Inspired to right the wrongs of Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 200 Singers list, which included pop artists with no singing skills beyond Autotune along with a lack of metal / rock singers. I took on the ambitious task of making my own. As a singer myself, I key in on vocals first and foremost when listening to songs. In making this list I not only judged them according to their technical vocal ability when it comes to things like range and power, but also other dynamics brought to the table regarding phrasing and the character of their voice. Other important factors include their ability to emote from different places and how well their voice holds up on stage. If you are just making magic in the studio alone, then you might not fare so well on this list.
Things like lyrical content and the instruments they play do not factor in as these ranking are based on vocal merit alone. How they control a crowd or their entertainment value as performers is also not a factor; there are some great front men who are also sub-par singers. The same can be said of song writers which is why most Bob Dylan songs sound better covered by someone else. Needless to say, ole Robert Zimmerman is not making the cut.
Most pop singers won't appear here, but there are a few country or jazz singers who crossover just enough to qualify for this list, while having a significant influence on rock music. Don't expect rappers on this list or metal vocalists who just scream or growl, but never actually sing. I am also not keen on singers who are derivative of other singers. The bulk of these have to be doing their own thing, though a couple are basically tribute acts to other artists but still make enough of an impact with their music. Having a unique vocal quality is going to be one of the most important factors sometimes trumping technical ability. If they sound too much like Steve Perry from Journey or that they have listened to their vocal coach too much rather than developing their own style, then that is something that is also not going to fly.
With that said do not expect to see a great deal of technically proficient power and progressive metal singers on here, so it cannot be said I am giving metal more of a priority, though there are some singers who might be otherwise ignored by mainstream media. By the time we get to the top 10 I am sure it will all make sense, so here are the Top 200 greatest rock singers.
200-Neil Young
He is a better guitarist than singer, though his high reedy tenor is very emotive with the song below serving as an example of why he belongs on this list.
199-Gordan Gano
The lead singer of the Violent Femmes took what punk singers did before him and added a country twang along with a Gospel like passion with which is delivers his hymns praising the glory of murder and masturbation.
198-Gared O' Donnell
The main man of Planes Mistaken for Stars died by the same anguish that he emoted each raspy note from,
197- Marilyn Manson
The shock rocker's image overshadows his pipes, but he can sing when he feels like it.
196 John Vanderslice
This underground icon of 2000's indie rock carries right blend of apathy and tormented self-reflection in his often-plaintive tenor.
195-Rozz Williams
The iconic front man of Christian Death is the king of mournfully creepy phrasing which pretty much birthed the death rock genre. A prime example of while he is one of my favorite singers, as the best at what he does, I acknowledge his limitations.
194- Tom Waits
There are singers who draw influence from Waits, but none who Waits sounds like. Even with his rasp he can sing when he sets his mind to it.
193- Iggy Pop
He might be a king of early punk rock, but his true vocal ability was not heard until a decade later.
192-King Dude
Spoiler Alert... Johnny Cash , is not going to be on this list, he talks more than he sings, and if I am in the mood for that sort of thing, I want it coming from less Christian influence, so this guy fills that void for me.
191-Bruce Springsteen
Of the first ten entries on this list, I listen to Bruce the least, most of the time his voice sounds like a New Jersey cab driver who smokes a pack a day, then he his capable of delivering a croon on a song like the one below that earns his place here.
O.k before we get into how the stage was set with cob webs draped over the drums and mic stand a roses abounding lets get the elephant out of the room... Some goth die-hards will be reluctant to give the non- Rozz Williams line-up of the seminal death -rock act a chance, if they don't out right scorn it. Valor took over as the singer in 1985 and Williams tried to reclaim the name in 95 resulting in a legal battle. Which Valor claims never took place, maybe it didn't I was too high at the time to keep up or care about that drama. He said it all went down with Cleopatra Records and they didn't want to deny Rozz's fan and said his version just had to say featuring Rozz Williams. Sound fair enough as long as his version said featuring Valor Kand but it's water under the bridge unless you ask the people over a rozz.net on Facebook who are still trolling the Christian Death page to make sure justice is done. The conclusion I came to is this...it's like Ozzy and Dio. Ozzy is Black Sabbath. Rozz is Christian Death. Dio is technically a better singer than Ozzy, just as Valor is technically a better singer than Rozz , however both Ozzy and Rozz have the personality that makes their bands come to life. Mob Rules and Heaven & Hell are good albums. Sex, Drugs and Jesus Christ is a good album. So it's ok to go see Valor as it was o.k to go see the Dio Sabbath. The big difference being Rozz Williams is dead, so there are no other options, so we get off the hook better than Sabbath fans because Dio could still sing his songs and he is dead , Ozzy is back with the band but can no longer sing. Now that they years and the drug lifestyle have worn on Valor as well he sounds more like Rozz than he use to and after last night the playing field was leveled vocally between the too but he still hits more of the notes than Ozzy
Maitri who joined the band as the bass player back in 1992, took a more commanding presence on stage than Valor , who introduced himself as "Satan or at least that who some people think he is " this kind of deprecating humor took on a Spinal Tap air. Valor almost seemed apologetic at times and this being the third date of the tour maybe he just needed to get his sea legs back on stage. Maitri held the audiences attention for a few reasons depending on which members of the audience you asked. Young goth boys who hadn't ventured out from in front of their computers since dragon con to see a woman in the flesh where particularly enamored by her, as she was clad like a sequined stripper. Her high heels seemed like an odd fit to stalk the stage in while slinging her bass and her skirt was more like a few strands of black to decorate her panties. It was more than she is wearing on the cover of her album "lover of sin" and like Thrill Kill Kult they adopted a very over sexual theme since the 90's so they stuck to that theme, despite rocks steps toward feminism, but like metal this kind of sleaze goes back to the bdsm themes in early goth, so some objectification applies. Hey it worked for Lords of Acid. Drummer Jason Frantz did and excellent job of keeping the songs moving. Drummers are never the strong point to goth, come name some great goth drummers...I'll be waiting. The bass players normally run the show and let the guitarist and singer romantically waltz around the proceedings, so having a drummer that was really solid gave them more of a metal edge. The newer material they Valor said was being introduced and sold exclusively on this tour was much more metal at one point there was a riff that reminded me of something from Metallica's Black Album,so almost dumbing it down metal. This did prompt Valor to explain what tuning his guitar down to drop d meant. The crowd did fill in a little better for Christian Death, though the Rozz resent would be one suspected reason for the low turn out. I only caught the opening band locals Board of Whores best attempt to win the crow over with a cover of Concrete Blond, when I asked the bartender how the rest of their set was she said very 80's, so there is her word for. If asked a decade to pick for Christian Death featuring Valor Kand's set was I would say very 90's. It was a good decade for Cleopatra Records so little wonder thats where their evolution ended them up at. I think it would be a nice gesture to the fans and an olive branch to do a tour that served as a Tribute to Rozz, reach out to bands like Mephisto Waltz and Sex Gang Children with Rikk Agnew , Gitane Demone, and Eva O. It wouldn't be goth without the drama and what else have they got to do. Sure if Valor swings back though town I'll saunter in again and hope for the best.
