With all due respect: Golden Earring are overdrumming it here ...

[Denis]

Heh, Scoropions!

People rarely mention any Golden Earring songs except "Twilight Zone" and "Radar Love". The latter is on "Moontan", which is an awesome album which includes "Big Tree Blue Sea", "Candy's Gone Bad", "Are You Receiving Me" and "Vanilla Queen". Though I love GE, none of the other albums I've heard are in the same class as "Moontan", which I think is a masterpiece.

[lowend1]

It's not Klaus' accent itself that bothers me - it's the godawful screeching that goes along with it. Not unlike this guy:

[uwe]

Ok, let's sort this out:

Heavy Metal or Hard Rock, in a seventies and eighties sense at least, requires/d a vocalist with high pitched vocals to sing above the guitar riffs which would not actually go down in volume and density during the verses in many cases. Unless you produce music like the old Billy Idol stuff was produced with the vocals really loud and the verse riffs subdued, a less high voice has issues cutting through, especially live.

This Loudness chap doesn't sound to me anymore screechy than Brian Johnson, Geddy Lee, Paul Stanley (especially in the eighties), Vince Neil, Robert Halford, Udo Dirkschneider etc, in fact he sounds less screechy! Vince Neil is a prime example: He neither has a nice voice nor is he a particularly accurate or variable singer, but that one screech tone he does gets him heard no matter how much the other three play.

And of course: The higher the vocalist sings the less loud he has to be in the mix and the less his vocals take away attention from the instrumentalists. When Ian Gillan wanted his voice up higher in the mix on DP albums, his then guitarist (name graciously avoided!) snarled: "Who do you think you are, f***ing Tom Jones?!!!".

Confinements of the genre or why Led Zeppelin wouldn't have worked with Ian Hunter or Jim Morrison as vocalists though it would have done their lyrics a hell of a lot of good.

And much as I love Iggy and especially this song, listen to how loud he is in the mix for his voice to be actually heard above the ostinato riff (and compare it to the little Japanese guy yelling against the Loudness riffs at much lower volume!).

[westen44]

Generally, you yanks are most tolerant and forgiving of accents. I have serious doubts whether someone with as strong a foreign accent as, say, both Henry Kissinger and Arnold Schwarzenegger had when speaking English would have gotten as far in the political system in Germany or The Netherlands as those two did in the US of A. And I've had Americans look incredulously at me and say: "What, the Scoropions are German, I always thought they were an American or perhaps Canadian band?" when Klaus Meine's horrific deutscher Akzent when singing Eeeengleeeesh yells Schkörpiönzzz!!!! at me.

I truly believe it doesn't bug most of you guys and that is something just as truly in favor of you. You yanks are easy-going zat vvvay.

I once heard someone explain it like this:  He said anytime I hear someone speak English with a foreign accent, I automatically know that is a person who speaks at least two languages.  Yet I only know one. 

[westen44]

Heh, Scoropions!

People rarely mention any Golden Earring songs except "Twilight Zone" and "Radar Love". The latter is on "Moontan", which is an awesome album which includes "Big Tree Blue Sea", "Candy's Gone Bad", "Are You Receiving Me" and "Vanilla Queen". Though I love GE, none of the other albums I've heard are in the same class as "Moontan", which I think is a masterpiece.

I think a lot of people consider "Moontan" to be their best album.  Unfortunately, some versions don't have "Big Tree Blue Sea" on it. 

[westen44]

Vocals have always been important to me.  In my early days, I was as much of a vocalist as a bassist.  I've always been very particular about singing.  I've always liked the vocals from the Scorpions and Golden Earring.  In many other cases, I don't like the singers from other bands.  If I made a list of lead singers I didn't like, it would be long.  Obviously, something like this is subjective.

[uwe]

For some reason, I never liked the guy from REO Speedwagon, Kevin Cronin? He is not a bad singer and they are not a bad band but something in his voice gives me the creeps. Same with Styx, Tommy Shaw's voice was alright, but Dennis de Young ... his voice was just too oozy for me even when he was not singing "Babe". But that is strictly a matter of taste, no disrespect to both bands and of course I have both REO and Styx albums at home (though of each just one double CD compilation to which I would generally not listen in a row!). Not to crazy about the manic depressive of Radiohead either or Gwyneth's hubby (Dave's feelings in all this aside though they are undoubtedly a motivating factor for me) and last and least dieser Herr Bono *** whose jubilant tone makes me wish that British subjugation of his green island were reinstalled coupled with his vocal chords being hung, drawn and quartered. When you need to rely on the Brits they inevitably disappoint.  

It's not that I have issues with AOR singers or crooners in general, I like Dean Martin's and Barry Manilow's voice and good old Tom Jones ... well how this Wellie's voice has matured is just lovely!

 

*** Mention that his bass player is none too exciting is made relatively seldom too!

[westen44]

For some reason, REO Speedwagon became one of those bands which became very stigmatized.  In most cases, it would be considered uncool to say you were a fan.  I was never a fan, but I did think the "Can't Fight This Feeling" song was pretty good.  I have sung that before and it's quite a hard song to sing.  It's extremely doubtful I'd be able to do a very good job on it if I tried now.  As for that song "Babe," that's the song that truly gave me the creeps.  I was never able to stand that at all.  In general, I don't like the so-called crooners.  But Dean Martin was one of the best.  I was never a Tom Jones fan, but he has a great voice.  You just have to be born with that.  I was given an opportunity to once see him in concert and went.  

I've never liked Radiohead, U2, or Coldplay.  I don't like the vocals or the songs. 

[lowend1]

For some reason, I never liked the guy from REO Speedwagon. He is not a bad singer and they are not a bad band but something in his voice gives me the creeps. Same with Styx, Tommy Shaw's voice was alright, but Dennis de Young ... his voice was just too oozy for me even when he was not singing "Babe". But that is strictly a matter of taste, no disrespect to both bands and of course I have both REO and Styx albums at home (though of each just one double CD compilation).

DDY always had that Broadway tinge to his voice. Kevin Cronin started to parody himself after they gained commercial success. Anything after You Can Tune A Piano... starts to get cheesy. Before that, and especially on the live album, it's just midwestern 70s rock.

[gweimer]

Too many American singers sound thin and nasally.  Someone like Cronin gets irritating after a few songs, to me.  British singers always seem to sound more American than British when they sing.  Robert Planet sings a lot differently than his speaking voice.
Some bands, like Modest Mouse, are so annoying that I actually take the time and effort to turn off the radio when they come on.

[lowend1]

Not to do the unthinkable and get back to the original topic, but here's the leap over the drumkit at the end.

[uwe]

Danke.

[westen44]

I'm glad to see a clip of Zuiderwijk jumping over his drums.  People weren't exaggerating about that.  I thought I was fully prepared for it, but when it happened, I was still surprised. 

[westen44]

Too many American singers sound thin and nasally.  Someone like Cronin gets irritating after a few songs, to me.  British singers always seem to sound more American than British when they sing.  Robert Planet sings a lot differently than his speaking voice.
Some bands, like Modest Mouse, are so annoying that I actually take the time and effort to turn off the radio when they come on.

I attempted to not respond to this because I sincerely want to stay on the topic of Golden Earring as much as possible.  Obviously, I do like Golden Earring.  However, I must agree about Modest Mouse, especially.  You have named the one band that I perhaps despise more than any other.  And it's mostly because of the abominable vocals.  Also, I do have a tendency to like British singers, in general, although not Robert Plant. 

As for Golden Earring, I'd recommend the new album for anyone curious about what they're doing now.  There aren't too many bands in their mid-60s, and this is one actually doing something interesting, in my opinion. 

[Granny Gremlin]

I like the Modest Mouse guy with the alcohol poisoning + helium inhalation vocal thing.  He actually toned that down when they got bigger and did that record with Johnny Marr (I've been listening to therm since high school, not a young band). I find it makes them more accessable to their target demographic of weird schizoidal kids in high school (think Allison from Breakfast club.... that's the one not played by Molly Ringwald in case you weren't sure).

I'll take something unique and signaturesque like this over actual whining (Radiohead/Coldplay) or the monster voice/screaming as loud as you bloody can especially when not thematically appropriate, like all those 'emo' songs about girls not liking the dude... I miss emo being any good (before the hair etc).