Post by BassSquared on Sept 27, 2019 1:25:14 GMT
Lloyd Edward Elwyn Robertson (25 October 1970 - Present)
Years Active: 1988 - Present
Associated Acts: Barenaked Ladies (1988-2009)
Vocal Range: D2 - F♯5
{Bio / Vocal Summary}Though initially somewhat overshadowed by his vocally gifted collaborator and co-founder Steven Page, Ed Robertson's down-to-earth singing style, goofy class-clown wit, and talent for rapid-fire diction would end up playing just as much of a part, if not more, in creating the Barenaked Ladies' signature sound. Though sometimes considered the more "silly" of the pair, Robertson has written his fair share of serious songs as well, although they tended to be soft, heartfelt, and acoustic-dominated as opposed to Page's tendency towards power balladry. After the surprise success of his song "One Week" in 1998, he shifted from songwriting collaborator who occasionally sang his own tunes to a full co-lead vocalist in his own right, with his quirky, amiable songwriting and rapid-fire rapping taking on a larger role. And after Page's departure in 2009, he has become the group's leader and primary voice, though this dominance has decreased in recent years as keyboardist Kevin Hearn has contributed more songs.
Robertson's voice, at its core, is an affable, garden-variety baritone with a fairly average placement. His early songs, in contrast to Page's larger-than-life operatics, tended to feature a rather plain, range-conservative vocal style, the sound of a regular guy off the street picking up a guitar and letting out a no-frills song in a simple speaking-voice register. Subsequent years would show him developing everything from his falsetto ("These Apples") to his lows (much of the Snacktime children's album, oddly enough), but arguably his biggest shift in vocal style came after Page left the band. Left to sing many of his departed counterpart's more vocally demanding crowd favorites in live performances, Robertson took on the job with surprising aplomb. The resulting improvement in belting skills was felt on the band's first couple albums in the early 2010s, making the era arguably Robertson's vocal peak and also making him a rare example of a singer with high notes that are better in his forties than they were twenty years prior. He has started to show a few cracks and strains, particularly live, but on the whole his voice has weathered the journey to middle age quite well, and he continues to lead the current incarnation of the Barenaked Ladies as a beloved institution of fun, catchy, pleasant tunes.
Written by BassSquared .
Robertson's voice, at its core, is an affable, garden-variety baritone with a fairly average placement. His early songs, in contrast to Page's larger-than-life operatics, tended to feature a rather plain, range-conservative vocal style, the sound of a regular guy off the street picking up a guitar and letting out a no-frills song in a simple speaking-voice register. Subsequent years would show him developing everything from his falsetto ("These Apples") to his lows (much of the Snacktime children's album, oddly enough), but arguably his biggest shift in vocal style came after Page left the band. Left to sing many of his departed counterpart's more vocally demanding crowd favorites in live performances, Robertson took on the job with surprising aplomb. The resulting improvement in belting skills was felt on the band's first couple albums in the early 2010s, making the era arguably Robertson's vocal peak and also making him a rare example of a singer with high notes that are better in his forties than they were twenty years prior. He has started to show a few cracks and strains, particularly live, but on the whole his voice has weathered the journey to middle age quite well, and he continues to lead the current incarnation of the Barenaked Ladies as a beloved institution of fun, catchy, pleasant tunes.
Written by BassSquared .
Significant High Notes:
F♯5 ("These Apples")
D5 Angry People", "Nobody Better")
C♯5 ("Angry People", "Summertime", "You Run Away")
C5 ("National Park")
B4 ("Blacking Out", "Bull in a China Shop", "Duct Tape Heart", "Never Do Anything", "Piece of Cake", "Sound of Your Voice", "These Apples", "What a Good Boy" live Leeds 2010)
B♭4 ("Brian Wilson" live Red Rocks 2016, "Canada Dry", "Eraser", "Helicopters", "The Old Apartment" live Red Rocks 2016)
A4 ("20/20 Hindsight", "Bylaw", "Louis Loon", "New Disaster", "Roll Out", "Sound of Your Voice", "Summertime", "What a Good Boy" live Leeds 2010, "You Run Away")
G♯4 ("Alternative Girlfriend", "Conventioneers", "Get in Line", "I Know", "Off His Head", "Piece of Cake", "Rule the World With Love")
G4 ("Be My Yoko Ono", "Blacking Out", "Brian Wilson" live Red Rocks 2016, "Bringing It Home", "Bull in a China Shop", "Do They Know It's Christmas?", "Down to Earth", "Drawing", "Globetrot", "Go Home", "Golden Boy", "Helicopters", "It Was a Lover and His Lass", "Maybe Not", "Narrow Streets", "Never Do Anything", "Ordinary", "Something You'll Never Find", "Stomach Vs Heart", "Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank", "Take It Outside", "What a Good Boy" live Leeds 2010, "Why Say Anything Nice?", "You + Me Vs The World")
F♯4 ("20/20 Hindsight", "Alcohol", "Best Damn Friend", "Boomerang", "Enough Time", "Falling for the First Time", "Flat Earth", "Fog of Writing", "Give It Back to You", "Good Life", "I Have Learned", "I Know", "I'll Be That Girl", "Keepin' It Real", "The Love We're In", "Lovin' Life", "Never Is Enough", "New Disaster","Off the Hook", "One Night", "Ordinary", "Piece of Cake", "Say What You Want", "She's on Time", "Second Best", "Sell, Sell, Sell", "Silverball", "These Apples", "Wind It Up", "You Run Away", "You Will Be Waiting")
F4 ("Brian Wilson", "Bringing It Home", "Canada Dry", "Curious", "Drawing", "Flip", "Four Seconds", "Golden Boy", "How Long", "Life, In a Nutshell", "Lookin' Up", "Odds Are", "Some Fantastic", "Unfinished", "War on Drugs", "The Wrong Man Was Convicted")
E4 ("Alternative Girlfriend", "Another Postcard", "Auld Lang Syne", "Bank Job", "Big Bang Theory Theme", "Blacking Out", "Boomerang", "Celebrity", "Crawl", "Did I Say That Out Loud?", "Do They Know It's Christmas?", "Down to Earth", "Duct Tape Heart", "Easy", "Every Subway Car", "Fog of Writing", "For You", "Get Back Up", "Give It Back to You", "Go Home", "Gonna Walk", "Great Provider", "Green Christmas", "Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah", "Hello City", "Here Before", "Hold My Hand", "How Long", "I Don't Get It Anymore", "I Know", "It's Only Me (The Wizard of Magicland)", "Just a Toy", "Keepin' It Real", "Leave", "Long Way Back Home", "Lookin' Up", "Maybe Not", "New Disaster", "Nobody Better", "One Week", "Passcode", "Roll Out", "Same Thing", "See the Tower", "Silverball", "Something You'll Never Find", "Spider in My Room", "Summertime", "Sunshine", "Testing 1, 2, 3", "Tired of Fighting With You", "Told You So", "Too Little Too Late", "Unfinished", "What a Letdown", "What Do We Need?", "Who Needs Sleep?", "Wishing")
Significant Low Notes:
D3 ("Blacking Out", "Blame It on Me", "Bringing It Home", "Curious", "Down to Earth", "Fifty for a While", "Flying Dreams", "Footprints", "Get Back Up", "Globetrot", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / We Three Kings", "Great Provider", "Green Christmas", "Hanukkah Blessings", "Hold My Hand", "I Am Asking You To", "If I Had $1,000,000", "In the Car", "I Saw Three Ships", "Just a Toy", "Limits", "Live Well", "Lovers in a Dangerous Time", "Off the Hook", "One and Only", "Pinch Me", "Raisins", "Same Thing", "Shoebox", "Snowman", "Sunshine", "Thanks That Was Fun", "Toe to Toe", "Too Old", "What a Good Boy" live Leeds 2010, "Wind It Up", "A Word For That", "Wrap Your Arms Around Me")
C♯3 ("Adrift", "Am I the Only One", "Boomerang", "Canada Dry", "Elf's Lament", "Falling for the First Time", "Half a Heart", "Home", "Keepin' It Real", "Man Made Lake", "Matter of Time", "Roll Out", "Told You So", "Waning Moon", "We Took the Night")
C3 ("Carol of the Bells", "Do They Know It's Christmas?", "God Forbid", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / We Three Kings", "Helicopters", "I Live With It Every Day", "In the Car", "Lookin' Up", "Maybe You're Right", "Smile", "Things", "Tired of Fighting With You", "Watching the Northern Lights", "Who Needs Sleep?", "Wishing", "You + Me Vs The World")
B2 ("Aluminum", "Am I the Only One", "Baby Seat", "Beautiful", "The Canadian Snacktime Trilogy II: Popcorn", "Easy", "Everything Old is New Again", "Good Life", "Half a Heart", "Hold My Hand", "Invisible Fence", "Lovin' Life", "Matter of Time", "My Big Sister", "Never Is Enough", "Off the Hook", "Sell, Sell, Sell", "Told You So", "Too Old", "When I Fall")
B♭2 ("Bag of Bones", "Bringing It Home", "Clearly Lost", "The Old Apartment", "You + Me Vs The World")
A2 ("7 8 9", "Adrift", "Baby Seat", "Best Damn Friend", "Crazy ABCs", "Deck the Stills", "Did I Say That Out Loud?", "The Dream Hotel", "Elf's Lament", "Hold My Hand", "I Don't Like", "Invisible Fence", "Lookin' Up", "Sell, Sell, Sell")
G♯2 ("Home")
G2 ("Bag of Bones", "The Canadian Snacktime Trilogy II: Popcorn", "Clearly Lost", "Get Back Up", "I Don't Like", "Lovers in a Dangerous Time", "The Old Apartment", "What a Wild Tune")
F♯2 ("Beautiful", "Best Damn Friend")
E2 ("7 8 9", "Big Back Yard")
D2 ("What a Wild Tune")
.......................................................
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.
{Questionable Notes}
G5 "Limits [1]
E5 "Get Back Up" [2] [4], "Intermittently" [2], "It's All Been Done" [2]
E♭5 "Shopping" [2] [4]
D5 "Be My Yoko Ono" [5], "Bringing It Home" [1], "Grade 9" [2]
B4 "Fifty For a While" [2], "Internal Dynamo" [2], "Jane" [2]
A2 "Running Out of Ink" [2]
G2 "Lookin' Up" [1]
F♯2 "Happy Birthday" [2],
E2 "Best Damn Friend" [1], "Roll Out" [4]
C♯2 "Keepin' It Real" [4]
.......................................................
[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.
G5 "Limits [1]
E5 "Get Back Up" [2] [4], "Intermittently" [2], "It's All Been Done" [2]
E♭5 "Shopping" [2] [4]
D5 "Be My Yoko Ono" [5], "Bringing It Home" [1], "Grade 9" [2]
B4 "Fifty For a While" [2], "Internal Dynamo" [2], "Jane" [2]
A2 "Running Out of Ink" [2]
G2 "Lookin' Up" [1]
F♯2 "Happy Birthday" [2],
E2 "Best Damn Friend" [1], "Roll Out" [4]
C♯2 "Keepin' It Real" [4]
.......................................................
[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.
{Album Ranges}Gordon (1992): D3 - G4
Maybe You Should Drive (1994): B2 - F♯5
Born on a Pirate Ship (1996): G2 - G♯4
Stunt (1998): B2 - F♯4
Maroon (2000): A2 - B4
Everything to Everyone (2003): B2 - G4
Barenaked for the Holidays (2004): A2 - G4
Barenaked Ladies Are Me (2006): G♯2 - B4
Snacktime! (2008): D2 - A4
All in Good Time (2010): C3 - C♯5
Grinning Streak (2013): F♯2 - B4
Silverball (2015): G2 - B4
Fake Nudes (2017): G2 - D5
Detour de Force (2021): E2 - A4
In Flight (2023): G2 - G4
Maybe You Should Drive (1994): B2 - F♯5
Born on a Pirate Ship (1996): G2 - G♯4
Stunt (1998): B2 - F♯4
Maroon (2000): A2 - B4
Everything to Everyone (2003): B2 - G4
Barenaked for the Holidays (2004): A2 - G4
Barenaked Ladies Are Me (2006): G♯2 - B4
Snacktime! (2008): D2 - A4
All in Good Time (2010): C3 - C♯5
Grinning Streak (2013): F♯2 - B4
Silverball (2015): G2 - B4
Fake Nudes (2017): G2 - D5
Detour de Force (2021): E2 - A4
In Flight (2023): G2 - G4