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Michael Jackson the vocalist

respect77 said:
You can alway focus on stupid troll comments from YT or whatever and exaggerate their significance but I think most people admit that MJ was a good vocalist at the very least, even if he is not their cup of tea.

IMO he was actually a spectacular vocalist. He was not a powerhouse vocalist but it is a pretty narrow-minded view that powerhouse singing is the only great singing, so I don't really take such people seriously. I think most people who do not rate him as a vocalist are the type who only rate powerhouse singing or who simply do not like his tone because they don't consider his voice manly enough. It's more a matter of aesthetics rather than the actual rating of his singing.

The way MJ used his vocals was amazingly creative, the way he ornamented his vocals with percussive elements, used his voice as instruments - it was fantastic and unique. And I personally adore the tone of his voice. To me he has the most soothing, most pleasant singing and speaking tone ever.
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When you mentioned his speaking tone, it always kind of annoyed me how people would do an extreamly bad impression of Michael's speaking voice.
 
analogue said:
When you mentioned his speaking tone, it always kind of annoyed me how people would do an extreamly bad impression of Michael's speaking voice.
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I can't stand when people use a fake voice to "imitate" Michael.
Even if the person doing it doesn't intend to be disrespectful it's always cringeworthy, and people just need to stop doing it.
 
Michaels voice did deepen over the years but has always had a more lighter voice.. of course his 'speaking voice' was not his natural speaking voice AT TIMES.. he has spoken in his natural tones very often but that gets forgotten for some reason..

Anywho...

Speaking about Mikes Vibrato becoming sharper in later years.. that could be 'enhancemens' done and not natural.. I hear it more so in some sections on Invincible album and post...
 
KOPV said:
Michaels voice did deepen over the years but has always had a more lighter voice.. of course his 'speaking voice' was not his natural speaking voice AT TIMES.. he has spoken in his natural tones very often but that gets forgotten for some reason..

Anywho...

Speaking about Mikes Vibrato becoming sharper in later years.. that could be 'enhancemens' done and not natural.. I hear it more so in some sections on Invincible album and post...
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You could definitely be on to something. The first song that comes to my mind is One More Chance. I believe this is the best example to use.

I know a lot of people will bring out their pitchforks and hunt me for my opinion on this, but I was never impressed with MJ's vocal performance on One More Chance. I don't know if it is the actual quality or the vocal performance but something about it has always sound off to me.The song itself is great though.

[youtube]-owpIWQMd80[/youtube]

Edit: Since when did they disable comments for MJ's video? That's not cool. at all.
 
^ This is a perfect example to showcase Michaels un natural vibrato used in future work.. @ 1:57 "mysteries" that vibrato during the "R" of mysteries sounds digitalized to make vibrato in there... I hear the same thing used during Rock My World and some other later work...

Also his later work had more filtration which takes away from the authenticity o a vocal.. takes some emotion of that moment out...




I can't say I don't like the vocals on One More Chance still though!!
 
Themidwestcowboy said:
You could definitely be on to something. The first song that comes to my mind is One More Chance. I believe this is the best example to use.

I know a lot of people will bring out their pitchforks and hunt me for my opinion on this, but I was never impressed with MJ's vocal performance on One More Chance. I don't know if it is the actual quality or the vocal performance but something about it has always sound off to me.The song itself is great though.

[youtube]-owpIWQMd80[/youtube]

Edit: Since when did they disable comments for MJ's video? That's not cool. at all.
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Ages ago. I think it was a good idea as there's too many idiots in the comments.

---

When I've been listening to Someone In The Dark the last few days this thread has come to my mind each time.


A beautiful song and MJ's voice is just so soothing on this song. His voice is fantastic on it.
 
Pink Diamond Princess said:
Just people in general online.

And don't even get me started on how I feel about RollingStone.
I hate that magazine.
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SOME online people say that about everyone. I have never heard no one who takes music serious say that about MJ. His dancing was so amazing but his voice always got praised. Human Nature, Man in the Mirror, Lady in my Life, BEN, Who's lovin you, etc. Priceless.
 
terrell said:
SOME online people say that about everyone. I have never heard no one who takes music serious say that about MJ. His dancing was so amazing but his voice always got praised. Human Nature, Man in the Mirror, Lady in my Life, BEN, Who's lovin you, etc. Priceless.
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It was an observation I made after being on many music forums/ music-centric websites.
You don't have to believe me though. *shrugs*
 
Pink Diamond Princess said:
It was an observation I made after being on many music forums/ music-centric websites.
You don't have to believe me though. *shrugs*
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Interesting that you said this tho. I watched a YouTube video recently and it was a debate among five people on whether or not Michael was a great singer or not. Can't remember where I saw it. Maybe through here?

Three people (who really knew their stuff, by the way, said yes-gave perfect examples and raved on his versatility alone. The other two just kept pointing to his skin and tabloid stuff as to why he was not a great singer. They were simply morons. And should have been embarrassed to be part of that.


I was sorry they took disabled the YouTube comments too, because I learned a lot of stuff there-especially about unreleased things-demos-but it just got out of control with looney people like the two aforementioned guys ruining the comment section. I think they had no choice, which is too bad.
 
Pink Diamond Princess;4156880 said:
People often forget (or just don't know) that Michael had a rare 4 octave vocal range, and from what I know a 4 octave vocal range is even more rare for men.
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^^^YES, this!!! Michael’s later-teenage (post-puberty) and adult vocal skills were and still are THE most underrated aspects of his career. As soon as he grew up out of the “adorable little boy” stage of his life, after he was no longer thought of as “cute,” a great deal more media attention was mainly focused on his skills as a dancer and an all-around entertainer - IF, and when, any positive attention was even being paid to him at all - while his singing abilities were almost completely ignored, overlooked and forgotten about.

As for his Vocal Range, Michael had one that spanned 4 Octaves,* at the very least (*if not more, given that his voice teacher had said that he “held back, a lot” and never publicly revealed everything he was capable of doing - or could, potentially, have done - to the fullest, with his voice). This is something which, as you have well pointed out, is extremely rare for men, in general, but more commonly associated with Female vocalists.

Other amazing qualities of Michael’s late-adolescent/adult voice were its ability to still maintain its beauty of tone (which is strongly evident, especially, when you hear him sing ballads and slower-tempo songs), its great, strong Upper Register and “young” sound - as he, technically speaking, was a natural extremely High Tenor, who could still sing (not just hit, but actually SING - at times, even without his having to use “Falsetto”) quite a few notes in his formerly “child Soprano” Upper Range - despite him having aged from the “post-Motown”/“Jacksons” time-period during the years 1976-’81, all the way up to 2009 and his rehearsals for “This Is It,” at the age of 50.

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Although I think One More Chance is a great song, I think Michael's voice had gotten so nasally around this time. It just didn't sound as good as it once had. Had he sang it a few years earlier I felt it would have been a lot more soulful.
 
Michael is one of the greatest vocalist I have ever heard.
The things he does with his voice---the delivery of a lyric, the emotion,
the creativity and shear melodic ability, which is sooo natural. Every since he was a kid.
I have read some negative things about MJ but a mediocre vocalist is not one of them.
 
Lil Ced said:
Although I think One More Chance is a great song, I think Michael's voice had gotten so nasally around this time. It just didn't sound as good as it once had. Had he sang it a few years earlier I felt it would have been a lot more soulful.
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This is my personal opinion too. I always imagine him singing this during the Thriller Era.
 
Silouette;4157466 said:
Michael is one of the greatest vocalist I have ever heard.
The things he does with his voice---the delivery of a lyric, the emotion,
the creativity and shear melodic ability, which is sooo natural. Every since he was a kid.
I have read some negative things about MJ but a mediocre vocalist is not one of them.
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^^^Exactly!!! If and when the media ever said anything about Michael’s singing-voice at all, it was mainly in reference to the early part of the Jackson brothers’ career at Motown (when he was between the ages of 11 and 14, before his voice-change and the beginnings of puberty that had affected him). These people would go on reminiscing about (from what they would remember of him) how “emotionally mature” he sounded as a child, for him to have been so young at that time, given that he didn’t quite understand the subject matter and meaning of the lyrics to certain songs.

The very same “journalists” - if you could call them such, as to whether or not they really deserve to be - who give out high praise for the voice Michael had as a child, would then turn around, 180-degrees, not hardly even mentioning and almost completely ignoring his voice after he had grown up out of his “young boy” stage and went through the physical changes of puberty, from his later-teenage years on through to his mature adulthood. The focus would then turn from his singing to his dancing, his showmanship and all-around entertainment skills.

While I’m not saying that his dancing and performance abilities shouldn’t be given attention (as they, indeed, should), his late-adolescent and adult singing-voice should be paid just as much attention to, and been given just as much high praise, as his child vocals once were and still are. Those vocal skills neither should be ignored, nor forgotten about.

What’s even worse, yet, was that during the last 15-20 years of Michael’s existence on this Earth, the media absolutely made it their business not to pay attention to anything musically-related, regarding him at all. These so-called “reporters’ ” main focus was on such things as his private life, his outward physical appearance, (speculation about his cosmetic surgeries, the skin disease he suffered from, how much make-up he wore on his face, etc.) the scandals and controversies he would (allegedly) be involved in - anything else outside of, and except for, his musical career and accomplishments. How sad!!! 😢😦 At least, with the film “This Is It,” we can all see for ourselves the extent of his talent he still had, even at 50 years of age. He never “lost” any of it!!! NONE, whatsoever.


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I agree, I think his dancing was so weel known and his ability to put on a show, given also his songwriting abilities and humanitarian efforts, it is easy to see why his voice is left behind. MJ was just such a total package and more (Okay thats enough of my cliches for now) and his voice was just one of those skills he had.

I agree, songs like Break of Dawn, Will you be there, She's out of my life and Morphine, show the power, depth and range of his voice. Michael's very strong vocals got better and more complexed as he aged. His child like voice was cute and technically good, but lacked the range and warmth of his adult voice. To me the first song he does, where his voice sends shivers down my spine is 1976's "Show you the way to go". Also his voice sounds great and even stronger in duets. Say, say say and The girl is mine would be average songs without MJ's singing a feeling of warmth comes over me when I hear it.

And then think of songs like Why and Somebody's watchin me, a lot less interesting without the MJ vocals. His singing is incredible and apart from the songs above, I think Who is it, is a perfect song to show his range as it has so many emotions in it.
 
respect77;4156775 said:
IMO he was actually a spectacular vocalist. He was not a powerhouse vocalist but it is a pretty narrow-minded view that powerhouse singing is the only great singing, so I don't really take such people seriously. I think most people who do not rate him as a vocalist are the type who only rate powerhouse singing or who simply do not like his tone because they don't consider his voice manly enough. It's more a matter of aesthetics rather than the actual rating of his singing.

The way MJ used his vocals was amazingly creative, the way he ornamented his vocals with percussive elements, used his voice as instruments - it was fantastic and unique. And I personally adore the tone of his voice. To me he has the most soothing, most pleasant singing and speaking tone ever.
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I was never a big fan of powerhouse singing but I can enjoy it occasionally. Knowing Michael could sing ballads beautifully I think he didn't have so many of them by choice and not for the lack of abilities. In 1975 he spoke about ballads:

He said he always wanted to work with Barbra Streisand, and that he wrote a ballad he thought would be perfect for her. “Ballads are more special,” he said. “You can have a pop song that will be known for three weeks and after that you hear nothing about it. But if you do a good ballad, it’ll be in the world forever. Like Stevie’s ‘Living in the City’—it’s a great song and I love it, it opens up the minds of a lot of people. But it won’t be around as long as a song like ‘My Cherie Amour’ or ‘You Are the Sunshine of My Life.’” *
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For me the deep voice in Will You Be There is perfect. I get chills from listening to it.

[video=youtube;jQY_QL_wvQU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQY_QL_wvQU[/video]

His vocal performance in Lost Children too :wub:

[video=youtube;SxNZJjvl2wc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxNZJjvl2wc[/video]

Many people try to narrow singing down to just keys and notes but I disagree. Michael could hit all these notes but for me it's also about the way he could convey emotions through his voice. Remember that ridiculous chart from a few years ago?
http://www.concerthotels.com/worlds-greatest-vocal-ranges

Axl Rose's response:

"If I had to say who I thought the best singers were, I'd say first that I don't know there's a definitive answer as in my opinion it's subjective, and second that my focus is primarily rock singers," he told Spin. "That said, I enjoy Freddie Mercury, Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, [Nazareth singer] Dan McCafferty, Janis Joplin, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Roger Daltrey, Don Henley, [Electric Light Orchestra frontman] Jeff Lynne, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, [jazz singer] Jimmy Scott, Etta James, Fiona Apple, [Pretenders frontwoman] Chrissie Hynde, Stevie Wonder, James Brown and a ton of others (predominantly Seventies rock singers) and would rather hear any of them anytime rather than me!"
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http://www.rollingstone.com/music/n...t-calling-him-worlds-greatest-singer-20140528

dewey;4156877 said:
Geesh, people in the comment section are weird. :lol: You Can't Win is an awesome example of the extraordinary quality of Michael's voice. I even watched a few videos with Seth Riggs talking about Michael just for his perspective. Nothing but glowing appreciation for Michael.
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I agree about You Can't Win. It gives a nice impression of Michael's vocal range in the late 70s too. People in comment sections don't get their facts straight before commenting and they make themselves look stupid. :lol: Can you post the Seth Riggs videos?
 
I actually think my favourite vocals are when he seems at his most angry. Mostly around the HIStory era with songs like They don't Care About Us and Scream. Obviously what he was going through after the allegations can't have been fun at all, but it gave much of his later albums a real raw emotional edge which I just love. You can tell when listening to songs like D.S. and They Don't Care About Us that singing those songs must've been like therapy for him, the emotion is real and we believe every word he sings.

It's for this reason that I think HIStory is so underrated. I think the public still wanted that happy-go-lucky Michael from Off The Wall and to some extent, Thriller, but after all he'd been through that obviously wasn't gonna happen. So when they heard the vitriol coming from this record I think some people were put off it. I love it though.
 
Yeah agree with the top 2 posts.

Especially Scream's point about people missing MJ's relaxed, carefree, young vocals.

I don't like One More Chance but agree his vocals are great on it, it's tracks like that & also 'You Are My Life', that start off so sweet and balladeer style and then by the end of three minutes morph into the growling, heartfelt please.

Like I've said before the changes within an album vocal style are immense.

History - the same man who snarls & spits out TDCAU is the same one who cries out Childhood & Smile later on.

The same man who starts Earth Song as a genuine, earnest appeal finishes it with the crescendo roar of a lion.

Amazing.
 
I always loved HIStory. For me it was Michaels response to the whole 93thing and the unbearable dirt of the media. Every song is a statement what he had gone through, what he felt, what he thought - interpreted with the incredible virtuosity of his wonderful voice: angry, loud, rough, ironic and sad, pensive, sweet........... Yes, and I think, too, people didn´t like it at all because they felt not only surprised but irritated.
 

I swear this man served A++++ vocals till the day he died.:boohoo
His vocal chords must have been blessed.:angel:
I bet when he was a baby he cried on key.
 
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Themidwestcowboy said:
You could definitely be on to something. The first song that comes to my mind is One More Chance. I believe this is the best example to use.

I know a lot of people will bring out their pitchforks and hunt me for my opinion on this, but I was never impressed with MJ's vocal performance on One More Chance. I don't know if it is the actual quality or the vocal performance but something about it has always sound off to me.The song itself is great though.

[youtube]-owpIWQMd80[/youtube]
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Don't forget that R.Kelly is more than the producer and a background vocalist for this song.. Almost 35% of the song is not MJ ^^
 
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