Best bands with female vocalists

[Fangface]

doh, poor Buckhard, that's the second time your long post is lost

I checked the songs yes, thanks for the link.
Well I like the vocals, beautiful indeed, but honestly I'm not too fond of the music, I have a hard time with these downtuned guitars I like the song from the first album though!
I guess I'm too much of a purist heh

 

[Hawk]

Call me a sexist but I am not into female metal singers. The only one I like is Angela Gossow from Arch Enemy.

A popsinger I really like is Dalbello. She is great

 

[Psychonaut]

I'll second Fear Of God's Within The Veil. Awesome album.
I also like the newer Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Tristania, Sirenia, The Sins Of Thy Beloved, older Theatre Of Tragedy, Arch Enemy, Dark Sanctuary, Rain Fell Within, Autumn Tears, Dargaard, Aesma Daeva, Opera IX, and Metallica.

 

[Fangface]

...and Metallica.

 

[Psychonaut]

I couldn't resist.

 

[Burkhard]

Call me a sexist but I am not into female metal singers.

Which ones have you heard so far? Is it that you don´t like the combination of a female voice and heavy music?

The only one I like is Angela Gossow from Arch Enemy.

What about Sabina Classen (Holy Moses) in general and Holy Moses´ "Finished With The Dogs" in particular then?

And if I wasn´t hallucinating, I think I noticed you mentioning Mother´s Finest in a post in the "Top 30" thread which (=your post) then fell victim to the hard disk failure at UM. Ok, Mother´s Finest usually aren´t referred to as a metal band, but at least "Black Radio Won´t Play This Record" definitely has some songs which qualify as metal (though not old school ).

A popsinger I really like is Dalbello. She is great

Didn´t she once do a song together with Queensryche? The title "Gonna Get Close To You" comes to my mind, but maybe I´m mixing up something here?

 

[Hawk]

Which ones have you heard so far? Is it that you don´t like the combination of a female voice and heavy music?

Yep thats basicly it. It not that I explicity don't like female metal singers, it's just that every time I hear a metal band with a female metal singer it just does not click with me.

What about Sabina Classen (Holy Moses) in general and Holy Moses´ "Finished With The Dogs" in particular then?

Guess what? I never liked Holy Moses.

And if I wasn´t hallucinating, I think I noticed you mentioning Mother´s Finest in a post in the "Top 30" thread which (=your post) then fell victim to the hard disk failure at UM. Ok, Mother´s Finest usually aren´t referred to as a metal band, but at least "Black Radio Won´t Play This Record" definitely has some songs which qualify as metal (though not old school ).

Joyce Kennedy rules mate! Your right, Mothers Finest is not metal. But what a great band they are I have seen them 3 times and every time they delivered.

Didn´t she once do a song together with Queensryche? The title "Gonna Get Close To You" comes to my mind, but maybe I´m mixing up something here?

You are, but don't worry about it. Queensryche covered her song. I consider her latest album the best. Its called Whore.

 

[Burkhard]

I checked the songs yes, thanks for the link.
Well I like the vocals, beautiful indeed, but honestly I'm not too fond of the music, I have a hard time with these downtuned guitars I like the song from the first album though!
I guess I'm too much of a purist heh

I already sort of suspected that their music might not be traditional/old school enough for your taste, but it was still worth a try. Maybe Meanstreak would be more to your liking, but I have no idea where to find some of their songs in mp3-format for downloading. (However, I could send you a copy on CD-R or tape.)

Is "Ruler Of The Wasteland" your favourite Chastain album? Mine would still be "The 7th Of Never" (probably followed by "Ruler Of The Wasteland"), but I guess it´s the most difficult to find (perhaps because it was released on Black Dragon Records).

I think you had also mentioned Détente, but this post as well as my reply to it got lost, too. Did you ever listen to Fear Of God´s "Within The Veil"?
If you did, but didn´t like it, the following won´t be of much interest to you (though maybe to Psychonaut): The guy who runs (Edit: defunct link removed) (the official Détente/Fear Of God/Dawn Crosby-website) has compiled a CD titled "Treasure Trove". It contains a demo from 1983 of Dawn´s first band Allies (pretty mellow compared to Détente and Fear Of God), the last Fear Of God-demo "Killing The Pain" from 1995 (the sound is abysmal and Dawn´s vocals are too extreme for my taste most of the time), some Fear Of God rehearsal-songs from late 1991, before the line-up of "Within The Veil" broke up (unfortunately the sound quality is rather poor) and - this may be the best part of the CD - five live-songs recorded at the Aardschokdagfestival in the Netherlands on 12 April 1992. The sound-quality of these live-songs is quite good, because it was a recording for a Dutch metal radio programme ("Vara´s Vuurwerk", if I remember correctly), starting off with a killer version of "All That Remains" (with some very aggressive parts which aren´t to be heard on the studio-version on "WTV") and followed by one of my favourite Détente-songs, "Blood I Bleed". The other three live songs are the haunting "Red To Grey", "Betrayed" (with the intro from "Diseased") and "Drift". BTW, at this concert and a few others in the Netherlands and Belgium (unfortunately they didn´t make it to Germany ), Dawn was accompanied by the guys of Wrathchild America. (I think it was also mentioned in the thread about Wrathchild America not too long ago.)

 

[Burkhard]

Joyce Kennedy rules mate! Your right, Mothers Finest is not metal. But what a great band they are I have seen them 3 times and every time they delivered.

I´ve seen them twice (in 1989 and 1993) and I enjoyed both concerts very much. (I think they are still around, though they must have reached their fifties by now.) Have you ever heard of "Rockpalast", a German TV programme which started way back in the seventies? In 1978 there was a "legendary" live show of Mother´s Finest on this programme. Well, I didn´t see it way back then (I was 10 and listening to Abba and Elvis ), but last year they showed it again on TV (and I was lucky enough to catch it on video-tape - it´s fucking great !) and now it seems that there is even hope that this concert will also be released on DVD! (Though I don´t know when. ) Recently they released the first five DVDs from the "Rockpalast"-series (Southside Johnny, Rory Gallagher, Roger Chapman, Thin Lizzy and Huey Lewis - nothing for me, but I think you also mentioned Thin Lizzy among your favourites, didn´t you?) and there is more to come. I don´t know if these DVDs will also be available outside Germany, but as soon as I should read anything about a Mother´s Finest live-DVD, I´ll let you know!

 

[Hawk]

I´ve seen them twice (in 1989 and 1993) and I enjoyed both concerts very much. (I think they are still around, though they must have reached their fifties by now.) Have you ever heard of "Rockpalast", a German TV programme which started way back in the seventies? In 1978 there was a "legendary" live show of Mother´s Finest on this programme. Well, I didn´t see it way back then (I was 10 and listening to Abba and Elvis ), but last year they showed it again on TV (and I was lucky enough to catch it on video-tape - it´s fucking great !) and now it seems that there is even hope that this concert will also be released on DVD!

Do I know Rockpalast? DO I KNOW ROCKPALAST ???!!! What do you think???
In 1976 when I was wee lad of a mere 18 years old I tuned in at the WDR West Duitse Rundfunk and what did I see?

Ronny James DIO voc
David Stone key
Ritchie Blackmore g
Cozy Powel d
Bob Daisley b

It was Rainbow!! Here's the info on that night:

http://www.rockpalastarchiv.de/concert/rainbow.html

My brother and me uses to watch the Rocknights at Rockpalast. We'd stay up all night and our mother would bring us drinks and snacks. I will NEVER forget that. And yea I have seen that show with mothes Finest, of course I have. They will release it on DVD ??? That would be great.

Recently I visited the Rock Palast home page. It has all the concerts listed.
Check it out:

http://www.rockpalastarchiv.de/welcomee.html

These Rocknights I have seen auf den glotze :

1.Rockpalast Nacht 23.-24.7.1977

1.Rockpalast Night - English

Rory Gallagher *


Little Feat

Roger McGuinns Thunderbyrd

2.Rockpalast Nacht 4.-5.3.1978

2.Rockpalast Night - English

Michael Chapman

Mother`s Finest *


Dickey Betts and Great Southern *


Spirit *


3.Rockpalast Nacht 15.-16.9.1978

3.Rockpalast Night - English

Paul Butterfield Band

Peter Gabriel *


Alvin Lee`s Ten Years Later *


4.Rockpalast Nacht 21.-22.4.1979

4.Rockpalast Night - English

J.Geils Band *


Patty Smith Group *


Johnny Winter *


5.Rockpalast Nacht 6.-7.10.1979

5.Rockpalast Night - English

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes

Nils Lofgren

Mitch Ryder

6.Rockpalast Nacht 19.-20.4.1980

6.Rockpalast Night - English

Blues Band

Joan Armatrading *


Ian Hunter feat. Mick Ronson *


ZZ Top *


7.Rockpalast Nacht 18.-19.10.1980

7.Rockpalast Night - English

Graham Parker and the Rumour *


The Police *


Jack Bruce and Friends *


8.Rockpalast Nacht 28.-29.3.1981

8.Rockpalast Night - English

The Who *


The Grateful Dead

9.Rockpalast Nacht 17.-18.10.1981

9.Rockpalast Night - English

The Undertones *


Mink de Ville *


Black Uhuru *


Roger Chapman and the Shortlist


====================================


I placed a star = * after the bands who's performance I liked.

(Though I don´t know when. ) Recently they released the first five DVDs from the "Rockpalast"-series (Southside Johnny, Rory Gallagher, Roger Chapman, Thin Lizzy and Huey Lewis - nothing for me, but I think you also mentioned Thin Lizzy among your favourites, didn´t you?) and there is more to come. I don´t know if these DVDs will also be available outside Germany, but as soon as I should read anything about a Mother´s Finest live-DVD, I´ll let you know!

Yea the Thin Lizzy one I would like to have. I Think I have seen it in the record store I alway's visit. So I suppose I will see the Mother's Finest also there when it is released.

Thanks for letting me know Burkhard!!

 

[Fangface]

I already sort of suspected that their music might not be traditional/old school enough for your taste, but it was still worth a try. Maybe Meanstreak would be more to your liking, but I have no idea where to find some of their songs in mp3-format for downloading. (However, I could send you a copy on CD-R or tape.)

Is Meanstreak the "DT-girlfriends" band? Do they play 90s progressive metal like their husbands? I'm more into emotional prog ala Fates Warning, Psychotic Waltz, etc. Or Power/Prog in the vein of Archetype, Lanfear...

On a side note I also listen to some modern acts, ok less than the old school stuff

Is "Ruler Of The Wasteland" your favourite Chastain album? Mine would still be "The 7th Of Never" (probably followed by "Ruler Of The Wasteland"), but I guess it´s the most difficult to find (perhaps because it was released on Black Dragon Records).

Incidently I often see "7th of Never" in second hand shops (way more than "Ruler of the Wasteland"), and it will be re-released by Leviathan Records next month, along with "Voice of the Cult" on the same cd
And yes "Ruler" is my fave actually, yet "7th" is almost as good to me. In fact there aren't any 80s Chastain releases that I don't like. I'm a bit disapointed by the latest discs though, I hope the new one will see them back to their standards.
Kate French also sings in Vainglory now, I'm looking forward to their new cd too.

I think you had also mentioned Détente, but this post as well as my reply to it got lost, too. Did you ever listen to Fear Of God´s "Within The Veil"?
If you did, but didn´t like it, the following won´t be of much interest to you (though maybe to Psychonaut): The guy who runs www.fear-of-god.com (the official Détente/Fear Of God/Dawn Crosby-website) has compiled a CD titled "Treasure Trove". It contains a demo from 1983 of Dawn´s first band Allies (pretty mellow compared to Détente and Fear Of God), the last Fear Of God-demo "Killing The Pain" from 1995 (the sound is abysmal and Dawn´s vocals are too extreme for my taste most of the time), some Fear Of God rehearsal-songs from late 1991, before the line-up of "Within The Veil" broke up (unfortunately the sound quality is rather poor) and - this may be the best part of the CD - five live-songs recorded at the Aardschokdagfestival in the Netherlands on 12 April 1992. The sound-quality of these live-songs is quite good, because it was a recording for a Dutch metal radio programme ("Vara´s Vuurwerk", if I remember correctly), starting off with a killer version of "All That Remains" (with some very aggressive parts which aren´t to be heard on the studio-version on "WTV") and followed by one of my favourite Détente-songs, "Blood I Bleed". The other three live songs are the haunting "Red To Grey", "Betrayed" (with the intro from "Diseased") and "Drift". BTW, at this concert and a few others in the Netherlands and Belgium (unfortunately they didn´t make it to Germany ), Dawn was accompanied by the guys of Wrathchild America. (I think it was also mentioned in the thread about Wrathchild America not too long ago.)

Ok thanks for the info, I have to listen to my old tape with those Detente tracks to figure how it sounds again

 

[carnut]

Anyone knows 1980's Belgian band Acid ? they were pretty good and had a good female singer. As I heard one of their singles is very collectable ?? not sure wich, I know they have some stuff called "Maniac", but not sure that's the single or album....

 

[Burkhard]

Is Meanstreak the "DT-girlfriends" band?

No, it is the "DT-wives" band!

Do they play 90s progressive metal like their husbands? I'm more into emotional prog ala Fates Warning, Psychotic Waltz, etc. Or Power/Prog in the vein of Archetype, Lanfear...

They definitely didn´t play any progressive metal at all! And as their one and only album "Roadkill" was released in 1988, they would have been ahead of their time, if they had already played "90s progressive metal"! To be honest, I don´t know into which metal-subgenre I should put them. Let´s just call it heavy metal. The songs aren´t very complex. Do you know Phantom Blue? Let´s say Meanstreak sound a bit rougher than they did, but Phantom Blue had better guitar solos. In the early nineties, Meanstreak released, as far as I know, two demos. I read that the first one was (nearly) thrash metal - as I haven´t heard iterk: ), I can´t say whether this is true or not. The second one (which I own) features a ballad and three songs I´d label as heavy metal (among them a cover version of "Barracuda"). It´s nothing extraordinary, but, well, I liked it, also because of Bettina France´s voice, which is powerful, though not as rough as Leather Leone´s. As I haven´t heard anything about Meanstreak for nearly a decade I think they´ve ceased to exist.

BTW, I agree with you that Dream Theater always had a somewhat sterile sound. If I had to choose between them and Psychotic Waltz or Fates Warning, I´d always opt for the latter!

On a side note I also listen to some modern acts, ok less than the old school stuff

May I ask which ones? What about Atrox? (No tuned down guitars here, very complex stuff, though the vocals might be too weird for many people´s taste - luckily not for mine. Just within about two years "Terrestrials" has made it to no. 2 in my "eternal" playlist which I started in 1988!)

In fact there aren't any 80s Chastain releases that I don't like. I'm a bit disapointed by the latest discs though

I absolutely do agree! I mean, I think Kate´s voice is as good as Leather´s was, but the guitar work on "Sick Society" and "In Dementia" gets somewhat boring.

I hope the new one will see them back to their standards.

So they are still around? I haven´t read/heard anything about them for years.

Kate French also sings in Vainglory now, I'm looking forward to their new cd too.

What kind of style do they play?

If you should still like Détente, you might also like "Beyond The Realms Of Madness" by Sacrilege (I already mentioned them a few posts before).

 

[Burkhard]

Do I know Rockpalast? DO I KNOW ROCKPALAST ???!!! What do you think???

I should/could/would have guessed it! But did you live at/near the same place way back then where you are living now? I looked the place up on a map and noticed it was close to the sea, so I was wondering if you could actually receive WDR there. I mean, I just live about 30 km away from the Dutch border and though I can tune in NL 1 and NL 3, the picture I get is very, very bad. It´s a bit better with the radio-programme though, I used to tune in quite often to the Dutch metal-programme "Vara´s Vuurwerk" (don´t know if the spelling is correct) and it´s follow-up in the nineties, "Bad Girl".

 

[Fangface]

They definitely didn´t play any progressive metal at all! And as their one and only album "Roadkill" was released in 1988, they would have been ahead of their time, if they had already played "90s progressive metal"! To be honest, I don´t know into which metal-subgenre I should put them. Let´s just call it heavy metal. The songs aren´t very complex. Do you know Phantom Blue? Let´s say Meanstreak sound a bit rougher than they did, but Phantom Blue had better guitar solos.

ok I see!

In the early nineties, Meanstreak released, as far as I know, two demos. I read that the first one was (nearly) thrash metal - as I haven´t heard iterk: ), I can´t say whether this is true or not. The second one (which I own) features a ballad and three songs I´d label as heavy metal (among them a cover version of "Barracuda"). It´s nothing extraordinary, but, well, I liked it, also because of Bettina France´s voice, which is powerful, though not as rough as Leather Leone´s. As I haven´t heard anything about Meanstreak for nearly a decade I think they´ve ceased to exist.

I found that page
http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/metalqueens/meanstreak-.htm

BTW, I agree with you that Dream Theater always had a somewhat sterile sound. If I had to choose between them and Psychotic Waltz or Fates Warning, I´d always opt for the latter!

mm that's not really what I wanted to say in fact I do like some DT stuff, from the debut to "Awake", it's just that I prefer much more Fates Warning or some other prog bands.
IMO DT are both overrated and underrated, overrated because of legions of "fanatics" who claim (on the internet for example) that they're the main band of prog metal history, and underrated at the same time by thousands of detractors who say that their music is solely technical wankery, something I don't agree at all with. Even if they're not amongst my favorite bands.

May I ask which ones? What about Atrox? (No tuned down guitars here, very complex stuff, though the vocals might be too weird for many people´s taste - luckily not for mine. Just within about two years "Terrestrials" has made it to no. 2 in my "eternal" playlist which I started in 1988!)

I got a friend who's a big Atrox fan, I may have heard them because of him ahah. I don't know their music much though, I might reconsider it for a try

I absolutely do agree! I mean, I think Kate´s voice is as good as Leather´s was, but the guitar work on "Sick Society" and "In Dementia" gets somewhat boring.

Exactly.

So they are still around? I haven´t read/heard anything about them for years.

Yes Chastain are releasing a new album in a few weeks/months, said to be "back to the roots". But every time I read that a band goes back to its roots it's not that true, we'll see.
Some new pics of the line-up : http://www.leviathanrecords.com/C8pix.htm

What kind of style do they play?

Vainglory are quite similar to Chastain, guitar-driven US Power Metal, this is why I find strange that Kate joins them.
Here's a cool full MP3 from their forthcoming album featuring Kate on vox, check it out!
http://www.corbinking.com/01%20-%20Take%20Me%20From%20Tomorrow.mp3

If you should still like Détente, you might also like "Beyond The Realms Of Madness" by Sacrilege (I already mentioned them a few posts before).

ok, I remember having bought an album by an obscure band called Sacrilege, but maybe it's an homonym I don't really know, I have to check its title...

 

[Burkhard]

I found that page
http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/metalqueens/meanstreak-.htm

Thanks for the link. Hm, I would like to know what Rena Petrucci´s current (?)band Reverend Jim might sound like. I already googled "Rena Petrucci", but I only got 14 hits and there was none about Reverend Jim among them. (I´m afraid if I try "Reverend Jim", I´ll get thousands of hits about reverends named Jim. )

in fact I do like some DT stuff, from the debut to "Awake", it's just that I prefer much more Fates Warning or some other prog bands.

The same with me. Actually, I have seen DT live in 1993 and 1995 and I "even" grin: ) enjoyed the concerts. They had an excellent live sound, maybe the best of any metal band I had heard so far. I had also bought their albums until the - IMO - totally disappointing "Falling Into Infinity". About two years ago I saw them live again (mostly out of curiosity and some kind of "nostalgic" mood), but it left me rather cold (maybe also because I wasn´t familiar with the new songs). The two songs I liked best were "The Killing Hand" (I think it´s still one of their best) and their cover version of Metallica´s "Master Of Puppets".

IMO DT are both overrated and underrated, overrated because of legions of "fanatics" who claim (on the internet for example) that they're the main band of prog metal history, and underrated at the same time by thousands of detractors who say that their music is solely technical wankery, something I don't agree at all with. Even if they're not amongst my favorite bands.

No objection.

Yes Chastain are releasing a new album in a few weeks/months, said to be "back to the roots". But every time I read that a band goes back to its roots it's not that true, we'll see.

Perhaps they mean "roooots, bloody roooots"?

Some new pics of the line-up : http://www.leviathanrecords.com/C8pix.htm

Thanks! I guess that if you have a look at pictures of Kate and haven´t heard her before, you will be surprised by her rough voice.

Vainglory are quite similar to Chastain, guitar-driven US Power Metal, this is why I find strange that Kate joins them.
Here's a cool full MP3 from their forthcoming album featuring Kate on vox, check it out!
http://www.corbinking.com/01%20-%20Take%20Me%20From%20Tomorrow.mp3

Thanks for the link! I think this song sounds better than the stuff on "In Dementia" and "Sick Society".

 

[Fangface]

Thanks for the link. Hm, I would like to know what Rena Petrucci´s current (?)band Reverend Jim might sound like. I already googled "Rena Petrucci", but I only got 14 hits and there was none about Reverend Jim among them. (I´m afraid if I try "Reverend Jim", I´ll get thousands of hits about reverends named Jim. )

ahah, or hits about Reverend the band featuring the former Metal Church singer (David Wayne)

The same with me. Actually, I have seen DT live in 1993 and 1995 and I "even" grin: ) enjoyed the concerts. They had an excellent live sound, maybe the best of any metal band I had heard so far. I had also bought their albums until the - IMO - totally disappointing "Falling Into Infinity". About two years ago I saw them live again (mostly out of curiosity and some kind of "nostalgic" mood), but it left me rather cold (maybe also because I wasn´t familiar with the new songs). The two songs I liked best were "The Killing Hand" (I think it´s still one of their best) and their cover version of Metallica´s "Master Of Puppets".

I saw them in 1997 on the "Falling" tour, that was my first concert actually. A bit boring though, I haven't been a die hard fan anymore since that day...
Maybe I should give them another chance...

Perhaps they mean "roooots, bloody roooots"?

no mallcore please

Thanks! I guess that if you have a look at pictures of Kate and haven´t heard her before, you will be surprised by her rough voice.

Wouldn't you say that her voice is.... uuuhh...... hot?
nah I do agree, that's a detail I like with Chastain's singers.

Thanks for the link! I think this song sounds better than the stuff on "In Dementia" and "Sick Society".

Yes that's good news, with the Vainglory album we'll have 2 Chastain releases in 2004

 

[Greeno]

Anyone knows 1980's Belgian band Acid ? they were pretty good and had a good female singer. As I heard one of their singles is very collectable ?? not sure wich, I know they have some stuff called "Maniac", but not sure that's the single or album....

Cool band, if you're into NWOBHM you should check them out. They released 3 albums--


Acid (1983)
Maniac (1983)
Engine Beast (1985)


I think the single you are talking about is "Hooked On Metal", coool song. All 3 of their albums have been released on CD.

 

[Fangface]

More about Acid here : http://www.metalmaidens.com/acid.htm

Now that's a real old-school logo

 

[Burkhard]

Wouldn't you say that her voice is.... uuuhh...... hot?

Just her voice?????