Vocals

[Vyn]

Recently, the topic of vocal delivery was brought up in Charger's thread, Ballads...Love 'em or hate 'em?. Rather than going on about it there, I thought I'd create this new thread. I think it's a great topic!

Since Ozzy's vocal delivery was the spark, here's what I think: his speaking voice carries such a thick accent (to my ears, anyway), with starts and stops and filler words (like, "uh") that I have a hard time understanding what he says most of the time. His singing voice, however is another matter entirely. Ozzy Osbourne possesses a distinctive vocal style. Over the years, his voice has been one of the defining elements of heavy metal music. It is an incredible natural instrument.

While Ozzy has never been known for having an exceptionally wide vocal range compared to some other singers, he has a range that spans roughly two octaves. Historically, he's been noted to comfortably sing from E2 to E4, though specific songs might push slightly beyond these boundaries. I think it is essential to note that Ozzy's true strength as a vocalist lies not necessarily in his range but in his unique timbre, phrasing, and emotional delivery. These qualities have made him an unmistakable and iconic voice in the world of metal music. Or any music, for that matter.

[Zzzptm]

While not my favorite Sabbath singer, he's one of them. My son cannot stand his sound, though, never did like him. When I played a Dio track, however, he had found his favorite singer, just like that.

Ozzy's vocal storytelling is similar to Donald Fagen. Fagen's voice can send some people right up the wall, but it's got the right sound for the tracks Steely Dan lays down. Dan's first album with vocalists other than Fagen just sounds wrong when he's not singing. Yes, he's raspy and acid, but that just *works* when you're singing about small time losers, fallen drug dealers, and how Guadalajara won't do.

[Charger]

Oh boy...

Okay here goes...and I 'm sure Jack is going to find ways to try to twist and turn everything I say here once again but I'm gonna start by saying something that I really don't need to say...but here's a NEWSFLASH people:

I LIKE OZZY!

I've always liked Ozzy's voice. I've always said Ozzy has one of THE most distinctive voices in Metal. The first 6 Sabbath albums wouldn't be the same without him on vocals! They wouldn't be as distinctive with anyone else on vocals.
But no one, and I mean NO ONE can say he is a GREAT singer. From sheer techincal vocal abilities he is hands down the worst one Sabbath had...but again that's not really the point in his case. It's not about that. It's about his VOICE not his singing abilities.

He also has an uncanny ability to turn riffs into catchy vocal melodies. He takes the riff and turns it into a melody. He's the only Sabbath singer that's done that. Ronnie, Tony, Ian and even Glenn had a very different approach. They all wrote melodies on top of Riffs and their melodies were more complex and seperate from the riffs, but not as catchy necessarily and not as sing-a-long-typey. Very different approaches. Tony speaks of this quite a bit in his book too. It's how Ozzy took his riffs and just started singing with them almost instantly. That's a very special skill as well which I think doesn't get enough credit.

I too know a lot of people who can't stand Ozzy's voice. And unlike some people I can understand that too and respect that.

Metal world would not be same without Ozzy that's for sure.

Also I think I need to clarify a bit on the whole emotional thing...Ozzy can put a lot of emotion in his vocals, but his voice restricts it quite a bit as well. His emotion comes more through his delivery not through his voice. If that makes sense....well it does for me anyways. And with a voice like his it's more evident in faster/heavier songs than in Ballads. Ozzy lacks certain softness and vocal changes which I think ballads need. Which is why singers with deeper voices or singers with wider ranges work better in those type of songs. But that's somewhat subjective as I said.

I think the best way to describe Ozzy is that he is a VOCALIST more than a singer...there is a difference...and it doesn't need to be a negative thing.

[Zzzptm]

To be sure, I have never liked Dio's versions of the Ozzy-era songs. Big Ian does a better job of getting his voice into the song, as does Martin.

Speaking of Big Ian, while he could do OK with Ozzy material, I always found his covers of DP Mk1 material (Hush aside) to be stiff and awkward in delivery. He liked singing his own stuff and did it very well. There was a big change in his voice after his surgery in the early 80s and he restricted himself from screaming like before, and he was much more comfortable NOT singing Child in Time anymore, because he knew he couldn't do it justice.

[Charger]

I personally quite liked Ronnie's take on the classics...the only ones that didn't really work out were Sweet Leaf and Paranoid. He never got those down. But War Pigs and especially Black Sabbath and NIB he nailed. He just didn't sing those songs he preformed them! And made them sound like his own.

Ian did good on the classics... Supernaut in particular.

I haven't heard Ian do much of MK1 material part from Hush to be honest. I think they did do some during the In Rock tour but I don't think I've heard more than maybe one show from that tour...and can't remember the setlist.

Ian adapted well with his changing voice after the Born Again era...and onwards. I think he never really tried to over push his voice up to a breaking point on tour.

[Zzzptm]

Older DP live sets included Mandrake Root, never did like Ian's delivery on it, glad it turned into Space Truckin'.

[Vyn]

Singing or yelling?

[Zzzptm]

Buncha screaming hippies that dress up like they just robbed a pawn shop all they care about is the BEAT whatever happened to how we used to like nice boys like Pat Boone?

That being said, Pat Boone is always singing on his tracks. Never belting, never shouting, always singing. He drives me up the wall, but props to his vocal capabilities.

And Mr. West is indeed belting it out to the back row. He *can* sing, but he chooses not to do so on this track.

[Vyn]

I think that if the lead-in to a song is cowbell, the vocalist must yell. It's in a contract somewhere.

[Charger]

I'd say that's more yelling than singing. Kind of like a rock version of Tom Araya!

For the aggressive music like Slayer the yelling style vocals work well but not with music like this.

[Zzzptm]

I think that if the lead-in to a song is cowbell, the vocalist must yell. It's in a contract somewhere.

PRODUCER: What are you doing?

SINGER: Singing.

PRODUCER: Did you not hear the cowbell intro?

SINGER: Oh shit, my bad.

PRODUCER: OK, roll tape, and I need to hear some YELLING!

SINGER: Gives a thumbs-up

[Zzzptm]

I'd say that's more yelling than singing. Kind of like a rock version of Tom Araya!

For the aggressive music like Slayer the yelling style vocals work well but not with music like this.

I think it works OK for this particular song and a few others like it, based on their aggressive introduction and riffing.

And when it comes to metal, I think Slayer's yelling does work much better than King Diamond's falsetto shrieking or the cookie monster vacuum cleaner vocals I hear in other bands. I respect King Diamond the way I respect Pat Boone - the man can carry a tune - but his style sends me straight up the wall. Funny that I put the two on the bench, sitting together.

[Zzzptm]

And there's something definitely to be said for rock and roll sung by voices with a raspy quality to them. Get a little growl or rumble in there, like Robert Plant, Rod Stewart, or David Coverdale. But, the song's got to support that rasp with enough oomph to it.

For example, two songs released around the same time, both featuring Tommy Bolin on guitar. One from the James Gang and one from Deep Purple, both with a similar feel to them:

Both the singers have that rasp in the voice, but the James Gang song comes across to me as not totally finished. The stronger beat and drive in the chorus and last portion is perfect for the vocals, but most of the singing is done during lighter-instrumented parts. By contrast, the Deep Purple number is heavy from start to finish, with a lighter part reserved for a guitar solo. But Coverdale's vocals are well-supported by the heavy accompaniment. And even at the start of the lighter part, Coverdale lifts up the foot on the gas and sings a little without the raspy edge, fits the mood real nice like that. By the time we're back to the hard and heavy finish, Coverdale's roaring again at full blast.

[Charger]

And when it comes to metal, I think Slayer's yelling does work much better than King Diamond's falsetto shrieking or the cookie monster vacuum cleaner vocals I hear in other bands. I respect King Diamond the way I respect Pat Boone - the man can carry a tune - but his style sends me straight up the wall. Funny that I put the two on the bench, sitting together.

I have pretty much the same feelings towards King Diamond. The music is quite good and he clearly is very talented and abled singer but that style is just too much for me to handle...always has been.

[Zzzptm]

I'll say this - James Hetfield is tolerable when he growls, but becomes unlistenable for me when he starts to sing. And his growl/shout works for Metallica, but I do wonder how the songs would be improved with having Ozzy sing them, as I think he'd actually be well-suited to the way the band plays, particularly on the first three albums.