List your top 10 Rock/Metal vocalists of all time

[Up&Away]

Shame on me. I'd actually take David Readman out, and put in Carl Albert!

Ackk. My favorite power metal band and I leave out Carl. Gone is Tony Moore. Insert Carl Albert at #8.

 

[sccaldwell]

4. Brad Delp
5. Freddie Mercury

About damn time someone listed these two (particularly Delp). Here's my list, in a *very* rough order:

Brad Delp, RIP (Boston)
Ray Alder (Fates Warning, Redemption)
Daniel Gildenlow (Pain of Salvation)
Roy Khan (Conception, Kamelot)
Tommy Karevik (Seventh Wonder)
Ted Leonard (Enchant)
Geoff Tate (Queensryche)
Freddie Mercury, RIP (Queen)
Midnight, RIP (Crimson Glory)
Lou Gramm (Foreigner...mostly for his *incredible* live performance)

SOOOO many other great ones being left off by that "only 10" limitation...

Craig

 

[Claus / Intromental]

I'm only going to list the metal/hard rock singers - not going to go into all the great rock and pop singers (I mean, Freddie Mercury alone would kick everybody else off of the list) ... so, focusing on the hard rock and metal genres and not necessarily going for the best technique, but more the ones who appeal to me on a personal level:

1. Jeff Scott Soto
(He's the whole package - fantastic showman, great rock'n'roll singer, very emotional, and he could sing the phone book and I'd listen)

2. Michael Kiske
(As only a 17 yr old punk he came out and shocked the metal world. And now, almost 25 years later, his voice is still pure gold)

3. Buddy Lackey
(Perhaps not a technically perfect singer, but he writes some of the best metal lyrics and he makes sure the point to them comes across with one heck of an emotional delivery)

4. Ronnie James Dio
(duh!)

5. Robin McAuley
(Robin's work on the mid period MSG albums are phenomenal!)

6. Daniel Gildenlow
(such a versatile vocalist - now, if he could just quit writing stupid lyrics I'd be happy)

7. Ray Alder
(double duh!)

8. Mats Leven
(Mats Leven - not Levin as some wrote, haha - delivered one of the most incredible vocal performances EVER on the Abstrakt Algebra disc. Might be my #1 metal vocal performance)

9. Nils Patrick Johansson
(I love this guy - he is a fantastic singer - and one of the nicest guys I've ever worked with)

10. Tony Martin
(Headless Cross all the way baby - his performance on that disc made him a legend in my mind)


Honorable mentions:

Thomas Wikstrom
(his performance on "Chapter VI" is crazy good)

Ronnie Atkins
(he has two voices, and both of them are killer!)

Apollo
(always loved his powerhouse voice)

Jorn Lande
(my wife is going to kill me for not putting him in top 10, but it was a close call ...)

I wonder who else I forgot ...

 

[General Zod]

I'm going with Milt's theory, that someone could get injured, and listing 15. And technically, a listing of a Top 15 includes a listing of the Top 10, thereby meeting the OP's request:

1. Geoff Tate
2. Eric Adams
3. Matt Barlow
4. Chris Cornell
5. Russell Allen
6. Erik Rosvald
7. Roy Khan
8. Ray Gillen
9. Ronnie James Dio
10. Lance King
11. Urban Breed
12. A.A. Nemtheanga
13. Sebastian Bach
14. Warrel Dane
15. Jeff Keith

 

[Metaldrumz]

2.Olaf Hayer

Yea he's up there for me as well. He would definitely make my top 15 along with Michael Sweet.

 

[nomisofsiman]

I'm only going to list the metal/hard rock singers - not going to go into all the great rock and pop singers (I mean, Freddie Mercury alone would kick everybody else off of the list) ... so, focusing on the hard rock and metal genres and not necessarily going for the best technique, but more the ones who appeal to me on a personal level:

Umm...since when is Queen not hard rock?

 

[Claus / Intromental]

Umm...since when is Queen not hard rock?

That's a matter of personal definition.
To me Queen is ROCK, pomp-rock if you will, but not hard rock.

 

[yardleybates]

In no particular order, for me, it's all about the singer's ability to elicit emotions from me.

Floor Jansen
Matt Barlow
Roy Khan
Jon Oliva
Urban Breed
Tarja Turanen
Lance King
Dan Swano
Geoff Tate (obviously in his prime, not currently)
Tom (and Carina) Englund

 

[euleria]

Umm...since when is Queen not hard rock?

Hot Space came out in 1982, I believe.

 

[TwizstedJesus]

1. Ray Alder...above all! Ray is Godly!
2. Ray Gillen...best blues voice ever!
3. John Arch...Awaken The Guardian! Nuff said
4. Alan Tecchio...the 1st two Hades discs and Non Fiction were classics!
5. Robert Plant circa 1970-75
6. Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth
7. Jon Oliva
8. Zakk Stevens
9. James LaBrie
10. Axl Rose
11. Sebastian Bach
12. Chris Salinas
13. Midnight
14. Robert Mason (Cry of Love)
15. Eric Martin
16. James Rivera
17. Jorn
18. Lizzy Borden
19. Warrel Dane
20. John "Crabby" Corabi

and my favorite vocalist, lyricist of all time(not sure if he falls in the hard rock/metal categories) Chris Robinson

 

[Jasonic]

1. Tony Martin (Black Sabbath)
2. Robert Lowe (Solitude Aeturnus, Candlemass)
3. Harry Conklin (Jag Panzer, Titan Force)
8. Messiah Marcolin (Candlemass, Memento Mori, Mercy)
10. JD Kimball (Omen)

Love these picks.
You know I love OMEN, but I dunno about Kimball being a top 10 metal vocalist.

 

[DTJeff]

01.Russell Allen
02.Jorn Lande
03.Zak Stevens
04.Tom S. Englund
05.Ray Alder
06.Jon Oliva
07.Johnny Lindqvist
08.Mike Dimeo
09.Tommy Karevik
10.Urban Breed

Honorable Mentions:
Tony Martin
Ronnie James Dio
Steve Walsh (1974-1979 he was untouchable, but his voice has aged TERRIBLY)
Tobias Sammet (if I were counting "frontman" skills, he'd easily be top 10, along with Bruce Dickinson)
Oliver Hartmann
Glenn Hughes
Dug Pinnick

 

[cslebn]

Jorn Lande
Ray Alder
Heather Findlay
Mikael Akerfeldt
Daniel Gildenlow
Bruce Dickinson
Joey Eppard
Devon Graves
Andy Kuntz
Fabio Lione
Floor Jansen

Hon Men:
Erika Swinnich

 

[Justin G]

This is tough.

10. Doro Pesch
9. Mikael Akerfeldt
8. Tony Martin
7. Zak Stevens
6. Ronnie James Dio (RIP)
5. Dave Meniketti
4. Bob Catley
3. Danny Vaughn
2. Jorn Lande (will probably end up at #1 through sheer volume of material)
1. DC Cooper (who has been AWOL way too long)

Honorable mention: David Readman (too similar to DC Cooper to make the list), Urban Breed, Hansi Kursch, Michael Stanne, Edu Falaschi, Andre Matos.

 

[NuclearFire166]

10. Doro Pesch

How could I forget the ultimate Queen of Metal? Doro's vocals are amazing and she has great stage presence. She is also a very nice individual and goes out of her way for her fans.

I ran into her at a movie theater one time and some kids recognized her (this was after the Dio/Yngwie/Doro tour in 2000) and she talked to them and signed something for them. I also saw some weirdo approach her after one concert and ask her to marry him - he had the ring and all. She was very nice to the guy and declined in a rather graceful manner.

 

[Jasonic]

MESSIAH MARCOLIN
ERIC WAGNER
ERIC ADAMS
BRUCE DICKINSON
ROB HALFORD
ANDI DERIS
KAI HANSEN
MATTHEW BARLOW
KING DIAMOND
LEMMY (And yes, I am 100% serious. Deal with it)

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

Looking at the keyboard and the context of what he said I think he meant to type "think."

Something he doesn't do very well... ahahahahaha

 

[nomisofsiman]

Something he doesn't do very well... ahahahahaha

I swear you add the craziest videos as your signatures. That bees thing is awesome.

 

[actordude]

To name just 10 is nearly an impossible task....but my personal 10 favorite in no particular order except #1 is:

10. Ann Wilson
9. Tobias Sammett
8. Michael Sweet
7. Tony Harnell
6. Geddy Lee
5. Paul Stanley
4. Rob Halford
3. Geoff Tate
2. Robin Zander

1. BRUCE DICKINSON!!!!!!

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

I swear you add the craziest videos as your signatures. That bees thing is awesome.

I do try, although I'm starting to run out of them at this point. Hopefully I see some more awesome ones soon.