Female Vocalist for prog Band

[h9]

In order to accommodate our newer topic in 'Mike Baker Room' i would like to know your opinion about a female as a lead singer. 
Good example is 'magenta'. Christina's voice is great. And maybe female's vocal could complete the whole song, that could not be done by male's voice.
By the way, i love the female song as a back vocal from Pendragon latest work   
Another question is, what is feminine vocal from male's exactly? (special from PH) 

[Nicky007]

I agree, Hanin. Christina is a wonderful singer, and she has enough power for Shadow Gallery 

Other great female rock singers in my opinion are Agnieszka Swita, Floor and Irene Jansen (sisters), Natasha Shneider (recently deceased  ), Lana Lane, and Laura Jaeger.

What the difference is between male and female rock singers ?  Enormous - but that's just great  

Nicky.

[Deenfan]

In general, I like male singers that sing high notes as well as females. They tend to do so with a lot more power than their female counterparts, which I like. I was witnessing Mark Boals and some woman split the lead vocals for Uli John Roth in Manchester a month ago, and the really funny thing was that when incredibly high notes had to be produced, the female shut up and mr.Boals took on the job.

Out of my 100 favourite singers, I guess 4 are women.

[PH]

Most bands in my cd collection have male vocalists, but there are a few exceptions:

- Sabine Edelsbacher (Edenbridge)
- Aleena Gibson (Kaipa)
- Chloe Alper (Pure Reason Revolution)
- Deirdre Scanlan (Solas)
- Rebecca St. James
- Marcela Bovio (Stream Of Passion)

Not mentioning the odd backing vocals here and there.

Ofcourse there's also numerous guest vocals on Ayreon, so I'll mention a few that impressed me:

- Magali Luyten
- Anneke van Giersbergen
- Heather Findlay

And from Nolan & Wakeman:

- Tracy Hitchings


I prefer male vocals.

-Paco

[h9]

Actually, the most I love from female voice is 'the smooth texture'. So, maybe the best place for woman in a prog rock band is just to be backing vocals. 
Ok Nick, of course there is enormous different between male vocal and female's.
By the way, what about a male that sounds like female (or maybe act as a woman).
Is there any difference? (i imagine Jónsi Birgisson's voice of Sigur Ros that sounds very woman) 
@ PH : Maybe you can add Renaissance's vocalist Annie Haslam, as a quite impressive lead vocals.

[Nicky007]

i imagine Jónsi Birgisson's voice of Sigur Ros that sounds very woman.

Hanin, I'm really surprised by how well versed you are in rock. Before you turned up here, I never ever bever thought of Indonesia in a rock context. I mean, even for Danish standards, you're really very well informed  

Do you know of other Indonesians who are just as interested in rock as you are ?  Where do you find'm ?  What are the fave rock groups among Indonesians ?  And among Indonesian proggies ?


Re our topic, some songs with female vocalists grip me as much as the best male performances, e.g.:

Caamora :  The Bonding  ( Christina Booth )
Eleven :  Kill Me No More  ( Natasha Shneider)
Céline Dion :  The Power of Love  ( )
Gary Hughes & Friends :  Shapeshifter  ( Irene Jansen )
Gary Hughes & Friends :  At the End of Day  ( Lana Lane )
Mike Oldfield & Friends :  Moonlight Shadow  ( Maggie Reilly )

I know, there are more. But this just to serve my point 

Nicky.

[maddox]

Hanin, I'm really surprised by how well versed you are in rock. Before you turned up here, I never ever bever thought of Indonesia in a rock context. I mean, even for Danish standards, you're really very well informed  

I second that.
On the Ayreon board we once had an Iranian member ( i kid you not ) but other than that from that region of the world there aren't many people i know.

Just to say that i'm pleasantly surprised by that. Good development. 

Female voices mmm.

For me there aren't very much choices.
We've got

• Christina from Magenta
• Heather from Mostly Autumn
• Floor Janssen from After Forever (which technicaly isn't really a prog band)
• Marcella Bovio of course
• Susie Bogdanowicz from Glass Hammer
• Aleena Gibson from Kaipa

...

But there it basically ends for me.
Most prog that i have, which means about 95 %, is with a male vocalist.
Do i like them better than female? I don't know actually, fact is that there are more male prog singers then female or maybe i'm wrong about that.

[Nicky007]

But there it basically ends for me.

Mad.  Youthful arrogance !!!  There are at least three of the songs on my short list that you have never heard (properly).

Female vocalists rule    - at least second 

Nicky.

[maddox]

Mad.  Youthful arrogance !!!  There are at least three of the songs on my short list that you have never heard (properly).

Female vocalists rule    - at least second 

Nicky.

Then tell me which ones you mean.
Maybe i did heard them already but the list i gave you lot is just from the top of my head.

And we all know what that means. 

[Nicky007]

Mad, if you continue thataway, you'l soon be listenin to reggae   

Nicky.

[maddox]

Mad, if you continue thataway, you'l soon be listenin to reggae   

NO, PLEASE!!!


Heaven forbid!!! 

There's one stream of music which i really really really loathe, hate, not very like: Reggae. 

[Nicky007]

Did I get it right, Mad:  You dont like reggae ? 

That's cause you dont smoke enuff. Take a few more puffs tonight and then put on Bob Marley's Exodus.

"Exodus: Movement of Jah people! Oh-oh-oh, yea-eah!
Men and people will fight ya down (Tell me why!)
When ya see Jah light. (Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!)
Let me tell you if you're not wrong; (Then, why?)
Everything is all right."

I just came upon the perfect Christmas present for you, Mad:  Madonna's coming reggae album 

Nicky.

[PH]

Well Mad, I guess no A.C.T for you then.

[maddox]

Well Mad, I guess no A.C.T for you then.

Why, because of the reggea and smoke or because of the female vocalists? 

[Bupie]

Don't I perceive a light feeling of prog-male-European superiority floating in the air of this thread  ?

Well, I do like female vocalists as much as male, it just depends on the music.

And I do like reggae at small doses (or even higher when coming from some non reggae bands who made killer reggae songs : Police of course but also Joe Jackson or even Scorpions ). Plus, I think it's a type of music that's technically very hard to play. Maybe Deenie could give us his two (or more  ) cents on this ?

And last but not least, one of the most prolific reviewers on Progarchives is from Indonesia (and he seems to like metal and Arena a lot, Nick : http://www.progarchives.com/Collaborators.asp?id=405).

So guys, for a penitence (especially for the Christian Roomies), I suggest you all immediately go and listen to an Indonesian prog-reggae band with a female vocalist (as least if you manage to find one, of course)   

[PH]

And last but not least, one of the most prolific reviewers on Progarchives is from Indonesia (and he seems to like metal and Arena a lot, Nick : http://www.progarchives.com/Collaborators.asp?id=405).

Yes, his reviews are always very good.

So guys, for a penitence (especially for the Christian Roomies), I suggest you all immediately go and listen to an Indonesian prog-reggae band with a female vocalist (as least if you manage to find one, of course)   

Good one!

[Deenfan]

Well, Bupie, I've never smoked weed, so I couldn't possibly pull off a reggae beat...

[The Butterfly Man]

Well, Bupie, I've never smoked weed, so I couldn't possibly pull off a reggae beat...

That's what they all say, isn't that so?...

[Bupie]

Well, Bupie, I've never smoked weed, so I couldn't possibly pull off a reggae beat...

Thanks for this technical precision, Deenie    ... 

[h9]

Do you know of other Indonesians who are just as interested in rock as you are ?  Where do you find'm ?  What are the fave rock groups among Indonesians ?  And among Indonesian proggies ?
Nicky.

Thank You Nick.
There are a lot of Indonesians that love Rock, especially prog-rock. They joined together and formed a community named IPS (Indonesian Progressive Society).
You can search this community via this address, Nick : http://www.indoprogsociety.org
Internet help us to update the newest 'skin' of rock and it grows together via mail-list (forum) (just similar to this forum but the genre is very wide, not just talk about prog rock music but also another style music.
The most prolific rock band in Indonesia is "GodBless". (I am not their fans, although their music is near to 70's Genesis or gentle giant).
But IMO, the best Rock Band in Indonesia are (sorry i use 'are' not 'is', grammatically wrong eh??  ) "Guruh Gypsy" (very Symphonic Prog and quite excellent), "Makara" (old Neo Progressive band that currently only release 2 studio album (in 1986 and 2008), "Abbhama" (Also Symphonic Prog, characterize by his vocalist that sounds very childish  ).
The newer one is "Discus" (very well known R.I.O Group that blend progressive rock music with cultural sound/ pentatonic, Discus vocalist are Female, and she is so great/ The combination between Discus and the vocalist is similar to "Thinking Plague" with her vocalist, Deborah Perry (Sounds unique)), "Vantasma" (Outstanding NeoProg band), and "Ballerina" (LTE clone, but gives several new things in my ear)

And last but not least, one of the most prolific reviewers on Progarchives is from Indonesia (and he seems to like metal and Arena a lot, Nick : http://www.progarchives.com/Collaborators.asp?id=405).

Yes you're right my friend, He is prolific reviewers on Progarchives. He has a spectacular knowledge especially about Marillion and Neo-progressive genre's. He often make writing via his blog, unfortunately, most of them are in Indonesian. So, i'm sure you need me to translate it. 

[Nicky007]

But IMO, the best Rock Band in Indonesia are (sorry i use 'are' not 'is', grammatically wrong eh??  ) ....

It's optional, Hanin.

I prefer the plural form (are), as it indicates that the band (or group) is made up of several individuals, which I very much experience with prog groups.

With contrived (big buck) groups, like Foreigner and Asia, I could use the singular 


Thanks for your interesting post, Hanin 

Nicky.

[Peter]

Eh, my 2cents: have not found a band with a female vocalist yet, that I can listen to for longer than 15-20 minutes before it gets on my nerves.... male voices are just so much more ... enjoyable

Just think of russian men's choirs... great!

[maddox]

Just think of russian men's choirs... great!

You mean the Gregorian kind?

Indeed. Astonishing.