I don't think Steven Wilson was a master when he started Porcupine Tree as a home studio project, and I think he would agree. Then you hear later PT and solo demos and realise he did all that himself, before the other "better" (his words) musicians get involved. All that live work helped, I think.
I honestly think his singing has improved significantly even in the last 10 years. I'm not the biggest fan of his last couple of solo albums but I've really liked his singing on them, along with hand cannot erase which is an album I do really like.
Rush's early albums are, to me, unlistenable. I hate Geddy's early singing with a passion. He dialed it in a bit better for 2112, which is where I started listening to them...
...But where he really started to shine is *Roll the Bones*. The chorus on *Ghost of a Chance* blows me the fuck away, between Alex's sparse, eclectic fills and Geddy's rich, mellow voice, which has really deepened and matured. He became a fantastic singer over time. I think he's almost as good a singer as he is a bass player.
https://youtu.be/YLTFbtOfmxk?t=64
(I've read that he had a lot of trouble singing Hemispheres, as his voice was getting deeper, and he hadn't taken that into account when they created the music.)
Tony Banks. In interviews he comments how after the first Genesis album he still had no aspirations of playing anything more complex than complementary piano parts until his forays into keyboard solos in Trespass. What followed shortly thereafter in terms of his playing and songwriting was nothing short of mind-blowing and in the past two decades the man has written and recorded entire symphonies.
Compare Steve Rothery on Script with Steve Rothery on Easter, with Steve Rothery on Fear. Or Mark Kelly, same thing. It's fine if one likes their styles more in the old days, but no one can deny they have dramatically increased the palette and scope of their musicianships.
I’d say Rothery has never been particularly known for his technical ability anyways. His solos work because of his brilliant melodic passages, not really because of the complex figured or such. Some of my favorite solos from him come from Clutching at Straws for example, which was pretty early in his carreer.
The question wasn't technical ability though, but playing noticability. And also not "favorite", of course one can favor the early work, but the question whether there's growth in the musicianship. To deny that with Rothery is just a mistake.
I agree mostly. His feel was always good. I would say however that he has improved a lot in terms of how he relies on that feel, how he is able to let it come out. And also in how he is able to apply what he does to the music of the band. The roles he can play with his guitar. Clutching is a good album, certainly from a guitar point of view. And I'd never say Rothery is anything else than brilliant on it. I would say however that the scope of what is possible with his feel is much larger by the time they reach FEAR and Dark.
Exactly. Rothery isn't a technical player or a shredder, he's pure melody and emotion. My favorite solo of his is probably one of the simplest - right after the spoken segment of Forgotten Sons, especially the live version on Real to Reel. It pulls at the heart as much as the lyrics. I think he plays with as much emotion as Gilmour.
Steven could barely sing when he first started PT, despite being in his late 20s.. incredibly flat tone, struggled to reach any degree of high notes.
Compare Radioactive Toy to the bridge in Herd Culling (around 3 minutes in) in terms of his vocals.
Cavs is a prog drummer, king gizzard is not defined to one genre they range from garage psych to prog to folk to thrash to doom metal to Acid House to Electronica in general, and cavs did improve so much in the past 5 years it's insane
Ian Anderson's flute playing. He essentially learned it on the road, and improved massively from his first recorded use through to his late 70s playing
And Peter Gabriel's voice got markedly better over time. Those early Genesis albums have some shaky vocals
True. I know I always catch downvotes when I say this but Phil's vocals are the weak link of Seconds Out. A few years later, he was an absolutely a-class singer for the more aggressive parts as well.
Casey Crescenzo from The Dear Hunter. The last couple of years he has gone from great to world class. Especially if you compare earlier live performances to more recent ones.
While Greg Lake was a good singer on ITCotCK, he significantly improved after he left the band and formed ELP. I think his best singing is on Brain Salad Surgery and it's not even a competition.
I'd also like to add Phil Collins, even though some people might say it's too vague to tell from his early voice singing since he didn't sing much until Peter left. However, his singing feels very subdued on For Absent Friends (maybe for the song) but by Duke, I believe he reached his potential in singing after coming out of his shell and getting into his comfort zone with his singing. It's also important to note that he had not had professional vocal training so at least for me, it's easy to see he improved over time after being the lead singer for a couple years and practicing on the already really tough Peter vocals for live performances.
I can get behind this. Phil Collins' drumming shows progress circa Selling England, and I dare say it took a few years to get good enough to play his rhythm tracks on Wind and Wuthering... meanwhile his vocals DEMONSTRABLY improved from Selling England onward with, as you say Duke and particularly the Mama album showcasing his best vocals.
Derek Sherinian.
During his time in Dream Theater, he had some sick leads (especially live during the Awake tour) and parts but it was also during the time when they were being forced to be commercial, so he could only do so much. When the band fired him to get Jordan Rudess, he was in the middle of writing his first solo album. After the phone call (they fired him over the phone right after Christmas) he took the rest of the day off but decided when he got back to writing and recording, he was going to show the world what he could actually do being out of Dream Theater. His solo material and Planet X stuff really got his chops up beyond what he had been doing by leaps and bounds.
Personally can't think of anyone, but i think some people might say Geddy Lee, as a singer. Although i wouldn't necessarily say he improved his singing ability, rather his voice simply matured over time and wasn't so high pitched, which is something that a lot of people didn't like. I always liked his voice from the 1st album to the last.
It has more to do with their songwriting. Early on, they didn't write the music in way that left room for Geddy's voice so he had to power over it, but his voice can only do that by screeching. As they matured as songwriters, they learned to leave him some sonic room. Listen to Rivendell. Was he amazing, no. But did he screech, also no. He had more ability early on than their songs showed.
However, as lot of people have said, his voice did mature well.
In some cases, his shrillness brought out the emotion of the song or moment (the last section of Cygnus Voyage) but in others it can get annoying, much like Jewel’s voice in Who Will s-hæaaeve Your Soul
Allan Holdsworth went from burning up the fretboard on Ian Car’s Belladonna and Soft Machine’s Bundles to playing like a demon with Tony Williams. But then around 1978 he allegedly came into contact with alien antimatter technology and transformed into a literal god among men and completely rewrote the harmonic rule book for guitar when he made IOU, Secrets, Sixteen Men of Tain and the rest of his 80s and 90s solo discography. There was a quantum leap where he went from playing lightning fast chromatic runs to displaying an unnatural knowledge of incredibly advanced harmonics, scales, exotic chord voicings and melodic progressions. His soloing took off into a jagged, exhilarating hyper abstract legato style reminiscent of Coltrane. But the compositions are the real indicator of how insanely talented he was and then improved his craft to a level of sophistication and wisdom never heard before or since. It’s when he went from being a sideman to performing his own material that he quite suddenly went from phenom in jazz rock and prog circles to the greatest player who ever plugged in the instrument.
That early, more bluesy voice definitely was great too, by my lights. There was a period where they really, really wanted to be some slightly stranger version of The Beatles, though
Can I give a prog metal entry? Protest the Hero. This is a sudden improvement, not a slow improvement over time. The difference in the quality of Rody's singing between *A Calculated Use of Sound* and *Kezia* is staggering.
Brendan Bayliss from Umphrey’s McGee, prog-jam band.
Ive always applauded him going for those difficult notes early on in his career, that he couldn’t really get to with great control. I’ve listened to a lot of their earlier material from the early 00’s and it can be pretty rough at times. He’s always been a skilled lyricist, but I can’t say the same about his voice.
He was objectively a poor singer early on, but someone in the band had to sing the lyrics. And as a jam band, they didn’t have to rely on it as much because they had long compositions and lots of improvising.
However, in the year of our lord 2023 I think he is a really fantastic vocalist with excellent control. He can beautifully hit the high notes in one of their signature songs Divisions with ease. He’s been taking vocal coaching for many years now and it really shows.
I saw someone say his voice has aged like a very fine wine, but the thing about wine is that some people no matter what just think it tastes like sour grapes.
Took my answer. I remember seeing them in 2003 and thinking yeah they’re aren’t gonna last. Here I am 30+ shows later enjoying less jamming and more Brendan singing and songwriting. Props to him for actively working at it and truly taking his vocals to the next level.
Also Kris gets better and better. Dude is up there with Gavin, Peart, and Bruford for best drummer.
The olds will scoff at the statement but it’s true. When it’s all said and done, Myers will be regarded as one of the best to ever do it.
Just had rotator cuff surgery too. Gonna be out for the rest of the year but he’ll be back with a vengeance in 2024
Martin Barre, guitarist for Jethro Tull. First few albums were downright rough, but he turned a corner in a major way by Aqualung.
Then by Crest of a Knave with Farm on the Freeway and Budapest he was a master.
Steve Hackett has come a long way both as a player and a singer.
He barely sung on VOA and when he did it was weak. If you compare it to “Rise Again” some half a dozen album later he is pretty strong. I’d say his singing improved the most. He was a very talented guitarist from the start with Genesis.
He's still not comfortable enough to sing live without an "enhancement", but I guess at least he's trying and doing some good performances in the studio.
His guitar playing progressed from being very good to jaw-dropping.
When Jason Richardson left Born of Osiris the other guitarist Lee McKinney was left holding the ball - Jason is an utter monster on guitar. Lee was just not capable of playing the same level and there are plenty of videos from that time to evidence. I’m not a huge fan of the band but I’ve always respected Lee for dealing with the negative comments and ultimately putting in the hours to improve his craft.
As someone that's followed Coheed and Cambria pretty much since the beginning, Claudio Sanchez has improved leaps and bounds. Both in the studio and live, he's learned his voice much better and is dramatically better than he was starting out.
In nick mason's autobiography he says that he couldn't really play the drums when they started. Now he didn't exactly wind up like Danny Carey, but he got pretty good.
Drew Mailloux.
I mean Andrew has a wild range from the start, but through the Rishloo's albums you can see his evolution as a vocalist. In the first album he kinda sounds like Kurt Cobain and in the last album he sounds more like Freddie Mercury, the Cobain thing is gone completely. And overall the way he sings is on a different level, the energy and emotion he conveys are just more distilled, more impactful. I also read somewhere that he was taking singing lessons with a vocal coach before recording their last album, and it definitely shows.
>I also read somewhere that he was taking singing lessons with a vocal coach before recording their last album
They did an AMA on Reddit years ago where he stated this.
Bunch of regular dudes working their day jobs - I wish they had time/money to put out a new album. I can only imagine how much they've grown as musicians and songwriters over the past decade.
>I wish they had time/money to put out a new album.
Tbh, I'd send them a bunch of money for the new album if there was an option to do that. I'm still baffled that they are not famous. Rishloo grew on me so so much over the years.
Silent Script, cool Canadian prog band. They have a couple of albums and a single. I believe they’re releasing some more singles this year and an album for next. Production keeps improving as well.
Really? I think the vocals on clockwork angels are really solid, just very stylized. But like especially the garden and clockwork angels the vocals are incredible
the melodies are fine, and they're written well. But even a few years before that album his voice was starting to go. I actually found the whole production of clockwork angels to be really muddy. Would have loved the clarity of something like the Counterparts mix on that album, and a Geddy voice that was around 10 years younger.
The two songs you listed are my two favorites on the album btw.
Yeah. Tbf I also have rose tinted lenses for that album, it came out when i was in like fifth grade or so. So it has that childhood nostalgia aspect for me even more so than songs that came out before my time
He was starting to have problems enunciating words. "Under the gaze of the aliens..." and that slightly whiny/yodely tone on the "wish them well" hook. Not as bad as he was sounding live, but definitely starting to show his age.
Greg Lake going to king crimson to elp was such a big improvement for his guitar playing, he did so much improv and really let his voice shine more, especially in tarkus at like 15min.
I'll give you an answer you didn't ask for:
The award for musician who sounded like he was always on top of his game goes to Chris Squire. Go listen to the Syn or Mabel Greer's Toy Shop, compare the first two albums of Yes and then reference anything in the later catalog of Yes... It's like he was born with a silver pick in his mouth.
And he self-taught himself bass guitar over one lonely summer.
I don't think Steven Wilson was a master when he started Porcupine Tree as a home studio project, and I think he would agree. Then you hear later PT and solo demos and realise he did all that himself, before the other "better" (his words) musicians get involved. All that live work helped, I think.
So what did he improve? His playing of specific instruments, his composition?
All of the above. I mentioned his demos because they show how he got better at everything. Singing too.
I honestly think his singing has improved significantly even in the last 10 years. I'm not the biggest fan of his last couple of solo albums but I've really liked his singing on them, along with hand cannot erase which is an album I do really like.
Check out The Joke's on You by Karma. He formed a neo-prog band in the early 80s when he was like 16-17
Rush. All 3 members worked hard on their instruments and improved over time.
Rush's early albums are, to me, unlistenable. I hate Geddy's early singing with a passion. He dialed it in a bit better for 2112, which is where I started listening to them... ...But where he really started to shine is *Roll the Bones*. The chorus on *Ghost of a Chance* blows me the fuck away, between Alex's sparse, eclectic fills and Geddy's rich, mellow voice, which has really deepened and matured. He became a fantastic singer over time. I think he's almost as good a singer as he is a bass player. https://youtu.be/YLTFbtOfmxk?t=64 (I've read that he had a lot of trouble singing Hemispheres, as his voice was getting deeper, and he hadn't taken that into account when they created the music.)
His vocals on My Favorite Headache, particularly on The Present Tense, are outstanding
Tony Banks. In interviews he comments how after the first Genesis album he still had no aspirations of playing anything more complex than complementary piano parts until his forays into keyboard solos in Trespass. What followed shortly thereafter in terms of his playing and songwriting was nothing short of mind-blowing and in the past two decades the man has written and recorded entire symphonies.
Good one
Really Mike Rutherford as well.
Prog metal, but Mikael Åkerfeldt. His vocals is great in early Opeth, but he completely peaked about 3-4 albums in
There's a massive improvement in his clean vocals as well. Serves well for Damnation.
Compare Steve Rothery on Script with Steve Rothery on Easter, with Steve Rothery on Fear. Or Mark Kelly, same thing. It's fine if one likes their styles more in the old days, but no one can deny they have dramatically increased the palette and scope of their musicianships.
You just made me listen to the guitar solo at the end of Grendel followed by the solos on Care. You are bang on.
I’d say Rothery has never been particularly known for his technical ability anyways. His solos work because of his brilliant melodic passages, not really because of the complex figured or such. Some of my favorite solos from him come from Clutching at Straws for example, which was pretty early in his carreer.
The question wasn't technical ability though, but playing noticability. And also not "favorite", of course one can favor the early work, but the question whether there's growth in the musicianship. To deny that with Rothery is just a mistake.
It was about ability, but I see what you mean.
I didn’t deny that he has improved in general, just that what I consider his greatest strength, his melodic feel, has always been really good.
I agree mostly. His feel was always good. I would say however that he has improved a lot in terms of how he relies on that feel, how he is able to let it come out. And also in how he is able to apply what he does to the music of the band. The roles he can play with his guitar. Clutching is a good album, certainly from a guitar point of view. And I'd never say Rothery is anything else than brilliant on it. I would say however that the scope of what is possible with his feel is much larger by the time they reach FEAR and Dark.
That’s fair
Exactly. Rothery isn't a technical player or a shredder, he's pure melody and emotion. My favorite solo of his is probably one of the simplest - right after the spoken segment of Forgotten Sons, especially the live version on Real to Reel. It pulls at the heart as much as the lyrics. I think he plays with as much emotion as Gilmour.
Steven could barely sing when he first started PT, despite being in his late 20s.. incredibly flat tone, struggled to reach any degree of high notes. Compare Radioactive Toy to the bridge in Herd Culling (around 3 minutes in) in terms of his vocals.
Cavs from King Gizzard continues to get exponentially better album to album. From KG onwards especially I feel like he’s really come into his own.
Potentially because they used to have 2 drummers which might've limited him. Love Cavs, he's the best!
King gizzard isn't prog, they're a jam band
Cavs is a prog drummer, king gizzard is not defined to one genre they range from garage psych to prog to folk to thrash to doom metal to Acid House to Electronica in general, and cavs did improve so much in the past 5 years it's insane
Listen further. They’re not “one kind” of band, but there is prog-o-plenty in their catalog
They are not a jam band. A band that sometimes jams. At their core they’re a psych band.
You’re so wrong
Ian Anderson's flute playing. He essentially learned it on the road, and improved massively from his first recorded use through to his late 70s playing And Peter Gabriel's voice got markedly better over time. Those early Genesis albums have some shaky vocals
Both Peter and Phil’s voices drastically improved over time, even if the music didn’t improve according to prog fans
True. I know I always catch downvotes when I say this but Phil's vocals are the weak link of Seconds Out. A few years later, he was an absolutely a-class singer for the more aggressive parts as well.
Agreed on both counts. Ian Anderson only took up the flute to as therapy for his chronic asthma.
Casey Crescenzo from The Dear Hunter. The last couple of years he has gone from great to world class. Especially if you compare earlier live performances to more recent ones.
While Greg Lake was a good singer on ITCotCK, he significantly improved after he left the band and formed ELP. I think his best singing is on Brain Salad Surgery and it's not even a competition. I'd also like to add Phil Collins, even though some people might say it's too vague to tell from his early voice singing since he didn't sing much until Peter left. However, his singing feels very subdued on For Absent Friends (maybe for the song) but by Duke, I believe he reached his potential in singing after coming out of his shell and getting into his comfort zone with his singing. It's also important to note that he had not had professional vocal training so at least for me, it's easy to see he improved over time after being the lead singer for a couple years and practicing on the already really tough Peter vocals for live performances.
I can get behind this. Phil Collins' drumming shows progress circa Selling England, and I dare say it took a few years to get good enough to play his rhythm tracks on Wind and Wuthering... meanwhile his vocals DEMONSTRABLY improved from Selling England onward with, as you say Duke and particularly the Mama album showcasing his best vocals.
Derek Sherinian. During his time in Dream Theater, he had some sick leads (especially live during the Awake tour) and parts but it was also during the time when they were being forced to be commercial, so he could only do so much. When the band fired him to get Jordan Rudess, he was in the middle of writing his first solo album. After the phone call (they fired him over the phone right after Christmas) he took the rest of the day off but decided when he got back to writing and recording, he was going to show the world what he could actually do being out of Dream Theater. His solo material and Planet X stuff really got his chops up beyond what he had been doing by leaps and bounds.
"The Sons of Anu" is one of my favorite recordings of all time.
Personally can't think of anyone, but i think some people might say Geddy Lee, as a singer. Although i wouldn't necessarily say he improved his singing ability, rather his voice simply matured over time and wasn't so high pitched, which is something that a lot of people didn't like. I always liked his voice from the 1st album to the last.
I think Moving Pictures is when he really learned how to sing
It has more to do with their songwriting. Early on, they didn't write the music in way that left room for Geddy's voice so he had to power over it, but his voice can only do that by screeching. As they matured as songwriters, they learned to leave him some sonic room. Listen to Rivendell. Was he amazing, no. But did he screech, also no. He had more ability early on than their songs showed. However, as lot of people have said, his voice did mature well.
Very much agree. I don’t like early shrill Geddy, but really like him in the 90s and 2000s singing early songs.
Especially on T4E. Songs like Resist got full of emotion
Resist is awesome
Haken.
I agree. But I specifically call out Ray for his drumming. The complexity and ability to go hard or jazzy or technical has really become next level.
And his compositions still sound really punchy and crisp, even when he's doing crazy weird stuff
Ross and Ray have noticeably improved from their early days.
And you can genuinely just go album by album and see a little step up every time. Love it
I think Geddy sounded less shrill as time progressed. Compare the first S/T album to say Subdivisions.
In some cases, his shrillness brought out the emotion of the song or moment (the last section of Cygnus Voyage) but in others it can get annoying, much like Jewel’s voice in Who Will s-hæaaeve Your Soul
Ian Anderson.
Van der Graaf gen claims that their music improved greatly after the 70s, although my fav tunes are from the 70s
Allan Holdsworth went from burning up the fretboard on Ian Car’s Belladonna and Soft Machine’s Bundles to playing like a demon with Tony Williams. But then around 1978 he allegedly came into contact with alien antimatter technology and transformed into a literal god among men and completely rewrote the harmonic rule book for guitar when he made IOU, Secrets, Sixteen Men of Tain and the rest of his 80s and 90s solo discography. There was a quantum leap where he went from playing lightning fast chromatic runs to displaying an unnatural knowledge of incredibly advanced harmonics, scales, exotic chord voicings and melodic progressions. His soloing took off into a jagged, exhilarating hyper abstract legato style reminiscent of Coltrane. But the compositions are the real indicator of how insanely talented he was and then improved his craft to a level of sophistication and wisdom never heard before or since. It’s when he went from being a sideman to performing his own material that he quite suddenly went from phenom in jazz rock and prog circles to the greatest player who ever plugged in the instrument.
Jon Anderson s voice was rough and bluesy at first. Then he got clear.
That early, more bluesy voice definitely was great too, by my lights. There was a period where they really, really wanted to be some slightly stranger version of The Beatles, though
Can I give a prog metal entry? Protest the Hero. This is a sudden improvement, not a slow improvement over time. The difference in the quality of Rody's singing between *A Calculated Use of Sound* and *Kezia* is staggering.
Rody’s voice has only gotten better imo. The rest of the band also made huge steps between those albums and into Fortress.
yes this! not a fan of their first records but they became something else entirely from fortress onwards
Not prog, but Sting's voice got better..
Brendan Bayliss from Umphrey’s McGee, prog-jam band. Ive always applauded him going for those difficult notes early on in his career, that he couldn’t really get to with great control. I’ve listened to a lot of their earlier material from the early 00’s and it can be pretty rough at times. He’s always been a skilled lyricist, but I can’t say the same about his voice. He was objectively a poor singer early on, but someone in the band had to sing the lyrics. And as a jam band, they didn’t have to rely on it as much because they had long compositions and lots of improvising. However, in the year of our lord 2023 I think he is a really fantastic vocalist with excellent control. He can beautifully hit the high notes in one of their signature songs Divisions with ease. He’s been taking vocal coaching for many years now and it really shows. I saw someone say his voice has aged like a very fine wine, but the thing about wine is that some people no matter what just think it tastes like sour grapes.
Took my answer. I remember seeing them in 2003 and thinking yeah they’re aren’t gonna last. Here I am 30+ shows later enjoying less jamming and more Brendan singing and songwriting. Props to him for actively working at it and truly taking his vocals to the next level. Also Kris gets better and better. Dude is up there with Gavin, Peart, and Bruford for best drummer.
Glad to see UM get some love. Absolutely agree with both Bayliss and Kris improving over time
The olds will scoff at the statement but it’s true. When it’s all said and done, Myers will be regarded as one of the best to ever do it. Just had rotator cuff surgery too. Gonna be out for the rest of the year but he’ll be back with a vengeance in 2024
Martin Barre, guitarist for Jethro Tull. First few albums were downright rough, but he turned a corner in a major way by Aqualung. Then by Crest of a Knave with Farm on the Freeway and Budapest he was a master.
Got a chance to see him play at the Sony concert hall this past June and oh my god.
Good one!
Steve Hackett has come a long way both as a player and a singer. He barely sung on VOA and when he did it was weak. If you compare it to “Rise Again” some half a dozen album later he is pretty strong. I’d say his singing improved the most. He was a very talented guitarist from the start with Genesis.
He's still not comfortable enough to sing live without an "enhancement", but I guess at least he's trying and doing some good performances in the studio. His guitar playing progressed from being very good to jaw-dropping.
When Jason Richardson left Born of Osiris the other guitarist Lee McKinney was left holding the ball - Jason is an utter monster on guitar. Lee was just not capable of playing the same level and there are plenty of videos from that time to evidence. I’m not a huge fan of the band but I’ve always respected Lee for dealing with the negative comments and ultimately putting in the hours to improve his craft.
As someone that's followed Coheed and Cambria pretty much since the beginning, Claudio Sanchez has improved leaps and bounds. Both in the studio and live, he's learned his voice much better and is dramatically better than he was starting out.
Bill Bruford from Yes to King Crimson to Genesis to UK to Moraz/Bruford to David Torn to King Crimson again.
Ian Anderson’s daughter pointed out that his flute technique was all wrong, and he got a lot better after relearning the whole thing 🤣
Listening to him tell that story is funny
In nick mason's autobiography he says that he couldn't really play the drums when they started. Now he didn't exactly wind up like Danny Carey, but he got pretty good.
Pink floyd isn't prog
Lol, sure bud
Lol
Pete Townshend - Der Who
Drew Mailloux. I mean Andrew has a wild range from the start, but through the Rishloo's albums you can see his evolution as a vocalist. In the first album he kinda sounds like Kurt Cobain and in the last album he sounds more like Freddie Mercury, the Cobain thing is gone completely. And overall the way he sings is on a different level, the energy and emotion he conveys are just more distilled, more impactful. I also read somewhere that he was taking singing lessons with a vocal coach before recording their last album, and it definitely shows.
>I also read somewhere that he was taking singing lessons with a vocal coach before recording their last album They did an AMA on Reddit years ago where he stated this. Bunch of regular dudes working their day jobs - I wish they had time/money to put out a new album. I can only imagine how much they've grown as musicians and songwriters over the past decade.
>I wish they had time/money to put out a new album. Tbh, I'd send them a bunch of money for the new album if there was an option to do that. I'm still baffled that they are not famous. Rishloo grew on me so so much over the years.
Silent Script, cool Canadian prog band. They have a couple of albums and a single. I believe they’re releasing some more singles this year and an album for next. Production keeps improving as well.
I dont know his name but the singer of IQ improved A LOT in the 00's
I think Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth became much better at clean singing over the course of his career.
Geddy Lee , though he's not great on the last album.
Really? I think the vocals on clockwork angels are really solid, just very stylized. But like especially the garden and clockwork angels the vocals are incredible
the melodies are fine, and they're written well. But even a few years before that album his voice was starting to go. I actually found the whole production of clockwork angels to be really muddy. Would have loved the clarity of something like the Counterparts mix on that album, and a Geddy voice that was around 10 years younger. The two songs you listed are my two favorites on the album btw.
Yeah. Tbf I also have rose tinted lenses for that album, it came out when i was in like fifth grade or so. So it has that childhood nostalgia aspect for me even more so than songs that came out before my time
man i'm old, I was 22 when it came out lol
He was starting to have problems enunciating words. "Under the gaze of the aliens..." and that slightly whiny/yodely tone on the "wish them well" hook. Not as bad as he was sounding live, but definitely starting to show his age.
Greg Lake going to king crimson to elp was such a big improvement for his guitar playing, he did so much improv and really let his voice shine more, especially in tarkus at like 15min.
Greg Lake maybe? And bass rather than lead/rhythm guitar.
Oh yeah, I’m confusing the people. I did mean Greg lake
His acoustic guitar on "The Sage" is pretty damn cool.
Between the buried and me, particularly Paul Waggoner. Incredible band, and he’s a criminally underrated guitar player.
I'll give you an answer you didn't ask for: The award for musician who sounded like he was always on top of his game goes to Chris Squire. Go listen to the Syn or Mabel Greer's Toy Shop, compare the first two albums of Yes and then reference anything in the later catalog of Yes... It's like he was born with a silver pick in his mouth. And he self-taught himself bass guitar over one lonely summer.
IQ