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***Dan Lambskins Top 100 Favorite Vocalists*** 47 - Tori Amos (1 Viewer)

89 - Layne Staley - Alice In Chains

As far as Grunge goes, I’m definitely a bigger fan of some others in the genre (or at least I was when they broke out…starting to appreciate them more as I get older)

Layne shared a lot of the bands vocals with Jerry Cantrell (and I’ll admit I don’t have a great enough ear to always tell them apart)

Man In The Box , Rooster and Down In A Hole are some of my favorites but his unplugged performance of Nutshell may be his best work

Sadly he was another artist gone too soon due to drug addiction / overdose
 
88 - Kenny Rogers

You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille

I get the impression we don’t have a ton of Country fans on this forum (maybe I’m wrong), but Kenny definitely transcends Country

I’m definitely more a fan of his soulful, storytelling type songs over some of his other works, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a Kenny Rogers song and said skip that or turn it off

Personal favorites
Lucille
Coward of the County
and of course The Gambler

Also dabbled in the fried chicken game, but eventually had to fold that hand
 
87 - Captain Beefheart

Known for his 5 Octave vocal range, Captain Beefheart put out some strange stuff over the years, but at his core he’s a blues singer and a damn good one at that

Some of his stuff just sounds like noise, but it definitely seems like there is a method to his madness if you hone in on it

It’s hard to pick a couple of feature songs here since he can be all over the place but I’ll go with these

Blabber ‘n Smoke
Harry Irene

Or just strap in and listen to the album Trout Mask Replica
 
86 - Kid Rock

Look, I’m not the biggest fan of Kid Rock the person, but growing up in Detroit it was interesting watching him go from white boy rapper with songs like Yo-Da-Lin in the Valley to putting out one of the best rock albums of the 90s with Devil Without A Cause, to whatever it is he’s putting out now

I’ll still sing every word of Cowboy when it come on, and yeah, All Summer Long might be a little played out but damn if it doesn’t make me want to hop on a boat and cruise around the lake

Maybe in his old age he’ll go full country and give us more songs like Only God Knows Why
 
97 - Charlie Starr - Blackberry Smoke

A little bit county, a little bit rock n roll. I really only discovered these guys a few years ago, and I was surprised to see they’ve been around damn near 25 years

This is just good old fashioned drinking and partying music. Have had a chance to see them live twice and they put on a good show. Charlie does a pretty good job of keeping an easy pace vocally, not too heavy, not too slow…just someone I can sit and listen to for hours. Perfect music for just kicking back and having a few beers on the porch. Reminds me a bit of another classic American rock singer who will appear later

Favorite lyrics
Two six packs of Shiner
99 cent butane lighter
Lucky Strikes and a fifth of Patron
Ice down that Igloo cooler
Tank of gas that oughta do er'
I can feel a good one comin'on


Recommended listening

Good One Comin’ On

Ain't Much Left Of Me

Sleeping Dogs
Great one! Love Blackberry Smoke
 
Can’t wait to see where Stapleton and Teddy Swims are ranked

❌

I like what I’ve heard from both, just not overly familiar with either of them. Trying to get more into Stapleton and want to catch him live next time he comes around, I’ve heard he puts on a great show

Not sure if I have Teddy in my library, if not I’ll add him
 
89 - Layne Staley - Alice In Chains

As far as Grunge goes, I’m definitely a bigger fan of some others in the genre (or at least I was when they broke out…starting to appreciate them more as I get older)

Layne shared a lot of the bands vocals with Jerry Cantrell (and I’ll admit I don’t have a great enough ear to always tell them apart)

Man In The Box , Rooster and Down In A Hole are some of my favorites but his unplugged performance of Nutshell may be his best work

Sadly he was another artist gone too soon due to drug addiction / overdose
My favorite AIC song, they really nail it imo.

 
84 - Courtney Barnett

Australia is probably best known for koalas and kangaroos and a bunch of animals that can kill you but they occasionally put out some good musicians as well

Honestly can’t recall where I first came across her work, probably on Sirius radio or something but I just like that deadpan punkish style of singing she has

I think Pedestrian at Best was the one that turned me onto her, or maybe Avant Gardner

Elevator Operator is a good one too
 
90 - Leonard Cohen

Our first of several Canadian singers, I think I first heard The Future on the Natural Born Killers Soundtrack. Great song

I’m sure he’s best known for Hallelujah even though most people associate that with Jeff Buckley now

Lots of people covered his Everybody Knows as well, including Concrete Blonde (I wanted to find a spot for Johnette Napolitano but just didn’t have room for her. I think that’s more a lack of my overall familiarity with her outside of this cover and Joey though)
A major favorite of @krista4

I was going to post that, while I love Leonard Cohen more than almost any other musician, I could understand not having him higher based purely on vocals. Then I got to Kid Rock, and :shrug:
 
90 - Leonard Cohen

Our first of several Canadian singers, I think I first heard The Future on the Natural Born Killers Soundtrack. Great song

I’m sure he’s best known for Hallelujah even though most people associate that with Jeff Buckley now

Lots of people covered his Everybody Knows as well, including Concrete Blonde (I wanted to find a spot for Johnette Napolitano but just didn’t have room for her. I think that’s more a lack of my overall familiarity with her outside of this cover and Joey though)
A major favorite of @krista4

I was going to post that, while I love Leonard Cohen more than almost any other musician, I could understand not having him higher based purely on vocals. Then I got to Kid Rock, and :shrug:
Kid Rock as a great “vocalist” kind of threw me for a loop as well.
 
90 - Leonard Cohen

Our first of several Canadian singers, I think I first heard The Future on the Natural Born Killers Soundtrack. Great song

I’m sure he’s best known for Hallelujah even though most people associate that with Jeff Buckley now

Lots of people covered his Everybody Knows as well, including Concrete Blonde (I wanted to find a spot for Johnette Napolitano but just didn’t have room for her. I think that’s more a lack of my overall familiarity with her outside of this cover and Joey though)
A major favorite of @krista4

I was going to post that, while I love Leonard Cohen more than almost any other musician, I could understand not having him higher based purely on vocals. Then I got to Kid Rock, and :shrug:
Kid Rock as a great “vocalist” kind of threw me for a loop as well.
Maybe reread the OP.
 
90 - Leonard Cohen

Our first of several Canadian singers, I think I first heard The Future on the Natural Born Killers Soundtrack. Great song

I’m sure he’s best known for Hallelujah even though most people associate that with Jeff Buckley now

Lots of people covered his Everybody Knows as well, including Concrete Blonde (I wanted to find a spot for Johnette Napolitano but just didn’t have room for her. I think that’s more a lack of my overall familiarity with her outside of this cover and Joey though)
A major favorite of @krista4

I was going to post that, while I love Leonard Cohen more than almost any other musician, I could understand not having him higher based purely on vocals. Then I got to Kid Rock, and :shrug:
Kid Rock as a great “vocalist” kind of threw me for a loop as well.
Maybe reread the OP.
I did. It’s your list. Just my opinion. I’ll try and keep those to myself going forward.
 
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83 - Wayne Static - Static-X

Static-X is usually labeled Nu-Metal, but they never really embraced that and considered themselves Industrial Metal. Im not really hip enough to argue the nuances of genres, nor do care to because it’ll devolve into some nerd telling me someone isn’t Doom Metal but rather Post-Hardcore Slam with Djent influences or something

Whatever you want to call them, I think Wayne had a fairly unique vocal style compared to his contemporaries

The entire Wisconsin Death Trip album is great, some highlights include Push It , Wisconsin Death Trip and The Trance Is The Motion

Never did get a chance to see them live (or if I did I don’t recall it). They did come around last year but it was the same night as another show I had tickets for, and they also have a new singer since Wayne passed

also need to double check, but he likely has the best hair out of anyone in the countdown
 
82 - Zac Brown

Zac Brown concerts are a lot of fun. Good mix of country with some rock and reggae influences and he usually works in some unconventional covers like Enter Sandman

Below is a sampling that I hope shows his range. I think his earlier stuff is definitely better

Chicken Fried
Where The Boat Leaves From
Colder Weather

Side note: this reminded me of one of his shows it went to at Comercia Park, we did some pre-show tailgating and after the show decided to have another drink in the parking lot while traffic cleared
My wife and her cousin decided to wait in the truck while me and her cousins husband had some drinks (I think his friend was with us too). Anyway we ended up offering drinks to some random girls and were just letting them take pulls of a leftover bottle of wine that the ladies had. Needless to say I got some angry texts coming from inside the truck. I was just trying to be friendly though
 
81 - Natalie Merchant - 10,000 Maniacs

I’ve always liked Because the Night by 10,000 Maniacs, but I also picked up her first solo release Tigerlily because I liked the song Carnival

When I first started dating my wife this was one of the only girl friendly CDs I had, so I’ll just say it got a lot of play back in the day

Beloved Wife is another special one, especially as we get older (getting damn close to 30 years together)
 
Work got the best of me today, might be able to squeak a few in but most likely get back on track tomorrow

Next up is a pick I expect to be fairly polarizing, possibly the most unlikable person in the list, and our first rapper

Oh and that’s 3 separate people
 
80 - Linda Perry - 4 Non Blondes

In expecting some of you to ask What’s Up? with this pick, since I think that song is somewhat universally hated, but Bigger, Better, Faster, More was one of the first CDs I remember owning (along with Ghetto Boys who did not make the countdown)

Anyway I remember waiting for my boombox CD player to come down the line at Service Merchandise and playing the gell out of that CD

So if you’re a fan of her voice but just hate their hit song (or maybe you like it), I recommend you check these out

Superfly
Morphine and Chocolate
And my favorite Drifting

There I was drifting
Way out into the sunshine
Expecting to crash but I'm tied to a string
Look at me I'm a tangled puppet
I might be a mess but I'm sure can survive
But I had escaped it by pretending to die
 
79 - Anton Newcombe - The Brian Jonestown Massacre

I can’t recall if I saw the movie Dig! first, or heard the album Tepid Peppermint Wonderland (yes it’s a hits album but that was my first exposure), anyway, I came away with the impression that Anton is kind of a **** but makes some good music

All Around You (Intro) is a good intro to the band (it’s literally in the name) but my favorite is probably Open Heart Surgery

Special shoutout to the song Vacuum Boots because this song came on and my wife said that would be a great invention
 
78 - Snoop Dogg

our first (but not last) Rap entry. Not sure anyone could have projected the way Snoops career has gone, but im not sure anyone can consistently seems as cool as he does in everything he does

I remember first hearing him featured on Dr Dre’s Nuthin’ But A “G” Thang and then later on with his hit Gin and Juice (which you can now buy cans of…look for it next to the Snoop O’s or whatever his cereal is)

With that I may have to Drop It Like It’s Hot for today, but I will try to pick up the pace and wrap this up before @Scoresman starts his massive Greatest TV Shows Of All Time countdown
 
up next we will get our first Swedish entry (hint: it’s not ABBA), some 70s Punk Rock and a singing drummer and hopefully more
 
77 - Tobias Forge aka Papa Emeritus - Ghost

I’m not sure how many here are into Swedish arena rock (I have a hard time considering them metal), but perhaps you’ve heard the hit song Square Hammer

I tend to gravitate to some of his more melodic vocals like Mary On A Cross but my favorite is Pro Memoria

Don't you forget about dying
Don't you forget about your friend death
Don't you forget that you will die


On my list to see live, was hoping to catch them at an outdoor amphitheater a few years back but didn’t work out. They’re doing an arena tour this year, still debating if I want to pay for “good” seats or not.
 
74 - Julian Casablancas - The Strokes

big fan of their debut album, although I never did get too much into their follow up stuff. That raw garage rock sound just really worked at that time

Another one where I want to just link that whole album (hell it’s only like 37 minutes long), but I’ll go with these since I think they best highlight Julian’s range

Is This It
Someday
Last Nite
Take It Or Leave It
 
73 - Carina Round - Puscifer

While I primarily want to highlight her work with Puscifer, she also has a pretty extensive solo career as well, and has toured with other bands like Tears For Fears doing backing vocals for them. I’ll admit I’m not familiar enough with her solo stuff to link any specific songs, but I have all her albums in my library so they pop up on shuffle quite a bit and I always like what I hear

I didn’t fully appreciate her work until I saw Puscifer live and realized how seamlessly some of her backing vocals come in almost like another instrument (sometimes she’s just cooing in the background or making little train noises like on Bullet Train To Iowa , or offering a little juxtaposition to the lead vocalist (more on him later) like in Fake Affront )

She’s more heavily featured as a co lead on songs like The Remedy

I just think she has a beautiful voice and probably not as well known as some other on this list…definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of female vocalists
 
74 - Julian Casablancas - The Strokes

big fan of their debut album, although I never did get too much into their follow up stuff. That raw garage rock sound just really worked at that time

Another one where I want to just link that whole album (hell it’s only like 37 minutes long), but I’ll go with these since I think they best highlight Julian’s range

Is This It
Someday
Last Nite
Take It Or Leave It
I gave it a like, but had been thinking to myself yesterday when I heard a strokes wannabe pop up on my release radar that Casablancas just didn't have much of a voice... Even if I loved their work- if that makes sense.
 
72 - Chester Bennington - Linkin Park

I’ll preface this by saying I’m not a huge Linkin Park fan, and would tend to lean towards them being overrated despite being one of the bigger influences on bringing Nu-Metal mainstream. That said, Chester quite simply had one of the best screams in metal, including a 17 second one on Given Up

Other highlights
One Step Closer
Shut up when I'm talking to you
Shut up, shut up, shut up
Shut up when I'm talking to you
Shut up, shut up, shut up
Shut up
I'm about to break


Crawling
Crawling in my skin
These wounds, they will not heal
Fear is how I fall
Confusing what is real


Numb
I've become so numb, I can't feel you there
Become so tired, so much more aware
I'm becoming this, all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you


Sadly he was another artist gone too soon, probably will be the case for 25% of this list
 
71 - Corey Taylor - Slipknot / Stone Sour

hopefully I don’t lose everyone with back to back Nu-Metal entries. While Slipknot is somewhat of a gimmick band, Corey has one of the most versatile voices in metal

He’s much more subdued and clean on some of his Stone Sour tracks like Through Glass or a cover of Wicked Game (Chris Isaak does not appear on this list despite that song being an absolute banger)

I’m not sure there’s a better combination of rap / screaming out there than their debut album Slipknot (this one is just simply too good to try and pick a few favorites from)

as far as raw emotion goes, check out Iowa which Corey recorded “completely naked, vomiting all over himself, and cutting himself with broken glass”
 
70 - Iggy Pop

punk typically isn’t known for great vocals, but hard to keep the Godfather of Punk off of this list

Lust For Life has always been a favorite of mine and Search and Destroy is a classic

I Wanna Be Your Dog would be at the top of my list though. Funny story about that one, buddy and I took my wife and our other buddy’s wife to see Guns N Roses, and one of the openers was The Suicide Girls. We told the girls it was kind of like a burlesque show, so when they started playing that song and had one girl walking the other one around on all 4s on a leash…well, let’s just say the didn’t consider that to be burlesque
 
69 - Grace Slick - Jefferson Airplane / Starship

Not too many people go from fronting a psychedelic rock band to a crappy pop band, but she was able to make both work

When the truth is found to be lies
And all the joy within you dies
Don't you want
somebody to love
Don't you need somebody to love
Wouldn't you love somebody to love
You better find somebody to love
Love, love


White Rabbit is one of my all time favorite songs (not sure I have the stamina to try and do that list, but it would likely crack my Top 100)

And yes, We Built This City and Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now are guilty pleasures of mine
 
69 - Grace Slick - Jefferson Airplane / Starship

Not too many people go from fronting a psychedelic rock band to a crappy pop band, but she was able to make both work

When the truth is found to be lies
And all the joy within you dies
Don't you want
somebody to love
Don't you need somebody to love
Wouldn't you love somebody to love
You better find somebody to love
Love, love


White Rabbit is one of my all time favorite songs (not sure I have the stamina to try and do that list, but it would likely crack my Top 100)

And yes, We Built This City and Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now are guilty pleasures of mine
She also did well in that "in between" world of '70s AOR.

Fast Buck Freddie

Play on Love
 
69 - Grace Slick - Jefferson Airplane / Starship

Not too many people go from fronting a psychedelic rock band to a crappy pop band, but she was able to make both work

When the truth is found to be lies
And all the joy within you dies
Don't you want
somebody to love
Don't you need somebody to love
Wouldn't you love somebody to love
You better find somebody to love
Love, love


White Rabbit is one of my all time favorite songs (not sure I have the stamina to try and do that list, but it would likely crack my Top 100)

And yes, We Built This City and Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now are guilty pleasures of mine
She also did well in that "in between" world of '70s AOR.

Fast Buck Freddie

Play on Love
She was a powerhouse vocalist, if not particularly versatile. I don't think any of her contemporaries could have sung "Somebody To Love" & "White Rabbit" as successfully as Grace did.
 
67 - Jonathan Davis - Korn

Are you ready?

I remember a buddy of mine playing Korns self titled debut, I was a freshman in high school (maybe sophomore) and it was like nothing I had heard before. I liken it to first hearing Nirvana on the radio and how different it was compared to what else was being played at the time

The debut definitely had a rawer sound, with songs like Blind or Ball Tongue. Or Daddy but that song is a bit dark sided
Shoots and Ladders is a fun one too

Their follow up Life is Peachy kicks off with Twist which I can’t seem to find the lyrics for. Also a nice cover of Wicked and everyone’s favorite to sing along to A.D.I.D.A.S.

Other highlights include Freak On A Leash and Got The Life

I do regret not being able to catch them live in their heyday, I did catch the 30 year anniversary tour last fall and it seemed more like Jon was going through the motions, but still a good time
 
66 - Ice Cube - NWA

I wasn’t huge into NWA in as a kid (I was more into 2 Live Crew dirty rap than gangsta), so while I was aware of them I didn’t really get too into Cube until 1992s The Predator which features Wicked (back to back entries featuring Wicked) and of course It Was A Good Day

No Vaseline is another good one, dissing his NWA crew. Speaking of NWA hard to settle in on his best work with them but I’ll go with Boyz-N-The Hood
 
74 - Julian Casablancas - The Strokes

big fan of their debut album, although I never did get too much into their follow up stuff. That raw garage rock sound just really worked at that time

Another one where I want to just link that whole album (hell it’s only like 37 minutes long), but I’ll go with these since I think they best highlight Julian’s range

Is This It
Someday
Last Nite
Take It Or Leave It
I gave it a like, but had been thinking to myself yesterday when I heard a strokes wannabe pop up on my release radar that Casablancas just didn't have much of a voice... Even if I loved their work- if that makes sense.

I dig his voice and have tried to imitate it many times while singing along. Maybe it's that he writes such good melody lines and lyrics. His Daft Punk song was even auto-tune cool.

We can go get forties
**** the rent and go party


Lambskin, perhaps it's too late in life to revisit, but Room on Fire is an incredible follow-up to Is This It that gets better as the years go on. I don't think anybody who heard The Strokes when they came out thought they would have the staying power that they did.
 
66 - Ice Cube - NWA

I wasn’t huge into NWA in as a kid (I was more into 2 Live Crew dirty rap than gangsta), so while I was aware of them I didn’t really get too into Cube until 1992s The Predator which features Wicked (back to back entries featuring Wicked) and of course It Was A Good Day

No Vaseline is another good one, dissing his NWA crew. Speaking of NWA hard to settle in on his best work with them but I’ll go with Boyz-N-The Hood

Ice Cube has the best voice in rap that I've ever heard. (Only Chuck D and Nas come close, and they're probably hip-hop more than rap, anyway.) You could hear Ice on a track and then every word turned into a must-listen event, even when I hated the subject matter. His flow is great, but it's that powerful and deep voice that really make his songs come to life. He's an all-timer in the rap game.
 
66 - Ice Cube - NWA

I wasn’t huge into NWA in as a kid (I was more into 2 Live Crew dirty rap than gangsta), so while I was aware of them I didn’t really get too into Cube until 1992s The Predator which features Wicked (back to back entries featuring Wicked) and of course It Was A Good Day

No Vaseline is another good one, dissing his NWA crew. Speaking of NWA hard to settle in on his best work with them but I’ll go with Boyz-N-The Hood

Ice Cube has the best voice in rap that I've ever heard. (Only Chuck D and Nas come close, and they're probably hip-hop more than rap, anyway.) You could hear Ice on a track and then every word turned into a must-listen event, even when I hated the subject matter. His flow is great, but it's that powerful and deep voice that really make his songs come to life. He's an all-timer in the rap game.
Oh man I forgot Guerrillas in tha Mist by De Lench Mob

And No Spotlighting 😉

Damn forgot Natural Born Killaz too
 

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