Most annoying rock vocalist ever

Raja, The Great

unread,

Oct 20, 2010, 6:39:50 PM10/20/10

to

Dennis DeYoung from Styx
Even the best Styx songs are reduced to catastrophic failures courtesy
his annoying witch like vocals.

Anyone agree?

RichL

unread,

Oct 20, 2010, 7:53:50 PM10/20/10

to

"Raja, The Great" <zepf...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:2bdea4d0-fce8-4da1...@g18g2000yqk.googlegroups.com...

He sounds an awful lot like Jon Anderson to me.

Raja, The Great

unread,

Oct 20, 2010, 8:05:03 PM10/20/10

to

On Oct 20, 6:53 pm, "RichL" <rpleav...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> "Raja, The Great" <zepflo...@gmail.com> wrote in messagenews:2bdea4d0-fce8-4da1...@g18g2000yqk.googlegroups.com...

>
> > Dennis DeYoung from Styx
> > Even the best Styx songs are reduced to catastrophic failures courtesy
> > his annoying witch like vocals.
>
> > Anyone agree?
>
> He sounds an awful lot like Jon Anderson to me.

not at all. I was sure you haven't heard Yes.

Message has been deleted

Musicman59

unread,

Oct 20, 2010, 8:52:42 PM10/20/10

to

Does Air Supply count? Michael Bolton?

Eric Ramon

unread,

Oct 20, 2010, 9:05:39 PM10/20/10

to

On Oct 20, 3:39 pm, "Raja, The Great" <zepflo...@gmail.com> wrote:

from before your time, Bobby Vinton. But he wasn't rock, wasn't rock
'n roll. Just happened to be popular during the early-mid 60s.

I've never been a Robert Plant fan or a Jerry Garcia fan.

The Arranger

unread,

Oct 20, 2010, 10:32:24 PM10/20/10

to

Alan Wilson?

The Arranger

t...@aerovons.com

unread,

Oct 20, 2010, 10:34:27 PM10/20/10

to

He's certainly in my Top 5

TH

The Nice Mean Man

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 1:58:18 AM10/21/10

to

On Oct 20, 6:39 pm, "Raja, The Great" <zepflo...@gmail.com> wrote:

Ohhh--Oh, MAN... DeYoung pales in comparison to David Byron of Uriah
Heep. Like dragging dry, cracked and broken fingernails across a rusty
cheese grater. Mainly the live stuff. I guess they were able to mix
down all of his inherent harshness in the studio, because on albums
like Demons and Wizards (1972), he actually sparkled on a few of the
cuts.
Another bad one is Ian Gillan of Deep Purple. Again, mainly their
live work. Back then it was considered a virtue to be able to scream
and then hold that scream, alone, while the rest of the band waited,
until your lungs almost exploded. In concert it was a question of what
would give out first... his lungs or your eardrums. He had his really
bad moments but some really great ones in the studio. But Byron...
Man, HE was the worst to me...

TNMM

who?

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 2:56:50 AM10/21/10

to

Robert Plant.

JohnB

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 4:44:09 AM10/21/10

to

I know I've heard Styx, but they left no impression on me at all...

There are artists I cannot listen to because of the vocals, Rush being
one - and from another extreme, Neil Sedaka.

jtees4

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 8:25:11 AM10/21/10

to

Geddy Lee at times, and I actually like Rush.

****
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=789610

Ray

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 8:28:02 AM10/21/10

to

On Oct 20, 7:53 pm, "RichL" <rpleav...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> "Raja, The Great" <zepflo...@gmail.com> wrote in messagenews:2bdea4d0-fce8-4da1...@g18g2000yqk.googlegroups.com...

>
> > Dennis DeYoung from Styx
> > Even the best Styx songs are reduced to catastrophic failures courtesy
> > his annoying witch like vocals.
>
> > Anyone agree?
>
> He sounds an awful lot like Jon Anderson to me.

I guess you HAVEN'T heard "the immigrant song"?

Jeez, what a maroon.

mcnews

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 8:42:33 AM10/21/10

to

that sound that makes you jerk the car into the other lane while
changing the radio station. (actually the new car has the button on
the steering wheel, but anyway).
geddy lee, dennis deyoung, bob seger, ed kowalczyk, phil collins, ...

iarwain

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 10:59:57 AM10/21/10

to

Axel Rose is pretty annoying, with his i-yi-yis and such.
Like "Live and let Di-yi".
And 'Knocking on Heaven's Doh-woah"

mcnews

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 11:02:42 AM10/21/10

to

yea, but he's fun to parody

Alert

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 12:05:34 PM10/21/10

to

As much as I love and respect Bob Dylan, in recent years his voice can
be hard to take sometimes...

jtees4

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 12:09:52 PM10/21/10

to

I agree on his voice....I hate him with a passion.....And his rip off
of Davy Jones (from The Monkees) dance moves annoys me even more. I
find it so funny that a guy that considers himself so hardcore would
pick The Monkees to rip off.

****
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=789610

Jales

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 12:21:35 PM10/21/10

to

My vote goes to Neil Young, even though I like his music

JohnB

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 12:30:01 PM10/21/10

to

On 21 Oct, 17:05, Alert <alert6...@my-deja.com> wrote:
> As much as I love and respect Bob Dylan, in recent years his voice can
> be hard to take sometimes...

I saw Dylan live a few years back and he adopted this really weird way
of singing everything - he'd sing most of a line on one (low) note,
then leap up an octave at the end of the line. It made it difficult to
recognise a lot of the songs and was very annoying.

Ray

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 1:59:52 PM10/21/10

to

On Oct 21, 10:59 am, iarwain <iarwai...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Yeah, you right.

Alert

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 2:20:03 PM10/21/10

to

>
> > As much as I love and respect Bob Dylan, in recent years his voice can
> > be hard to take sometimes...
>
> I saw Dylan live a few years back and he adopted this really weird way
> of singing everything - he'd sing most of a line on one (low) note,
> then leap up an octave at the end of the line. It made it difficult to
> recognise a lot of the songs and was very annoying.

He could probably reach a new audience if he let his son (Jakob) sing
his new songs.

Although I don't like the way he currently sings, in all fairness,
he's still done some excellent (relatively) recent work. "Time Out of
Mind" was a great album ("Not Dark Yet" and "Standing in the Doorway"
especially).

Wow, I just looked up the releaase date of "Time Out of MInd." 1997.

And I considered this a fairly recent album.

Time is racing past!

Raja, The Great

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 2:22:09 PM10/21/10

to

On Oct 21, 11:21 am, Jales <jales...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> My vote goes to Neil Young, even though I like his music

His voice is as annoying as his guitar tone

mcnews

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 2:51:07 PM10/21/10

to

no sh!t!

he's always f'ed around with his voice, tho.

Ray

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 3:18:38 PM10/21/10

to

On Oct 21, 2:20 pm, Alert <alert6...@my-deja.com> wrote:

Agree with you on Time out of Mind, and the fact that it's 13 years
old is kinda freakin' me out man.

Can that really be the last Dylan album I purchased?

Ray

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 3:19:07 PM10/21/10

to

How's your guitar tone?

Jales

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 3:25:14 PM10/21/10

to

On 21 oct, 13:30, JohnB <johnbo...@tinyworld.co.uk> wrote:

> I saw Dylan live a few years back and he adopted this really weird way
> of singing everything - he'd sing most of a line on one (low) note,
> then leap up an octave at the end of the line. It made it difficult to
> recognise a lot of the songs and was very annoying.

The first time his voice sounded ruined (to my ears) was when he sang
on his own Tribute Concert back in 1992. Not only his voice, but his
stage presence...

Message has been deleted

iarwain

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 5:50:08 PM10/21/10

to

>his rip off of Davy Jones (from The Monkees) dance moves

Omigosh, I thought I was the only person who thought that Axel Rose
was doing Davy Jones dance moves!
Very funny.

iarwain

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 5:51:07 PM10/21/10

to

> My vote goes to Neil Young, even though I like his music

I love Neil's voice.
It's not the best technically though, so I could see why some might
not like it.

Message has been deleted

jtees4

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 7:19:23 PM10/21/10

to

On Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:13:40 -0700, poisoned rose
<pro...@wipingbottoms.com> wrote:

>There's one of those "Literal Videos" for "Daydream Believer" on YouTube
>-- you know, where someone dubs in joke lyrics describing what's
>happening in the video. And the lyrics have a snarky line about Axl Rose
>when Davy does that familiar dance.
>
>Easily found with a search if you're interested, I'm sure.

I knew it was from Daydream Believer, I'm old but I actually remember
seeing it originally....but for the heck of it I will look up the
video...I thought I was the only one who noticed.

****
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=789610

mcnewsxp

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 10:06:39 PM10/21/10

to

"iarwain" <iarw...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:d4e29723-6af1-4f68...@s4g2000yql.googlegroups.com...

no, anybody that knows anything important knows that
and knew it right off
so move your belt buckle back to center

iarwain

unread,

Oct 22, 2010, 10:07:47 AM10/22/10

to

>I thought I was the only one who noticed.

I guess a lot of people noticed.

Regarding Dylan, I remember back in the late 70s/early 80s we used to
love to make fun of him whenever he was on TV, because it seemed like
he mumbled so badly when he sang you couldn't understand a word he
said. And because he would change the song melody so much you could
barely recognize it.

Later, he seemed to revert back to "normal". Was he going through a
heavy drug and alcohol period during that time or something?

Jales

unread,

Oct 22, 2010, 10:27:01 AM10/22/10

to

On 22 oct, 11:07, iarwain <iarwai...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Later, he seemed to revert back to "normal". Was he going through a
> heavy drug and alcohol period during that time or something?

He was going through his "born again" period...

Raja, The Great

unread,

Oct 22, 2010, 10:43:25 AM10/22/10

to

I dont like the guitar. I prefer playing keyboards.

Frank from Deeeetroit

unread,

Oct 22, 2010, 12:46:16 PM10/22/10

to

On Oct 20, 6:39 pm, "Raja, The Great" <zepflo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dennis DeYoung from Styx
> Even the best Styx songs are reduced to catastrophic failures courtesy
> his annoying witch like vocals.
>

> Anyone agree?

DeYoung is not too hard on my ears. Geddy Lee of Rush makes we wish I
was deaf, at times. Hard to listen to them, despite the fact that
Neal Peart is a great drummer.

P-Dub

unread,

Oct 22, 2010, 1:32:07 PM10/22/10

to

Styx was excellent - vocals included. DeYoung sang clearly - in a high
pitch voice - which was 'fashionable' back then. Superior harmonies,
great melodies. You're a shmuck.

Others like that were Brad Delp (Boston), and Kansas. Good stuff.

I could never understand with Lee was singing, but his voice was OK, I
guess.

On the other hand, Bruce Springsteen sings like he has rags in his
mouth. Not pleasant at all.

And the absolute worst was Bob Dylan - although some would consider him
'folk' - not 'rock'. Dylan should ALWAYS give his stuff to another
singer / band. Simply tone deaf.

Another band - which I love - had terrible vocals 90% of the time. The
Grateful Dead (non-studio). When the vocals were 'on' - they were great.
But they weren't 'on' most of the time.

P-Dub: Everybody must get stoned.

Message has been deleted

mcnewsxp

unread,

Oct 22, 2010, 3:56:31 PM10/22/10

to

"P-Dub" <pwol...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uUjwo.17807$qz.1...@newsfe04.iad...

deyoung sounds like he's on broadway singing songs from annie

Ray

unread,

Oct 22, 2010, 4:05:04 PM10/22/10

to

Wow, I thought roger's taste in music sucked.

Let me get this straight, you'd prefer Styx to Bob Dylan or Bruce
Springsteen?

Holy shit.

Ray

unread,

Oct 22, 2010, 4:06:00 PM10/22/10

to

On Oct 22, 3:56 pm, "mcnewsxp" <mcbassgui...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> "P-Dub" <pwolf...@hotmail.com> wrote in message

> deyoung sounds like he's on broadway singing songs from annie- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Well, that may be what he was going for, I hear they did a tour that
was more like a play than a rock concert, 20 minutes of chatter on
stage before the first song was played. People walked out in droves.

Raja, The Great

unread,

Oct 22, 2010, 4:09:38 PM10/22/10

to

> Holy shit.- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

Hey idiot., he is talking about the singers voice not his music.

Raja, The Great

unread,

Oct 22, 2010, 4:11:51 PM10/22/10

to

On Oct 22, 11:46 am, Frank from Deeeetroit <dadurwe...@voyager.net>
wrote:

> On Oct 20, 6:39 pm, "Raja, The Great" <zepflo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Dennis DeYoung from Styx
> > Even the best Styx songs are reduced to catastrophic failures courtesy
> > his annoying witch like vocals.
>
> > Anyone agree?
>
> DeYoung is not too hard on my ears. Geddy Lee of Rush

Lee hasnt been singing high since the 80s. In fact I liked him singing
high in the 70s because their music back then was louder and matched
his vocals. He sounds like an ordinary singer when he sings low.

DeYoung has only one singing tune.... and that is the one that sucks.

Ray

unread,

Oct 22, 2010, 4:26:29 PM10/22/10

to

> Hey idiot., he is talking about the singers voice not his music.- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

Oh, do tell me, sage of all things musical, how does one divorce the
singer from the song?

Raja, The Great

unread,

Oct 22, 2010, 6:32:23 PM10/22/10

to

If you have good ears, you can follow the instruments well. I am not a
big fan of Ozzy's voice (and technically his voice is pretty ordinary)
but I thoroughly enjoy the guitar (Iommi the god of all guitar riffs)
and bass riffs (Butler the bass genius) on the song. Bill Ward's
drumming was not bad either.

moonpie

unread,

Oct 25, 2010, 11:13:12 AM10/25/10

to

On Fri, 22 Oct 2010 13:26:29 -0700 (PDT), Ray <6sicks...@gmail.com>
wrote:

you can try to not focus on the singer and try to listen to other
parts of the performance

thats what I usually do anyway ;-)

iarwain

unread,

Oct 25, 2010, 2:32:19 PM10/25/10

to

> Bill Ward's drumming was not bad either

Yeah, I actually think Black Sabbath was kind of underrated as a
band. Some of Iommi's riffs are kind of plodding (in a good metal
sort of way). But Butler and Ward fill up the holes. Ward's almost
always doing something interesting back there.

scott.s...@gmail.com

unread,

May 7, 2020, 9:54:03 AM5/7/20

to

On Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 5:39:50 PM UTC-5, Raja, The Great wrote:
> Dennis DeYoung from Styx
> Even the best Styx songs are reduced to catastrophic failures courtesy
> his annoying witch like vocals.
>
> Anyone agree?

one of the best vocalist of all time, a step down from Freddie Mercury...

P-Dub

unread,

May 7, 2020, 10:36:12 AM5/7/20

to

Dennis DeYoung is a awesome singer. I saw his version of Styx last year live. Phenomenal Band. Great vox. Harmonies were incredible.

Others mentioned Dylan and Neil Young. Neil can sometimes be good on vox, but mostly, not. I saw Neil do a solo show 2 years ago. While his rabid fans couldn't get enough, I couldn't stand his vocal. Didn't like the show at all.

Dylan has been good vocally on some recordings in the 70s. Live, he's bloody awful. A genius who is apparently tone deaf.

Both Dylan and Neil are phenomenal songwriters. Can't take that away.

Bruce Springsteen is an amazing songwriter, and his band is superb. But I couldn't stand him for years because of his vocal. I saw him live in 2011, and I like him a lot more now. Still - I saw him last week on a CV19 stay at home special with his wife, and his vocal was OFF.

Keep rocking out there!!

Norbert K

unread,

May 7, 2020, 12:04:21 PM5/7/20

to

On Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 6:39:50 PM UTC-4, Raja, The Great wrote:
> Dennis DeYoung from Styx
> Even the best Styx songs are reduced to catastrophic failures courtesy
> his annoying witch like vocals.
>
> Anyone agree?

I don't know that I'd call him a rock singer. I saw the Styx' "Mr. Roboto" video on an oldies channel a while ago, and it was fun in a camp sort of way. I wouldn't say he's bad. Maybe a bit excessively melodramatic.

Matt

unread,

May 8, 2020, 1:53:42 PM5/8/20

to

For me is Jon Anderson (Yes).

Norbert K

unread,

May 8, 2020, 3:40:51 PM5/8/20

to

For me, it was the guy from Dream Theater. I don't know his name. I couldn't take more than a few seconds of his vocals though. It was a combination of the guy's voice & style. It was abominable.

Laughing Jaw

unread,

May 21, 2020, 8:40:48 PM5/21/20

to

On Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 10:59:57 AM UTC-4, iarwain wrote:
> Axel Rose is pretty annoying, with his i-yi-yis and such.
> Like "Live and let Di-yi".
> And 'Knocking on Heaven's Doh-woah"

Axl Rose gets my vote for most annoying POS to have ever picked up a microphone.

I like a few G'nR songs despite the snot.

cuppajoe2go

unread,

May 23, 2020, 10:09:06 PM5/23/20

to

Especially when accompanied by that creepy shuffle of his.

tru.t...@gmail.com

unread,

Jun 2, 2020, 12:21:47 PM6/2/20

to

On Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 6:39:50 PM UTC-4, Raja, The Great wrote:
> Dennis DeYoung from Styx
> Even the best Styx songs are reduced to catastrophic failures courtesy
> his annoying witch like vocals.
>
> Anyone agree?

DeYoung and Geddy Lee..I absolutely hate DeYoung's new song. In all due respect. Garbage. When Geddy Lee or DeYoung comes on the radio I turn the channel.

massey...@gmail.com

unread,

Jun 2, 2020, 8:28:58 PM6/2/20

to

I agree with you, with one exception: Geddy Lee's vocal on The McKenzie Brothers', "Take Off".

bir...@gmail.com

unread,

Jun 14, 2020, 9:12:51 AM6/14/20

to

Yes, ddy cannot sing and led to the break up of STYX. He is a dictator and has no talent. Lawrence sings his sings better than he ever did. The real STYX was lucky to find him. And Lawrence has a stage presence ddy can never hope to achieve. Do the world a favor and quit trying to be STYX.

mat...@gmail.com

unread,

Jun 15, 2020, 1:40:42 PM6/15/20

to

I've never understood Pugs Snotland's rating.