Am I the only person who notices the lack of personality and soul in the voices in today's most successful singers? Everyone sounds so polished and manufactured, with the exception of a select few (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Macy Gray, Jill Scott, as a small sample).
Back-in-the-day singers like Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, and Janis Joplin dominated the music of their times with their quirky voices and unusual styles. They were praised for their innovation and and distinct sounds, not for blending in. Today it seems like there is a vocal cookie-cutter and the Beyonce' and Ciaras are just parts of the assembly line. It;s not that they lack talent, it's that they have come to the point where there are no longer separate styles, just separate artists, and even that line begins to blur.
As much as I hate to admit it, even Christina Aguilera -- while doesn't lack the vocal range -- lacks the ability to convey the personality like the old school greats. When you listen to her music, it's clear that she draws inspiration frim the great singers of the past like Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, and Minnie Riperton. However, it seems like she only takes what she thinks we can handle and leaves the personality behind.
Aguilera's songs, though emotional, are only one-dimensional. They lack the pain and hurt she attempts to emulate, and while she knows how to express the 'yell and scream' type of pain, her interpretation of the 'silently cry pain is lacking. Listen to her single Hurt and then listen to Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit and it will be obvious.
This a constant issue with the vast majority of young singers. They spend so much time investing in a flawless sound that they forget about the emotion of the song. When someone sings about pain and hurt and you can't feel it, it kills the song. It's easy to sound happy but to get your audience to want to break down and cry with you takes talent, passion, and soul.
2 comments:
I agree with your comments on soulless singing. Real artistry is in the ability to go deep into the human emotional experience and having a very personal expression pouring through the work. In pop singing, you have the good actors and the bad and very few greats. Unfortunately, what is being sold to the public is not intended to expand consciousness or intelligence (the same thing) it is merely to make money and keep people in a stupor while their civil liberties are stripped. Prozac pop and Viagra soul-baby!
Actually, a great and imminently soulful singer, Todd Rundgren, has a song that sets the record straight. It's called "Soul Brother" from his album "Liars" Here's a video of him performing on Letterman:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOkZcF1pxa8&feature=related
Josh
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