Adele

[Stavros]

The quintessential singer of the genre (female, pop-soul) was Eva Cassidy whose voice was clean, controlled, and dynamic.

Thanks for the reference, I had never heard of Cassidy and she has a truly beautiful voice,the material is however bland, and her version of Over the Rainbow tugs it about to much, whereas Melanie gives Mr Tambourine Man a dark twist -yes, she was overwrought too often, but taken in small doses it works -I hadn't listened to her anyway for all those years.

[Stavros]

Fell in love with Adele when chasing pavements came on in 08 or 09, she has a soulful earthy voice, i cant describe it. It's special, and unique.

I actually have a few vids, doing covers of her songs... love her!

The dark earthy voice is not unique, in the 1990s there was a singer called Alison Moyet who did what Adele has been doing, probably still does. Adele has an irritating way of spreading her vowels -I listened to Chasing Pavements and at one point the word 'I' sounds like ayeee or something like that. The material is about disappointment, as is a subsantial amount of music, pop or otherwise -but what Melanie had, was edge -there is no edge in Adele, its a generational thing -each generation has its dark voices, its eccentric divas, its wild childs, they all cover the same essential themes with more or less success than the other. Adele just doesn't do it for me. But enjoy it as long as it lasts; I think I read somewhere her voice has packed up.

[EvonRose]

The dark earthy voice is not unique, in the 1990s there was a singer called Alison Moyet who did what Adele has been doing, probably still does. Adele has an irritating way of spreading her vowels -I listened to Chasing Pavements and at one point the word 'I' sounds like ayeee or something like that. The material is about disappointment, as is a subsantial amount of music, pop or otherwise -but what Melanie had, was edge -there is no edge in Adele, its a generational thing -each generation has its dark voices, its eccentric divas, its wild childs, they all cover the same essential themes with more or less success than the other. Adele just doesn't do it for me. But enjoy it as long as it lasts; I think I read somewhere her voice has packed up.

I think the music experts and producers would disagree with you, her Grammy breakthrough as new artist and best female being nominated for 6 this year and, awards, sales, and net worth,and being on guiness book of world record says it all....I'm going to leave it there... Its not just a generation thing because if it is rhianna, katy perry, nicki minaj, all these generation singers would get the same acknowledgement as Adele, Adele has great talent and people from different generations like her as well, who do you think votes on the grammy? You don't have to like her, but sorry the truth is she is great.

Voice surgery can happen to any singer, Julie Andres is a trained opera soprano she had vocal surgery, Mariah Carey a trained singer has nodes, Barbara streisand. They are vocal athletes they are going to get injured one point in their career.

[Stavros]

I think you missed the point I was trying to make, which is that the kind of dark, earthy voice you hear in Adele is not new, so it cannot be unique. Adele does sound different from other singers today, and I do think she can sing, but that kind of voice has been heard before (eg, Moyet) and will be heard again. I can't say Adele's material moves me as it does you, and the awards she has won are, like all awards, worthless in every sense except perhaps the financial one. Trained singers should not, in fact, damage their voice -opera singers who crash are usually singing the wrong repertoire at the wrong stage of their careers; we will have to disagree about Ms Carey, as I don't consider that singing. But my opinion on this genre is not weighted with much concern. Pop music is by its nature ephemeral trash, to be enjoyed on the day, but not for much longer than that.

[Prospero]

Stavros - you are being a little purist in your arguments when you say that because Adelle's voice has similarities to other singers from the past, she cannot be "unique.' Unique is such an over used word and - stricty speaking - you are right. But by that measure there are virtually no unique voices or all are unique. I tend to favour the latter. Adele's voice is impressive and it is uniquely her voice with echoes and resonances of others. Wholly unique voices are as rare as dragon's teeth. Perhaps the only wholly unique voice today is that of Bjork - for I can think of no progenitors. Similarly Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Melanie, Grace Slick, Janis Joplin, Dolly Parton, Aretha Franklin etc. They are all great voices. But are any unique? And which of these is "good" is also very subjective in our post modern world. By the standards you apply perhaps they are not good when compared to Callas, but is Bjork's voice "good" ? How can you define that? And listen to the music that is posted under the strand 'what are you listening to now.' All that hard driving heavy metal and thrash rock. I simply cannot hear it as music myself. but there are many who post here - and thousands more in the wider world - who think this is magnificent music. They would far sooner hear this than Mahler or the B Minor Mass. So who defines what is good and great?

[giovanni_hotel]

Awards don't validate or 'prove' a singer or artist.
If you like Adele and believe she's a talent, that's enough. No one likes someone because they won a Grammy.
We aren't talking designer label clothing an apparel. Musicians aren't fashion statements.

Thank God we don't all like the same music.
I'd shoot myself in the head!!!

[Stavros]

Stavros - you are being a little purist in your arguments when you say that because Adelle's voice has similarities to other singers from the past, she cannot be "unique.' Unique is such an over used word and - stricty speaking - you are right. But by that measure there are virtually no unique voices or all are unique. I tend to favour the latter. Adele's voice is impressive and it is uniquely her voice with echoes and resonances of others. Wholly unique voices are as rare as dragon's teeth. Perhaps the only wholly unique voice today is that of Bjork - for I can think of no progenitors. Similarly Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Melanie, Grace Slick, Janis Joplin, Dolly Parton, Aretha Franklin etc. They are all great voices. But are any unique? And which of these is "good" is also very subjective in our post modern world. By the standards you apply perhaps they are not good when compared to Callas, but is Bjork's voice "good" ? How can you define that? And listen to the music that is posted under the strand 'what are you listening to now.' All that hard driving heavy metal and thrash rock. I simply cannot hear it as music myself. but there are many who post here - and thousands more in the wider world - who think this is magnificent music. They would far sooner hear this than Mahler or the B Minor Mass. So who defines what is good and great?

a) we agree that unique is not a useful word to use when describing voices;
b) most of the time it is better not to mix genres -pop is pop, jazz is jazz, classical is classical, etc
c) however, musicianship is universal, and on that level alone, Adele is a good singer; as are most of the people on your list.
d) But I can't say her songs do anything for me. For someone in that genre to interest me, it is probably going to be nostalgia (Melanie) or a genuine revelation -something that has not yet happened...

ergo, these issues are subjective, which is why we argue.

[Tomahawkinit]

I think the music experts and producers would disagree with you, her Grammy breakthrough as new artist and best female being nominated for 6 this year and, awards, sales, and net worth,and being on guiness book of world record says it all....I'm going to leave it there... Its not just a generation thing because if it is rhianna, katy perry, nicki minaj, all these generation singers would get the same acknowledgement as Adele, Adele has great talent and people from different generations like her as well, who do you think votes on the grammy? You don't have to like her, but sorry the truth is she is great.

Voice surgery can happen to any singer, Julie Andres is a trained opera soprano she had vocal surgery, Mariah Carey a trained singer has nodes, Barbara streisand. They are vocal athletes they are going to get injured one point in their career.

Evon,

I know quite a few label reps and producers, that would not touch Adele with a 12 foot pole. The thing about the Music industry is that people come and go. Yes, the producers, A&Rs and Label that picked her up has made money, but they also know that Adele is a "fad" for the youth (As in 16 -23, the number we all came up with) of today. I was actually in a studio the other day for someones demo recording, and one of the engineers was doing some Mixing for a song with Adeles voice, and it turned in to a gigantic discussion between all of the A&Rs that were there, the Agents, and us Artist Managers. In the end, everyone agreed that she has talent, but not enough to warrant stardom.

I am not trying to be an ass, as I have listened to a few of her songs, as well as met her. She is a really nice girl. The issue is that she was propelled to stardom due to songs about her Ex, what comes now? No one knows but her. But personally, and professionally, I do NOT see her continuing to carry on as a Hit Maker.

[ditadior]

Ironically this is posted.
I thought she was a waste of time before. But I heard Set Fire To The Rain on the radio yesterday and long story short my iTunes plays has 123 so far of that song. I'm addicted.

She can belt it out!

[EvonRose]

I think you missed the point I was trying to make, which is that the kind of dark, earthy voice you hear in Adele is not new, so it cannot be unique. Adele does sound different from other singers today, and I do think she can sing, but that kind of voice has been heard before (eg, Moyet) and will be heard again. I can't say Adele's material moves me as it does you, and the awards she has won are, like all awards, worthless in every sense except perhaps the financial one. Trained singers should not, in fact, damage their voice -opera singers who crash are usually singing the wrong repertoire at the wrong stage of their careers; we will have to disagree about Ms Carey, as I don't consider that singing. But my opinion on this genre is not weighted with much concern. Pop music is by its nature ephemeral trash, to be enjoyed on the day, but not for much longer than that.

No because as as singer, many factors come to play with vocal injuries not just technique, many opera singers still get these issues not for the technique but rest timing, sickness, other weird injuries. Tina turner is an example of a singer that does not use proper technique but had lasted decades longer than trained singers... Someone is going to sound like someone but doesn't necessarily mean they sound exactly alike... I can name you a lot of singers that sound like someone, its easy to say that one is not unique because there are similar voice structure or similar breathy sound but reality is Adele is unique. Sometimes people can be biased to singers because of the style of music that they don't particularly like, like Mariah Carey, she has one of the largest octave, whistle register voice, one of the best head tone voices and belting voices in music she can go from a contralto to a pinto soprano, Not even Celine, Aretha, Whitney, Josephine, Billy, I can name you a few. But its your taste and your opinion but Mariah has been voted best singer dozens of time...And many professional and trained singers have said the same.