Originally Posted by michelej1
I definitely think that Lindsey's younger voice was more flexible, limber and that he could move up and down the scale while still holding the key rather effortlessly. I appreciated the gymnastic talent he had then (just as I appreciated Stevie's vocal athleticism circa Wild Heart) and I did love his higher voice, although I enjoy the way he sounds today and think it such an improvement over the SYW era that I'm thrilled and impressed whenever I hear him and remember back.
Your comments make me wonder how Chris would have been live. Her voice sounded deeper and rich on Meantime, but there were signs of . . .you know how you can hear an old tree bend in the wind . . . well you could sense that in her sound, just a tiny creak, which added emotion to the record, but I wonder how that would stand up on tour.
Lindsey is great on tour because even though he sings (often screams) fearlessly and you think he's going to have to pay for it eventually, he doesn't. I don't know the difference between singing from your diaphragm or singing from your navel, but even though he might be using more disciplined vocal techniques in the old days than he used to, and they pay off endurance wise, I don't sense that they restrain him. Whereas, I do think Stevie restrains herself.
As far as him being less meticulous in his later years, this last year has disappointed me. I'd love to see him tour without a band again, but I hope he ditches both ISA and (sacrilege!) GYOW. I really loved the ISA vocals and actually found them a refreshing take which made me rethink the song's meaning all over again, but musically, after 33 years of live shows, solo and FM, I've never seen the latter, instrumental part of the song fail to peak the way it did this last tour and the same thing with GYOW. With ISA, Lindsey even physically (not just musically) seemed less dynamic to me. So, going forward, if he's alone again, I hope he's not afraid to drop those songs or rework them drastically.
I'm glad to have the OMS. I want every single tour documented and I mourn Gift of Screws, because I think the performance of the title track alone, short as it was, was worth the price of admission to those shows. I want a DVD of that. So, I'm very grateful to have OMS and I'm glad he was on the road anyway, rather than being at home and out of the public eye, but it was my least favorite tour and listening to it reminds me why.
Michele
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