What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

True or False: Alanis Morissette is one of the greatest female singers in rock history (1 Viewer)

Ghost Rider

Footballguy
I would have said FALSE immediately for the longest time, but a few of her songs have aged well for me, and I have more of an appreciation for her unusual and unique vocal style than I did before.  Still tough to give a solid TRUE here, but I am starting lean that way.  I saw a list a while back of the greatest female singers and there were a bunch on there that can't hold a candle to her.

 
false even considering the sparse field. i've never been a fan of her music, and after her initial angry rock album she just sounded generic
I'm not much of a fan of most of the Jagged Little Pill hits.  Most of them annoyed the crap out of me back in the 90's and I still don't care for them.  I think she did quite a few good songs after that, like Thank U, Uninvited (listen to this and tell me she can't sing her ### off), Everything, Unsent, Hands Clean, etc.  Seems like most remember her for just the JLP songs.

 
I would have said FALSE immediately for the longest time, but a few of her songs have aged well for me, and I have more of an appreciation for her unusual and unique vocal style than I did before.  Still tough to give a solid TRUE here, but I am starting lean that way.  I saw a list a while back of the greatest female singers and there were a bunch on there that can't hold a candle to her.
You're being ironic, right?

 
False for me personally--but she was a big deal for a while.  Also--a lot of other musicians seems to give her mad respect.  Heck- Taylor Hawkins (now of Foo Fighters) was her original drummer and still speaks of her in glowing terms.  While her music is not for me--I wouldn't argue too hard against people that really like her music ranking her pretty high.  

 
You're being ironic, right?
Don't ya think? (that is the one of the two JLP hits I actually like)

False for me personally--but she was a big deal for a while.  Also--a lot of other musicians seems to give her mad respect.  Heck- Taylor Hawkins (now of Foo Fighters) was her original drummer and still speaks of her in glowing terms.  While her music is not for me--I wouldn't argue too hard against people that really like her music ranking her pretty high.  
I probably rate her higher as a singer than I would as an artist, if that makes sense.  I could spitball a top 100 favorite artists list and she wouldn't make it, but the songs of hers I do like a lot (10-12 roughly) are strong enough vocally that I have to give her some props.

 
Don't ya think? (that is the one of the two JLP hits I actually like)

I probably rate her higher as a singer than I would as an artist, if that makes sense.  I could spitball a top 100 favorite artists list and she wouldn't make it, but the songs of hers I do like a lot (10-12 roughly) are strong enough vocally that I have to give her some props.
I understand what you are saying.  The weird thing is that her vast vocal skills are probably the main driving force behind why her music doesn't resonate well with me.  I want to apologize in advance for not knowing the proper lingo for what I'm trying to describe--as I'm not fully versed in all of the proper musical terminology.   I frankly find the way that she kinda fluctuates and changes the pitch in her voice so much and so often to be horribly annoying.   It almost comes across as an "over engineered" delivery and it's those constant pitch changes that bug me.   With that said--I fully admit that it's a "me" problem and not really anything wrong with her.   It's just not my taste.  

 
I would have said FALSE immediately for the longest time, but a few of her songs have aged well for me, and I have more of an appreciation for her unusual and unique vocal style than I did before.  Still tough to give a solid TRUE here, but I am starting lean that way.  I saw a list a while back of the greatest female singers and there were a bunch on there that can't hold a candle to her.
Sort of the Working Man of female singers...I saw a list a while back of the greatest Rush Songs and there were a bunch on there that can't hold a candle to WM.  :P

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Her breathy affect when singing is incredibly annoying. I’m not convinced that she is a good singer at all. More schtick and angst than anything else, at least 20 years ago. Lately she’s looked good and I haven’t heard any new music from her which is a godsend. 

 
When she moved away from the angry rocker to the soulful songstress, I could really appreciate her sound.

I love her ballads more than most of Jagged Little Pill.

Songs like Everything, Thank U, You Owe Nothing in Return, That I Would Be Good

 
I think she's hot  :wub:
Not anymore, but she was quite the looker pre-kids. I’m a sucker for a great smile, and she had one of the best. 

I understand what you are saying.  The weird thing is that her vast vocal skills are probably the main driving force behind why her music doesn't resonate well with me.  I want to apologize in advance for not knowing the proper lingo for what I'm trying to describe--as I'm not fully versed in all of the proper musical terminology.   I frankly find the way that she kinda fluctuates and changes the pitch in her voice so much and so often to be horribly annoying.   It almost comes across as an "over engineered" delivery and it's those constant pitch changes that bug me.   With that said--I fully admit that it's a "me" problem and not really anything wrong with her.   It's just not my taste.  
I know what you mean. Her delivery and style is very hit or miss for me. When it misses, I want to cover my ears. But when it hits, it’s pretty great. 

:lmao:  at rock music...Janis Joplin is rolling in her grave
I’ll take Alanis’ yelpy style over Joplin’s “I sound like I just smoked 19 packs of cigarettes” voice. 

 
I was more speaking to what is rock music.  Alanis is not that.
Well, I am not a big fan of alt rock, but it seems like she sits comfortably in that subgenre, even though her music doesn't always rock and also veers off into dance rock at times.  Rock stations sure played her a lot back in the 90's, although that was a rather bleak time for mainstream rock music, IMO.  The classic rock sounds of the 70's and 80's were pretty hard to find in most of the newer 90's artists that were labeled rock or alt rock.

 
Who is the best female rock artist?  My initial choice is Chrissie Hynde but that opinion is fluid.
Janis Joplin, Chrissie Hynde, Blondie, heck, Mama Cass (if you want to include folk rock) easily leave AM in the dust.

Heck, even Lita Ford is a better rocker than AM.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Janis Joplin, Chrissie Hynde, Blondie, heck, Mama Cass (if you want to include folk rock) easily leave AM in the dust.

Heck, even Lita Ford is a better rocker than AM.
And while I don't consider her 'Rock', lets not forget Amy Winehouse.  She runs circles around Alanis.  

 
Hynde and Jett were the first 2 rawkers that came to mind.

if we want to stick to 90s alt rock I'd take Dolores O'Riordan over AM

 
Ghost Rider said:
Not anymore, but she was quite the looker pre-kids. I’m a sucker for a great smile, and she had one of the best. 

I know what you mean. Her delivery and style is very hit or miss for me. When it misses, I want to cover my ears. But when it hits, it’s pretty great. 

I’ll take Alanis’ yelpy style over Joplin’s “I sound like I just smoked 19 packs of cigarettes” voice. 
Blasphemy.

 
Pat Benatar deserves way more love...and she's held up beautifully. 
Totally agree.  Not that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has much, or any, credibility, but it is a crime that she has not been inducted yet.  She must have done something to piss off that jerk Jann Wenner.

Please change the thread title to "Ann Wilson Is The Greatest Female Rock Singer Ever"
Hard to argue with that.  And her voice still sounds pretty damn good!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
She looks like a morph of Sarah Huckabee and Dave Grohl, so I'm not getting the "hot" comments. But hey to each their own. As for her rock status, I never understood how she became known as the "angry rocker". Her debut song was like an angry revenge song, sure. Then every other song on the album was sugary pop stuff, not that it wasn't good but it certainly wasn't rock and FAR from "angry".

And then she disappeared, so yeah I'm not putting her anywhere near a greatest list.

 
how broad is your definition of rock?

rockers - Janis, Joan Jett, Debbie Harry, Patti Smith, Pat Benatar, Annie Lennox, Chrissie Hynde, Ann & Nancy, Grace Slick, Courtney Love, Siouxsie Sioux, PJ Harvery

pop stars - Madonna, Stevie Nicks, Tina Turner, Linda Ronstadt, Björk, Gwen Stefani

folk/Americana - Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, Carol King

Amy Winehouse was too soulful to fit into any of those IMO

Anyway, I guess Alanis is on one of those lists but wouldn't be near the top for me

 
Last edited by a moderator:
what if the question was greatest Canadian female rocker (broad definition) of all time?

  • Joni Mitchell
  • Sarah McLachlan
  • k.d. lang
  • Buffy Sainte-Marie
  • Nelly Furtado
I'd put her in the same tier as Avril Lavigne

 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top