I think I'll be alright.
I used to really dislike almost every female singer I heard in a band. I couldn't clearly define why, other than the recurring thought "This would sound better if a guy sang it."
Amanda and I were talking about this while getting some coffee just a few minutes ago, and I then realized just how much my tastes have changed since I last had that thought. I do still have that thought now and then, but it's usually when the female vocals are just too irritating or don't jive with the musical style (though I'll also say that I've been finding myself displeased with more and more male vocalists as well). It's not a crime to prefer the sound of a male voice, is it?
For one, it really depends on the genre/style of the song being sung. In high school, I listened to primarily rock music. Girls in rock bands bugged the shit out of me because they didn't feel genuine. It almost felt like they were there because they had tits and middle fingers and not for their musicianship. And this was not even necessarily the work of sexist male guitarists / songwriters of these bands, this was many times all on the girl who likes the idea of "Oooh, a girl in a rock band? Sexy!" and having guys drool over the sheer mesh tops novelty of it. Which is not to say that these girls didn't have any talent - I'm sure they had some, somewhere. Usually they're just vocalists, though, and with irritating vocals to boot. "You can play a few really basic chords? Sorry, that's just not-- oh, oh my goodness. I'm sorry. I didn't realize you have boobs were a girl. Welcome to the band!" Let's not even get into the doctoring-up of mediocre musicians.
Hated female vocalists. They got on my nerves.
I also hated most female pop singers and chicks with acoustic guitars. Female vocals generally did not sound that good to me. I really have to emphasize that I am generalizing. There are obviously exceptions, and there were definitely some pop singers and songwriters that I thought had really beautiful, perfectly fitting voices. But I'm talking about the generic voices that could hit a note but weren't necessarily pleasant to listen to, or were cheesy in their desperation to sound sexy. Too much stylizing. Add really crappy, uninspired or trite beats and really crappy, uninspired or trite lyrics and we've got a grade A recipe for bullshit music. In cases like these, it really wouldn't be any better with a dude singing that shit. Dick or tits, shit music is shit music no matter how much glitter you sprinkle on it (and they are generous with the glitter sprinklings).
Time and a place, I felt. Opera? Go for it. Jazz? Yup. Soul? Oh, most definitely. Female vocals are heartbreakingly sweet and savory in soul music. Et cetera. You don't really need me to list the genres that female vocals excel in. But I desperately wanted girls to gtfo of rock music, alt rock, whatever. You have to have the right kind of voice for that shit. Kim Deal got it right. She was genuine. She didn't doctor her voice to go for this faux sexy or cutesy singing voice, she just sang as herself.
Anyway, since then my tune's changed. I appreciate a lot more female singers in rock, punk rock and indie rock bands, they almost always absolutely shine in folk music, and there's an undeniable (and effortless) injection of liquid sex appeal when layered into electro. It's either that I've become a lot more open-minded, or there has been a significant increase in female musicians who sing well. Scratch that, it's a combination of both, now that I think of it. I think I've expanded my criteria of what I consider to sound good, while at the same time, there are much more legitimate female musicians making themselves known that I don't feel that nauseating fakeness emanate from. I'd like to send a heartfelt thank you to you women of the world for being yourselves and creating amazing music.
I'll wrap this up with my top 5 favorite female vocalists:
Chan Marshall
Karen Carpenter
Alison Mosshart
Karen O
Emily Haines
Sorry, Kim Deal. You're a top runner-up and I still idolize you, but more so for your basslines.
Amanda and I were talking about this while getting some coffee just a few minutes ago, and I then realized just how much my tastes have changed since I last had that thought. I do still have that thought now and then, but it's usually when the female vocals are just too irritating or don't jive with the musical style (though I'll also say that I've been finding myself displeased with more and more male vocalists as well). It's not a crime to prefer the sound of a male voice, is it?
For one, it really depends on the genre/style of the song being sung. In high school, I listened to primarily rock music. Girls in rock bands bugged the shit out of me because they didn't feel genuine. It almost felt like they were there because they had tits and middle fingers and not for their musicianship. And this was not even necessarily the work of sexist male guitarists / songwriters of these bands, this was many times all on the girl who likes the idea of "Oooh, a girl in a rock band? Sexy!" and having guys drool over the sheer mesh tops novelty of it. Which is not to say that these girls didn't have any talent - I'm sure they had some, somewhere. Usually they're just vocalists, though, and with irritating vocals to boot. "You can play a few really basic chords? Sorry, that's just not-- oh, oh my goodness. I'm sorry. I didn't realize you have boobs were a girl. Welcome to the band!" Let's not even get into the doctoring-up of mediocre musicians.
Hated female vocalists. They got on my nerves.
I also hated most female pop singers and chicks with acoustic guitars. Female vocals generally did not sound that good to me. I really have to emphasize that I am generalizing. There are obviously exceptions, and there were definitely some pop singers and songwriters that I thought had really beautiful, perfectly fitting voices. But I'm talking about the generic voices that could hit a note but weren't necessarily pleasant to listen to, or were cheesy in their desperation to sound sexy. Too much stylizing. Add really crappy, uninspired or trite beats and really crappy, uninspired or trite lyrics and we've got a grade A recipe for bullshit music. In cases like these, it really wouldn't be any better with a dude singing that shit. Dick or tits, shit music is shit music no matter how much glitter you sprinkle on it (and they are generous with the glitter sprinklings).
Time and a place, I felt. Opera? Go for it. Jazz? Yup. Soul? Oh, most definitely. Female vocals are heartbreakingly sweet and savory in soul music. Et cetera. You don't really need me to list the genres that female vocals excel in. But I desperately wanted girls to gtfo of rock music, alt rock, whatever. You have to have the right kind of voice for that shit. Kim Deal got it right. She was genuine. She didn't doctor her voice to go for this faux sexy or cutesy singing voice, she just sang as herself.
Anyway, since then my tune's changed. I appreciate a lot more female singers in rock, punk rock and indie rock bands, they almost always absolutely shine in folk music, and there's an undeniable (and effortless) injection of liquid sex appeal when layered into electro. It's either that I've become a lot more open-minded, or there has been a significant increase in female musicians who sing well. Scratch that, it's a combination of both, now that I think of it. I think I've expanded my criteria of what I consider to sound good, while at the same time, there are much more legitimate female musicians making themselves known that I don't feel that nauseating fakeness emanate from. I'd like to send a heartfelt thank you to you women of the world for being yourselves and creating amazing music.
I'll wrap this up with my top 5 favorite female vocalists:
Chan Marshall
Karen Carpenter
Alison Mosshart
Karen O
Emily Haines
Sorry, Kim Deal. You're a top runner-up and I still idolize you, but more so for your basslines.