Raul Panther III (5,568 views)

[BassSquared]

Member Of: The Protomen (2003-present)
Vocal Range: D2 - G5

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}
C♯6: "Death on Two Legs"* [2],
A5: "Due Vendetta" [5], "Hope Rides Alone" [2],
F♯5: "Total Eclipse of the Heart" [2]
E5: "One Vision"* [1]
E♭5: "Total Eclipse of the Heart" [2]

E2: "Phantom Racer" [1], "The Will of One" [3]
D2: "Give Us the Rope" [2], "Unrest in the House of Light" [1]
.......................................................
[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.

Significant High Notes:

G5: ("The Will of One")
F♯5: ("Mr. Roboto")
F5: ("The Will of One")
E5: ("Built to Last", "Breaking Out", "Due Vendetta"*, "Flash"*, "The Trooper", "Under Pressure"*)
E♭5: ("Danger Zone", "The Hounds" live, "I Still Believe (Great Design)", "Keep Quiet", "Mr. Roboto", "Somebody to Love"*)
D5: ("Built to Last", "Due Vendetta"*, "Flash"*, "Killer Queen"*, "Princes of the Universe", "The Show Must Go On"*, "This City Made Us", "The Trooper", "Under Pressure"*, "Vengeance", "The Will of One")
C♯5: ( "Built to Last", "Danger Zone", "Hammer to Fall"*, "The Hounds" live, "I Want to Break Free"*, "Keep Quiet", "Mr. Roboto", "Princes of the Universe", "The Show Must Go On"*, "This City Made Us")
C5: ("Bohemian Rhapsody"*, "Don't Stop Me Now"*, "Father of Death", "The Fight", "Flash"*, "I Drove All Night", "I Still Believe (Great Design)", "In the Air Tonight", "Killer Queen"*, "Love Kills" live Exit/in 2012, "No Easy Way Out", "One Vision"*, "Remember", "Search the Night", "Sons of Fate", "The Stand (Man or Machine)", "Total Eclipse of the Heart", "The Trooper", "Under Pressure"*, "Vengeance")
B4: ("Because the Night", "Breaking Out", "Death on Two Legs"*, "The Fight", "Hammer to Fall"*, "Hope Rides Alone", "The Hounds" live, "I Want It All"*, "I Want to Break Free"*, "Keep Quiet", "Light Up the Night", "No Easy Way Out", "One Vision"*, "Phantom Racer", "Princes of the Universe", "Remember", "The Show Must Go On"*, "Sons of Fate", "This City Made Us", "Total Eclipse of the Heart", "Unrest in the House of Light", "Vengeance")
B♭4: ("Bohemian Rhapsody"*, "Danger Zone", "Death on Two Legs"*, "Don't Stop Me Now"*, "The Good Doctor", "Hope Rides Alone", "I Drove All Night", "I Still Believe (Great Design)", "Killer Queen"*, "Love Kills" live Exit/in 2012, "Search the Night", "Somebody to Love"*)
A4: ("Beards Going Nowhere", "Due Vendetta", "Father of Death", "The Good Doctor", "Hammer to Fall"*, "Hold Back the Night", "Hope Rides Alone", "I Drove All Night", "I Want to Break Free"*, "In the Air Tonight", "One Vision"*, "Phantom Racer", "Scandal"*, "The State Vs. Thomas Light", "Unrest in the House of Light")

Significant Low Notes:

D3: ("Breaking Out", "I Drove All Night", "In the Air Tonight", "Killer Queen"*, "One Vision"*, "Scandal"*, "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)", "Under Pressure"*)
C♯3: ("Light Up the Night", "Princes of the Universe")
C3: ("Beards Going Nowhere", "Don't Stop Me Now"*, "I Drove All Night")
B2: ("Breaking Out", "Light Up the Night", "No Easy Way Out", "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)", "The Will of One")
B♭2: ("Search the Night")
A2: ("Beards Going Nowhere", "Breaking Out", "Flash"*, "Hope Rides Alone", "I Am No Lionheart", "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)", "Unrest in the House of Light", "The Will of One")
G♯2: ("I Still Believe (Great Design)")
G2: ("Beards Going Nowhere", "The Good Doctor", "Here Comes the Arm", "I Am No Lionheart", "No Easy Way Out", "Search the Night", "Sons of Fate", "The Stand (Man or Machine)", "The State Vs. Thomas Light", "Unrest in the House of Light")
F♯2: ("I Am No Lionheart", "No Easy Way Out", "Sons of Fate")
F2: ("Father of Death", "The Good Doctor", "Here Comes the Arm", "The State Vs. Thomas Light")
E2: ("Due Vendetta", "Father of Death", "Sons of Fate", "Unrest in the House of Light)"
D2: ("The Good Doctor", "Here Comes the Arm")


* marks songs performed live in Nashville Dec. 10, 2010 as part of The Protomen Present: A Night of Queen.

.......................................................
Blue marks soft, disconnected falsetto or whistle notes.
Green marks distorted or screamed 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.

With their geeky subject matter, elaborate live shows, and unusual stage names, it would be easy to write off Nashville retro-rock collective The Protomen as a mere novelty. However, behind the large aviator shades of frontman and multi-instrumentalist Raul Panther III is a genuinely impressive vocal talent. His chief strength as a vocalist is his versatility, able to evoke singers from Freddie Mercury to Johnny Cash while still always sounding like himself. His raw range may not appear unusually large, but his power and support throughout almost all of it is admirable, with dramatic, raspy, country-inflected lows existing alongside powerful fifth-octave mixed wails that would fit in perfectly in '80s AOR. Of course, he isn't perfect- his falsetto is rather poor (and thus rarely used), and his lows are often weak or dodged in live performances, but these are minor flaws in the grand scheme of things. A voice uniquely suited to eclectic vintage-inspired hard rock with heart, Panther is arguably the main reason a rock opera inspired by Mega Man of all things can still convey such emotional gravitas.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Album Ranges}
The Protomen (2005): E2-G5
Act II: The Father of Death (2009): D2-E5
A Night of Queen (Live 2011): A2-E5
The Cover Up: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture (2013): F♯2-F♯5

[Henny Macc]

Oh hey, I had no idea we've had a thread for him this whole time! Awesome, I was thinking of notewatching him myself, but I guess this will save me the trouble. Gambler also has some wicked high notes though - could be worth doing a thread for her as well.


Here's a new song that the Protomen started playing live this year off Act III. Panther hits B4s on the verse, a bunch of C5s on the chorus, and some strong A4s at the end.


This feels like a VERY borderline case for being musically countable, but figured I'd share it for consideration. Sounds quite low - I think I'm hearing at least E2. This intro leads into a cover of "Self Control" by Laura Branigan, where he hits some A4s at 49:09 and I think some whispery C♯3s at 49:58.


Some really good B4s here from another unreleased song off Act III performed at the same show as the last one I linked (which I was in the audience for btw ). Also hits some A4s at several other points in the song.

[Deleted]

You forgot to add a parentheses at the end of the D3 section.

[Henny Macc]

I'm hearing some short melody D2s at the beginning of the lines in "Unrest in the House of Light".


I also don't think I would color the "The Will of One" G5 blue personally. You can hear a bit of a register break on the way up to it, but it's still a pretty strong note and really not something I would describe as "soft falsetto" by any stretch.