Songs with great vocals

[Asymptote Angel]

Really depends what you like.

I like Kamelot's vocals personally. The lead singer used to be an operatic singer so when he belts during a rock out, it really reinforces the instrumental drive.

One of their more orchestral songs:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=C2aYDXn6whY

Heavier one:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=J-TUufvK0gU&feature=related

YES! I have a Kamelot hoody that I wear everywhere. My favorite Kamelot vocals have to be on Center of the Universe from the Epica album. It's so pensive, and it sounds perturbed and almost numb.

My favorite vocalist has to be Tony Kakko from Sonata Arctica. He has a great range, amazing dynamics, and a bone-chilling vibrato. Everything he's ever recorded is wonderfully sincere and emotional. He sounds great live, too.

Though it relies heavily on instrumental accompaniment, I think Kurt Cobain had a special knack for getting emotion across through singing. I find Nirvana has a very cathartic effect on me. The only other band who hits me like that is Pink Floyd, and they're great too.

 

[Crowghast]

The only songs that I can do, from experience before the crowd, happens to be Gregorian Chanting and insane gibbering, cackling, hacking, wheezing and hoarse screaming/loud whispering.
It's like my signature. Industrial Metal stuff mostly.

I can do a little of all the other heavy metal, industrial and alternative ranges. But anything to high and melodic and I just remix it to sound like i'm running from a Yog-Sothoth gate. With tentacles up my ass.

Just stick to your own vocal range, find a singing style that suits the music in your head, and remix EVERY song you hear as practice.

 

[Alex_P]

Even atonal vocals like black or death metal grunts and shrieks are musical, but only within the context of the rest of the music. I'm not sure how you can fault that compositionally, and just because a singer performs a certain part that is less impressive on its own does not mean the singer is particularly good or bad - in fact, being able to sing a part and being able to sound natural without standing out is something I think requires quite a bit of talent to do.

I don't fault it compositionally. However, note the first sentence of the original post: "I do singing lessons and I am looking for songs that i can sing."

How would one meaningfully learn or practice "Highlander" in singing lessons or independent practice?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvae5Lt0smI

I think this is a better example of a song you can just sing without the rest of the bits, although I feel a lot of the "power" part of the "power ballad" is still coming from the guitar.

-- Alex

 

[Hippobatman]

Highlander (The One) - Lost Horizon
Crazy vocals, not for beginners

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj5PWLXC7Qo
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUHnt9ubjwk&feature=related

... So, how would you actually turn that into a song you can just sing?

Even if you cut out all the guitar solos, the singer's mostly singing around the guitar. His bit doesn't form enough of a coherent melody to stand on its own, just like, despite their important role in creating the feel of the whole piece, playing just the drum part of most metal songs is going to give you incoherent trash. Now, with some other genres of music, the singer could cheat a bit by scat-singing some of the instrumental part, but you can't really scat-sing metal guitar.

Compare that to, say, Vienna Teng's "The Tower" (link to file, if anyone cares [http://viennateng.com/listen/]), which is representative of a very different genre, the modern "singer-songwriter" style piece. That's a song where the vocals are really the mainstay. Removing the instruments would definitely change the feel of the music, since they're used very carefully to accentuate and punctuate the lyrics, but it would still be a whole, coherent song.

-- Alex

Now, I don't possess any wast knowledge about the noble art of singing, or indeed any other form of musical activities. However, I do recognize great talent if struck by it. And Daniel Heiman isn't a bad singer.
I'm aware of the duration of said song is over 12 minutes long, and might not be appropriate at all for singing lessons, but then again, the topic's title is "songs with great vocals" and you can't say that Heiman is a bad singer.

I apologize if you didn't find my first suggestion constructive, and with a bit of hindsight maybe it wasn't, though I feel I succeeded to answer accordingly with the topic title.

- Cheers

 

[CoverYourHead]

The newest albums by Symphony X have the best vocals ever, yeah they're a metal band, but the singer is amazing!

 

[searanox]

How would one meaningfully learn or practice "Highlander" in singing lessons or independent practice?

That's why he's in a band. What do you want me to do, link you to a video of someone singing scales? We're talking about songs with great vocals, not songs that are good for singing practice.

While we're on the subject of good vocals, I have to say that Mikael still floors me with pretty much every performance. He's only gotten better over the years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtkCcMLnOOc

 

[SonicMTD]

Tenacious D: Master Exploder
Oasis: The Masterplan, Where did it all go wrong
COLD: Wasted Years
Gordie Sampson: We are young and so is the night, Davey Jones, All I know, Sunburn, Revolving Door
GNR: Paradise City, Sweet Child of Mine

here are some songs where the vocals really stand out for me.

 

[MattyboyJ]

"Sea of No Cares" by Great Big Sea. Cool concept behind the lyrics too.

 

[nekolux]

Radiohead songs have very nice vocals form thom yorke. His range is huge though, if im not wrong with his falsetto he can go across 4 octaves. For a tenor voice i would say fake plastic trees? That has a part where he goes falsetto though, still try it out. You and whose army is pretty good for tenor.

Mmmm what elsh, most of the guy singers in Broken social scene have a tenor tone so you can try them. Sondre lerche is good too but he's just a tad higher. He doesnt break into falsettos though so you should check him out too.

 

[dov3rsan]

Heut' ist der Tag (today is the day) by Die Apokalyptischen Reiter. If your lookin for a chalenge or for somthing in english Ghost Of Freedom by Iced Earth Barlow's got an awesome vocal range or for damn near imposible Machine Gunn Eddie by Nitro Jim Gillette range is disturbing hope this was somewhat helpfull