notes that are considered to be particularly notable examples of this person's vocal capabilities.
