Most of the music that I’ve been listening to has female vocalists. One exception is the group Riverside. It’s progressive rock, so if you don’t like that genre, you may not appreciate it. Qobuz has the album Riverside 20 - Vol.1, The Shorts. Songs from several of their albums. I like the entire album, but try "We Got Used to Us" first.
I have one of their concerts on DVD and the singer sounds excellent live. Not one of those dudes that’s been doctored up in the studio. He also plays bass guitar.
If you want something more upbeat, play Friend or Foe on their ID.Entity album. Listen to the entire song. Some really cool guitar. Needs to be cranked a bit...
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@n80
There are notable male vocalists with distinctive voices but, I'm guessing, not of the "swaggering" variety. Four that come to mind -- none of them Rock:
Nathaniel Rateliff of N.R. and the Night Sweats
Chris Stapleton
Eric Burton of Black Pumas
Trent Wagler of Steel Wheels
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M Ward is very 2010s but still, a giant
Jacob Banks
Paolo Nutini
I find a lot of new talent in the tiny desk concert series
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Welcome to the world of the worst, most dark and depressing music in the history of music!!! IMHO, I believe this downward quality of music trend started when good old fashioned Rock and roll began to fade in the 90’s and degenerated into Grunge, the decline of good old fashioned Country music that lost it’s very soul, and when good old fashioned Soul and R&B degenerated into a universally accepted, scary, hard, street, gangster, Hip Hop Rap. Now, most newer music (last approx. 25 years) sounds either too weird, or too distasteful. Happy listening
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Huh.
I am lost in so much great new music I have a hard time listening to the same thing again. Whether it is from looking through the new releases in general, new by genre, suggestions from Audiogoners, reading Stereophile, The Absolute Sound recommended recordings, of looking at a artist I used to listen to and discovering a bunch of recordings I never heard I am awash is absolutely wonderful music. This goes for specific types of music.
In addition I often paint in the morning and just put on an internet radio station or play list... I have to keep stopping and adding stuff to my library.
I guess I don’t have any problems with music on Qobuz.
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@sls883 Thanks for the recommendation. I'll look into it. I was into prog rock in college and still listen to the old stuff so I'll give it a try.
@stuartk I'm familiar with some of those particularly Stapleton. Will look into the others. I guess my rant has more to do with brand new stuff.
@grislybutter Thanks. Will look them up.
@kennymacc I agree with you. Probably because I'm older (61) and turning into a codger. It is easy too always look back and say things were better "back then". On the other hand sometimes it is true. And for me "back then" included the rise of disco. All the classic rock stations (it was just called rock) were changing format to disco and easy listening. It was awful. So we definitely go through stages where music stagnant or declining. I firmly agree that that's where we are now. Music is manufactured by teams of writers, computers and marketers. And it sounds like it.
This is evidenced by the decline of the band in general. There are very few 'bands' topping the charts these days. Mostly just marketable individuals singing what they are told to sing with studio and touring musicians......many of whom just push play on the synth track.
I guess one of the things that also strikes me as telling is the alt/indie market. It is ironic to me that they all sound EXACTLY the same. It is time for alternative to alternative and independent form the independence.
@ghdprentice I think it is great you are enjoying new music whatever it might be. Everyone has different tastes and criteria for what moves them. I also listen to stuff like Radio Paradise. I enjoy it but rarely hear anything new that catches my ear.
There are two issues I have with Qobuz. First, their algorithm, if they even have one, for suggesting music tailored to me just isn't very good. It is mostly just stuff I have recently listened to. Amazon and Apple do a much better job. Second, their search engine is a joke. It is like pulling teeth just to find something you already know the name of. But, I stick with them because I hate sending money to the big brother/ leviathan companies like Apple and Amazon.
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@n80
I'm familiar with some of those particularly Stapleton. Will look into the others. I guess my rant has more to do with brand new stuff.
Got it. If you are not familiar with Black Pumas, their studio stuff pales by comparison with their live performances. Listen to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOKfK8y4_MQ
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I guess my rant has more to do with brand new stuff.
by definition, you won't hear brand new stuff until 2 years from now :)
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@stuartk Gave it a brief listen. I like what I’m hearing. Will dig deeper.
@acman3 I’ve listened to Jason Isbell a little bit and for some reason he just hasn’t hooked me in. Are their songs you particularly like? I'll give them a listen.
But that brings up another issue. There are several artists that I love and listen to all the time like Mark Knopfler and Neko Case who put out lots of albums some of which I can’t find a single song that I like and other albums that are all time favorites of mine. So with any artist with a body of work like that you might listen to two or even three albums, give up on them, and miss amazing stuff.
And I’ll admit, I’m an impatient listener. If a song doesn’t hook me in right away I tend to move on. That’s not always fair to the song.......but most of the time it is.
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Usually, in Qobuz, I can scroll to the bottom and find suggestions or similar artists. This much better than letting them hand me a playlist.
Meanwhile, if you like Americana or country, there are more male singers. There have been several who have made it big. Tyler Childress, Sturgill Simpson, Zack Bryan. Heartfelt lyrics with good stories, or bad. Sturgill especially has jumped around . He is a dynamic emotional singer and good guitar player. Good recordings. Try Turtles All the Way Down you can continue the album if that hits ya. Album: Meta Modern Sounds
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Maybe because the whole Paradigm of the band of musicians with the alpha front male is fading away. Just as the big band paradigm with the 30 musicians fronted by the charismatic male instrumentalist has also faded away. Just as the doo-wop group morphed into boy bands which have also started to fade away. Yeah, I agree that a lot of the singers, especially the female ones, tend to sound like clones. But just about every '80s hair metal vocalist sounded exactly the same, just as every 90s grunge singer sounded pretty much the same. It's a formula and it's what the public wants at the moment.
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@n80
I hope you mean "watching", as that particular video shows the band at its best!
;o)
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@simao + 1, but I wouldn't say it IS fading away, I'd say it HAS faded away - still there, of course, but it's not been the predominant genre for decades. Time marches on, as do musical styles and trends.
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@sls883 and @n80
I've been a member of the Riverside Fan Club since 2007 or 2008. Fantastic Prog Band from Poland founded in 2001 by Mariusz Duda (bass, vocals), Piotr Grudzinski (guitar), Piotr Kozieradzki (drums), and Jacek Melnicki (keyboards). Melnicki was replaced in 2003 by Michal Lapaj (keyboards). Grudzinski (Rest In Peace) was a fantastic guitar player. His playing on the first 3 albums reminds me of Gilmour at times, especially if you listen to the live album covering the first 3 releases or watch the live concert video they released. Grudzinski's guitar tone is freaking beautiful -- few can match it.
I HIGHLY recommend listening to Riverside's "Trilogy" -- the title the Fan Club gave to their first three studio releases: 2003's "Out Of Myself", 2005's "Second Life Syndrome", and 2007's "Rapid Eye Movement". In 2011, the band released a 6 CD Box Set called "Reality Dream Trilogy" -- I grabbed a copy when the Fan Club got a pre-release offer. I'm glad I did -- copies are pretty pricey now when you can find them for sale. Another must listen is the 2008 live release "Reality Dream", which contains live performances from the Trilogy albums.
Tragedy struck the band in 2016 when founding guitarist Piotr Grudzinski died from a heart attack after attending a concert by The Winery Dogs in Warsaw. The band members, especially Duda, were deeply impacted by his death. The first album released after his death, "Wasteland", reflects the sadness and despair felt by the band. I saw one of the early tour dates from the "Wasteland" tour, and let me tell you, Duda and the other band members left everything on the stage that night. It was a very dark and depressing aura, but the music was spot on unreal. I was very happy when the band announced that the touring guitarist, Maciej Meller, had been officially hired as the fourth member. The first album after this announcement, "ID.Entity", was a drastic departure from the bleakness of "Wasteland" and showed that the band's head was in a good place. The tour for "ID. Entity" was a drastic difference from the previous tour. Very upbeat, cheerful. Even thought it is bleak and apocalyptic, "Wasteland" is one of my top 4 Riverside releases (the Trilogy being the other 3).
If you dig Riverside, I highly recommend you listen to Lunatic Soul, a side project started in 2008 by Mariusz Duda. Start by listening to the 2017 release, "Fractured". It was recorded and released following the death of Piotr Grudzinski and Duda's father, both in 2016. Duda has stated that the main theme of "Fractured" is "coming back to life after a personal tragedy" and that he wanted to create an album with a positive undertone which would suggest how to cope with loss, as well as inspire to overcome fear. 2020's "Through Shaded Woods" and the first two Lunatic Soul releases are also very good.
We are in what I call the "2nd Generation of Progressive Rock Music" -- began around 1995 - 2000 when the original classic Prog Bands were getting older and stale, and musicians that grew up with a foot in Prog Rock and a foot in Heavy Metal found a way to fuse the two genres, giving us Prog Metal. Bands such as Opeth, Fates Warning, Queensryche, Symphony X, and Dream Theater emerged.
This led to a wave of new bands that didn't want the Metal elements, so they went back to the roots of 1960's and 1970's Prog Rock, Symphonic Prog Rock, and Fusion Prog Rock and updated the sound utilizing the newer technology and gear. Bands emerged such as Porcupine Tree, IQ, Riverside, Soup, Spock's Beard, Arena, Mystery, Big Big Train, Anathema, The Pineapple Thief, Transatlantic, The Flower Kings, Airbag, Ozric Tentacles, The Neal Morse Band, Frost*, Soen, Arena -- I could go on and on and on  .
I hope you enjoy some of these bands if you have not heard them before. Have a Very Proggy 2025!
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@allenf1963 Thank you for the background on Riverside. I knew a little bit of it, but much was new. I have most of their recordings on cd, but not all.. I'll look into the ones that I don't. I have the Lost and Found dvd of their live performance in Tilburg. I really had a greater appreciation for the band after watching that concert.
I do listen to Lunatic Soul as well. I listen to Porcupine Tree and Pineapple Thief. I'll look into the others. I'm also a big RPWL fan. I've recently been listening to Blind Ego as well.
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@sls883
I’m happy to have given you some info about Riverside. Feel free to reach out anytime. I’ll send you some photos of framed artwork I have pertaining to the band. Here are a couple of awesome live concerts I was not sure if you mentioned seeing. I saw these tours and they are in my top 10% of live shows I’ve attended since my first concert in 1970.
"Reality Dream Tour"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HWv7YJtYCA&t=868s
"Wasteland Tour"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77aHfCIk04M&t=4393s
Listen to the "Guardian Angel" track off the "Wasteland Tour". Just beautiful.
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Jay Buchanan of Rival Sons, they have been about for a year or two now try their early albums such as Before the Fire and Pressure and Time. Have seen them 3 times this guy has it all in vocal range, power, dynamics and stage presence he is very much in the mould of a Robert Plant or Ian Gillan etc from the classic rock bands of the 70's.
John Arch from Arch Matheos particularly their 1st album, he's knocking on a bit but what a great voice.
+1 for Chris Stapleton.
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@allenf1963 Thank you.
I just bought the Reality Dream tour on DVD tonight.
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Rival Sons is gritty , raw, and definitely not posers. Good band. Love those guys.
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@allenf1963 I just took an inventory. I have all of their cds, one EP, and a couple of videos.
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Marcus King
Warren Haynes....... still around
Dan Auerbach
Teskey Brothers
Matt Berninger
John Moreland
Amos Lee
Hanseroth brothers
Glen Hansard
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I feel your pain n80. From the moment I started listening to music I was always drawn to the nuances of the male singer. From Robert Plant & Ian Gillan, later obsessed with Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart & my favourites to this day, Lou Reed, Neil Young, Kurt Cobain, Mark E Smith. I’ve probably forgot a few.
But on the subject of Female vocals, I’m generally not a fan, but I think that’s mainly down to the soppy crap they’re singing. I hear all the time Diane Krall, just sounds like insufferable whining to me. But a band I love, who I think are criminally underrated is Massive Attack and they have introduced me to numerous stunning female vocals. It’s obvious to reel off the examples on the first 3 albums, but I would recommend the less acclaimed 100th Window and Heligoland. Sinéad O’Connor, Martina Topley-Bird, Hope Sonderval. Chilling vocals & great music.
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@slaw Thanks. I am familiar with Marcus King. He's okay for me. I have all of the Teskey Brothers albums. Love them. I have several Amos Lee albums. Also have a few Black Keys albums. I am mostly interested in their blues stuff which is excellent. I'll check out the other artists you listed.
@singintheblues Thanks. I am not opposed to female artists. Neko Case is one of my favorites. She has some great albums. Some duds too. I like Margo Timmins of Cowboy Junkies. I like Ella Fitzgerald for that matter. I liked Brittany Howard when she was with Alabama Shakes. Not so much now. I'm sure there are others but those are the ones that I can think of offhand. But like you, that's are short list compared to male vocalists.
This weekend I have a cold and it is snowing and sleeting outside (rare for us) so hopefully I'll have some time in front of the speakers exploring the many suggestions made here. Thanks.
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The guy that fronted The Commitments never got his due
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John Mayer has paid his dues
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Alice Cooper will soon be making a comeback.
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@singintheblues
You are dismissively lumping all female vocalists into a single category -- "soppy crap"? Wow. That's a pretty extreme philosophy.
FYI, I'm not a fan of D. Krall, either, but that doesn't impel me to ignore all female singers. Far from it.
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@stuartk That is not the way I took it. He did make a generalization about a lot of the material that female vocalists sing but then he goes on to list a number of female vocalists that he likes. So it doesn't seem to me that he is saying that about all female vocalists.
And just so that I'm not misunderstood as well, my beef is with the corp of popular female vocalists of the last 10-15 years. I wouldn't use the term "soppy crap" but I might use the term "predictable pablum".
By the way, Aretha Franklin is also on my list of favorite female vocalists.
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@n80
I'm certainly not above making mistakes. I don't agree that "generally", female vocalists have lousy material, though, if by "generally" he meant most female vocalists.
I liked B. Howard with A. Shakes, too . . . and Allison Russell when she was with Birds of Chicago and Maya Di Vitry when she was with Stray Birds and Lindsay Lou when she was with the Flatbellys. Is there a theme, here? I just happened to prefer their work with the groups listed for stylistic reasons.
Is Lake Street Dive "popular"? Rachael price is, by any measure a terrific vocalist who started out as a Jazz singer. Their material is a bit too Pop for me, but very well done.
Did anyone mention Marty Stuart ? He certainly qualifies as an excellent front man, but (here we go again) not Rock.
Anyway, I hope you've gotten a few useful suggestions from this thread.
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Jeff Tweedy
Andrew Bird
Joey Burns
E (of Eels)
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I don’t know any male vocalist as affective, moving and addictive as my favorite female vocalists (Ok, one: Freddie Mercury, of course). And I think it’s fine and just natural, men are good at other things.
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"And I think it’s fine and just natural, men are good at other things..."
I don't even wanna know...
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So where are the front men? Where are the guys with big voices, great range and dynamics? Charisma, swagger, stage presence? A thing of the past maybe?
For that, I listen to the timelessly sexy Tom Jones.
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Bruno Mars - Leon Bridges - Black Pumas (Eric Burton) - JJ Grey - St Paul & The Broken Bones (Paul Janeway) - Blackberry Smoke (Charlie Star) - Teddy Swims (Jaten Collin Dimsdale)... just gotta know where to look. These guys are all great frontmen in their own musical lanes
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@thecarpathian I am absolutely dazzled by Tom Jones, Dean Martin, Elvis, Glen Campbell, etc. They too are magical. I just like female vocals more. It's very subjective...
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Sinatra, Perry Como, Englebert Humperdink (Can't write his name without giggling)...
I love those men!
Um, not in a prison way.
In a Viking way.
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I am not into Sinatra (and I don’t get the hype). I grew up reading not nice stories about him, before I heard him sing.
Not sure what a prison way is, I should probably not know
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To be honest Sinatra is my least favorite out of them. I’ve just recently started listening to him. Smooth voice, though. Sheer power, Tom Jones all day.
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I'm really into the crooners of the 50's, 60's, all the music I tried to hate in my youth. That was a time and place that can't be replicated, these are historical documents just as all music becomes with time. Male folk singers fit the bill as front man as well, again a time and place in the past. Contemporary rock certainly doesn't commonly have the strutting front men of the past.
I don't find myself seeking out front men in my contemporary music choices, more about the entire ensemble or band for me.
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@slaw Thanks. I will look into those.
@bgross Leon Bridges blew me away with his first album. Just amazing. Have not enjoyed his follow up albums. I do love his work with Khruangbin. I have not listened to JJ Grey in a long time. Seems like he wasn't doing much for a while. I'll take a look and see what he's been up to because I really like his older stuff. I've got one of St. Paul and the Broken Bones CDs but I can only handle Janeway for a few songs at a time. Never given Bruno Mars a chance. Maybe I should.
As far as the crooners, sure, I like them. Tom Jones, yep, grew up listening to him because my mom had his records.
But, I'm not saying that there haven't been great front men. Plant, Mercury, Jagger, Daltry.....the list is endless. What I was referring to was new stuff. Last few years and up and coming stuff. There just seems like a vacuum.
I've mentioned these before but if you want to see swagger and chops look into a band called The Struts. Luke Spiller is like a Mercury/Jagger mashup. Look at their first two albums escpecially the second. Third album is terrible. Fourth one is so-so. They been around for about 10 years. Got big about 5 years ago.
Then there is MacSaturn. Lead singer Carson Mac channels Jagger but is smoother. They just released their first album last year the day before their brand new keyboard player got arrested for molesting a minor and they are currently in limbo. They are magic live. Check out their first album Hard to Sell. Great songs. Well produced. Hope they recover from their set back.
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Auto tuning, takes the life out of any singer; male or female
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As Nietzsche said- The Guitar God is Dead.
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allenf1963 Thanks for the Riverside recommendation! I put on the "Out of Myself" album on Tidal and dig it. I find a lot of super cool bands mentioned on A-Gon. -John
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@allenf1963 thanks for the additional information. I have the Reality Dream tour and Wasteland tour ordered. I found Reality Dream in the U.S. but Wasteland is coming from Poland.
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As Nietzsche said- The Guitar God is Dead.
As Gary Clark, Jr. said- Nietzsche is dead.
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@jsd52756 -- I'm glad you liked Riverside's debut album. When you have time for some deep listening, put on "Second Life Syndrome" and "Rapid Eye Movement", their second and third releases of the "Realty Dream Trilogy". Read the lyric sheets as you are listening. Very enjoyable.
@sls883 -- Awesome. Get ready for some fantastic music when they arrive. Enjoy.
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