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MJ Can't Sing?

OMG! I've heard Michael Jackson go deep (2000 Watts), go high (Butterflies), and scream on pitch (Earth Song). That's more than I could ever hope to do. Besides, he doesn't sing in falsetto that much. I just love it when he's loud and pouring his soul into the song, like, "Will You Be There" and "Give In To Me."

Can't sing?!?! RUBBISH! Any penguin can sing! You've got to feel it! You want to make the egg? (Just in case you're not sure that's from Happy Feet).
 
Re: MJ Can't Sing?

MJsPYT1 said:
oooh, let me know if you ever find those vids~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and everytime I see your name, I think of PHM!!! My favorite part was when they went on vacation!!! Watch out for the 'white lightning'!!
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This is where I got the name from. Loved Sugababe!!!!
 
Re: MJ Can't Sing?

sugababe said:
I've heard folks say the same thing about Diana Ross. I mean, please. Just because Diana does not scream her songs and has a somewhat whispery voice, they say she can't sing. I don't pay folk who say stuff like that any attention. Diana has a lovely voice and so does Michael Jackson.

One song that I just love to hear Mike sing is "Is It scary." There's just something about that song, especially the end when he does a little run or whatever you call it. I also like his voice on "she's out of my life, gone too soon, break of dawn," etc. Mike seems to sing in diffrent registers. Some songs are hard and some are soft and whispery.

There was a video on youtube with Mike singing one of the Delfonics songs (I haven't been able to find it recently.) Mike sang the Delfonics song better than the Delfonics. This was when he was younger. There's also another video I can't seem to find where he's singing with his brothers and I swear, it gave me chills. He has on a green blazer, I believe, and he's walking around the audience and looks to be about 14 years old. I just love that performance and I can't seem to find it either.

Anyway, just thought I'd add my 2 cents.
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Hmm... I have to disagree about Diana Ross though, I really do. She's got a pleasant voice but it's nothing overly special. It definitely has limitations IMO. Michael's voice is far more capable than that. :yes:
 
Its true PYT, his style range is unbelievable, and its evident in his variety of songs.
( I honestly believe though that the best example of his vocal ability can be found in a single track, Man in the mirror )

I dont mean to sound like a tyrant here but this is what i believe.
On the Luther Vandross thing thats come up..

People are definetly entitled to their own opinion and tastes but i believe that if you are stuck in a strict mindset of what makes a good vocalist ( i.e. marvin gaye, or luther vandross and , gospel singers like whitney, barry white soprano manly types) ..
then that means that narrow mindness is dictating your taste . which makes your opinion stupid!!!!!!

:mad:

Luther always stays saftely within his tonal range, why do they expect michael to perform out of his in terms of octave range. Oh and he still has a beautiful low singing voice infact im almost sure he has wider octave range than Vandross.
 
Michael does have a wider octave range then Vandross. Vandross had a range of 3 octaves. Michael has a range of 4. As I've stated before, Seth Riggs, who is Michael's voice coach and was also Luther's voice coach, has said, according to a poster from MJJF who used to take lessons with Riggs, that Michael is the most talented male vocalist he's ever heard.

Most vocalists only sing over a span of 2 octaves or so. Anything outside of that usually does not fit the song. Michael is a high tenor, so of course he sings higher, but he can sing very low base as well and control it. You hear him use an array of different ranges on a number of different tracks. On "Who Is It" he sings lower, in chest voice, in songs like "Cheater" he sings higher, especially in the background vocals on that song, on the chorus, layered under the lead vocal, when he sings "cheateeeeeeeeer", he goes very high, for all ya'll saying Michael can't sing high in full voice. Whitney Housten, who Seth also coaches, is very limited with her range, for example. If she sings outside of her comfort zone, she easily loses control of her voice, Seth himself has confirmed this. Not so with Michael. He has amazing control and precisian to his singing.

And on top of this, Michael has perfect transition between the registers, he switches without any indication, the listener doesn't hear or detect any change because he bridges so smoothly between chest, head and super head. That's the mark of a great singer.
 
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Well, maybe those people have problems in theis ears... thats the only conclusion i can make... (if if if...)
 
Re: MJ Can't Sing?

DirrtyDiana69 said:
Why do some people say this? I've heard people say this before and I just don't understand it. How is it that some people think MJ can't sing? And they don't just mean recently, they mean that he could never and can't sing period, like he doesn't have a good voice. I just don't get this. Please someone explain this to me.
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People who say this, say it because MJ never sings live. Well not in over 10 years anyway. So they question if he can sing why does he lip sync all the time.

I personally don't agree with that. I'm just answering the questioned you ask. Why do people say MJ can sing?
 
Really, I think they say it because they're so narrow minded that they think the definition of a good singer is someone who belts all the time.
 
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Wanna that is something i just cant praise enough as well, his transition between notes.This might sound weird but i think he displays this really well when he did Rockwell's chorus to "Somebody's watching me." its seamless!!! Michael really does sing like a bird.
 
Re: MJ Can't Sing?

Eichhoerndli said:
Of course he can sing:D One can hear his beautiful voice best on slow tracks:wub:
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I actually think that to hear his real vocal skills you have to listen to his fast songs. That's where he really outclasses everyone. His ability to sing really static rhythms that still have melodic changes is incredible. Anyone can sing really fast if the notes are all the same or move up n semitones. But Michael can sing big intervals while singing really fast and still keep in time and on pitch. Incredible.
 
Great points Bob George. Good examples of such are songs like "Jam" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin", etc... I always laugh and say if people think these American Idols can sing, throw them a song like that and see how they do with it, lol.

Or "Thriller". Michael has about the quickest voice I've ever heard. His ability to manipulate and control it around certain notes is mind blowing. And another thing you brought up, his timing. Now people complain a lot about his vocal noises, the hiccups and grunts and yelps he incorporates, but they aren't appreciating the timing and control involved in incorpporating those sounds. It's really like he's timing the track and where he's supposed to come in on the next verse when he does that stuff, and its simply amazing. He's always on key, even when he pauses or breaks, like in "She's Out Of My Life" in concert, for example, when he stops and waits for a good minute before singing again, at the end, when he sings "life", its totally on key still. That's crazy.

And yeah Lyndl, his transition is the most awsome. On "Gone Too Soon", for example, or "Cheater", "Childhood", "Earth Song", etc... It's totally seamless.
 
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Totally. I've always thought the same. He has this amazing sense of rhythm. That's why I always thought his vocal and percussion arrangements were out of this world. And his perfect pitch, his ability to hear a sound and duplicat its tone and pitch perfectly, he's a genius vocalist.
 
Re: MJ Can't Sing?

wannabestartinsomthin21 said:
his ability to hear a sound and duplicat its tone and pitch perfectly, he's a genius vocalist.
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That blows me away. Like on "Fall Again" at the end when that weird noise is made by a synth or something and then Michael replicates it perfectly. And it's not like it took him 2 or 3 attempts. The first time he tried it he sounded exactly like it. It' pretty mind-blowing.
 
Oh man, I know. That was freaky, lol. At first I was like, is that the machine or Michael? lol. Sam Brown, the guy who wrote "One Day In Your Life" told a story about Michael listening to the demo singer on that song. He listened to the first 2 or 3 bars twice or so and then proceeded to sing it exactly, phrasing, timing, and tone, as the demo singer had. Then he said, "how was that?" Brown said "great", and then Michael said, "Okay, now let me do it my way." lol. It's just killer how talented a vocalist he is. He's a music machine.
 
Yeh, I've seen that. It's from the "Remarkable Life" DVD, isn't it? It was a pretty dodgy DVD but there were some interesting interviewees. Sam Brown was one of them. Bill Bottrell was another one. They had a few engineers and studio techs who I was really interested in listening to because they've actually witnessed first hand Michael's magic in the studio.
 
Yeah, it was low budget. But hearing from the people who've worked closely with Michael was facsinating to me. Whenever you hear from the people who've seen Michael at work, they always speak the highest compliments of him, because they know. Dancers included. That one lady from "Smooth Criminal" and "Captain EO" I was interested in as well.

Quincy Jones himself has said that Michael is the most talented person he's ever worked with and he's worked with some massive talents, so that says a lot.

I wish they'd make a documentary speaking to the engineers and musicians about Michael and one that actually shows Michael in the studio. That's been a wish of mine for a long time, lol.
 
Hasn't he had a personal cameraman following him around for years now? I think he's planning on making a documentary one day which will probably have studio footage.
 
Yeah. Michael supposedly films almost everything, lol. He's got an affinity for film. So that might be the case. I hope he makes a documentary about his work process. That would rock my socks!
 
Michael Jackson had an excellent voice and i love him tho it is true to say his voice isnt the greatest now and far too hoarse hence the lip synching. Tho another reason for the lip synching is the fact that a lot of his more recent recordings are helped by computers and technology and are too difficult for a man of his age to sing live but i still think hes the greatest
 
he's having no trouble singing. for someone who's voice is so scrutinized, people keep coming back to hear it more than any other voice in the world.
 
Oh man, his voice is NOT helped by computer technology, lol. Damn. The man's voice is not "scratchy" either. That's called stylizing. He could sing high and clear if he wanted, but he chooses to make it rough to emphasize the emotion. He has a range of 4 octaves, he can sing well in to low base and well passed high C, all in full voice, still. Listen to recent recordings like "Speechless", "The Lost Children", "The Way You Love Me", and "Beautiful Girl". His voice is as clear as a bell and strong. He's technically in his vocal prime, since you reach that stage between the ages of 35 and 55. His age isn't a factor here. He doesn't sing live because he's always dancing his ass off. In all of those performances from the 70s on those TV shows where he was lyp syncing, was it because he couldn't sing live? No. It's got to do with either dancing and not singing or singing and not dancing, plus that perfectionist in Michael coming out, he wants everything to be perfect. Either way, you'd have fans who bi*ch.
 
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Re: MJ Can't Sing?

wannabestartinsomthin21 said:
Oh man, his voice is NOT helped by computer technology, lol. Damn. The man's voice is not "scratchy" either. That's called stylizing. He could sing high and clear if he wanted, but he chooses to make it rough to emphasize the emotion. He has a range of 4 octaves, he can sing well in to low base and well passed high C, all in full voice, still. Listen to recent recordings like "Speechless", "The Lost Children", "The Way You Love Me", and "Beautiful Girl". His voice is as clear as a bell and strong. He's technically in his vocal prime, since you reach that stage between the ages of 35 and 55. His age isn't a factor here. He doesn't sing live because he's always dancing his ass off. In all of those performances from the 70s on those TV shows where he was lyp syncing, was it because he couldn't sing live? No. It's got to do with either dancing and not singing or singing and not dancing, plus that perfectionist in Michael coming out, he wants everything to be perfect. Either way, you'd have fans who bi*ch.
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i wish the emboldened text would echo for all eternity.i wish they'd stop looking for chinks in the armour cus there are none. they look harder with him than with anyone and that's a compliment to his perfection in performance. wanting it perfect and wanting it the fans' way are 2 different things. yet they keep coming back cus his is the stuff of perfection. they just don't write the rules, that's all...and that miffs them. i can relate...we r all control freaks...but alas, it's not ours to dictate.
 
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Re: MJ Can't Sing?

wannabestartinsomthin21 said:
Yeah, it was low budget. But hearing from the people who've worked closely with Michael was facsinating to me. Whenever you hear from the people who've seen Michael at work, they always speak the highest compliments of him, because they know. Dancers included. That one lady from "Smooth Criminal" and "Captain EO" I was interested in as well.

Quincy Jones himself has said that Michael is the most talented person he's ever worked with and he's worked with some massive talents, so that says a lot.

I wish they'd make a documentary speaking to the engineers and musicians about Michael and one that actually shows Michael in the studio. That's been a wish of mine for a long time, lol.
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Yeah, I loooove hearing from people who know or have worked with Michael!!!! And i looove the 'remarkable life' dvd, cause you get to hear from these people!!! Thats why I love interviews with people who kow him, and with Michael himself!!

*sigh* And yeah, like someone said, I know Michael has everything filmed, so it's just a matter of whether or not he'll release it (crossing my fingers!)

And to say that MJ's voice is 'scratchy' or helped by the computer is CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is still the best, and his voice is still wonderful- listen to 'invincible', and no way on the computerization!!!!!!!!
 
The only time I think MJ used a computer to modify his voice was in 2000 Watts. Buts that's because he was experimenting with vocal effects. Not because he couldn't sing that low or anything. He can sing that low but I think he just wanted to hear what it sounded like if he electronically lowered his voice with a computer.
 
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My brother once said "a little heavy on the vibrato eh?" hahaaha other than that he begrudgingly admitted to being in awe of the fluctuations and acrobatics of mikes voice.
 
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