Stevie Nicks - Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers

[MissLadyLoki]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

Tastemaker- that definitely sums up Jann Wenner in a nutshell. I used to be a fervant RS reader back in the 80s-90s, and I always knew that, no matter what, I always had to take RS's album reviews with a huge block of salt. And in many cases, I could use RS as a barometer for what NOT to buy. There is a definite Rolling Stone Magazine Sound that makes Jann and all of his sycophantic writers/editors collectively climax. In my opinion, the epitome of this sound is...

"Angel of Harlem" - U2

Guitar-driven retro white boy soul with undercurrents of gospel and punctuated by a horn section. This is the same kind of **** that made them go all gaga over Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Richard Thompson, Elvis, Van Morrison and the Rolling Stones. It's an automatic guarantee for getting a 5-star rave review in Rolling Stone- no matter how mediocre the material! Unfortunately for Led Zeppelin, Journey, Foreigner, Fleetwood Mac, Boston, etc., their refusal to submit to the RS sound has resulted in lukewarm to mediocre reviews.

With the exception of Journey, the funny part is they are all fantastic bands, but I noticed that music snobs tend to have the RS mentality of worshipping only the "best of the best".

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by MissLadyLoki

...an Eric Clapton, who plays their instrument well and are a horrible singer)..

WHOA, THERE! Clapton is FAR from a "horrible singer"....over the years he's gotten pretty damned GOOD as a singer, IMBO. (and I'm not in the minority with that opinion, either).

[MissLadyLoki]

Originally Posted by chiliD

WHOA, THERE! Clapton is FAR from a "horrible singer"....over the years he's gotten pretty damned GOOD as a singer, IMBO. (and I'm not in the minority with that opinion, either).

Sorry, I never liked him as a singer at all, but I do love his guitar-playing in in Cream and on Layla.

EDIT: I also meant him as someone that is known more for being great on their instrument than as a singer. A better example would probably be John Entwistle (yup, he did sing on a few Who songs, like Boris the Spider, and while I do love his "death voice", he's only a so-so singer IMO)

[MikeVielhaber]

Originally Posted by MissLadyLoki

With the exception of Journey, the funny part is they are all fantastic bands, but I noticed that music snobs tend to have the RS mentality of worshipping only the "best of the best".

I'd say all of them including Journey are great bands.

[MacShadowsBall]

It a shame that Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac don't get the credit they deserve.

I Mean she barely made the list with #98, come on people!!

[MissLadyLoki]

Originally Posted by MacShadowsBall

It a shame that Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac don't get the credit they deserve.

I Mean she barely made the list with #98, come on people!!

MSB, like I said, we're talking about RS, and they didn't get it cause they're too good :P

[MissLadyLoki]

Originally Posted by MikeVielhaber

I'd say all of them including Journey are great bands.

OK, I'll admit they do have a couple of good songs, like Don't Stop Believin' and Wheel in the Sky, but my finance professor was nuts for them, to the point where, on the first day of class, he went onto YouTube and tried to get us a vid of the new guy that sounds like Steve Perry singing.

I swear, I'll forever associate them with finance.

[tilthefirefades]

-Journey is one of the greatest rock bands, Stevie Perry's voice was damn near untouchable.

-Eric Clapton is a great singer, and at the very least a distinct nice voice.

-Stevie should be at least in the top 20. If only for her 70s vocals. I mean, she can even still put out a great Beauty and the Beast.

-RS sucks, they love to be hip. However their "hip" comes across to me as pretentious and bull ****ty.

[ButterCookie]

Originally Posted by tilthefirefades

-Stevie should be at least in the top 20. If only for her 70s vocals. I mean, she can even still put out a great Beauty and the Beast.

Debbie Harry and Christine aren't even in there, y'know. Okay, so people and press appear to enjoy overlooking Chris. But Debbie C'mon RS that woman won't stop even after she's dead. She's done pop, rock, disco, jazz and everything else inbetween but no, evidently Blondie don't fall into RS' 'good bands' category

[MissLadyLoki]

Originally Posted by ButterCookie

Debbie Harry and Christine aren't even in there, y'know. Okay, so people and press appear to enjoy overlooking Chris. But Debbie C'mon RS that woman won't stop even after she's dead. She's done pop, rock, disco, jazz and everything else inbetween but no, evidently Blondie don't fall into RS' 'good bands' category

You see, they didn't make it to RS cause they have too many good songs. :P

[jaycee]

Originally Posted by MissLadyLoki

It's nice she made the list, and I do think Aretha Franklin deserved to be #1 (hey, she is Lady Soul after all), but I personally think Stevie should have been much, much higher up on the list, like in the top 30 or so. If it wasn't for her and a few other singers (such as Janis Joplin and Ann Wilson), we wouldn't have the female vocalists we have today.

Originally Posted by DashingDan

and this is a good thing?

Well, to be fair, there are probably a fair few good female vocalists out there, but they're too busy being caught up with making money from today's generally woeful pop music to put their voices to good use.
Case in point - I was most surprised to discover the singer of "Paparazzi" (I'm quite fond of it... at the very least, it's the first new pop song I've come close to liking in ages) is Lady Ga Ga, because her vocals on it are very pretty (for about half of the song anyway). You certainly wouldn't know she could sing like that listening to her dreadful "Poker Face"!

[KarmaContestant]

I think it's great that Stevie was included at all! Considering her vocal range has simply gone downhill since 1979, I am delighted, but surprised that she was even considered for the list.

[tilthefirefades]

Originally Posted by ButterCookie

Debbie Harry and Christine aren't even in there, y'know. Okay, so people and press appear to enjoy overlooking Chris. But Debbie C'mon RS that woman won't stop even after she's dead. She's done pop, rock, disco, jazz and everything else inbetween but no, evidently Blondie don't fall into RS' 'good bands' category

Wow, I got into the list to about 90 and stopped because I didn't really care. I totally assumed Debbie was somewhere on there!

[Sahara]

Originally Posted by MissLadyLoki

Lindsey is one of the few people out there that can sing and play their respective instrument well

This is one of those great things that I keep rediscovering. Everyone knows Lindsey is a phenomenal guitar player, which distracts from how wonderful his voice is. This particularly struck me as I listened to him sing "Never Going Back Again" live in Dublin last October, when he sang those lovely drawn-out notes and held them so perfectly and delicately. His voice is strong, controlled and more versatile than one might first imagine.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

I think it's great that Stevie was included at all! Considering her vocal range has simply gone downhill since 1979, I am delighted, but surprised that she was even considered for the list.

Thank you, for not wearing rose colored glasses. You state fact. I think Stevie's personality/witchy persona, had more to do with her success, than her goat noises.

And on Journey, I'll never understand why they're labeled "corporate rock", any more than Fleetwood Mac, or The Eagles, or any big band. Great, catchy songs, with who was arguably the BEST voice in rock(anyone seen all the polls? He's always at the top of the list).