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Fan Since 1964Quote
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Fan Since 1964
Thankfully enough Mick has decided to stop that awful growling singing style that he developed way back then. Who the hell want to hear him sing in that style in song after song. Not me!
No, Sir Jagger is at his best when he really sings!
He is doing a great job on vocals even up to this date. The feel in the words he sings and the tone is still great!
For god sake the is in his late 60's, what do you expect from him, that he shall sing like in the late 60's?
I don't really understand all the nagging people in here, who are bashing everything the members in the band do or do not do.
I question your fanhood of the Stones!
Ah, the old "you're not a fan if you don't unquestionably like every single thing they do" argument...
I can ofcourse question things that they have done, but it seems nowadays at this forum that everything they do is questioned to the limits and that bores me to death!
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skipstone
It all started with the time of She's The Boss/Dancing In The Street/State Of Shock/Dirty Work.
So once again, Undercover is the cut off point. How funny.
For me, anyway.
...I think you're right, here...
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Turd On The Run
Great dedication and effort, jamesfdouglas. You make many excellent observations. I may not agree with all you write but your commitment and thoughtfulness cannot be questioned. Bravo.
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deuce
Listen to Till The Next Time We Say Goodbye. He doesn't sound all that different there than he has in recent years.
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deuce
Listen to Till The Next Time We Say Goodbye. He doesn't sound all that different there than he has in recent years.
Really? I am not so sure. If he had recorded the vocals for Following The River with the sound of his voice on Till The Next Time, I guess there would be no complaints here on this board with the song.
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jamesfdouglas
Voodoo Lounge was a step below Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle, I think. Not once in any show from 94-95 that I saw or any boot I've seen or heard did bring bring out the swsaggery growl - and he could have, the setlists were superior in 94/95, WHICH MADE IT SO FRUSTRATING! Hear I am, 20 years old, pumped as hell, reading on the 'interwebs' with windows 3.1 (lol) about the setlists - Monkey Man! Rocks Off! All Down the Line! Hot Stuff (dropped way too soon)! Beast of Burden! Stuff I'd been dreaming about seeing them do since seeing them in '89! His shortcuts that he took, and the step-below Steel Wheels in effort and fervour left me cold and skeptical for future tours. I was a cynic of my favourite band and 20 years old, and have been for the last 16 years in a way. But I still love them. Man, it is frustrating being a fan of these guys sometimes!
Maybe someone knows of an awesome Mick performance from the Voodoo Tour to prove me wrong? I remember thinking they released Stripped as a 'tasteful' way of avoiding another Flashpont type thing that would show the glaring lack of effort on Mick's part.
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jamesfdouglas
I suppose a post on his live vocals through the years doesn't derail the topic after all. Now I'm basing this primarily on boots, clips and live ablums (trying best to ignore so many heavy overdubs). This is a bit harder to do though, since the size of the venue, length of the actual tour and so many things socailly happening around them, the variables are endless - until the Vegas era of course, more on that later. So here we go...
1964-1968 = Like a Mick - most tv/film appearances during this era show Mick singing basically like he does on the record. Any time he's off, it's clearly due to excitement and youthful energy. This is when it was basically just the 5 of them (6 incl. Ian). In concerts (not tv shows) the band plays with the Geroge Lucas technique of 'faster, more intense'.
1969-1970 = More than Just a PA Mick. As we know, this was the first tour to cart around huge speakers, etc - so the band could actually hear themselves - which is SO IMPORTANT, and crucial for the singer! It is also where Mick started to finally change things up, and sing things differently than the recorded version. Take Sympathy for the Devil from Rock and Roll Circus - it's pretty damn close to the record. On Ya-Yas - the band changed the song, and Mick followed suit. It was the first time the sound of the band was locked, from start to finish, a differnt kind of tour, and Mick carrying it out - although I must say, he did stick to the whole 'macho black' voice a lot, and always seemed to speak with a southern American accent in between songs a lot!
1971 - Somebody get Mick some tea and honey please.
1972-1973 - Rip This Voice Mick. Pushing his voice to the LIMIT!!! When just listening to Mick on some of the well-known boots from the era - you can hear a LOT of gasping, lots of staccotta moments - especially during the 'Rip this Joint/JJ Flash/SFM encore. He's barely singing at all but flailing about so much like someone being electrocuted! His growls are definitely intact here, but by the time he gets to a slower number (ie, Sweet Virginia), there's still so many "Wwwwwwooooooo Hooooooo's" because he can barely contain himself - giving SO MUCH energy he's sweating so much it looks like he fell in a swimming pool.
1975-1976 = Funny Accent Time Mick. Okay, now Mick is Jamaican. Oh wait, now he's Cookie Monster. Oh wait, now he's... what did he just sing? What was he doing here? "Owwwbegga.... Owwwbegga.... Wannateyou wurpa-AHH YEAHHHHH" Oooooh, he's singing 'Heartbreaker'. Was he trying to out-sing himself from last time, to hide the gaping hole left by Taylor's absence? Was he trying to make Ronnie giggle? So many questions. One thing's for sure, this live era over-all is the one I've paid the least attention to.
1977 = Keith of course is Completely Straight Mick. Love the Toronto El Macombo stuff!!!
1978 = Mick Rules. Hound Dog... The upper register voice in the second verse of Honkey Tonk - the Jagger twang, the power... You know, the more I think about it, the more I find this the quinessential live Mick voice! Sure the SNL performance his voice was SHOT - but that was one gig. Wouldn't this tour make a killer live album! May not be the band's best tour - but Mick was ON FIRE!!!
1979 = never heard the Oshawa tapes. Like '77 though, it's cool that the only dates that year were in Canada!
1981 = Micka-Cola Mick - All of his power is coming from the throat since his nose was so obvioulsy plugged up. The manic running and jumping with his 'indoor skiing' habit made for a grunty voice that still has the range and energy, but the sound was way off - under enuncating everything (the opposite problem happens in the studio 20 years later). Plus the band playing everything so damned FAST... wow! Makes for a highly entertaining concert film, but man - his voice here is one of the reasons why I collect very little from this tour (much like 75-76).
1982 = Mick Discovers Kleenex. Much Better.
1985 = Man that Live Aid performance cooked! No tour here, just someone determined to kick a lot of ass! Only Freddy Mercury and Bono surpassed this amazing performance - the fire and fury in his voice is clear. Hard to imaging that 3 years later we get...
1988 = Wake Up Mick. I bought a boot for Japan '88. What the hell? He's barely there, sounds depressed! Mumbling through classics, I can't get though most tapes of this or the Australlian tour. Not worth a damn to this Mick-centric fan!
1989-1990 = CEO Mick. The Vegas era Mick started off with the biggest bang (ha ha). His modern voice starts here, singing in key for the most part. Notably absent though is his growl and swagger. This is an over-professional performer now. Fully immersed in the production value of the show, everything is the same, every night, even down to his arrow-shooting move in Tumbling Dice. He does his job here fine, even hitting those biting notes now and then (more so in Japan where travel wasn't interfering with their rest.
1993 = Mick's Last Hurrah. This is the last show where we ever hear that swaggery growl. I was so jacked seeing this before the VL tour, thinking Mick was gonna whip out his vintage voice again.
1994-1997 = Come on Mick - at least smile or something. Same voice as Steel Wheels, only sounding weirder each tour. He's really starting to take glaring shortcuts now; Rocks Off - eesh!! Moments of awesomeness get rarer. The new material in particular sounds weak and uninspired, save Out of Control. Stripped suffers all over the place, he's sounding creaky now. Actually the B2B tour for Mick was slightly better than VL.
2002-2003 = Motions Mick - a step down from the last tour, and now the band's followed him down. His range seems to be down to one octave now, only pulling out 'decent' vocal stuff in the clubs. This is where my collectiong boots ends. What's the point?
2005-2007 = Enough, Mick. I think it was around 2006 where Mick is starting to do stuff like singing in the wrong key, or barely even trying. I can't remember the boot, but I think it was in japan - he sings Gimmie Shelter in the wrong key. I felt a bit sick, is this really happening??? The decline had been slow, starting in '89, almost like he set up a 20-year plan to facilitate their aging. Go ahead, listen to Jumpin' Jack Flash on Shine a Light. Would you play that to a Stones newbie to show them how great Mick is? Me neither.
2010+ = Mick?? So what next? What are we to expect? I hope he stops the off-key-winded-sounding from the start voice and just sings next time.
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KeithNacho
Come on was the breakpoint.........since that moment, i do appreciatte his effort, but nothing is as it used to be..........
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Jelly Face Joe
As I recall, Mick had some issues with his nasal septum. After the surgery, his voice lost it's depth. It is more of a physical problem than an age related one.
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KeithNacho
Come on was the breakpoint.........since that moment, i do appreciatte his effort, but nothing is as it used to be..........
With due respect, I think it was at least until they did "Stoned".
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StonesTod
primitive cool is the very embodiment of "unlistenable," mostly cos of mick's ridick vocals.
but, as i mentioned earlier, the issue of over-enunciation and annoying mannered vocals goes back to at least '83 - listen to feel on baby and you'll hear early warning signs....
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skipstone
It all started with the time of She's The Boss/Dancing In The Street/State Of Shock/Dirty Work.
So once again, Undercover is the cut off point. How funny.
For me, anyway.
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StonesTod
primitive cool is the very embodiment of "unlistenable," mostly cos of mick's ridick vocals.
but, as i mentioned earlier, the issue of over-enunciation and annoying mannered vocals goes back to at least '83 - listen to feel on baby and you'll hear early warning signs....
The point of "Feel on Baby" holds true... all in all, if I had to use an exact timing when Jagger's vocals lost its greatness that is between TATTOO YOU and UNDERCOVER. The difference in his interpretation skills is almost unbelievable. I think Jagger was almost totally lost in the mid-80's ('83-'86) as his voice goes. I wonder what really happened - was there something physical problem or just totally being so out of it? As I said in my earlier post I think PRIMITIVE COOL was a slight step to better; he learned to use his rich voice more like an instrument of interpretation again, but he over-played it quite soon.
- Doxa
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StonesTod
primitive cool is the very embodiment of "unlistenable," mostly cos of mick's ridick vocals.
but, as i mentioned earlier, the issue of over-enunciation and annoying mannered vocals goes back to at least '83 - listen to feel on baby and you'll hear early warning signs....
The point of "Feel on Baby" holds true... all in all, if I had to use an exact timing when Jagger's vocals lost its greatness that is between TATTOO YOU and UNDERCOVER. The difference in his interpretation skills is almost unbelievable. I think Jagger was almost totally lost in the mid-80's ('83-'86) as his voice goes. I wonder what really happened - was there something physical problem or just totally being so out of it? As I said in my earlier post I think PRIMITIVE COOL was a slight step to better; he learned to use his rich voice more like an instrument of interpretation again, but he over-played it quite soon.
- Doxa
i think it was a calculated step by mick to sound hip/current - and then it became a bad habit that grew out of his own control. it was like when dylan came up with this "up-singing" schtick on ballads several years ago (dylan fantatics know the term) - it got to the point where i don't even think he was aware of it and it was ruining entire performances. thankfully, it eventually abated in his case. not so with mick, as evidenced on his exile overdubs....i'm afraid the mannered stylings have become his new signature on a permanent basis....