Madonna- well she has a gravity to her voice that i love, a sense of deep power in her voice in her uptempo anthems and her ballads. She is an underrated vocalist i think, it shows you don't need to necessarily belt out a song to get a message across, and i love it when she uses a monotonous voice and experiments as well as use more deeper chords too! on the Like A Prayer and Erotica albums this was shown majorly! The First Album,LAV and True Blue were very much her coming of age as it were in terms of vocal strength. ROL was the album of pure spirituality and raw energy in her songs, again revisited on Confessions, Music,American Life and Hard Candy had songs which also had more experimental uses of her voice which i love. And for me i find it just great talent that she can convey pure emotional strength addressed in the lyrics and maintain a stability of being purely vulnerable within the song or being the dominant speaker..and man i love her for it! And the way she can really bring her fans,listeners and audiences worldwide into the song,show,performance live! just pure amazing, no one can match that.
Kate Bush-one of my favourite all time artists again! she has such a voice that defies almost anything! so raw but very urethral and spiritual in essence, and ensures you partake a journey within her songs. Almost in human delivery and just has a perfect art within the rhythms of the song.
Janelle Monae- new to the music scene, but if her debut is anything to go by with The ArchAndoid and the EP The Escape Suite she has a raw gift of a voice that generates a very retro vibe with a very 60's style vocalisation that would get Jazz bars alive in New Orleans! or downtown London ablaze with rhythms and jives. She is again a very raw new talent and i just hope she gets her recognition, she's the Elvis by way of Marvin Gaye or the James Brown by way of Madonna in terms of voice manipulation and depth within her music.
Christina Aguilera-another one of my all time favourite artists! her voice is so organic and raw even with uptempo song,anthems and huge ballads she always puts her own stamp on genre's and is one of the most versatile artists of her generation, with vocals that proves why she IS the voice of a generation! and with albums like Stripped,Back To Basics and Bionic thus far proving some of the best pop albums made over the last decade and with an amazing team that create an atmosphere with each album it just adds to the Xtina magic! and i hope Bionic takes off again later this year when she debuts in Burlesque!
Britney Spears- while never termed as a 'vocalist' per se, she very much has a gift of making powerful statements within her songs, it's why she has been the most successful artist of all her contemporaries! she addresses issues within her songs and has a way of making her voice appear vulnerable and also strong on each record which are not to dissimilar to Madonna's or Michael Jacksons styles of vocals, but rather than focusing on plain depth she has a lighter than air style voice but also very gutsy approach and gravity also which makes each anthem,each ballad and each uptempo pure bliss to hear, her debut and sophomore albums could be called modern classics, Britney and In The Zone are two sensational recordings of vocal maturity and growth, Blackout addressed the state she was in and has since garnered much acclaim for being experimental even in her darker era! and of course came back with a bang on Circus, even live she can make crowds be blessed by Spears presence i just hope she gives a 100% live performance with her next album like she used to, as that would be magic!
Florence Welch (Florence & The Machine)- Need i say anything more than her voice is very much like Kate Bush's style of a living artform, lungs became THE album of 2009 for a reason and showed Florence has such a voice that may split audiences but has such a power that is admirable and very different to contemporary artists. With such a distinctive addressing of her voice and such a power it sets her apart and will show that Florence will have a successful future, and when she is live she really proves to bring entire concerts and stadiums in pure rejoice leaving crowds astounded and entranced!
Rihanna- has proved to have grown remarkably with her vocals which in itself has stopped any comparisons to the likes of Beyonce and set herself apart and as her own well established artist, Good Girl Gone Bad is very much what ensured Rihanna would have a successful future with such amazing sounds generated by her voice and Rated R was where it got darker and more personal as Riri experimented with more monotonous tones and textures to her voice, with smooth breezy tones by way of Janet or Michael Jackson, to pure darker vocals like Madonna and Stevie Nicks. Rihanna is certainly elemental with her voice and has brought much more acclaim by critics and fans alike and at just 22 years of age she has grown a lot with her voice and direction.
Gwen Stefani- a raw gifted vocalist, easily distinctive on Tragic Kingdom,Road To Saturn and Rock Steady by No Doubt which were one of the bands which defined me when growing up and as a solo artist she echoed Madonna,Depeche Mode,Cyndi Lauper and even Annie Lennox in her delivery on her recordings and live performances. Quirky,distinctive and very energetic and arty, she is an underrated singer and a fantastic vocalist.
Bjork-quirky,cool and so very surrealist, Debut,Post and Homogenic are 3 of the greatest recordings of all time for a reason and has such a voice that has set herself apart from the mainstream and has brought her much acclaim and credit.
MIA-an unusual choice but i feel that her vocals are very set aside from the mainstream and echoes a very tribal and frenetic approach to her voice, it's all very off the radar and left of center in delivery which makes her one of the most interesting voices out there.
there are more vocalists and artists such as ; Robyn,Kelis,Paloma Faith,Rose Stone,Alicia Keys,Annie Lennox,Janet Jackson,Cyndi Lauper,Nina Simone,Kelly Rowland and Beyonce Knowles that also deserve mentions that either i love as vocalists,appreciate,or recognize as being brilliant!
also i do get into things and scare myself when i am done!
