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Axl Rose #64 on Rolling Stone's Top 100 Singers List


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2 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

Originally published in 2008:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-147019/

It explains the criteria. Still the list is questionable, but isn't it the case with all these lists?

Huh, well alright then. All of Twitter is up in arms about this (mostly in horror that Axl is even on the list), so I assumed it was something that was recently published. 

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I've seen a lot of people defending him but also saying how the list lacks female singers. But Whitney Houston should be in the top 10 and mick jagger in the top 10 is laughable. Axl should be top 20. How is he worse then bono? Bono doesn't really come close to the range Axl has (had). 


Also funny to think that this list came out 10 years ago and CD was a year old and slash and axl being on stage together again was laughable. the RNR HOF debacle had yet to occur as well.

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So did I understand correctly, the idea of this list was not to rank who is technically skilled, but to rank whose voice touches the soul the most?

That's 100% subjective though, so weird idea for a list.

Oh well, for me the top 3 artists whose voice touches my soul would be:

1. Axl Rose

2. Kurt Cobain

3. John Lennon

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That is a BAAAAD list. Regardless of criteria etc if anyone says Cobain was a better singer than Axl then they are talking complete and utter shite. He was arguably the weakest Grunge singer nevermind (boom boom) being amongst the all-time best singers.

In terms of ‘touching the soul’ Cobain was fortunate that Nirvana were pushed by MTV to the forefront of that movement. Staley IMO was so far ahead it’s unreal. Cornell too.

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The writer who made the list in 2008 explained that his main criteria weren't the vocal range or the singing ability etc, but the overall personality, the influence and so on.

And in this sense, although Bob Dylan or Lou Reed, for example, aren't "objectively" great singers, they have this uniqueness.

Anyway, these lists are always subjective and unavoidably questionable. For example, I've seen Kurt Cobain also included in best guitarists lists and people who think of "best guitarist" as a synonym of "best technical guitarist" have disagreed.

An extreme example, involving Axl, was a list of the "worst singers of the 90s" in the Houston Press (If the RS list has made you angry in regards to Axl, just wait till you read this one):

https://www.houstonpress.com/music/the-10-worst-rock-singers-of-the-90s-6517758

(It seems that the press in Houston has a long history of strongly disliking Axl since the 90s, judging from the reviews in the local press. And the NITL show in Houston in 2016, although there's a consensus among the fans that it was probably the best show of the whole tour, got one of the least favorable reviews of the tour in Houston Press.)

 

 

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In my top 100 worst lists of all time, this one is pretty high.

1 hour ago, ChildOfTheMoon said:

I just don’t understand why people started talking about this again, since the list is like 10 years old.

I believe this list would be pretty different now after those Queen and Elton John movies.

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44 minutes ago, DTJ80 said:

That is a BAAAAD list. Regardless of criteria etc if anyone says Cobain was a better singer than Axl then they are talking complete and utter shite. He was arguably the weakest Grunge singer nevermind (boom boom) being amongst the all-time best singers.

In terms of ‘touching the soul’ Cobain was fortunate that Nirvana were pushed by MTV to the forefront of that movement. Staley IMO was so far ahead it’s unreal. Cornell too.

It's a crime to keep those guys off any top 100 list.

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