Blackie Lawless (6,440 views)

[Baronessa]

Steven Edward Duren (4 September 1956)
Member of: Killer Kane Band (1975), Sister (1976 - 1982), W.A.S.P. (1981...)
Vocal Range: D2 - B♭5

SPOILER: Click to show

{Vocal Range Timeline}Killer Kane Band:
Killer Kane Band (1976): TBD^[EP]

W.A.S.P.:
W.A.S.P. (1984): G♯3 - G♯5
The Last Command (1985): G♯3 - G♯5 - D6
Inside the Electric Circus (1986): F♯3 - F5
The Headless Children (1989): G♯2 - F5 - G♯5
The Crimson Idol (1992): E♭2 - G5
Helldorado (1999): G♯3 - F5 - B♭5
Unholy Terror (2001): B♭2 - G♯5
Dying for the World (2002): E♭2 - B♭5
The Neon God: Part 1 - The Rise (2004): D2 - F5 - G♯5
The Neon God: Part 2 - The Demise (2004): F3 - A5
Dominator (2007): E♭3 - E♭5
Babylon (2009): E♭3 - G5
Golgotha (2015): A3 - G5

Henny Macc
Still Not Black Enough (1995): E3 - A5 - B♭5
K.F.D. (1997): TBD
Reidolized (The Soundtrack to the Crimson Idol) (2018): TBD

Significant High Notes:

B♭5 ("Can't Die Tonight", "My Wicked Heart", "Paint It Black", "Rock and Roll to Death", "Shadow Man")
A5 ("It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", "Never Say Die", "No Way Out of Here", "Somebody to Love")
G♯5 ("Asylum #9", "B.A.D.", "Black Forever", "Don't Cry (Just Suck)", "The Flame", "Forever Free", "Hell for Eternity", "Loco-Motive Man (And the Killer Babies)", "Mississippi Queen", "Never Say Die", "No Way Out of Here", "Scared to Death", "School Daze", "Sex Drive", "Wasted White Boys")
G5 ("Burn", "Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)", "The Invisible Boy", "Scream", "Tear Down the Walls", "Tie Your Mother Down")
F♯5 ("Arena of Pleasure", "Babylon's Burning", "The Eulogy", "Eyes of My Maker", "Hot Rods to Hell (Helldorado Reprise)", "I Wanna Be Somebody", "Revengeance", "The Rise", "The Running Man", "Shadow Man", "Sleeping (In the Fire)", "War Cry")
F5 ("9.5.-N.A.S.T.Y.", "Asylum #9", "Dirty Balls", "Doctor Rockter", "The Great Misconceptions of Me", "I Am One", "I Don't Need No Doctor", "The Invisible Boy", "Mississippi Queen", "On Your Knees", "Phantoms in the Mirror", "The Raging Storm", "The Real Me", "Rebel in the F.D.G.", "Skin Walker", "Tie Your Mother Down", "Tormentor", "When the Levee Breaks", "Wishing Well")
E5 ("B.A.D.", "Black Forever", "Clockwork Mary", "Goodbye America", "One Tribe", "Scared to Death", "Sister Sadie (And the Black Habits)", "Trail of Tears", "War Cry")
E♭5 ("All My Life", "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)", "Arena of Pleasure", "Asylum #9", "Ballcrusher", "Black Forever", "Blind in Texas", "Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)", "Charisma", "Cries in the Night", "Deal With the Devil", "The Demise", "Douche Bag Blues", "Easy Living", "The Flame", "Flesh and Fire", "The Great Misconceptions of Me", "The Headless Children", "Heaven's Blessed", "Heaven's Hung in Black (Reprise)", "Helldorado", "Hellion", "The Heretic (The Lost Child)", "Hot Rods to Hell (Helldorado Reprise)", "I Don't Need No Doctor", "I Wanna Be Somebody", "I'm Alive", "Jack Action", "King of Sodom and Gomorrah", "L.O.V.E. Machine", "Maneater", "Mantronic", "My Wicked Heart", "No Way Out of Here", "Paint It Black", "Phantoms in the Mirror", "Raven Heart", "The Real Me", "Rebel in the F.D.G.", "Restless Gypsy", "The Rock Rolls On", "Running Wild in the Streets", "Savage", "School Daze", "Sex Drive", "Shoot from the Hip", "Show No Mercy", "Sweet Cheetah", "Thunderhead", "Tie Your Mother Down", "Tormentor", "The Torture Never Stops", "What I'll Never Find", "Widowmaker")
D5 ("Burn", "Come Back to Black", "Dirty Balls", "Doctor Rockter", "Don't Cry (Just Suck)", "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", "The Last Command", "Mean Man", "Mercy", "Rock and Roll to Death", "Shotgun", "Somebody to Love", "Thunderhead")
C♯5 ("9.5.-N.A.S.T.Y.", "Asylum #9", "Black Forever", "Breathe", "Can't Die Tonight", "Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)", "Clockwork Mary", "Cocaine Cowboys", "Damnation Angels", "The Demise", "Easy Living", "Evermore", "The Flame", "Flesh and Fire", "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Forever Free", "The Headless Children", "Heaven's Hung in Black", "Hell for Eternity", "Helldorado", "The Heretic (The Lost Child)", "Hero of the World", "High on the Flames", "Hot Rods to Hell (Helldorado Reprise)", "I Can't", "I Don't Need No Doctor", "Into the Fire", "King of Sodom and Gomorrah", "The Last Command", "The Last Redemption", "Last Runaway", "Maneater", "The Neutron Bomber", "Never Say Die", "No Way Out of Here", "One Tribe", "The Raging Storm", "Raven Heart", "The Red Room of the Rising Sun", "Resurrector", "Revengeance", "The Rise", "The Rock Rolls On", "The Running Man", "Running Wild in the Streets", "Sister Sadie (And the Black Habits)", "Somebody to Love", "Still Not Black Enough", "Stone Cold Killers", "Teacher", "Tear Down the Walls", "Tie Your Mother Down", "The Torture Never Stops", "War Cry", "Who Slayed Baby Jane?", "Widowmaker", "Wishing Well", "X.T.C. Riders")
C5 ("Burn", "The Burning Man", "Can't Die Tonight", "Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)", "Cocaine Cowboys", "Crazy", "The Demise", "Doctor Rockter", "Golgotha", "Goodbye America", "Hate to Love Me", "Helldorado", "Hold on to My Heart", "I Am One", "I'm Alive", "Inside the Electric Circus", "The Invisible Boy", "Jack Action", "King of Sodom and Gomorrah", "Loco-Motive Man (And the Killer Babies)", "Mercy", "Miss You", "Mississippi Queen", "The Raging Storm", "The Real Me", "Rebel in the F.D.G.", "Saturday Night Cockfight", "Savage", "Scream", "Seas of Fire", "Show No Mercy", "Skin Walker", "Slaves of the New World Order", "Still Not Black Enough", "Stone Cold Killers", "Thunderhead", "What I'll Never Find", "When the Levee Breaks", "Who Slayed Baby Jane?", "Whole Lotta Rosie", "Wild Child")
B4 ("All My Life", "B.A.D.", "Ballcrusher", "Blind in Texas", "Breathe", "Clockwork Mary", "Destinies to Come (Neon Dion)", "Don't Cry (Just Suck)", "Evermore", "Eyes of My Maker", "Fallen Under", "Fistful of Diamonds", "Forever Free", "Golgotha", "Hallowed Ground", "Hell for Eternity", "Hellion", "The Heretic (The Lost Child)", "I Wanna Be Somebody", "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", "Keep Holding On", "L.O.V.E. Machine", "The Last Command", "The Last Redemption", "Last Runaway", "Let It Roar", "Live to Die Another Day", "Mantronic", "Miss You", "One Tribe", "The Red Room of the Rising Sun", "Resurrector", "Revengeance", "Saturday Night Cockfight", "Sex Drive", "Shoot from the Hip", "Shotgun", "Sister Sadie (And the Black Habits)", "Slaves of the New World Order", "Sweet Cheetah", "Take Me Up", "Teacher", "Thunder Red", "Trail of Tears", "Wasted White Boys", "Widowmaker")
B♭4 ("Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)", "Arena of Pleasure", "Babylon's Burning", "Breathe", "The Burning Man", "Charisma", "Come Back to Black", "Crazy", "Cries in the Night", "Damnation Angels", "Deal With the Devil", "Destinies to Come (Neon Dion)", "Dirty Balls", "Douche Bag Blues", "The Eulogy", "Flesh and Fire", "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Godless Run", "The Great Misconceptions of Me", "The Gypsy Meets the Boy", "Hallowed Ground", "Hate to Love Me", "Heaven's Blessed", "Heaven's Hung in Black", "Hero of the World", "High on the Flames", "Hold on to My Heart", "I Am One", "The Idol", "Inside the Electric Circus", "Into the Fire", "L.O.V.E. Machine", "Lake of Fools", "Live to Die Another Day", "Loco-Motive Man (And the Killer Babies)", "Long, Long Way to Go", "Maneater", "Mean Man", "My Wicked Heart", "The Neutron Bomber", "On Your Knees", "Paint It Black", "Phantoms in the Mirror", "Raven Heart", "Restless Gypsy", "The Rise", "The Rock Rolls On", "Rubber Man", "The Running Man", "School Daze", "Seas of Fire", "Shadow Man", "Show No Mercy", "Sister Sadie (And the Black Habits)", "Sleeping (In the Fire)", "Someone to Love Me (All I Need)", "Take Me Up", "Tear Down the Walls", "Tormentor", "Why Am I Here?", "Wild Child", "Wishing Well", "X.T.C. Riders")

Significant Low Notes:

E♭3 ("Babylon's Burning", "The Burning Man", "Charisma", "Heaven's Hung in Black (Reprise)", "Lake of Fools", "Promised Land", "Thunderhead", "Unholy Terror")
C3 ("Hold on to My Heart")
B♭2 ("Unholy Terror")
G♯2 ("The Headless Children", "Revengeance")
E♭2 ("Black Bone Torso", "Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)")
D2 ("X.T.C. Riders")

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}E♭6 ("Flesh and Fire"^[1a], "Sweet Cheetah"^[1a])
G♯5 ("High on the Flames"^[2a])
G5 ("Dirty Balls"^[2a], "Saturday Night Cockfight"^[2a], "Wishing Well"^[2a])
F♯5 ("Heaven's Blessed"^[2a], "Shotgun"^[2a], "Sister Sadie (And the Black Habits)"^[2a])
F5 ("Helldorado"^[2a], "Promised Land"^[2a])

B♭2 ("9.5.-N.A.S.T.Y."^[2b], "King of Sodom and Gomorrah"^[2b])
G♯2 ("Blind in Texas"^[2b], "Doctor Rockter"^[2b], "Sex Drive"^[2b], "Sweet Cheetah"^[2b], "War Cry"^[2b])
F2 ("Arena of Pleasure"^[2b], "The Invisible Boy"^[2b], "Rebel in the F.D.G."^[2b], "Widowmaker"^[2b])
E♭2 ("Don't Cry (Just Suck)"^[2b])
C2 ("Damnation Angels"^[2b])
..................................................
[1] Questionable quality
a. Voice cracks

[2] Questionable representation
a. Indiscriminate falsetto exclamations
b. Indiscriminate spoken dips

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.

..................................................
• Blue denotes falsetto passages.
• Green denotes harshly distorted passages.
• Bold denotes outstanding passages.
• Italics denote non-melodic passages.
• Underlines denote obscured passages.

[Captain Planet]

Holy shit, does Blackie have the most underutilized low range of any singer in the world!?

[Henny Macc]

That's glam metal singers for ya lol. Though I must say I'm surprised that he doesn't even have any E3s apparently  O_o

[Baronessa]

I did have him up to E3 on the Google Doc, but he had like one.

[Captain Planet]

Time to go down the TRP2 route and count all his spoken interview notes, with any anacrusis being counted as strong 0th octave!

[Henny Macc]

Apr 23, 2021 3:49:44 GMT Baronessa said:

I did have him up to E3 on the Google Doc, but he had like one.

Stu Block only has one E3, but I still included it in his thread for the sake of a bit more low range representation

But considering that this thread is still in WIP, I'm guessing that means there are still unchecked albums that could hopefully have some more lows, right?

[Baronessa]

He might have some live lows from recently too.

For the record, the reason he has so little E3s is because W.A.S.P. love doing that hard rock thing of tuning a ½ step down.

[Henny Macc]

Ah yeah, that was the same reason Stu ended up with so few of them - Iced Earth are all about that E♭ tuning as well.

Anyway, I dug through his TRP2 thread a bit and was able to find a few more lows that aren't listed here yet:

Solid spoken E♭2 here, as well as a spoken B♭2 at 2:30, then some quite bold-worthy E♭5s at 2:57. Pretty cool song too.


This song was originally listed for E♭2 in the old thread - this is the most prominent low passage in the song, but I'm having a hard time telling if it actually gets that low without whisper/growl. I'm definitely hearing lots of G♭2s though, and I think at least one F2. There's also another low bit at 2:39 around similar pitches, and some pretty bold-worthy B♭4s on the choruses (like at 2:53).


Would you consider this spoken passage musical? Kinda blurring the line between songspeaking and reciting poetry over music here, so it's up to you. B♭4s and C5s later in this song anyway.


I know there's obviously a pitch-shifted vocal during this part, which I'm guessing is why you didn't include it in the thread (as I can see you have this song listed for other notes already). However, I think I hear a more natural vocal behind that as well, which may be worth investigating if we can get it isolated.

[kaji]

That thread photo is perfect

[Baronessa]

I spent literal years searching for a good live performance pic of this guy, so I'm glad you noticed. :cry:

[Henny Macc]

Any chance that D6 could be an overtone note? I'm not ruling out the possibility of it being legit, but it has a similar kind of tone to a lot of those notes that turn out to be overtones, and I hear a very noticeable jump upward somewhere along the way during that slide, which seems rather suspicious.

[Baronessa]

Probably a very high chance, to be honest. On one hand the fry sounds like it starts kind of high, so I wouldn't necessarily be surprised if this was some sort of flageolet tension that he used to crack into that D6. On the other hand, there's something that doesn't feel very "grounded" about the D6, as though it was just kind of a squeezed D5 that was boosted in the mix to sound more powerful.

[Henny Macc]

I'm a little confused by it now listening back, because while there does seem to be a big pitch jump in the slide, I think I hear it getting higher than D5 before that happens. So maybe it is a flageolot tension-type of trick after all? But yeah, agreed about it not sounding the most "grounded"...a part of me is wondering if it could be one of those cases where it's actually like an F5 or A5 or something, and then the harmonics are making the overtone sound like a D6. Wouldn't be the first case of that that we've encountered if so, but who knows.

Anyway, I'm helping out notewatching the last three studio albums that this thread is missing, so here's the beginning of my efforts for that with my findings from Still Not Black Enough. Check out the A5 I linked in "Somebody to Love" - it seems to have a similar type of overtone happening with it to what might be going on with that "The Last Command" note.

• "Still Not Black Enough" - C5, D♭5, B♭4
• "Skin Walker" - C5, F5
• "Black Forever" - D♭5, E5, E♭5, A♭5
• "Scared to Death" - A♭5, E5, 
• "Goodbye America" - I posted this one above already, but it starts with a spoken passage down to E♭2 that's kinda ambiguous in its musical intent. Anyway, C5, E5 after that.
• "Somebody to Love" - D♭5, C5, A5, D5
• "Keep Holding On" - E3, A4, B4
• "Rock and Roll to Death" - D5, A5, B♭5
• "Breathe" - B♭4, B4, D♭5
• "I Can't" - D♭5
• "No Way Out of Here" - B4, D♭5, E♭5, A♭5, A5
• "One Tribe" - B4, D♭5, E5
• "Tie Your Mother Down" - B♭4, F5, G5, D♭5, E♭5
• "Whole Lotta Rosie" - C5s galore
• "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" - B4, A5, D5

After this I'm starting to think it might've been worth starting his lows at F♯3 or something lol; his tessitura is a lot higher than I realized until now. He's legitimately a really impressive vocalist though - I'm pleasantly surprised by his dynamic and expression range in addition to how good of control he has over his entire pitch range.

[Henny Macc]

Kill Fuck Die. album ranges:

• "Kill Fuck Die" - B♭4, D♭5, G5, F5, B♭5
• "Take the Addiction" - C5, E♭5
• "My Tortured Eyes" - B♭4, D♭5, E♭5
• "Killahead" - C5, E♭5, F5
• "Kill Your Pretty Face" - I already pitched this one a few posts up, but B4, B♭2, D♭3, E♭5, E♭2
• "Fetus" - A♭5s and A5s though it's pretty questionable. I can't tell if it's actually Blackie's voice, and if it is they somehow managed to make his screams sound like a baby crying.
• "Little Death" - D♭5, E♭5, G♭5, F5
• "U" - B♭4, C5, E♭5
• "Wicked Love" - B♭4, D♭5, F5
• "The Horror" - Also posted this one above, but E♭2, B♭4, F2, B♭2, E♭3. Having trouble pitching some of these spoken parts though.
• "Tokyo's on Fire" - B4, E♭5, D♭5

Some really cool writing on this album, though I don't love the production and wish a lot of the songs had a better mix. Also aside from some chanted E♭3s on "The Horror" that could count as sung, there's literally no low singing on this album whatsoever lol. Lowest melody note otherwise is I think G3.

[Henny Macc]

Notewatched Reidolized tonight and as far as I can tell, it seems to match up very closely (if not exactly) with the notes in the original version, or at least none of the songs have any note extremities that aren't present in the originals. However, there are a few tracks that weren't present on the original album that have some notes worth adding:


Great F♯5 here! Plus lots of A4s and B4s throughout the rest of the song, and some D5s at 2:35.


B♭4s, C5s, D5s, E♭5s in this one. There's also an anacrusis B♭2 that I could get on board with counting at 3:19, and some F3s in the intro if we end up deciding to extend his low note thresholds higher. 


Nothing higher than A4 in this one, but I still think those would be worth counting as high notes for him (even if he has fewer of them than he does B♭4s).

Also, I'm not really sure why the spoken F2s in "Arena of Pleasure" or spoken G♯2s in "Doctor Rockter" are listed as questionable, cause I don't hear anything wrong with them as far as spoken passages go. Is there any chance some of that spoiler box is still being carried over from TRP3, when standards for that kind of thing were a lot stricter?
In any case, the Reidolized versions of those songs have some decent spoken notes as well:

I'm hearing a pretty solid F2 here on "I'm in the eye of MY rage", and I think another F2 in the spoken passage at 1:15. Plus some spoken G♯2s in the intro section at 0:04.


These spoken G♯2s sound pretty okay to me (as do the ones in the original).

[Henny Macc]

Also some live shit:


Sounds like some G♯5ss here? Then 3:33 also sounds like a sustained G♯5 I think, though it's got a weird tone to it.


Sounds like a quick G♯5 here.


Slide up to an F♯5 here.


F♯5s here I think, and maybe G♯5s at 2:21?

[Henny Macc]

Some live-only tracks here:

Some pretty solid spoken B♭2s here! Then B♭4s, D♭5s, and E♭5s later on.


Lots of B4s in this one.

This one is actually a studio cut that got included on this live album:

Was that an E♭6 that I heard here, or are overtones deceiving me? Either way, lots of D♭5s on the verse before that, C5s on the choruses, some quiet spoken B♭2s at 1:49, I think an E5 at 2:33 (though I'm having a pretty hard time pitching that one), I guess an A♭5 in the background at 2:37 (really weird tone on it though), and some D5s at 3:08.

And lastly, a few extra notes from live versions of pre-existing songs:

Sounds like a G♯5 here.


F♯5 here I think?

[Henny Macc]

Lots of additional high notes on Doube Live Assassins!


This is another "G♯5 I think?" type of note.


Having a hard time pitching this, but...maybe E♭5?


F♯5 here and a G♯5 at 3:50.


I think this gets up to E5?


G♯5 here.


A5s here and at 2:43 it sounds like? Then I think G5s at 0:37, 1:02, and 1:09.


Random A5 here.


E5 here I believe.


F♯5s here.


G♯5 here.


I think a short G♯5 here on "the WICKed boy".


F5 here, and I think an E5 at 3:10.


G5 here, and G♯5 at 3:35.

[Henny Macc]

Last batch of live tracks here:


Short G♯5 here.


Sounds like a short A5 here, though it might be too uncontrolled to count as anything more than a questionable note.


Another short G♯5 here, sounds like.


There are some short anacrusis A2s in this performance, but they're probably too brief to be worth counting as anything more than questionable notes.

And lastly, here's a studio track that was only ever released on the First Blood, Last Cuts compilation:

Lots of B4s, C♯5s, a short G♯5 at 1:34, and a spoken passage down to D♯3.

[Baronessa]

May 24, 2023 6:10:26 GMT Henny Macc said:

Also, I'm not really sure why the spoken F2s in "Arena of Pleasure" or spoken G♯2s in "Doctor Rockter" are listed as questionable, cause I don't hear anything wrong with them as far as spoken passages go. Is there any chance some of that spoiler box is still being carried over from TRP3, when standards for that kind of thing were a lot stricter?

No, these were my verdicts in 2020, Blackie never had an updated TRP 3 thread. I tried to keep the included spoken notes to the ones where the pitch wasn't bouncing all over the place and he was going for a steady note for most of the passage. At any rate, though, the fact he apparently reproduces these notes for the remake album to me is argument enough that they should be included.