Metallica. Great band, great music but James Hetfield always sounds like he's vomiting rather than singing! Babyshambles/Libertines: I love the music of both bands and appreciate Pete Doherty's songwriting skills but he sounds completely tone deaf, so out of tune and is painful to my ears. Carl Barat is a far better singer, imo. The Cure, brilliant music but Robert Smith always sounds like a cat being strangled. That annoying yelping sound in his voice! Regarding Muse and Oasis. I adore both bands. I think Matt Bellamy has an incredible vocal range and skill, but the goat-like tremelo/vibrato/whatever you call it to his voice can get pretty annoying. He's toned it down a fraction in recent years though. With Oasis, I think Liam Gallagher's strong vocals were essential to the band. I did get a bit tired of his snarling Johnny Rotten impression on some songs. It did work perfectly for some songs like Cigarettes And Alcohol but really grated on tracks like Wonderwall. Too much trying to sing with John Lennon's vocal tone in the later years too. Overall though I couldn't imagine Noel, with his more strained and weaker sounding voice singing 99% of the tracks Liam sang in the group. Having said that I think Noel's singing has improved tremendously in recent years and he is certainly a better songwriter than Liam, by far. But Liam is a great frontman.

No, no, no. Some things are just the perfect match. Mick with the Stones, and Debbie with Blondie are among them.

A bit like Deep Purple. With Gillan, all is well. When they had other singers, it just wasn't right.

Sabbath the same. When Gillan joined them, my head nearly exploded with confusion.

I agree 100% with what you say - have you ever heard Sabbath doing 'Smoke on the water' when Gillan was with them? Weird!

If I don't like the singer, then I don't like the band. It's as simple as that.

I've seen/heard many bands where I've liked the music/songs, but the singer has been a complete prick, so I've had to try and overlook that when listening to them or seeing them live. Skid Row would be a classic example.

I have. It just doesn't work. I've heard him singing Paranoid with them too, and it's not meant to be.

Ozzy is perfect for Sabbath, and Gillan for Purple.

Not a band but I don't like Rod Stewart as a singer even though he has some great songs. Don't really like the style of singing

Hole.

I'd disagree hugely with Bruce Dickinson and Axel Rose.

Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins).
Anthony Kiedis (Chili Peppers).
Craig Finn (The Hold Steady).

Spring to mind for me.

Here's Lisa doing Gimme Shelter along with Mick, works pretty well.

And here's Tina with Lisa with Jumpin Jack Flash and Only Rock n'Roll and it's fine. I would argue (not strongly mind you)that when you think about where The Stones got their musical influences from that Tina and Lisa are not just worthy singers of this stuff but just as authentic.

Gimme Shelter is sung well by her, but it sounds right when Mick sings it.

I'm not keen On Tina's versions. They sound brilliant when Mick sings them.

I saw Queen + Paul Rodgers, and Paul is in my top three favourite singers ever, and he did justice to Queens stuff, because he did them in his style, which I prefer to Freddies style, but for Queen songs, Freddie was best.

When Mk 2 Purple first split, there was talk of Rodgers replacing Gillan, and that wouldn't have worked either, and for me, neither did Coverdale.

Totally agree, Great band, but Geddy Lee's voice was the one reason I could not listen to Rush for for more than 5 minutes..and because a lot of their tracks were about 10 minutes long anyway, that was about half a song's worth!. always loved the Permanent Waves album though, despite the voice.

Also, I recently saw a fan-made video from their recent O2 gigs, and again the band sounded great, but Geddy's vocals were just awful.

Merry Clayton makes the song (Gimme Shelter) in the original.

And Tina's version of The Acid Queen out performs The Who version.

There is a thing there about black and white musical sensibilities and cultural mediation but this isn't the place.

Bono was mentioned and as a bit of a U2 fan I was shocked how good Mary J Blige sounded when she did 'One'. ( And how soulful U2 could sound given a chance). I would like to have heard more...

The Ting Tings.

I suppose it depends whether you like Tina as to whether you prefer her versions of these songs. I prefer the Who and the Stones versions.

Am I the only one who can't stand Chris Martin's nasally voice yet I love .Coldplay's songs. I know it wouldn't be a band without him but just IMO his voice grates

Queen - nearly all the ones I like are sung by Roger Taylor.

Genesis with Phil Collins, although their also music plummeted when Gabriel left.

James Dean Bradfield is a terrible vocalist but just about gets away with it by the strength of his guitar playing. A live acoustic session he did on Mark and Lard's Radio 1 breakfast show many years ago one one of the most embarrassing performances I've ever heard.

I've always thought Roger Waters spoiled most of the Pink Floyd songs he sang on.

I love James Hetfield's voice abd I quite Like Bruce Dickenson's but I am not keen on Axel Rose, Billy Corgan or Chris Martin's falsetto.

I agree with anyone who said Muse. It's a minor thing but the way Matt Bellamy breathes in loudly when he sings puts me off!


I didn't like his voice in the early days of Coldplay but either it got better or I grew to tolerate because I thought the songs were otherwise OK!


Ugh, I remember him and never did know what he was shouting in Monster.

Brian Johnson - ACDC - how the merry hell is singing with your chin on your chest a good idea? Awful vocals (esp live) ruins some of the best music ever made.

The Smiths

Rage Against The Machine, Primus

Can't agree with that. Hetfield to me IS Metallica. He has one of the most recognisable voices in metal, and I can't imagine Metallica would have had the same amount of success without him.

For me, it'd have to be McFly. Something just bothers me about Tom Fletcher's voice. Danny should be on lead vocals on every track imo. Also not fond of the lead singer's voice from Social Distortion.

Your right but Burn is a pretty good album though.

I can see why Rush is there Geddy can be annoying at times but I do enjoy the music so I can live with him.

Yes are another band where the singer is a bit of a problem. The music itself is great but Jon Anderson's lyrics are sometimes just nonsense.

"Battleships confide in me and tell me where you are, Shining, flying, purple wolfhound, show me where you are"

Another vote for Muse.

Neil Tennant from the Pet Shop Boys. I've always thought he has a really weak, weedy, nasally sounding voice. Great music and songs at times, but I've always hated his vocals.