If you do not know Ms. Christmas from Made out of Babies then I am going to just go ahead and assume you know her from the album she did with Cult of Luna. The musicians she recruited to help her with this album provide a reasonable expectation of what sonic zip codes it's going take us in, as they include the guitarist from Cult of Luna, the drummer from Spotlights, KEN Mode's bassist, and John from Candiria adding guitars as well. So pretty every genre with post in front of it. Julie adds a playfully unhinged enthusiasm to her vocal performance, that reminds me a little of Rasputina. But with less baroque wistfulness.
The first two songs are straightforward almost rock songs and the more profound experimentation does not occur until "The Ash" which lumbers like a robot coming to life. The angular ambiance works well to counterbalance her more emotive performance. If Bjork were to dabble in rock music that rocker harder than the Sugarcudes the results might be similar. "Think Skin " hits hard, with a burly bass and her more screamed vocals. She does not commit to her full-on growl until "End of the World" which wanders into more sludge-infested waters, though with rock hooks worked in. At 48 her voice continues to hold up well. "Silver Dollars' covers more ground, but is less focused, though very true to who she is.
"Kids" is more hopeful, almost coming closer to an Arcade Fire-like celebration of sound. 'the Lighthouse" wanders back to a more reflective groove. This gives her voice more room to be fully nuanced. It builds into a heavier explosion, that feels like a 90s soft-to-loud moment. "Blast " is more chaotic and carries noise -rock tendencies. The last song looms like a storm as it moves with a doomy trudge. Her vocals dictate the dynamics. Lyrically I can appreciate the "no god or heaven" sentiments. Overall this album is a great listen, she is true to her creative identity and always full of surprises, I will give it a 9.5, and see how it grows on me.
Now half way into our list of the top 200 greatest rock singers, inspired by the travesty that was Rolling Stone's supposed list. Where they got it wrong, this list hopes to be more effective, not only focusing on rock singers and those adjacent to the genre. If you have been reading you know the focus is not only on technical vocal ability, in terms of range and power, as well as their dynamics, phrasing and the overall character of their voice. Can they emote from different places? How well does their voice hold up live? . 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. There are also not going to be any Bob Dylan like singers, who are better songwriters than vocalists.
. 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 keen on singers who are derivative of other singers. The bulk of these are doing their own thing, the few paying tribute to other artists have still made enough of an impact with their music. Having a unique vocal quality is going to be one of the most important factors often trumping technical ability. If they sound too much like Steve Perry from Journey after listening to their vocal coach rather than developing their own style, it is also not going to fly. Some of these might have been ignored by mainstream music media, but 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.
100- Ray Lamontagne
This Soulful folk vocalist carries bluesy husk to his voice that allow him to carry a retro vibe that recalls classic Motowm. It is not about range or power as much as it where he puts his voice, which is in all the right places.
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99-David Drainman
The Disturbed front-man aside from the spastic monkey noises he sometimes makes, owes more to classic metal singers than the other singer from the nu-metal scene his band got lumped into. With each album they moved further from those tropes allowing him to his display his aggressive yet melodic style of singing
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98-Julie Christmas
The former vocalist of Made Out of Babies qualified her self to be on this list due to the quirky nature of her voice that goes from growls to sounding like an insane preschooler, but she can also belt it out with the best of them and has matured into an excellent singer over the years.
97- Anneke van Giersbergen
Flowery female sirens adding a softer layer of atmosphere to metal was not always a thing. It was not until Anneke graced the Gathering with her pristine pipes that this came about.
96-Ics Vortex
The Arcturus vocalist is perhaps most known for his soaring clean vocals he lent to the golden years of Dimmu Borgir where he stole the show with his operatic hooks while playing bass. This provided the needed contrast to their normal growls.
95- Ripper Owens
Being the man who replaced Rob Halford is a heavy title to carry around your career. Instead of just being a tribute act he preformed well with bands like Iced Earth, to show he can be his own man.
94-Ian Astbury
Another singer who filled in for an icon is the Cult vocalist who filled in for Jim Morrison. He has more power and range than Morrison, his powerful baritone is what makes the Cult sound so distinct.
93-Keith Caputo
When Life of Agony broke in the 90s, their style of melodic hard core was in many ways ahead of it's time thanks the pained bellow of Caputo that could smooth into a chilling croon. Other wings tried to fill the gap during Caputo's time away from the band and failed because they could not capture the raw emotion of suffering his voice held.
92--Jaz Coleman
His one of a kind voice that inspired the roar of most industrial bands thanks to the output of hit band Killing Joke, is also very nuance and he is capable of a new wave like croon to give a depth of dynamics
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91-Mat McNerney
His most notable work is with Beastmilk aka Grave Pleasures and Hex Vessel, which shows how flexible his evocative baritone is. He can go from grim post punk to 60's psych-folk. He sings with both power and feeling in equal measure.
On the 8th release by this band I think it was high time they did something to switch it up a bit so the same old sludge didn't get stale. The first song stays fairly close to home. Though they have opened up a more expansive sound with a greater range of melody. Christmas sings the same refrain over and over again almost in the background. So this is still very much Cult of Luna's show. Julie does make her self known to a greater extent on the second song. The two different styles of vocals collide a few minutes into "Chevron" after she has already laid down an almost poppy vocal. This song does go in a somewhat darker and more angular direction, which are two key components to quality music in my book. The sludge thing is still there and playing it pretty straight when they dig into that direction. So it's up to Christmas to get weird. In the songs final minutes it spaces out more like Bjork.
The two hit their stride on "the Wreck of S.S Needle". Her voice gets more aggressive and then they relax back into the verse where she has more of a pixie croon. This hits a fine balance of melodic nuance and sonic dynamics. "Approaching Transition" has a more languid pace. Christmas takes a breather as Cult of Luna's singer approaches this song with an effects drenched croon that has more in common with Pink Floyd, if Roger Waters was even more depressed than he was on the Final Cut. after the slow-core post rock it builds into a more Neurosis like heaviness.
They close out the album with the 14 minute "Cygnus". They waste no time including Christmas as her vocals open the song. The riff it kicks into is pretty cool. When the harsh vocals come in, it's hard to tell if it's her or not. Then a weird proggy guitar part starts noodling over it all. She croons calmly along until everything explodes at the nine minute mark. Overall this album is a success. I'll round it up to a 9.5. While some of the songs might go to excess in terms of length, they keep my attention . There is not a fast forward classic on this one, some points are just more powerful than others, but it all balances out.
