Your Pick for Most Overrated Rock Singer of All Time

[George]

My friend and I were debating this earlier today. We went around and around a few names, and he finally landed on Bono (U2), which I think is definitely a good pick.

Gimme just a second to get my tomato shield up...

My pick is Robert Plant. Gonna wait to see if this thread takes off before I provide reasoning.

[surveyor]

Are we talking overrated with regard to being a front-man, which a good part of that is showmanship. Or are we talking with regard to pure vocals?

I'd have to offer up Getty Lee of Rush. Musically spectacular band fronted by the worst vocals to emanate from my speakers.

I agree Plant is overrated, depending on the ratings reviews you look at. Billboard has him in the top 25, but they factor in charisma, stage presence, etc. Rolling Stone rates him better than Freddie Mercury, which is BS - so, in that regard, he IS overrated.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-19691231

Rolling Stone ranks Bob Dylan number 7. Based on that, I'll choose Dylan as being an overrated rock singer.

[KevinHall]

Are we talking overrated with regard to being a front-man, which a good part of that is showmanship. Or are we talking with regard to pure vocals?

I'd have to offer up Getty Lee of Rush. Musically spectacular band fronted by the worst vocals to emanate from my speakers.

I agree Plant is overrated, depending on the ratings reviews you look at. Billboard has him in the top 25, but they factor in charisma, stage presence, etc. Rolling Stone rates him better than Freddie Mercury, which is BS - so, in that regard, he IS overrated.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-19691231

Rolling Stone ranks Bob Dylan number 7. Based on that, I'll choose Dylan as being an overrated rock singer.

I agree about Dylan. Never got him or his music.

[surveyor]

I agree about Dylan. Never got him or his music.

I like his writing. Thought he was a helluva songwriter.

[George]

I guess I'm just talking vocals, because there's no denying Plant's showmanship. But his range was more limited than it may appear. Does he really sound good when he drops to those low octaves?

The rest of the time he's just crowing and cawing, which sounds fine when paired with the music, but on its own isn't anything spectacular. And when you factor in lyrics, he really loses points. Most of their lyrics were just generic (often stolen) blues lines; nothing too complicated, and nothing legendary - which, again, is fine when paired with the heaviest blues rock band of all time, but not on its own.

Put it this way: it's hard to call the guy one of the best ever when he's, like, the fourth most impressive guy in his own band. There's no denying that, relatively speaking, Plant was the weakest link in that band.

[George]

Are we talking overrated with regard to being a front-man, which a good part of that is showmanship. Or are we talking with regard to pure vocals?

I'd have to offer up Getty Lee of Rush. Musically spectacular band fronted by the worst vocals to emanate from my speakers.

I agree Plant is overrated, depending on the ratings reviews you look at. Billboard has him in the top 25, but they factor in charisma, stage presence, etc. Rolling Stone rates him better than Freddie Mercury, which is BS - so, in that regard, he IS overrated.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-19691231

Rolling Stone ranks Bob Dylan number 7. Based on that, I'll choose Dylan as being an overrated rock singer.

Getty Lee's terrible. Fine for his weirdness, but if we're lining up "good" singers, I'd kick him out of the room before I'd even begin to rank the rest.

To me, there are/were few singers who were pound-for-pound as good as Freddie Mercury. That guy could do ANYTHING. Just an incredible talent. However, not sure if you're familiar with Mike Patton, but I'd put him up there with Mercury - maybe even over him. Patton's voice is fantastic, and as versatile as it gets.

And yes. Based on the ranking above, I'd definitely say Dylan is overrated, but that ranking seems to be based on everything other than vocal quality, because no one ever talks about how good of a singer Dylan is/was.

[Spiritof96]

David Lee Roth

Sammy Hagar

Suck

As does the entire catalogue of Van Halen. I HATE their sound. Eddie may be a fine guitar player but my goodness the tones he produced are terrible.

----

I agree with what has been posted about Bono and Plant as well.

[George]

David Lee Roth

Sammy Hagar

Suck

As does the entire catalogue of Van Halen. I HATE their sound. Eddie may be a fine guitar player but my goodness the tones he produced are terrible.

----

I agree with what has been posted about Bono and Plant as well.

I'm in full agreement. I never got the Van Halen thing.

[Blue Heaven]

Plant didn't have a great voice but his style fit like a glove in regards to the sound of Zeppelin. LZ is my favorite band of all time and it isn't even close.

The worst singer? It's gotta be Ozzy for me. I could never get into him. Sabbath was decent, but solo Ozzy, outside of the song No More Tears, is just terrible. He is the "headliner" for Louder Than Life this year. The first two years of the Festival was great. Went both times and had a ball. Didn't go last year because the lineup was crap. Same for this year.

Others that suck:
Dio
Iron Maiden's singer (can't remember his name)
Paul Stanley
Brett Michaels
Neil Young though I love his music

[KCKUKFan]

Always thought Paul McCartney, Neil Young and Tom Petty were weak, wimpy singers, although their songwriting was usually ace.

I hate Tom Waits' voice, but it's an acquired taste to even the most forgiving listener.

Anthony Kleidis is typically awful, but the Chili Peppers somehow manage to be cool despite him, especially on the Frusciante albums.

Thom Yorke's whine can be grating, but on the early Radiohead records the music was so phenomenal that it made up for it.

Plant's voice had limits, but it is so iconic that it's difficult to really criticize -- same goes for guys like Cobain and Dylan.

Some other folks mentioned guys like Paul Stanley and Brett Michaels, which I agree with, but their music sucks as a general rule.

[DA#23]

Holy smokes this thread is "up there".

We all must be absolute jokes in our normal life. Robert Plant would easily carry and toss anybody-here's jock over his shoulder and "carry on" for ad nauseam. .

[George]

Holy smokes this thread is "up there".

We all must be absolute jokes in our normal life. Robert Plant would easily carry and toss anybody-here's jock over his shoulder and "carry on" for ad nauseam. .

Anybody here? Sure. I guess I'll give you that. He was great for his particular band, too. But against all other singers judged only by vocal talent, I just don't think he deserves as much credit as he gets.

[DA#23]

He was pretty bad-a . I think some of it is that we've been able to enjoy an outright plethora of musical prodigies over the last ~60 years.

[George]

He was pretty bad-a . I think some of it is that we've been able to enjoy an outright plethora of musical prodigies over the last ~60 years.

He absolutely was, but like you said, there's been LOTS of talent over the last half-century or so. I just don't think he's as close to the top as some tend to believe.

Who's your pick?

[George]

Plant didn't have a great voice but his style fit like a glove in regards to the sound of Zeppelin. LZ is my favorite band of all time and it isn't even close.

The worst singer? It's gotta be Ozzy for me. I could never get into him. Sabbath was decent, but solo Ozzy, outside of the song No More Tears, is just terrible. He is the "headliner" for Louder Than Life this year. The first two years of the Festival was great. Went both times and had a ball. Didn't go last year because the lineup was crap. Same for this year.

Others that suck:
Dio
Iron Maiden's singer (can't remember his name)
Paul Stanley
Brett Michaels
Neil Young though I love his music

That entire metal movement had some pretty bad vocalists. They were never meant to be the highlight, I guess - just needed to be able to do a specific thing - but I never got into the high-pitched Halford-esque stuff.

And there's another one: Rob Halford. God, I'll never understand how or why anyone thinks he was a good singer.