Geoff Tate (22,477 views)

[Zedd Squared]

Member Of: Myth (?-1982), Queensrÿche (1982-2012), Operation: Mindcrime (2014-present), Sweet Oblivion (2018-present)
Vocal Range: F♯1-G♯5

High Notes:

G♯5 ("Before the Storm", "Blinded")
G5 ("Chemical Youth (We Are Rebellion)", "Damaged", "From the Darkside", "London", "No Sanctuary", "Queen Of the Reich" live in Tokyo 1984, "Roads to Madness", "Surgical Strike", "Take Hold of the Flame" 1982 Myth demo)
F♯5 ("Deliverance", "Gonna Get Close to You", "Iron Curtain" live Seattle 1982, "London", "The Needle Lies", "Nightrider", "Operation: Mindcrime", "Prophecy", "Queen Of The Reich", "Take Hold of the Flame" 1982 Myth demo, "Waiting For the Kill", "Walk in the Shadows", "Warning")
F5 ("Child of Fire", "Gonna Get Close To You", "NM 156", "Screaming in Digital", "Suite Sister Mary", "The Whisper")
E5 ("Alchemy" live Worcester 2019, "Big Noize", "Blinded", "Chemical Youth (We Are Rebellion)", "Child of Fire", "Deliverance", "The Dream", "En Force", "Eyes of a Stranger", "I Dream in Infrared", "The Lady Wore Black" live Tokyo 1984, "London", "Man Down!", "The Mission", "The Needle Lies", "Neue Regel", "Nightrider", "No Sanctuary", "Overlord" live Seattle 1982, "Prophecy", "Queen Of The Reich", "Re-Arrange You", "Resistance", "Revolution Calling", "Roads to Madness", "Scarborough Fair" 1986 demo, "Scars", "Sliver", "Speak", "Spreading the Disease", "Take Hold Of The Flame", "Walk in the Shadows", "The Whisper")
E♭5 ("Anybody Listening?", "Before the Storm", "Breaking the Silence", "Gonna Get Close To You", "Neon Knights", "One More Time", "Operation: Mindcrime", "Promised Land", "Reach", "Saved", "Seduction of Decay" live Pratteln 2017, "Somebody to Love")
D5 ("At 30,000 Ft", "Behind Your Eyes", "Best I Can", "Blinded", "Chemical Youth (We Are Rebellion)", "Child of Fire", "Dirty Lil Secret", "Empire", "En Force", "Eyes of a Stranger", "For the Love of Money", "Grain of Faith", "A Head Long Jump", "Heaven On Their Minds", "I Don't Believe In Love", "I Dream in Infrared", "Lady Jane", "The Lady Wore Black", "London", "Man Down!", "The Mission", "The Needle Lies", "Neue Regel", "NM 156", "No Sanctuary", "One More Time", "Promised Land", "Prophecy", "Queen Of The Reich", "Resistance", "Roads to Madness", "Scarborough Fair", "Scars", "Spreading the Disease", "Stars", "Suite Sister Mary", "Surgical Strike", "Take Hold of the Flame", "The Thin Line", "Warning", "The Whisper")
C♯5 ("Alchemy", "Before the Storm", "Big Noize", "Bridge", "Deliverance", "Disconnect", "Electric Requiem", "The Fear", "Gonna Get Close to You", "Hand On Heart", "Hide Away", "Innuendo", "Jet City Woman", "The Killing Words", "Let It Be", "Neon Knights", "NM 156", "Operation: Mindcrime", "Re-Arrange You", "Reach", "Some People Fly", "Somebody to Love", "Someone Else", "True Colors", "Walk in the Shadows", "You")
C5 ("Alchemy", "Almost Cut My Hair", "Another Rainy Night (Without You)", "Anybody Listening?", "Anybody Out There", "Best I Can", "Breaking the Silence", "The Chase", "Chemical Youth (We Are Rebellion)", "Damaged", "Dare", "The Deceiver", "Della Brown", "Empire", "Fly Angel Fly", "For the Love of Money", "Gonna Get Close to You", "The Great Divide", "Hearing Voices", "Helpless", "How Could I Know", "I Am I", "I Don't Believe In Love", "I Take You", "I Will Remember", "If I Could Change It All", "I'm American", "Innuendo", "A Junkie's Blues", "Let It Be", "The Mission", "Murderer?", "My Empty Room", "The Needle Lies", "Once Again One Sin", "One and Only", "One More Time", "Promised Land", "A Recess from My Fate", "Revolution Calling", "The Right Side of My Mind", "Saved", "Scars", "Screaming in Digital", "Seduction of Decay", "Seek the Light", "Silver Bells", "Somebody to Love", "Speak", "Stars", "Suite Sister Mary", "Surgical Strike", "Sweet Oblivion", "Take Hold of the Flame", "Taking On the World", "The Thin Line", "Transition", "Two Trajectories", "Under Control", "The Voice", "When the Rain Comes", "Wot Kinda Man")
B4 ("Alchemy", "All for What?", "Another Change", "Aria", "The Art of Life", "At 30,000 Ft", "Best I Can", "Big Noize", "Blinded", "Breakdown", "Bullet the Blue Sky", "Child of Fire", "Cold", "Damaged", "Evil", "Eyes of a Stranger", "The Fall", "Fly Angel Fly", "Forever", "Got It Bad", "Grain of Faith", "Hand On Heart", "Hide Away", "How Could I Know", "I Dream in Infrared", "I'll Be the One", "Invincible", "Jet City Woman", "The Killer", "The Killing Words", "The Lady Wore Black", "Last Time in Paris", "Let It Be", "The Lie", "Life Without You", "Middle of Hell", "Miles Away", "Miles Away" Song by Operation: Mindcrime, "The Mission", "My Empty Room", "My Last Story", "The Needle Lies", "Neon Knights", "Neue Regel", "The New Reality", "Nightrider", "No Sanctuary", "Odissea", "One More Time", "Operation: Mindcrime", "Over Me", "Prophecy", "Reach", "Real World", "Red Rain", "Remember Me", "Resistance", "Rhythm of Hope", "Roads to Madness", "Signs Say Go", "Silent Lucidity", "Sliver", "Some People Fly", "Someone Else?", "Speak", "The Spirit Carries On" live Montreal 2003, "Spreading the Disease", "Strong Pressure", "The Thin Line", "Tomorrow", "Touch", "True Colors", "Warning", "Welcome to the Machine", "When the Rain Comes", "The Whisper")
B♭4 ("Anytime/Anywhere", "Before the Storm", "Behind Your Eyes", "Dare", "Dark Money", "Desert Dance", "Dirty Lil Secret", "Evil", "Everything", "Falling Down", "For the Love of Money", "Get a Life", "Got It Bad", "The Great Divide", "Hand On Heart", "Heaven On Their Minds", "Hostage", "Howl", "Hundred Mile Stare", "I Take You", "Innuendo", "Lady Jane", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "LuvnU", "Man Down!", "Murderer?", "My Global Mind", "The Needle Lies", "Neon Knights", "Off the TV", "Once Again One Sin", "One Foot in Hell", "Open", "Reach", "Retail Therapy", "Running Backwards", "Screaming in Digital", "Seduction of Decay", "Silver Bells", "Some People Fly", "Somebody to Love", "sp00L", "The Stranger", "Summerwind", "Take a Bullet", "These Glory Days", "Transition", "Tribe", "Unafraid", "Under Control", "The Voice", "The Weight of the World", "Which Side You're On", "You")
A4 ("All for What?", "Almost Cut My Hair", "Another Change", "Anybody Out There", "Aria", "At 30,000 Ft", "At the Edge", "Behind Your Eyes", "Beside You", "Breakdown", "Bridge", "Burn", "Burning Man", "Chasing Blue Sky", "Cold", "Comfortably Numb" live 2003, "Damaged", "A Dead Man's Words", "The Deceiver", "Della Brown", "Disconnect", "Empire", "En Force", "Every Move We Make", "Evil", "The Fall", "Fallen", "Falling Down", "The Fear", "Flood", "Fly Angel Fly", "For What it's Worth", "Forever", "Get Started", "Give it to You", "The Hands", "Hard Times", "Healing My Wounds", "Hearing Voices", "Heaven On Their Minds", "Hide Away", "Hit the Black", "Hostage", "How Could I Know", "Howl", "Hundred Mile Stare", "I Am I", "I Take You", "I Will Remember", "If I Could Change It All", "If I Were King", "I'll Be the One", "I'm American", "Invincible", "A Junkie's Blues", "The Killer", "The Killing Words", "Lady Jane", "Last Time in Paris", "Left for Dead", "The Lie", "Life Without You", "Liquid Sky", "LuvnU", "Man Down!", "Murderer?", "My Last Story", "The Needle Lies", "Odissea", "One and Only", "One Foot in Hell", "One Life", Operation: Mindcrime", "Out of Mind", "Over Me", "Promised Land", "Re-Arrange You", "Red Rain", "A Recess from My Fate", "Re-Inventing the Future", "Remember Me", "Revolution Calling", "Rhythm of Hope", "The Right Side of My Mind", "Running Backwards", "Scars", "Seek the Light", "Signs Say Go", "Silent Lucidity", "Speed of Light", "sp00L", "Strong Pressure", "Synchronicity II", "Taking On the World", "These Glory Days", "This Moment", "Touch", "Transition", "Tribe", "True Colors", "Tomorrow", "Two Trajectories", "Until There Was You", "Waiting", "The Way I Roll", "The Weight of the World", "When the Rain Comes", "Won't Get Fooled Again" live Seattle 2003, "Wot Kinda Man")
G♯4 ("The Art of Life", "Big Noize", "Cold", "Dark Money", "Desert Dance", "Doin' Fine", "Falling Behind", "Get a Life", "Got It Bad", "The Great Divide", "Hard Times", "Hero", "Higher", "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" live Pennsylvania 2017, "Let It Be", "Life Without You", "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds", "Miles Away", "Once Again One Sin", "Over Me", "Retail Therapy", "She Slipped Away", "Silver Bells", "Slave", "Sliver", "Some People Fly", "The Star Spangled Banner" live Seattle 2007, "The Stranger", "Take A Bullet", "Until There Was You", "The Voice Inside", "Waiting", "Which Side You're On", "Won't Get Fooled Again" live Seattle 2003, "You")

Low Notes:

D3 ("At 30,000 Ft", "Behind Your Eyes", "Big Noize", "Broken", "Damaged", "Della Brown", "Evil", "Heaven On Their Minds", "I Believe", "LuvnU", "Miles Away" Song by Operation: Mindcrime, "On Queue", "One Life", "Promised Land", "Sacred Ground", "Saved", "Say U Luv It", "Scarborough Fair", "Scars", "Screaming in Digital", "The Spirit Carries On" live Montreal 2003, "Take Hold of the Flame", "This Moment", "When the Rain Comes", "Wot Kinda Man")
C♯3 ("Cold", "Drive", "Hand On Heart", "Home Again", "I Believe", "Let It Be", "Life Without You", "Middle of Hell", "Over Me", "Slave", "The Star Spangled Banner" live for Seahawks 2007, "Touch", "The Voice", "The Way I Roll")
C3 ("Anytime/Anywhere", "Around the World", "Beside You", "Change", "Della Brown", "En Force", "For the Love of Money", "Hallelujah" live May 2010, "Hand On Heart", "Heaven On Their Minds", "Helpless", "Hot Spot Junkie", "In the Hands of God", "Left for Dead", "Liquid Sky", "LuvnU", "Murderer?", "Off the TV", "One Life", "The Right Side of My Mind", "The Same Old Story", "Scarborough Fair", "The Star Spangled Banner" live Seattle 2007)
B2 ("Blinded", "Change", "Circles", "Drive", "Every Move We Make", "Eyes of a Stranger", "The Fall", "Hallelujah" live May 2010, "Hard Times", "Higher", "If I Could Change It All", "The Killing Words", "The Killer", "The Lady Wore Black", "Middle of Hell", "Odissea", "Over Me", "Ready to Fly", "Remember Me", "Retail Therapy", "Say U Luv It", "Screaming in Digital" Live Evolution 2001, "A Smear Campaign", "Tribe", "Until There Was You", "Waiting", "Wake Me Up", "The Way I Roll")
B♭2 ("Anytime/Anywhere", "Around the World", "Gonna Get Close to You", "Home Again", "Hundred Mile Stare", "In Other Words", "In the Hands of God", "Into the Hands of the World", "Left for Dead", "Sacred Ground", "This Moment")
A2 ("An Intentional Confrontation", "At the Edge", "Chasing Blue Sky", "Comfortably Numb" live 2003, "En Force", "Hit the Black", I Am I", "I Take You", "If I Could Change It All", "In Other Words", "Lady Jane", "Last Time in Paris", "The Mission", "My Empty Room", "Odissea", "The Thin Line", "This Moment", "When the Rain Comes")
G♯2 ("Hero", "Into the Hands of the World", "The Killing Words", "The New Reality")
G2 ("All for What?", "An Intentional Confrontation", "Anytime/Anywhere", "Beside You", "Chasing Blue Sky", "Empire", "The Fight", "Hit the Black", "I Take You", "In Other Words", "Lady Jane", "The Mission", "One More Time", "The Right Side of My Mind", "Silent Lucidity", "Spreading the Disease", "Take Hold of the Flame", "The Thin Line" live Montclair 2021, "The Wave", "The Weight of the World")
F♯2 ("Chasing Blue Sky" live Pennsylvania 2017, "Anybody Listening?", "Bullet the Blue Sky", "Deliverance", "Forever", "Got It Bad", "Middle of Hell", "NM 156", "The Voice", "The Way I Roll")
F2 ("Anybody Out There", "Anytime/Anywhere", "Once Again One Sin", "Retail Therapy", "The Same Old Story", "The Stranger")
E2 ("An Intentional Confrontation", "Chemical Youth (We Are Rebellion)", "Comfortably Numb" live 2003, "A Dead Man's Words", "The Deceiver", "Electric Requiem", "Every Move We Make", "Forever", "Healing My Wounds", "Higher", "If I Could Change It All", "In The Dirt", "In the Hands of God", "Live From My Machine", "Losing Myself", "One More Time", "Roads to Madness", "Say U Luv It", "Someone Else?", "Speak", "Speed of Light", "Spreading the Disease", "Suite Sister Mary", "Tomorrow", "Touch", "The Wave")
E♭2 ("Big Noize", "Desert Dance", "Gonna Get Close to You", "The Great Divide", "Hero", "Into the Hands of the World", "The Killing Words", "The Mission" live Monsters of Rock 2013, "Open", "The Weight of the World")
D2 ("Around the World", "At the Edge", "Behind Your Eyes", "Beside You", "Broken", "Burn", "Chasing Blue Sky", "Dare", "Disconnected", "Drive", Headbanger's Ball 1990 Ad Lib, "The Hands", "Hot Spot Junkie", "My Eyes", "Off the TV", "One More Time", "Out of Mind", "The Right Side of My Mind", "Sacred Ground", "Saved", "Silent Lucidity", "sp00L")
C♯2 ("The Art of Life, "Hero", "The Killing Words" live Sao Paulo 2008, "Middle of Hell", "The New Reality", "Re-Inventing the Future", "Retail Therapy", "Tribe", "The Voice Inside", "The Way I Roll", "Touch")
C2 ("All for What?", "Beside You", "Hallelujah" live May 2010, "The Hands", "Hit the Black", "In the Hands of God", "A Junkie's Blues", "Off the TV", "Seduction of Decay")
B1 ("The Fear", "Fear City Slide", "A Head Long Jump", "Hide Away", "The Killer", "Murderer?", "My Eyes", "Silent Lucidity" Live Evolution 2001, "A Smear Campaign")
B♭1 ("Fear City Slide", "Silent Lucidity" live Netherlands 2018, "The Stranger")
A1 ("It Was Always You!")
F♯1 ("Silent Lucidity" live Rock Antenne 2018)

Geoff Tate (of Queensryche fame) is one of the most legendary metal singers of the 1980s. With his incredibly well developed head voice technique and passionate phrasing, he earned the envy and accolades of metal fans the world over. Known for helping to popularize a more strictly clean approach to the scene at the time, Geoff's voice in it's peak years was at times reminiscent of musical theatre with his ability to switch between soaring long notes and an almost spoken style delivery (see Roads to Madness for example).

It is also worth noting that he is a rather unusual case for an 80s metal singer in that he has a rather low voice naturally. On Queensryche's earliest material, his early bridging and piercing high note focus likely painted him as quite a tenor to the fans of the time, but he slowly began to incorporate more and more of his natural baritone timbre into the band's material as the years went on. By the time you get to albums like 1990's Empire and 1994's Promised Land it becomes plainly apparent that Geoff is just as comfortable with deep 2nd octave crooning as he is with high wailing, helping to cement his reputation as having one of the wider utilized ranges in hard rock/metal music.

In recent years his voice has deepened even further with his high range admittedly not sounding as strong as it used to. Geoff's still clearly capable of pulling out some impressive and wide-ranging performances (see Seduction of Decay as an example), but puts more emphasis on a mid-range approach nowadays.
.......................................................
*Underlines mark notes in backing vocals or otherwise muffled/obscured in the song mix.
*Blue marks falsetto notes.
*Boldface marks notes that are considered to be particularly notable examples of this person's vocal capabilities.
*Italics mark non-sung notes.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}A5 ("Blinded" ^[1], "Deliverance" ^[1], "Prophecy" ^[1])
G♯5 ("Eyes of a Stranger" ^[2])

A2 ("The Lady Wore Black" ^[1], "Take Hold of the Flame" ^[1])
E♭2 ("Someone Else?" ^[1])
D2 ("Lady Jane" ^[1])
G1 ("Hide Away" ^[3])

.......................................................
[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.
[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.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Album Ranges}Queensrÿche

Queensrÿche EP (1983): B2-G♯5
The Warning (1984): E2-F♯2-G2-G♯5
Rage for Order (1986): E♭2-G5
Operation: Mindcrime (1988): E2-G2-F♯5-G♯5
Empire (1990): D2-E5
Promised Land (1994): D2-E♭5-G5
Hear in the Now Frontier (1997): C2-E♭5
Q2K (1999): C2-D2-C5
Tribe (2003): C♯2-E♭2-C5
Operation: Mindcrime II (2006): B♭1-G2-E5
Take Cover (2007): F♯2-A2-E♭5
American Soldier (2009): B1-E2-E5
Dedicated to Chaos (2011): C♯2-D2-E5

Geoff Tate

Geoff Tate (2002): C♯2-D2-D5
Kings & Thieves (2012): C♯2-B2-B4

Operation: Mindcrime

Frequency Unknown (2013): C2-G2-B♭2-C5
The Key (2015): B♭1-B2-C5
Resurrection (2016): B1-G♯2-C5
The New Reality (2017): A1-E2-C5-D5

Sweet Oblivion

Sweet Oblivion (2019): B1-D2-D5
Relentless (2021): F2-C♯5

[Setzer]

Solid live E♭5 from Seduction of Decay: youtube.com/watch?v=rcwA0rqw6d4&t=371s

[tungsten]

New track with Geoff on vocals.
youtu.be/tlpHNGDva5Q&t=1m46s

[queenfan11]

Bb4s from a newly released cover of Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", recorded for a tribute album.

[mrderis]

Geoff Tate Band 02/04/2022.

Queen of the Reich encore

youtu.be/rk6I3ovnQ2s

[Captain Planet]

Feb 9, 2022 19:16:53 GMT mrderis said:

Geoff Tate Band 02/04/2022.

Queen of the Reich encore

youtu.be/rk6I3ovnQ2s

Holy shit, isn't this the first time he's performed the song live since 2005??!

And he hits an awesome E5 at 2:40! Crazy how well this guy has come back from the state he was in 10 years ago.

[clem]

His vocal recovery over the last 10 years has been one of the best examples of a singer turning it around.

[Setzer]

Feb 9, 2022 20:01:27 GMT Captain Planet said:

Feb 9, 2022 19:16:53 GMT mrderis said:

Geoff Tate Band 02/04/2022.

Queen of the Reich encore

youtu.be/rk6I3ovnQ2s

Holy shit, isn't this the first time he's performed the song live since 2005??!

And he hits an awesome E5 at 2:40! Crazy how well this guy has come back from the state he was in 10 years ago.

Yeah the medley version. The last time they (Queensrÿche) played the full song was in 2003.

[Zedd Squared]

He's got some of his higher notes backs in recent years and it is good to hear him singing through a song like that without doing several talk-sung lines, but I do feel like his tone still leaves a fair bit to be desired. It's actually most noticeable in his lower range nowadays where he sounds a tad ill a lot of the times to my ears. Even so, I'm encouraged by the progress he's made thus far, even if it's still a long way to go before I suspect we'll get a genuinely very good or great album by him again. Sweet Oblivion's certainly getting him on the right track if nothing else.

[Zedd Squared]

Underrated later era QR song here and an interesting anomaly for Tate in that it only spans Eb3-F4 with a backing vocal F#4. There are only a few other songs in his career that are as mid-rangey as that (Sign of the Times, Cuckoo's Nest, Sacred Ground, and Hero come to mind despite a few lower notes here and there) so this could be a fun one to sing for those of us who want to sing along with some Tate but don't have bulletproof B4s lol.

[queenfan11]

Eb5 in the "Neon Knights" cover. It's pretty short but sounds like a clear part of the melody to me.

[mrderis]

Another Queen Of The Reich version from  Morc 22


Geoff hit the opening note for the first time since 87 and hit a very good high note after the solo.




youtu.be/59KMNPOO2y4

[MrToddington]

Oh nice, he even hit the F5 after the solos! (Normally an F#5 but they're playing half a step down)
I wonder how long it's been since that too.

[Setzer]

Feb 21, 2022 11:47:38 GMT MrToddington said:

Oh nice, he even hit the F5 after the solos! (Normally an F#5 but they're playing half a step down)
I wonder how long it's been since that too.

2003 was the last time they played the full version.

[Captain Planet]

Feb 25, 2022 22:06:10 GMT Setzer said:

Feb 21, 2022 11:47:38 GMT MrToddington said:

Oh nice, he even hit the F5 after the solos! (Normally an F#5 but they're playing half a step down)
I wonder how long it's been since that too.

2003 was the last time they played the full version.

Well technically the full version with the intro was last played in 1987 :P

[MrToddington]

Have you got a link for any of the times they played it in 2003? I'd be curious to see how he handled the F5.

[Setzer]

Feb 25, 2022 23:51:36 GMT MrToddington said:

Have you got a link for any of the times they played it in 2003? I'd be curious to see how he handled the F5.

Check your messages :)

[Henny Macc]

Backing D3s at 0:22, A4 at 0:35, D5 at 0:51, C5s and backing E5s at 1:46. Sounding pretty good here!

[Setzer]

So much processing on the vocals, I'm finding it really hard to like it :(

[glo]

I feel like this guy did Axl Rose’s schtick better than Axl Rose did. (Not to mention before he was even around, and yet surviving much longer.) The tone is so much warmer and fuller, even from bottom to top without sacrificing dimension at either end. Really strong vocalist, one who proves that low notes needn’t preclude the highs — and to lesser extent, vice versa.

[Steingrim]

Nov 5, 2022 22:03:23 GMT glo said:

I feel like this guy did Axl Rose’s schtick better than Axl Rose did. (Not to mention before he was even around, and yet surviving much longer.) The tone is so much warmer and fuller, even from bottom to top without sacrificing dimension at either end. Really strong vocalist, one who proves that low notes needn’t preclude the highs — and to lesser extent, vice versa.

He reminds me of David Coverdale from the 80s and on. He's got middle second octave modal notes too. How do they seemingly just keep going up to G5 or A5 ? Coverdale sounds screamy, Tate doesn't really. Do they all transition seemlessly into mixed voice, that is, a somewhat beefy M2 ?

[glo]

A lot of it is M1 actually. You can thin out M1 pretty faithfully, especially using a technique called “voce finta”. Voice feminization plays on this for instance. An M2 sound even when given a sort of pharyngeal “covering” remains sounding pretty thin and airy, not as resonant, as an M1 sound, unless the sound — say, a D5 for instance — is given some vibration from the TA muscle to create a fuller sound, which in turn brings it quite often to become M1. Now granted, a full voice sound can actually occur in any register, not just chest voice (M1), as the vocalis muscle just needs to vibrate sympathetically in total for the register to sound “connected”. This is what differentiates “coordinated chest” and post-girare head voice in female opera from simply being falsetto. But there is a distinction between a head voice sound and a chest voice sound up high, and that distinction often relates to laryngeal height (typically the larynx will be higher), compression (the folds will likely be brought together more fiercely), and direct adduction of the register itself (to allow it to come from a chestier, thicker-fold arena than otherwise). When Geoff Tate sings the A4s, C5s, D5s, and even E5s (unlisted — ”west side”… though this one might be M2, it’s unclear) in “Empire” to create a high chest voice sound, to me it sounds like he is taking advantage of these capabilities of the vocal instrument. You can hear him also make use of the “cry” or cricothyroid tilt, which enables him to sit on the edge of breaking into M2 with his voice while remaining in M1 with full fidelity even as he ascends well past typical baritone pitch. At least, that’s my analysis of it.

And as for Axl and Coverdale, Axl actually used more of a chest voice sound up high (at least in the early “peak” half of his career) than people seem to realize. It’s just that he also employed a lot more of high larynx and twang, as well as intense compression and distortion, much of which sounded good often enough but could also sound charactery at other times. His voice tended to sound pinched in a way that the others didn’t, and his diction also often suffered; he also used less weight in his voice than the others, interestingly enough, while applying these intense techniques on the voice. Coverdale’s voice I’m not as extensively familiar with, but based on the B4s, D5s, and F#5s from his biggest Whitesnake releases he was able to create an evenness of tone, not relying *too* heavily on high larynx at the expense of pharyngeal space like Axl but also using a slightly more nasalized placement than Tate, as well as more vocal compression. Coverdale and Tate’s voices are arguably more similar than Axl’s is to theirs though. I’m tempted to say though interestingly that Geoff’s natural instrument sits lowest of the three, even lower than Axl’s lower baritone voice; Geoff sounds almost bass-baritonal to me. Coverdale sounds conventional baritone to me, maybe able to pull off a lower tenor sound but more naturally baritone. He has quite an ease up there though, so it may depend who you ask. Surely a deeper voice than Chris Cornell’s though for instance.

[Steingrim]

Interesting post. Axl Rose is the one who's frequently classified as a bass baritone, though.

[glo]

Steingrim — Indeed he is! I was speaking with a vocal expert on here though and he thinks his voice is more of a low-placed baritone. I won’t disagree with the prospect of him being a bass-baritone… although it seems to me that Tate uses his lowermost range more often and more extensively, and that it carries just that much more of a chesty sound versus Axl’s.

[Steingrim]

Nov 7, 2022 8:13:24 GMT glo said:

Steingrim — Indeed he is! I was speaking with a vocal expert on here though and he thinks his voice is more of a low-placed baritone. I won’t disagree with the prospect of him being a bass-baritone… although it seems to me that Tate uses his lowermost range more often and more extensively, and that it carries just that much more of a chesty sound versus Axl’s.

Fullness in the lower third octave or a bit lower should be a hallmark of a baritone. Axl Rose usually stays above that area, doesn't he. But he's capable of very low octave two notes. He seems more content to outgun the metal tenors with ridiculously low M0 notes instead. It's all a bit crazy.