Rock Singers I Can't Stand Listening To 

Axl sounds like a screaming banshee .

Hahahaha!! 😂

I never liked GNR because of him.

I love some GnR songs but his voice, oh sweet mother, nooo

Can you explain to this American what buggering means? Not familiar with it.

He still is, just different. Ian plays his voice like he plays his instruments, he does whatever he can with it - AND THAT IS USUALLY A LOT!

YEah i agree. He was terrible last time i saw him :-( Id rather see Barres band, he has a killer vocalist in his band and the band is tighter imho.

@@ctcards2636, that's what I've done. Really good. I still find the whole split situation sad.

Completely lost it. Round Crest of a Knave

@@justgivemethetruth which now is, sadly, not a lot

I never could stand his yelling over loud music on songs that had too many words and went on for far too long. With Dylan it depends on the song. I especially like his early work, acoustic and electric. John Wesley Harding is my all time fave of his.

Except Springsteen sings in a crooning baritone rather than Dylan's nasal tenor.

A doctorate in Bob Dylan’s voice would have to go to Tom Petty. The fact that someone thought that “The Traveling Wilburys” needed to be a thing proves that the music business is filled with hateful minds.

Bruce yells and growls.

Mark Knopfler, too.

Brian's first three albums were damm good and "Back in Black " is out of this world. But from 1985 and till now his voice has been shot. Shoot to thrill is probably his best vocals

Surprisingly, I don't mind Brian's voice in classic AC/DC... but I can take only so much of it... and only out of nostalgia from when I was young. Same goes for most metal bands. I can't listen for too long... Brian gets got a 30-minute limit.

That was who sprang to my mind, From 'Fly on the wall' onwards he sounded like someone doing a comedy Brian Johnson impression.

I agree 110% with your comment!

Randy Newman can't stand that mamby pamby voice of his

More likely the cat buggering him!

Could NEVER stand that guys voice

Knocking on Heaven's Door is heinous 😵‍💫🤮

Imagine if that band had a better singer.

@@ChuckSchickxthat one is particularly horrible

So overrated,as soon as I hear the start of any song by gnr channel change straight away,garbage!

Lol...I asked as nice as I could....if my job would...somehow be finished by Friday ( harmonica ). Classic shit!!!

🤣🤣🤣 "Want to buy some mandies, Bob?" What are mandies? Some kind of pill?

@@lilmoe4364 man diapers

@@lilmoe4364Mandrax, similar to Qualudes. Definitely not an upper.

I like Rush's music, his voice kills it for me.

@@user-qu9ev6pv8e I agree; i just know how a lot of normies feel.

@@user-qu9ev6pv8e Geddy is awful. _ fixed it for you.

_”I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!”_

Great bassist, but lord that man cannot sing.

You just gave me a borderline guy for the hit list!

Love his guitar work and his humor. I consider his singing my guilty pleasure.

Kinda agree but atleast he we energetic on stage.i seen him live and he could throwdown back in the day.

@@patramirez5264 Saw a comment on a BOA video where someone said David Lee Roth essentially stole Jim Dandy's onstage act. I totally see it now.

He didn’t forget him, just doesn’t agree with you.

@@footbruI highly suggest you check them out on the Raunch and Roll Live album. One of the best live acts ever. A truly unique voice.

Stevie Nicks sounds like a goat bleating!

I never saw the appeal of Joe Cocker, period.

@@324cmac Yeah. Me neither. Don't really get the fascination with Zappa's music either. It's awful

@@wernervanderwalt8541 Well, even though Zappa's music isn't my thing, I appreciate his experimental creativity. When I listen to him talk he seems like an intelligent man.

I always preferred Christine McVie to Stevie.

yes she ruins John lennon for me , she can not sing a lick

Kiss kiss kiss kiss me love! Just one kiss kiss will do! 😂 she was god awful on Double Fantasy….although I did like the song “I’m Moving On”😊. Yoko rant over

@@frankez1975 If only she had .

That is so funny! You are so right.

Second half of " live peace in Toronto". Dreadful. Didn't realise we hated the Canadians so much ....

Stipe's voice doesn't bother me. But I do find him ,as a person, to be off-putting.

Mike Mills' harmonies are definitely the secret weapon of REM.

So many bad ones that frankly I’d never come up with Stipe. Just a brilliant band to begin with.

prefer the earlier mumble - with more confidence, he started to project more around Document. His voice seemed to move up a half register and wasn't as appealing.

@@seancassidy674 I have an old MOJO magazine from 1994 with an interview with Elvis Costello in which he said he loved early REM until he could understand Stipe's lyrics.

Or wolverine on a chalkboard with both hands!!

Think Edith bunker…

I think Axel sounds like Ethel Merman lol

I like Yoko, always have. I admit some live Ono Band stuff can be taxing.

What does it mean? buggering a cat?

I'm not an Adele fan, but her cover of To Make You Feel My Love is pretty good.

Joan Osborne does a great job on it, I actually prefer it

Sure, that's a batter version. I only mentioned Adele because she was referenced in the immediately previous comment to mine.

“Dylan’s voice in context” : see the CIA Playbook on Torture, or Abu Ghraib for instance 😂

Adele rubbish how she made it big ill Never understand.

Thank you

@@classicalbum and you rate presto by Rush as a good album. Scores points with me. Cheers

Agree. The subject matters, but the wordsmithery is excellent to my mind.

A bit of misinformation here and there to watch out for, though.

@@stevedraper8849 If only RU-vid wouldn't demonetize if he played samples of music!

Glad my cat wasn't around to hear that one

cat is out of the bag.

I had to put a guns n roses song on youtube to check... Confirmed.... 😀

🤣 I just had to stop the video to compose myself after he said that. 😂

What does buggering a cat mean?

LOL… I’ve always compared Axel’s voice to a weasel getting run over by a car

Agreed...I find it unbelievable that there are people who consider him a great vocalist

The thing what makes me brake out in a cold sweat is when the breaks on my car fail and I crash, making me miss my spelling class.

@@reidflemingworldstoughestm1394 I recommend you attend a class on grammar instead. Your spelling is spot on.

@@roopan1968 Thems the brakes.

He’s just dull. Like how you would imagine the young lad at the building society sounding like if he did some karaoke on an office night out.

a radiohead fans nightmare

Neil's voice though nasal or whiny at times, nevertheless carries a melody in most songs. Most of the time all I hear from Dylan is a lazy rap along to simple chords - not a tuneful singer at all.

Same with Neil Diamond. Great writer, but his singing is not the best.

@@garyh.238 There’s an anecdote from when Neil was singing for the charity ensemble Northern Lights piece, “Tears Are Not Enough,” and David Foster tells Neil from the control room that he was a little flat on the last passage, and Neil just looks back and says “Hey, that’s just my style, man.”

Try watching his live performances, looks like he is being electrocuted by his guitar, his onstage band members are trying to find some kind of rhythm to his gyrations while staying clear of the madman! LOL!

Neil's a beautiful singer.

ironically in context to your comment, i saw a show around 07 with elvis costello opening for bob dylan. elvis' performance was solo and acoustic. when i learned this, i was not optimistic. however, elvis blew me away with the power of his voice and his delivery of his songs. i didn't expect that he had such talent hidden away behind his other performances. maybe you will never care for his voice, but you might be surprised if you have the experience i did. i still am not much of a guy for solo acoustic performances -- by anybody -- so that gives you an idea of my surprise and appreciation. for decades, i couldn't stomach bob dylan, but he has abandoned the " dry heave " intonation of songs in his younger years. now he is a singer with a very deep and gruff voice. i really like his material now, bluesy, darker, and a little funky ( not in the parliament funk genre ).

I saw Elvis Costello twice on one of his tours and I agree that he can sing anything. One show was just him and a guitar and it was incredible. There are not many artists who could captivate an audience in that way.

@@shaunhynan-meade6961 that was my experience, too, seeing elvis do an acoustic show. this guy is the real s&^t and he can bring it.he knocked me out and i am sure not many performers would even try what he knocked outta the park.

Love Donald Fagen

Those people cannot seem to realize that Rush was in a class of their own. They probably like only "hair metal."

@@davej.meister5421 Yep, I always thought of Rush as more prog-metal, so definitely not for the hair-metal set, but I can understand people not liking the early Rush where Geddy is attempting a Robert Plant vocal without having the timbre to do Robert Plant vocals. My mom actually thought it was Janis Joplin singing, and she’s not a fan of Janis’ singing either. Geddy is better from Moving Pictures onwards, but loses the range to maintain status as a very good vocalist probably just before Roll The Bones came out.

​@@entropybentwhistle Funny, I like both...

@@entropybentwhistle These so-called "hard rock/metal purists" often decline to acknowledge Rush's contributions to metal. And they're even denying that Neil Peart is an influential drummer that inspired several of their fave drummers, likewise. I just encountered one of those knuckleheads who said he dislikes Rush because of Geddy's "awful singing voice." He also dared to say that Rush and the late great Professor Neil Peart (R.I.P.) are highly overrated. You see these purists just cannot seem to look or listen past Geddy's voice or even realize the talent they actually had. They refuse to listen to Rush's awesome deeper stuff like the brilliant epic late 70s instrumental "La Villa Strangiato." These purists just love to be locked inside their drama packed cartoon world bubble where bandmates feud with one another and whose careers are bemired by drug abuse. This purist idiot with whom I debated arrogantly suggested that maybe if Rush did drugs and changed their lineup other bands did, that they'd actually be a better band. These are the very same buffoons who dig screaming Satan worshipper King Diamond, whose brand of metal music I detest to the nth degree. They also believe glam metal is supposedly REAL metal, which is totally laughable. These purists or their blathering ranting comments should NEVER be taken seriously...EVER.

Rush was more prog than Zeppelin but less prog than Yes. Imo

Mark belongs on anyone's list of great vocalists for his northern attitude and sheer bloody-mindedness.

Also tone-deaf

My favorite Fall line up was when it was just Mark and his granny on bongos.

@@colgrey438 Argh, edited!

I saw The Fall twice in the 80s and I still say they were the worst band I ever saw. Great attitude from MES but tuneless drivel. Second place; The Pogues.

I always thought he sounded like a constipated Hoover.

I love Dylan, but the "vacuum cleaner in an adjacent room" is just a stunning description. Something poetic about it as well. 😂

@@nightrain8650 lol…

One of our friends had a Dustbuster portable vacuum cleaner that she called “Bob”. She said it sounded like Dylan every time she turned it on. It did. 😂

The most uncomfortable vocalist has to be Diamanda Galas 'singing' The Litanies of Satan... Guaranteed to clear a room 😱

Funny that Tom Waits gets compared to Howlin’ Wolf, yet many don’t like Waits voice while nearly everyone puts Howlin’ Wolf top of the list of blues singers

Never got into him at all, enjoy some of Lou reed that’s more my kinda music. Or velvet underground

I like his funk / shuffle / ragtime fare. His ballads - not so much. Some of his albums are all ballads, some all shuffle. I don't mind a ballad interspersed here & there, but some of his albums are ALL ballads - no thanks!

Tom waits is genius. Can listen to him all day.

Yeah but mustaine suits his music. Big difference

@@psychedelicprawncrumpets9479 lol... uh, sure

@@a.williams1945 oh yeah imagine a voice like plant or perry singing peace sells or holy wars 🤦‍♂️

@@psychedelicprawncrumpets9479 Or imagine a voice like Mustaine's singing "Whole Lotta Love" or "Don't Stop Believin'" 🤮

@@a.williams1945 so you only like singers who are tone perfect? Yeah that's a boring outlook.. Thank God for mustaine ozzy Osborne bon Scott etc etc

As far as I'm concerned, GNR are responsible for the two worst covers I've ever had the misfortune to hear - Live and Let Die, which you mentioned, but even worse is Knockin on Heaven's Door. Who knew "door" was a 3-syllable word? How they ever got into the RNRHOF is beyond me (although that's opening another can of worms).

Axel sounds like Ethel Merman on the rag, and that's the nicest opinion I have about him.

@@bobschiller6435 oh god yeah forgot about the Dylan cover truly truly awful 🤮🤮

@@noyfb4769 😂😂😂😂😂

The Ethel Merman of rock.

another voice I cant take for even a minute

RUSH ! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Same. First time I heard Rush was Moving Pictures. I was like, what the hell is this?! But they quickly became my favorite band and still are.

I agree re. Anderson and Martin Barre although nothing stands up to the original Anderson vocals.

In contrast, I'm amazed, despite his decline in range, on how good Robert Plant sounds these days. His collaborations with AK are so tasty. Somewhere down the line he must have listened to some experts/doctors and preserved what vocal cords he had left.

I can see why you feel this way but i quite like the Zealot gene I think it is a great album

@@progmonster4 And what little I've heard of the upcoming RökFlöte sounds promising. Yes, the voice is diminished, but the music is there.

Ian's voice problems started in the early 80s during the Under Wraps tour, and has deteriorated steadily ever since. You can certainly hear the difference starting with Crest Of a Knave. While he tailored material from that point on to suit his lesser range, it's definitely true that he can't sing the old stuff anymore. I haven't seen Tull for many years, but I'm glad to hear he's employing another vocalist. As far as Martin is concerned, while he is certainly entitled to perform old Tull tunes, I'd much rather he focus his energies on new material.

Don't forget streetwalkers 😊😊

Roger Chapman sounds like a goat, as a friend of mine says. Although he had a particular proeminent stage-presence, its the sound that counts, specially in a band so music-orientated as Family. If he was the lead-singer in, for instance, early Genesis or Gentle Giant (instead of Peter Gabriel or Derek Schulmann, both of whom were not vocal experts, but played the role as well as possible), these 2 bands would have been in serious problems back then.

Roger has also said that he doesn't regard himself as a singer, but an instrumentalist, using his voice as an instrument, and there's a lot of variety in what he does.

@@antitheist2000 i still listen to them often, hugely underrated band

@@antitheist2000 Red Card. ❤️

Lene Lovich is from Detroit, USA. I used to think she was German too, but no.

Glad you enjoyed it

Excellent description....paints a picture!

OMG, I'm cryin' and dyin'!!!🤣🤣🤣That's funny as hell! I'm picturing Tom as a chimney sweeper straight outta Mary Poppins!

My brother had a friend tell him that Rick Ocasic sounded like he was in the bathroom taking a dump!

Sweet child O’ mine is an amazing song for a female vocalists. I always love lady singers doing that song.

No Sandy Denny is she ?

If she had not hooked up with John Lennon no one would even know her name. She is the most godawful pretentious phony in the history of music.

Perhaps if John had just said " sorry luv, but you just can't sing", she would have cleared off in a huff, and we would still have him around. And side two of " live peace in Toronto" would be listenable...

That's like calling non-alcoholic beer, beer.

no

Buggered, or neutered without anesthesia, pretty close.

I never had a problem with Geddy's singing, but in later years his voice deteriorated quite a bit. He just can't hit those high notes anymore

Oh, I prefer Geddy in the later years and find the early Geddy’s voice irritating.

Cannot listen to Rush because his singing just makes me wince.

Thank you. I can't stand them because of him.

@@thomasflynn5366 on the later albums, he sounds better

Geddy is a really good vocalist if you really listen.

I have never been able to get past his strangled-chicken-yodeling. Rush is a band I admire as long as I don't have to listen to them.

Agreed, ironic that Clockwork Angels is vocally one of his best but I really don't like listening to him doing the classic stuff after about 95. Maybe Angels had studio help.

Even when Geddy lowered his voice over the decades, I still thought it was a woman singing, basically because I was introduced to Rush in the later period (around the time of Vapor Trails, to be precise).

I could never understand the Donald Duck delivery from Getty, the band are great musicians tho.

A great voice in the early days.... but can't really do it anymore

Constipated yelling?! Insulting...to constipated yelling

Used to get a lift to work with a guy who only ever played ‘Wanted Dead Or Alive’ by ByJovi in his car……..I didn’t think much of them before……I came to absolutely despise them……

Or dry heaving

i actually don't mind jon bon jovi but his music and songs are doo-doo, imagine him singing bay city roller tunes which would sound amazing

Makes me think of Whispering Bob Harris.

@@SamanthaGuttesen Is he the lispy beard from OGWT? If so I disagree completely. Dismisthing NY Dolls as "mock rock" whilst reposing in his flares and suede. I just hate it that's all. Hippy!

I always thought "Songs of Love & Hate" by Godflesh was better.

The best thing I can think to ssay about him, is that he's gone now. These people the host talks about, they underline the message over and over again-- if you can't cut it, scoop up what's left of your dignity and get out of the vocal business. Go retire, take up knitting, write memoirs, produce for new acts, write books (honest ones)---- but for ****sakes, don't sing anymore!

​@@keithbrown7685Browned off

That band in general is utter trash. Being compared to the Beatles is a laugh

My first thought also when he said that.

He lost that voice…. That’s worse.

I’ve always likened his voice to channeling Shemp and Curly Howard from the grave😳

I always referred to it as a cat being strangled.

Like I've been carping on elsewhere, the only plus card for Axel is that he's getting old and he'll be dead before too long. Then, everyone can make him into a martyr and a legend or whatever. They'll have their departed saint, I'll have relief that he's gone.

Almost every person I know who dislikes Rush cites Geddy’s voice as the reason. I honestly live It.

Rooster-He has maybe 3 or 4 songs that I like, but beyond that, I really don't want to hear him at ALL.

He is likely the most disgusting voice of all...except for Minnie Ripperton. He knocked the Doobie Bros down to a 2-star band from a 5-star band.

What?? This is sacrilege, he has an amazing voice. Good enough for Becker and Fagen, good enough for anyone!

@@lorrainebennett7528 I think the tonality or timbre of voices affects different people different ways...no accounting for taste. My sister hates Jethro Tull; a friend told me Steely Dan is the "worst-ever". Yet, my other friends and I like both artists.

I just don't like how hard he's trying to sing like that. It makes me uncomfortable. He shakes his entire head to get vibrato.

His "natural" voice was his first couple albums (Closing Time and The Heart of Saturday Night). I think the voice we hear after that was a combination of his natural voice degrading due to lifestyle and a conscious choice to adopt a gruffer and stranger personality (partly to shield himself from intrusive fans, also because this correlated to the new vistas he wanted to explore). He's acting, and you really have to choose to go along with it if you want to enjoy it. To me, it's worth it, because the bulk of his albums are crammed full of gems.

Waltzing Matilda by Waits is shite.

Yeah, songs like "Martha", "Ol' 55", etc., have that natural quality, which is really nice. But I also like the guttural stuff when the song is fun. Discovered him in the late 80s when he was on David Letterman's show, singing "Tango 'til They're Sore", "Straight To The Top", etc. 😁 It's all on RU-vid now.

At some point he became Bukowski Guy.

@@jeffhampton5040it’s called “Tom Traubert’s Blues” and it’s sublime. It’s better than anything by you.

Just YOU and MEEE! You might enjoy that same group spontaneously breaking into Belefontes’ Banana Boat Song and Dylan looks like he just wants out.

You re absolutely right

And yet he's the most influential rock n roller of all time. He's the most eminent peer-regarded musician of the past 70 years. And you pick his lowest ebb, yes, lowest ebb to highlight.

I am fully aware of how influential he is. He's even been an influence on many of my personal favorites, but that doesn't change the reality of my comment.@@Chapps1941

A buddy of mine once asked "Who was the guy that sounded like Buckwheat?" I still laugh when I think about that. Eddie Murphy's Buckwheat character does sound kinda like Dylan.

with Neil many people through the does realize it's not a shtick they're pretty much used to the sound of his whiny Canadian voice. People have come to appreciate it through the years along with his fantastic songwriting

I agree with you Gregory on both points. But Trucker, I don't know what's particularly Canadian about Young's voice, especially whininess.

He started out with a beautiful voice but, starting with the album Binaural, he's lost it.

I get angry when I hear that dying sheep voice .

Yeah, it’s horrible

Really? I kinda like it. 🤔

Stevie Nicks is the female version of Eddie Vedder , only worse!

The first few times my wife heard Placebo she kept looking at me with a WTF face. I kept telling her to keep listening, then one day at work, I heard her singing "Begin the End". I knew I had made a convert!

That one took a few listens to get its hooks in, along with Bone Machine. Raindogs got me on first listen.

He and Leonard Cohen and sometmes Dylan. "Tone Poems" is how I think of them.

I agree with you about Chapman. The first time I heard him sing "Hung Up Down" I just loved his voice.

Saw Smashing Pumpkins at one of the Bridge Concerts. I was not too familiar with the band, but I remember being stunned at how bad the vocals were.

Smashing pumpkinhead dude is horrible

He sounds whiny like many other alternative bands at the time.