Bad vocal performances on great songs
Discussion
For sure it's out of tune, no question.
'No More Tears' Ozzy Osbourne springs to mind ... as you say it's baffling how these get out the door...
As an aside, since c.1998 there have been almost no (pop) records released with tuning issues.... quite the opposite in fact; reason being: Autotune.
Which makes me respect the performance on something like 'New York' Alicia Keys - complete with slightly pitchy vocals ... a lot more....at least you know it was a real performance.
But there is a difference between 'slightly pitchy' and what Decker did ... that's just ... wrong!
'No More Tears' Ozzy Osbourne springs to mind ... as you say it's baffling how these get out the door...
As an aside, since c.1998 there have been almost no (pop) records released with tuning issues.... quite the opposite in fact; reason being: Autotune.
Which makes me respect the performance on something like 'New York' Alicia Keys - complete with slightly pitchy vocals ... a lot more....at least you know it was a real performance.
But there is a difference between 'slightly pitchy' and what Decker did ... that's just ... wrong!
Edited by zedmtrappe on Thursday 9th November 16:42
zedmtrappe said:
As an aside, since c.1998 there have been almost no (pop) records released with tuning issues.... quite the opposite in fact; reason being: Autotune.
Sadly nobody suggested autotune to Mick Hucknall, who has managed to sing out of tune for the entirety of the 21st Century.Well this thread is timely - anyone seen this story?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpdpn88zzydo
Tracy Chapmans original version of Fast Car is perfection itself: a delivery dripping with desperation, emotion and the stark reality of life.
Luke Combs version is tepid and vastly inferior in every way but now wins awards.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpdpn88zzydo
Tracy Chapmans original version of Fast Car is perfection itself: a delivery dripping with desperation, emotion and the stark reality of life.
Luke Combs version is tepid and vastly inferior in every way but now wins awards.
Roxy Music had some classic songs but I've never really liked Bryan Ferry's voice. A sort of mumble with excessive vibrato so that both the melody and the words are indistinct. On More Than This, he somehow answers to sing the word "this" without really pronouncing the "s", all the way through the song.
272BHP said:
Well this thread is timely - anyone seen this story?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpdpn88zzydo
Tracy Chapmans original version of Fast Car is perfection itself: a delivery dripping with desperation, emotion and the stark reality of life.
Luke Combs version is tepid and vastly inferior in every way but now wins awards.
Good call - I went back and listened to the words of Fast Car - really bittersweet storytelling. I didn't appreciate the lyrics first time round; just appreciated Tracy Chapman's delivery. Thanks !https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpdpn88zzydo
Tracy Chapmans original version of Fast Car is perfection itself: a delivery dripping with desperation, emotion and the stark reality of life.
Luke Combs version is tepid and vastly inferior in every way but now wins awards.
Pretty much any bob dylan song, the tunes themselves are pretty good, can he sing? ….Not so much, he’s whiny, nasally and weak lunged.
To have written All Along the Watchtower indicates a modicum of talent, yet I can’t help but feel it pales into comparison with the Hendrix version, which even now causes a tingle when I hear it.
Oh and for the the record (ahem), I don’t mind Carol Deckers aforementioned singing, as was said in another reply, at least it sounds real!
To have written All Along the Watchtower indicates a modicum of talent, yet I can’t help but feel it pales into comparison with the Hendrix version, which even now causes a tingle when I hear it.
Oh and for the the record (ahem), I don’t mind Carol Deckers aforementioned singing, as was said in another reply, at least it sounds real!
Edited by wibble cb on Friday 10th November 00:13
wibble cb said:
Pretty much any bob dylan song, the tunes themselves are pretty good, can he sing? ….Not so much, he’s whiny, nasally and weak lunged.
To have written All Along the Watchtower indicates a modicum of talent, yet I can’t help but feel it pales into comparison with the Hendrix version, which even now causes a tingle when I hear it.
Oh and for the the record (ahem), I don’t mind Carol Deckers aforementioned singing, as was said in another reply, at least it sounds real!
All Along the Watchtower is just 3 chords repeated over and over, so musically uninteresting but with clever lyrics (standard Dylan fare I suppose). Jimi spiced it up with a different arrangement, different chord voicings, and a great guitar solo.To have written All Along the Watchtower indicates a modicum of talent, yet I can’t help but feel it pales into comparison with the Hendrix version, which even now causes a tingle when I hear it.
Oh and for the the record (ahem), I don’t mind Carol Deckers aforementioned singing, as was said in another reply, at least it sounds real!
Edited by wibble cb on Friday 10th November 00:13
Boo-urns said:
Settle a bet.
An argument has broken out about Carol Decker’s vocal performance on “China in Your Hand”.
I maintain that she’s wildly out of tune throughout this song. I quite like her as a singer but, to me, that vocal performance is painful. Really agonising. I can’t get my head around how they let it out on record. I did some Googling and it turns out Gary Barlow, for what it’s worth, agrees with me, and said so on the X Factor.
My friend completely disagrees. He thinks it sounds fine. And surely the problem must be with me — after all, why would they let it out if it was that bad?
.
You got me listening to it again! Great great song, so assume I’ve glossed over the tuning all these years. An argument has broken out about Carol Decker’s vocal performance on “China in Your Hand”.
I maintain that she’s wildly out of tune throughout this song. I quite like her as a singer but, to me, that vocal performance is painful. Really agonising. I can’t get my head around how they let it out on record. I did some Googling and it turns out Gary Barlow, for what it’s worth, agrees with me, and said so on the X Factor.
My friend completely disagrees. He thinks it sounds fine. And surely the problem must be with me — after all, why would they let it out if it was that bad?
.
so which bits in particular? It can’t be all the song, surely? I used to work out guitar parts to songs by ear so like to think my ear is pretty good. So I’m really intrigued (and possibly really annoyed I hadn’t noticed!!)
Any time codes?
More of an annoyance than bad singing. Pussycat Dolls, Jai Ho. Everyone in the song pronounced Jai as Ji with an I sound. Nicorette Shirtslinger says it as Jay with an A sound.
If you're singing the same words as other people in the same song, the least you can do is pronounce it the same way.
If you're singing the same words as other people in the same song, the least you can do is pronounce it the same way.
GetCarter said:
Sadly nobody suggested autotune to Mick Hucknall, who has managed to sing out of tune for the entirety of the 21st Century.
On his latest song he did use Autotune and it was really bizarre to hear him 'sing' perfectly in tune for the very first time,and if you've ever had the 'pleasure' of being in his company, it's not only his singing voice that's really horrible.
I see what you mean with china in your hand. It appears to be double tracked on at least some of the vocals and some of the bits you highlighted definitely, even with a slight harmony vocal.
Part of it is the problem of keeping the note. Something I’ve experienced before in recording a professional vocalist, who could sing very well but didn’t notice the drift on a big long note. It took a few takes at certain points where I stopped recording and pointed it out by playing it back to them. There’s also something happening where the lateral mix goes off somewhere and the vocals move in your ears…maybe…or something whisps (for want of a better word)
The overall production is iffy. If it was recorded today it might sound a bit more solid without the “reverb sink” and double tracking. It has the 80s sound on drums and of course a sax.
I’ve had a few wines….
Batman hit me over the head with a vase and went “T’PAU!” I said don’t you mean POW! No he said I had china in my hands.
Part of it is the problem of keeping the note. Something I’ve experienced before in recording a professional vocalist, who could sing very well but didn’t notice the drift on a big long note. It took a few takes at certain points where I stopped recording and pointed it out by playing it back to them. There’s also something happening where the lateral mix goes off somewhere and the vocals move in your ears…maybe…or something whisps (for want of a better word)
The overall production is iffy. If it was recorded today it might sound a bit more solid without the “reverb sink” and double tracking. It has the 80s sound on drums and of course a sax.
I’ve had a few wines….
Batman hit me over the head with a vase and went “T’PAU!” I said don’t you mean POW! No he said I had china in my hands.
GetCarter said:
zedmtrappe said:
As an aside, since c.1998 there have been almost no (pop) records released with tuning issues.... quite the opposite in fact; reason being: Autotune.
Sadly nobody suggested autotune to Mick Hucknall, who has managed to sing out of tune for the entirety of the 21st Century.Mick Hucknall's probably the finest singer of his generation, even though he's a t
t.Boo-urns said:
The whole thing sounds off-kilter to my ears, but the parts where it's most noticeable I've bolded below:
It was a theme she had
On a scheme he had
Told in a foreign land
To take life on earth
To the second birth
And the man was in command
It was a flight on the wings
Of a young girl's dreams
That flew too far away
Don't push too far your dreams are china in your hand
Don't wish too hard because they may come true
And you can't help them
You don't know what you might have set upon yourself
China in your hand
Come from greed
Never born of the seed
Took a life from a barren hand
Oh eyes wide
Like a child in the form of man
A prophecy for a fantasy
The curse of a vivid mind
I love the song but I'll admit I'm not hugely familiar with T'Pau's work. I've literally just stumbled across the album version which is lower in pitch than the single version and doesn't sound quite as bad. Maybe the song was varispeeded and something happened to the vocal during the mix?
It's an odd one though. Me, zedmtrappe and Gary Barlow agree it's out of tune, but presumably most people can't, otherwise a) they presumably wouldn't have let it out the door, and b) it wouldn't have been a huge hit at the time. I don't count myself as having a particularly great ear for these things either. Weird.
Brilliant, thank you for taking the time to post that. I’ll listen a few more times on the decent system tomorrow morning when the house ‘wakes up’!It was a theme she had
On a scheme he had
Told in a foreign land
To take life on earth
To the second birth
And the man was in command
It was a flight on the wings
Of a young girl's dreams
That flew too far away
Don't push too far your dreams are china in your hand
Don't wish too hard because they may come true
And you can't help them
You don't know what you might have set upon yourself
China in your hand
Come from greed
Never born of the seed
Took a life from a barren hand
Oh eyes wide
Like a child in the form of man
A prophecy for a fantasy
The curse of a vivid mind
I love the song but I'll admit I'm not hugely familiar with T'Pau's work. I've literally just stumbled across the album version which is lower in pitch than the single version and doesn't sound quite as bad. Maybe the song was varispeeded and something happened to the vocal during the mix?
It's an odd one though. Me, zedmtrappe and Gary Barlow agree it's out of tune, but presumably most people can't, otherwise a) they presumably wouldn't have let it out the door, and b) it wouldn't have been a huge hit at the time. I don't count myself as having a particularly great ear for these things either. Weird.
Was a big fan of T’pau in the eighties, and always loved Carol’’s voice. The start of the album version was a killer intro with the solo chords on the second beat before the rest of the band kicked in. It’s interesting to read the article online about her having perfect pitch and that it might have been to the detriment of the song. My initial thought was that on some notes she’d sound deliberately flat and slide into the target note and hold. But now don’t think that’s what your noticing. I’ll have a listen tomorrow.
Great post!
272BHP said:
Well this thread is timely - anyone seen this story?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpdpn88zzydo
Tracy Chapmans original version of Fast Car is perfection itself: a delivery dripping with desperation, emotion and the stark reality of life.
Luke Combs version is tepid and vastly inferior in every way but now wins awards.
See also From a Distance - Nanci's original vs Bette Midler's butchered version that garnered all the gongs.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpdpn88zzydo
Tracy Chapmans original version of Fast Car is perfection itself: a delivery dripping with desperation, emotion and the stark reality of life.
Luke Combs version is tepid and vastly inferior in every way but now wins awards.
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