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~Guest 118084
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 8:12 pm 
 

Which singer is considered the best? I think personally that King Diamond defeats them all. I also think Dio should be an honorable mention.

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Oxenkiller
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 8:26 pm 
 

as far as vocal range, yes. As far as overall appeal though, I am partial to Bruce Dickenson (though Halford is pretty outstanding), and I'm not that familiar with Conklin.

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~Guest 118084
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 8:36 pm 
 

Conklin has enough talent to be recognized as one of the greatest metal vocalists of our time. It's hard to explain but I think Dickinson has a certain melody within his vocals. Halford, on the other hand, can a hit a high note like no other. Whereas King Diamond has a consistent falsetto tone which is (in a way) similar to listening to every high note that Halford sings in.

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StainedClass95
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 8:59 pm 
 

If by, "considered," you mean a consensus pick, I suspect Bruce would win because Iron Maiden is the biggest of their bands. A favorites list would be a little different for me.

Spoiler: show
1. The Metal God-Rob had an excellent voice, rangy yet powerful, and could pull off delicate or more aggressive with equal facility. His high notes on some of their early albums are basically the measuring stick to me for that style. Age has not been too kind to him, but it does not detract from what he was.

2. King Diamond-I've never been as bothered by his sound as many, and I have a strong appreciation for higher-pitched vocalists. His different voices are a staple of his distinctive brand and (especially on earlier solo albums) really added to the story he was attempting to craft.

3. Dio-I could have had him at second, but I went with KD because I prefer much of his music. Dio's, "roar," was powerful and somewhat separated him from many other vocalists in that while he had range, it was the force of his voice that was much of the appeal.

4. Bruce Dickinson-He wasn't too far removed from Halford in style and much of what I wrote there could be applied to him. He wasn't as, "spectral," at the high end as Rob was, but he had a little more power. He has aged a bit better than Halford though being a few years younger does make a straight comparison a bit unfair. I prefer Rob, but I understand where the Bruce fans are coming from.

5. Harry Conklin-The Tyrant was a pretty good vocalist (He might still be, I haven't listened to his newer stuff in awhile). He wasn't as much like Bruce as say, Comeau, was, but I think Bruce-lite is still a useful description. He doesn't really measure up to the others for me though. He isn't as distinct as the vocalists above him, nor does he clearly sound to me like he's on their level, but taste is subjective, and I may well be in the minority.


Dio ought to be more than an honorable mention, and I thought about ranking some others that I really enjoy such as Geoff Tate, John Arch, Michael Kiske, and Ian Gillan, but I left it at what the OP mentioned.

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Raindream
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:07 pm 
 

Idk who’s technically superior but I prefer KD out of that lot by a country mile.

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ChildClownOutlet
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:56 pm 
 

Gene Adam
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Necroticism174
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 4:03 am 
 

Honestly, my favourite out of all of them these days is Harry Conklin. His voice has also aged better than all of them. Satan's Host knock it out of the park.
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Opus
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 5:34 am 
 

Best voice: Rob
Best music: King
Best showman: Bruce
Best at making his own underwear: Harry
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Raindream
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 9:03 am 
 

ChildClownOutlet wrote:
Gene Adam


Lol fuck yeah

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Ace_Rimmer
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 11:17 am 
 

I've only heard some JP but honestly I wouldn't put him on any special list personally. Not bad but didn't blow me away. Planning on digging deeper into JP though.

Rob is the best singer, though Bruce isn't far behind. King Diamond has his own amazing thing going that is hard to compare to others. At his peak I'd say Geoff Tate may have been the best pure metal singer. Melody, power, style.

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Empyreal
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 11:31 am 
 

If you've only heard later Jag Panzer then you gotta try Ample Destruction. Conklin is just a brute force to be reckoned with and can shriek while still sounding rugged and masculine - he's like the American answer to a Dickinson or a Halford, with that kind of power but with a roughness they didn't usually have.

Honestly this list of singers is pretty random anyway. You could easily throw in Dio, Geoff Tate, etc...
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ObservationSlave
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 11:42 am 
 

I'm not sure on what planet King Diamond is considered a better singer than Bruce Dickinson or Rob Halford, but maybe my ears are just that far off from everyone else. Also, Harry Conklin is kind of a random addition to this group. I've always thought of Dio, Halford, and Dickinson as the three big voices in metal and like them all for different reasons. If I had to pick, I guess I would be slightly partial to Dio and then Bruce.

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Twisted_Psychology
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 11:46 am 
 

I love Dickinson the most due to his character but Halford is undoubtedly the best overall in terms of range and stylistic dexterity. The King and Conklin are also fantastic but very niche picks.
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TrooperEd
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 12:04 pm 
 

ChildClownOutlet wrote:
Gene Adam



Image
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at the gaytes
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 12:12 pm 
 

Who is Harry Conklin?

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Twisted_Psychology
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 12:32 pm 
 

at the gaytes wrote:
Who is Harry Conklin?


Jag Panzer/Satan's Host/Titan Force singer. Also singing for The Three Tremors album that's coming out this Friday, the existence of which still floors me.
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des91
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 12:40 pm 
 

Just a personal thing, but my favorite singer is probably Mike Howe, then Bruce/Dio.

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~Guest 118084
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 7:17 pm 
 

Twisted_Psychology wrote:
at the gaytes wrote:
Who is Harry Conklin?


Jag Panzer/Satan's Host/Titan Force singer. Also singing for The Three Tremors album that's coming out this Friday, the existence of which still floors me.


I should've listed Dio instead of Conklin. I guess I named Conklin a main singer strictly because he is one of my favorite metal vocalists.

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PeteGas
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2019 7:05 pm 
 

Conklin is like a primal force on Ample Destruction but I sort of think he sounds a bit off pitch at times. Of those listed, Halford in his prime is probably my number one. So much power and range but also control.

I’d also have to agree about Geoff Tate. Gone way downhill but at his best he might be the best metal vocalist basically ever IMO. Someone Else? from Promised Land is jaw dropping.

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Oblarg
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:21 am 
 

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AllHallowsEve
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 9:43 am 
 

Mike Patton. More range than any of them. Even if the trve losers hate him.

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Acrobat
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:29 pm 
 

Who cares about range? Plenty of the vocals in FNM are fucking awful "inspiration to Lost Prophets" garbage.
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colin040
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 2:17 pm 
 

Range is nice on paper, but hell, vastly overrated. I've heard that Dio mostly sang in between the D4-D5 area and look at how much we loved his voice.

Personally Tate's too ''soft'' for my taste. I do like some singers who are all more on the gentle sounding side (Khan in Conception, Tony Martin come to mind) but generally metal singers require a bit more bite. Also, if Tate was the best, how come he went downhill so fast? :P I'd rather listen to Midnight, who I guess came close to his style but sounded a bit more dominant in ways.

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Acrobat
Eric Olthwaite

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 2:42 pm 
 

Yeah, no.1 reason why Tate was never the greatest metal singer: he wasn't a metal guy. Don't get me wrong, The Warning has some fucking superb moments, vocally and he was inventive in his choices, too, but just not up there with Dio, Halford, Dickinson, Adams etc. He's probably 'better' than Tyrant at his best, but Tyrant wins definite points by being the SUPER FUCKING ULTRA MANLY MAN WITH PAINFUL AMOUNTS OF TESTOSTERONE in his body. Also, Tate never sung on much great material - everything after The Warning is either enjoyable but flawed or shit or really fucking shit.
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Ace_Rimmer
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 2:57 pm 
 

I don't think Tate sounds soft on the hard stuff early QR did. I'd have to say the one time I saw him live, opening for Maiden and Halford in 2000, he was the best vocalist on stage that night. that night was Tate>Dickinson>Halford. Rob was not great and I called for his retirement after that show. Suffice it to say he redeemed himself with JP in 2008 when I saw him next.

And Mindcrime is one of the 10 best metal records of all time you heathen savage! :tongue:

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colin040
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 5:10 pm 
 

I should have mentioned that a lack of aggression is all much of a problem, as long as you can compensate that with something. John Arch would take you on a journey with his voice. Robert Lowe on the early Solitude Aeturnus stuff sounded like a king bellowing tunes out in the most epic manner I could think of. I just don't get any of those ideas while listening to Geoff Tate.

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Ace_Rimmer
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 6:12 pm 
 

For some reason I just can't get into John Arch. He kills those old Fates Warning records for me.

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Big_Grand
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 7:34 pm 
 

Jon Shaffer, Tim Owens, Matt Barlow or Rob Halford I feel had some of the best ranges and did the best in harmonizing their rings. (basically every vocalists of Iced Earth)
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~Guest 118084
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:34 pm 
 

I think metal vocalists can be very subjective.

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StainedClass95
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:46 pm 
 

colin040 wrote:
Range is nice on paper, but hell, vastly overrated. I've heard that Dio mostly sang in between the D4-D5 area and look at how much we loved his voice.

Personally Tate's too ''soft'' for my taste. I'd rather listen to Midnight, who I guess came close to his style but sounded a bit more dominant in ways.


The quality of the voice is probably the single biggest thing, but range matters for a lot of reasons, and Dio definitely had a fair bit of it. That octave may have been his main operating space, but he could and did go outside of that. As for Tate vs Midnight, they actually are not that similar to me. To me, Tate is almost like another Halford, a bit less impressive at the extremes but with a more, "typical," sound in some respects. Midnight is more like a toned-down KD in terms of how light he sounds at the high-end and the sense of madness his vocals often emitted. Other than coming out around the same time, I don't hear much in common. I think Tate was a better vocalist, but taste is a personal thing.

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colin040
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 4:43 am 
 

Well my comment was basically a response to the guy who claimed Patton was better than any of the ones mentioned just because he had more range. Going by that logic, we'll all love DeFeis vocal wank acrobats he puts up nowadays because he goes from a whisper to a scream. Range is nice if you know how to use it well. Dio did. Rob Halford did, ect.

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absurder21
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 3:12 pm 
 

colin040 wrote:
Well my comment was basically a response to the guy who claimed Patton was better than any of the ones mentioned just because he had more range. Going by that logic, we'll all love DeFeis vocal wank acrobats he puts up nowadays because he goes from a whisper to a scream. Range is nice if you know how to use it well. Dio did. Rob Halford did, ect.

I think by range he meant styles as well, as Patton has had projects that see him go from crooning, to harsh vocals, to rapping to high pitched nasally singing, something no one else mentioned can say.

Also, is King Diamond actually considered a skilled vocalist? I love the man but his falsettos seem more in the "making silly high pitched voices" category that most people, even I, can emulate to a degree. Not to mention he has almost no middle ground, it's either low growlish/Tom G Warrior-esque musical speaking and then high pitched singing. Again, love the guy, but never thought of him the vein of the masterfully trained vocalists like Halford, Dickinson or Kursch.

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uzilover
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 3:13 pm 
 

It's weird, 10-15 years ago people would talk about Geoff Tate as being up there with Halford and Dickinson, but obviously he's not taken care of either his voice or his legacy in the years since. Having said that, he's obviously one of the all time greats and I don't think his "metal-ness" or lack there of has anything to do with it.

The guy was a total game changer, you can't say that about someone like Conklin or Midnight or whoever as much as I like them both.

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~Guest 118084
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 5:50 pm 
 

absurder21 wrote:
colin040 wrote:
Well my comment was basically a response to the guy who claimed Patton was better than any of the ones mentioned just because he had more range. Going by that logic, we'll all love DeFeis vocal wank acrobats he puts up nowadays because he goes from a whisper to a scream. Range is nice if you know how to use it well. Dio did. Rob Halford did, ect.

I think by range he meant styles as well, as Patton has had projects that see him go from crooning, to harsh vocals, to rapping to high pitched nasally singing, something no one else mentioned can say.

Also, is King Diamond actually considered a skilled vocalist? I love the man but his falsettos seem more in the "making silly high pitched voices" category that most people, even I, can emulate to a degree. Not to mention he has almost no middle ground, it's either low growlish/Tom G Warrior-esque musical speaking and then high pitched singing. Again, love the guy, but never thought of him the vein of the masterfully trained vocalists like Halford, Dickinson or Kursch.


You have to see King Diamond's vocals from a different perspective. For example, Imagine listening to Halford's high pitched vocals consistently. That example is basically how I think of King Diamond's vocals. I know some may not agree with me, but it's just an opinion.

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AllHallowsEve
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:39 pm 
 

absurder21 wrote:
colin040 wrote:
Well my comment was basically a response to the guy who claimed Patton was better than any of the ones mentioned just because he had more range. Going by that logic, we'll all love DeFeis vocal wank acrobats he puts up nowadays because he goes from a whisper to a scream. Range is nice if you know how to use it well. Dio did. Rob Halford did, ect.

I think by range he meant styles as well, as Patton has had projects that see him go from crooning, to harsh vocals, to rapping to high pitched nasally singing, something no one else mentioned can say.



Indeed. Also, he has a jazz musician’s command of time. Imagine Dickinson or Halford trying to count out a Fantômas set, heh.

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uzilover
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 8:32 pm 
 

TheConqueror1 wrote:
absurder21 wrote:
colin040 wrote:
Well my comment was basically a response to the guy who claimed Patton was better than any of the ones mentioned just because he had more range. Going by that logic, we'll all love DeFeis vocal wank acrobats he puts up nowadays because he goes from a whisper to a scream. Range is nice if you know how to use it well. Dio did. Rob Halford did, ect.

I think by range he meant styles as well, as Patton has had projects that see him go from crooning, to harsh vocals, to rapping to high pitched nasally singing, something no one else mentioned can say.

Also, is King Diamond actually considered a skilled vocalist? I love the man but his falsettos seem more in the "making silly high pitched voices" category that most people, even I, can emulate to a degree. Not to mention he has almost no middle ground, it's either low growlish/Tom G Warrior-esque musical speaking and then high pitched singing. Again, love the guy, but never thought of him the vein of the masterfully trained vocalists like Halford, Dickinson or Kursch.


You have to see King Diamond's vocals from a different perspective. For example, Imagine listening to Halford's high pitched vocals consistently. That example is basically how I think of King Diamond's vocals. I know some may not agree with me, but it's just an opinion.


King Diamond's definitely not a "trained" vocalist, but I think it's wrong to say that he has no middle ground. He's definitely got that mournful sounding mid-range that he uses more often in the old Mercyful Fate stuff than in the King Diamond years. Just listen to a song like Melissa for proof. So whilst he's definitely the least skilled of the bunch he's also the most unique. I mean sure, he's not trained like Hansi or Dickinson (assuming they are even trained.) but Mercyful Fate can raise the hair on my arms like few bands can and at the end of the day that's what I really value.

One thing that does get underrated about King is his songwriting prowess, just look at something like the oath: that's some seriously great songwriting and it's all by his own hand. I always thought it was weird that metalheads often tend to place technical ability above everything else and this applys to guitar players just as much as it does vocalists.

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