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A role model to mankind:
Ha ha ha ha ha!Psychonaut said:James Hetfield
But anyway, I would say Minnie Riperton is definetly my favorite female singer!!! This has been discussed numerous times before and I always mention the same singers over and over, so I'll probably do the same this time!
But anyway, one of the main reasons Minnie is my favorite female singer, is because she had a vocal range of 6 octaves (she unfortunatly died of breast caner in '79 )!!!
I downloaded that Evanescence song to check it out. I guess it was okay (although this is hard to say after one listen of course), but it didn't break my heart and didn't make the singer one of my favorites.
Another favorite is Suzi Jane Hokom. I have a duet record she did with Virgil Warner. Unfortunatly it only has two songs I listen to. But then again, those two songs are absolutely fantastic!!!! I would say they're both among the 5 best songs I've heard my entire life!!! Her voice is also fantastic on those two songs!!! Although she doesn't have the same range as Minnie, I actually like the sound of her voice a little better. The two songs are "Lady bird" and "Summer wine" and they're both written by my biggest idol, Lee Hazlewood! Lee has also done those two songs himself with Nancy Sinatra, and it's clear to hear that Nancy sings pretty crappy on those and Suzi Jane's vocal lifts them to another level! It also has something to do with the arrangement though, as it's a bit different on the Suzi Jane/Virgil versions than on the Lee/Nancy versions. Suzi Jane also did "Sand" and "Summer wine" with Lee and, especially on "Summer wine", you can hear that her voice has improved a fair amount from those two songs til the album with Virgil. It's always good that she can evolve. I also have a single she did with Lee (and she sings the b-side solo), but her voice doesn't really have the same shivering impact as on the two songs with Virgil, but still good of course!
Sissel Kyrkjebø: I have her first record from '88, which I bought because she sings "Summertime" on it. This is clearly the best vocal version I've heard of that song!!! Incredibly clear voice as well! I also incidently saw some of a show on tv where she sang some opera! Goddamn what a voice and range!!!!
Patrice Rushe: It's with mixed feelings that I mention her. I have two records by her: "Pizzazz" from '79 and "Straight from the heart" from '82 and I really only got impressed by her voice on "Straight...". Sometimes she sings kind of out of tune and sounds pretty bad, but then sometimes she strikes straight to the bone!
Anneke from The Gathering: Before I bought "Mandylion" I had "Leaves" on video and saw it lots of times and she became one of my favorite singers because of her voice on that song/video. When I got the cd I was a little let down as I didn't think her voice sounded as good as on the tape, but maybe that was because the video was taped on a poor video (which should do the opposite though). But still, decent voice.
Kari Rueslåten: Formerly of The 3rd and The Mortal. The best performance I've heard from her is on Storm's "Langt borti Lia".
If I'm allowed to comment on some of the choices of other posters:
Liv Kristine Espenæs: When I was only listening to metal I thought she was great, but I must admit now that it was probably in lack of better. It's not that I think she's a bad singer, but not one I would mention when discussing good singers. When I listen to the last verse of "And when he falleth" it sounds pretty horrible and out of tune. I heard some of their of live and it sounded just as horrible. She's better on "...A distance there is..." though.
The Within Temptation singer: I had "Enter". Their music sounded a little like "Hey, Theatre of Tragedy is bad-ass shit, let's make something that sounds just like it!", but okay, that's besides the point. Ha ha! I think their singer on that album was quite weak. She wanted to hit the high notes and couldn't and it sounded like they just picked the first the best femal they could find and forgot to check if she could actually sing well.