Who has (or had) the most annoying voice in prog?

[Progbear]

The most annoying vocalists for me are those impersonal singers, whose voices are absolutely non singable, faint and deficient of individual character. I wouldn't name them, there are plenty of those.

It’s all right, you can say Neal Morse.

Steve Hogarth of Marillion, whiny, mumbling voice - cant stand him.

I have no problem with his voice, but I don’t really care for the direction they went in after he joined.

I can't think of anyone in the Flower Kings who sounds Genesis-ish? Maybe you mean Nad Sylvan from Agents of Mercy?

Roine Stolt sounds, to me, like a mellower John Wetton with marbles in his mouth.

I am a bit surprised that so many mention Peter Gabriel and Peter Hammill. I am a bit picky about singers too, and I must admit that these two singers were the reason why I never got into Genesis and VDGG.

I get Hammill. I don’t agree with it, but I get it. He’s a weird singer! Too weird for some to handle with some of his extreme vocalizations. I remember bringing Pawn Hearts home and spinning it for the first time in the company of a friend, and when it got to the middle of “Lemmings,” the bit with PH’s multi-tracked falsetto voices just before “No life lies in the quicksand.” My friend turns to me and says, “What is up with your music?” Gentle Giant’s “Knots” elicited a similar reaction.

But don’t let it be said that PH could not have a delicate, lovely voice on occasion:



As for Gabriel...[smack!] Actually, I kind of get that too, but I think it’s the imperfections in his voice that give it character, same as Derek Shulman, Dagmar Krause, Robert Wyatt and others mentioned in this thread that I nonetheless like/love.

Glad to see that Gary Brooker has not been mentioned. I simply love his voice.

[JJ88]

Hammill is one of the most versatile vocalists in rock, I think- the same guy who sang that is the same one who could shriek out material such as 'Disengage'!

[Bucka001]

Hammill is one of the most versatile vocalists in rock, I think- the same guy who sang that is the same one who could shriek out material such as 'Disengage'!

I can't think of any other vocalist where you could take four carefully chosen songs, play them for someone unfamiliar w/PH, and the person would think he/she is listening to four different singers.

[grego]

Hammill I'd put over all prog vocalists. Crazy voice, and intonation is fantastic. He sounds heavy, hard sometimes, too dramatic, but such is his vision. Hammil, Gabriel and Jon Anderson were most original prog voices.

[Scrotum Scissor]

I can't think of any other vocalist where you could take four carefully chosen songs, play them for someone unfamiliar w/PH, and the person would think he/she is listening to four different singers.

I remember thinking there might be three female singer involved on Art Bears' Winter Songs when I first heard that album, partly because Dagmar Krause's voice appears multitracked on some of the songs there, singing different "roles" in the lyric etc. Hammill has the exact same ability, and furthers it through those dramatic and theatrical narratives of his.

Peter Gabriel was a far more interesting vocalist during his early years as solo artist than with Genesis, IMO.

[JKL2000]

Peter Gabriel. Rough and Squeely. It's not awful but it's the vocalist I like least of the 100 prog bands from the 70s I'm into

LOL. He's easily my favorite. Though he was best in mid-career I'd say.

[iguana]

bit late to the party. one of my listening maximes: “if you don't like the voice there is no way that you'll ever end up enjoying this band”.

hence: neal morse (used to but not any more) • roine stolt (although he has a certain coolness factor paired with abysmally schlocky music) • marco glühmann • daniel gildenlöw • derek shulman • james labrie (used to but not any more, part II) • jon davison • dennis deyoung • elton john • matthew bellamy • those irritants in kaipa • plus, steve hogarth’s whiniest moments are slowly becoming borderline tolerable.

theirs are obviously very fine and respected bands but the door to my enjoyment sadly remains firmly shut. i did try on several occasions. no offence!

[Zeuhlmate]

Lanzetti PFM, when exercising his english
Steve Howe solo

[Galactic Bulldozer]

bit late to the party. one of my listening maximes: “if you don't like the voice there is no way that you'll ever end up enjoying this band”.

but the door to my enjoyment sadly remains firmly shut. i did try on several occasions. no offence!

At the moment a dear friend is undergoing chemo for cancer of the colon. As a believer of positive thought and hypnotherapy, her cousin managed to get the top hypnotherapist in the field to do, for free, several cds from his forthcoming book and I donated my i-pod for her to listen to his therapies. Guess what, she wants to give it back to me as she doesn't like his Northern Irish accent.

[iguana]

At the moment a dear friend is undergoing chemo for cancer of the colon. As a believer of positive thought and hypnotherapy, her cousin managed to get the top hypnotherapist in the field to do, for free, several cds from his forthcoming book and I donated my i-pod for her to listen to his therapies. Guess what, she wants to give it back to me as she doesn't like his Northern Irish accent.

very best wishes to her!

[TheH]

I vote for this guy (and not only for voice)

[nosebone]

I took a leak next to Mark Gormley at NEARfest.

[JKL2000]

I'm curious, how do the people that hate Peter Hammill's singing feel about Mathew Parmenter (Discipline?) Is he a more palatable version? (I like both btw.)

My thought is that the people who don't like Hammill's voice probably prefer a vocalist like Mel Torme. I really don't get the people who don't like Hammill and Peter Gabriel though - they both have somewhat gravelly or rough voices, but that's part of what for me makes them the most exciting vocalists.

[JKL2000]

I took a leak next to Mark Gormley at NEARfest.

I hope that was in the bathroom.

[JKL2000]

bit late to the party. one of my listening maximes: “if you don't like the voice there is no way that you'll ever end up enjoying this band”.

hence: neal morse (used to but not any more) • roine stolt (although he has a certain coolness factor paired with abysmally schlocky music) • marco glühmann • daniel gildenlöw • derek shulman • james labrie (used to but not any more, part II) • jon davison • dennis deyoung • elton john • matthew bellamy • those irritants in kaipa • plus, steve hogarth’s whiniest moments are slowly becoming borderline tolerable.

theirs are obviously very fine and respected bands but the door to my enjoyment sadly remains firmly shut. i did try on several occasions. no offence!

I certainly take no offense, but I think Derek Shulman sounds perfect for GG.

And RE: Hogarth, do you mean it's only Hogarth's whiniest moments that you find bearable? Personally I think Hogarth is excellent.

[The Dark Elf]

Peter Hammill without blinking an eye. I have in the past and will continue to demand that VdGG offer their entire catalog as instrumentals. Then I'll buy them.

[JKL2000]

Oh and Robert Wyatt too, I think Richard, Pye and Robert, the Canterbury lads are just 'too' English for some of you maybe too appreciate, maybe the same way I can't appreciate Springsteen , nothing wrong with that just maybe a cultural thing

As soon as I hear Springsteen's voice on the radio I have to turn the dial away from it - more than anyone else. More boring than anything else, really.

I love Richard Sinclair's voice. I always remember reading where someone described his vocals as "Matter of Fact," and that's exactly how I think of them. It just suits the material somehow. Doesn't distract and lets the words have all the attention, while still being pleasing (to my ear, anyway).

[iguana]

I certainly take no offense, but I think Derek Shulman sounds perfect for GG.

And RE: Hogarth, do you mean it's only Hogarth's whiniest moments that you find bearable? Personally I think Hogarth is excellent.

perhaps my hearing/reception/tolerance has shifted. he used to be an excellent narrator, now he falls prey to the plague of over-emoting. that's just me, probably.

[Scrotum Scissor]

I have in the past and will continue to demand that VdGG offer their entire catalog as instrumentals. Then I'll buy them.

Hammill's music is conceptualized and organized around the vocal narrative - and more specifically around his voice itself. How about removing the whole orchestra from all Shostakovich symphonies, seeing how someone might not particularly enjoy its "sound"?

[Czyszy]

Nad Sylvan's voice to me sounds like even though he's opening his mouth, his throat stays in place in an awkward way. That leads to his vowels sounding very artificial and muffled IMO.

[markwoll]

Necrothread reanimation

[Zeuhlmate]

Jon Anderson is sometimes pushing it.
Bernardo Lanzetti should never sing in english

I have no beef with Peter Hammills voice

[Dave (in MA)]

I'm only seeing this thread because Czyszy bumped it.

I love Richard Sinclair's voice. I always remember reading where someone described his vocals as "Matter of Fact," and that's exactly how I think of them. It just suits the material somehow. Doesn't distract and lets the words have all the attention, while still being pleasing (to my ear, anyway).

Me too, but he bugs both my wife and my brother. One of them said he sounds like a Muppet.

[Baribrotzer]

......but he bugs both my wife and my brother. One of them said he sounds like a Muppet.

Come to think of it, he does sound a little like Kermit - or, more accurately, Jim Henson - only with a British accent.

[Dave (in MA)]

I can think of only two times that Gabriel's voice was annoying:
The affectations on Epping Forest, and Strawberry Fields Forever on the All This And World War II.