[Joomy]

I had this argument a while back with a friend of mine, when he claimed that Bellamy was better than Yorke. At the time I was adamantly opposed to the claim, and still am, but with a few caveats.

I think it's indisputable (my friend would dispute it) that Bellamy's modal voice, that is, not his falsetto, is unimpressive compared to the majority of professional singers. Putting him and Mercury in the same poll is kind of pointless, compared to Freddie he is nothing, he is an amateur. Honestly, I have friends whose modal voice singing (which is voice people normally sing in and are trained in) is much better than his.

For me the quality of his modal voice is what lets him down as a singer and Muse as a band. I think many of their songs are great, but the quality of much of the singing is just not on par with the rest of the virtuosity that the band displays. For me, Thom Yorke's modal voice is far, far better: it's more controlled, more haunting, more effortless, more soulful and just generally better developed and/or naturally better.

Now that's his modal voice. His falsetto is another matter entirely. Thom Yorke has a great falsetto, but Bellamy's is in a league of its own. In fact, I have never before heard such incredible falsetto singing. Not only does he stretch it up to an incredible range but the quality he gets out of it is excellent. The stuff he does with it, for example on Knights of Cydonia, is mind blowing. The first time I heard the song I just assumed it was electronically altered an octave up, but having seen the HAARP video, I now realize that it's all real. Amazing stuff.

That said, I still think Yorke is a better singer. Falsetto is great for rock and roll, but you can't sing in and Bellamy doesn't sing in it all the time. It's OK for hitting those ridiculously high notes but it'd sound stupid to try and sing in it all the time. Every time time I hear a Muse song I wish that Yorke or someone else was singing the modal voice parts, but you can't go past Bellamy for those shrieking, impossible highs.

 

[MrGreen]

Matt is a far better singer... @ joomy. Most of what matt is doing is head voice, not falsetto. You can hear when he swaps to falsetto. It's nice but the upper half of his headvoice is extremely good. If you think he is singing high, you should listen to more music...

Thoms vocals are the weakest part of radiohead. Plus he's a dick.

I hate muses new album though... at least radiohead still produces music I enjoy.

If you were going to ask me who the "better musician" is? I'd probably say thom.

3.5 for matt and 2.5 for thom based solely on technical prowess. I don't regard technical prowess that highly.

 

[KevDo]

I don't listen to Muse as M.B. is always trying to be/sound like someone else.

So I'd say T.Y.

 

[krmathis]

I do not fancy any of them. But if needed I would pick Thom Yorke...

 

[Lorentz]

Demetrio Stratos was here, trouncing.

But, if I must choose between the two, eh, probably Matt.

 

[Joomy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrGreen /img/forum/go_quote.gif Matt is a far better singer... @ joomy. Most of what matt is doing is head voice, not falsetto. You can hear when he swaps to falsetto. It's nice but the upper half of his headvoice is extremely good. If you think he is singing high, you should listen to more music... Thoms vocals are the weakest part of radiohead. Plus he's a dick. I hate muses new album though... at least radiohead still produces music I enjoy. If you were going to ask me who the "better musician" is? I'd probably say thom. 3.5 for matt and 2.5 for thom based solely on technical prowess. I don't regard technical prowess that highly.

Uh, actually it's quite clear when Matt switches to falsetto. Maybe you need to get some new ears if you can't hear in Knights of Cydonia the falsetto backing vocal behind Matt singing in his head voice. Speaking of which, no, you're wrong, his head voice is unimpressive and weak. His head voice range is not terribly good: up to A#4 according to the Muse wiki, but anyone who claims that an A5 (which he hits in some live Showbiz performances) is not high for a male singer is frankly an idiot. There are not many male vocalists around who can comfortably hit notes above F5, falsetto or no. I'm not saying there are none, I'm just saying there are few.

Listen to the (clearly) falsetto work in Knights of Cydonia in the live version from the HAARP concert where it's more distinguishable:
YouTube - Knights Of Cydonia: Live At Wembley Stadium 2007

I don't care who you are, he is singing very high for a male in much of that song (and most of his songs).

If that's not high enough for you, listen to this live recording of Showbiz: YouTube - Muse - Showbiz

Anyway, I still think Yorke is a better all-round singer, despite Matt's clear advantage in upper range. I await the next inane and/or erroneous reply...

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joomy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Uh, actually it's quite clear when Matt switches to falsetto. Maybe you need to get some new ears if you can't hear in Knights of Cydonia the falsetto backing vocal behind Matt singing in his head voice. Speaking of which, no, you're wrong, his head voice is unimpressive and weak. His head voice range is not terribly good: up to A#4 according to the Muse wiki, but anyone who claims that an A5 (which he hits in some live Showbiz performances) is not high for a male singer is frankly an idiot. There are not many male vocalists around who can comfortably hit notes above F5, falsetto or no. I'm not saying there are none, I'm just saying there are few. Listen to the (clearly) falsetto work in Knights of Cydonia in the live version from the HAARP concert where it's more distinguishable: YouTube - Knights Of Cydonia: Live At Wembley Stadium 2007 I don't care who you are, he is singing very high for a male in much of that song (and most of his songs). If that's not high enough for you, listen to this live recording of Showbiz: YouTube - Muse - Showbiz Anyway, I still think Yorke is a better all-round singer, despite Matt's clear advantage in upper range. I await the next inane and/or erroneous reply...

Why are you so agressive?

You have linked live shows (pressure etc leads to choice of falsetto over headvoice across the bridge), not studio performances (where there are multiple takes for a band like muse). You've also linked lower soprano pitches, which I would suggest that nearly every male modern "pop star" would sing in falsetto.

Matts voice is fairly deep for a mainstream artist (they typically have very high pitched voices) and for him to sing in the upper baritone/lower alto range in headvoice is fairly impressive. Have you tried singing up the upper end of your vocal abilities for an extende period of time in the manner he does?

 

[Adreneline]

Yeah Joomy, bit aggressive there...

Being a fan since their first album Showbiz in 1999, I definitely am a big fan of the band. I like Radiohead too, but I prefer Matt as a singer.

And any similarities they share is the result of them both apparently being influenced by Jeff Buckley in their vocal performance.

I think his 'head voice' (if I'm right on what it is) is improved on their latest album. He also does go pretty low sometimes yes, I think his lowest being on "Hoodoo" from BH&R, or Spiral Static.

I'd suggest anyone to listen to "Microcuts" from their Origin of Symmetry album. Out of this world vocals. In a dark way, not in a "omg thats beautiful!" way.

 

[Heyyoudvd]

The correct answer is Matt Bellamy.

I think that Radiohead is a faaar better band than Muse (although I do I like Muse as well), and I even prefer Thom Yorke's voice and vocal style over Bellamy's but if we're talking about the objectively better, more talented singer is, the correct answer is Bellamy.

 

[choomanchoo]

Personally, I dislike picking one over another, they both offer original great voices, accompanied with great music, which is all that matters to me, Can I like them both equally?

 

[Joomy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrGreen /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why are you so agressive? You have linked live shows (pressure etc leads to choice of falsetto over headvoice across the bridge), not studio performances (where there are multiple takes for a band like muse). You've also linked lower soprano pitches, which I would suggest that nearly every male modern "pop star" would sing in falsetto. Matts voice is fairly deep for a mainstream artist (they typically have very high pitched voices) and for him to sing in the upper baritone/lower alto range in headvoice is fairly impressive. Have you tried singing up the upper end of your vocal abilities for an extende period of time in the manner he does?

Sorry, didn't mean to be overly aggressive, but I did not appreciate the insinuation that I don't know what I'm talking about.

You seem to be contradicting yourself here. My first post claimed that Bellamy's head voice was, contrary to your claim, not terribly impressive or well-developed, and that most of the high notes he sings (above F4 say) are actually sung in falsetto. I know this because my head voice goes up to about A4 and I can sing along when he's singing in his head voice quite comfortably.

The notes he sings that I cannot hit in my head voice and must use falsetto for he also reaches into his falsetto for, that is, most notes above F4 from what I've heard. You can tell when he is singing in his falsetto because he voice changes very dramatically.

His head voice is quite weak for a professional singer (not much better than your average amateur baritone's, for example) but his falsetto in contrast is extremely well developed and actually stronger than the upper reaches of his head voice. It is good enough that he can sing nearly an octave above where his head voice cuts out with really good control and pleasant timbre. For me his falsetto is much more listenable-to than many other singers who regularly use falsetto, like some metal singers.

The links I provided were to counter the claim that Bellamy is not using his falsetto "most of the time", especially in Knights of Cydonia. It's also to counter the claim that he possesses a good head voice, because I think it's clear that his low singing in Knights of Cydonia is not that impressive, but his falsetto is excellent. I chose live songs because Muse's recordings tend to be quite muddy and it's easier to pick out the falsetto/head voice transitions in live performances because they artend to be more raw and you can see the physical change in his singing style.

EDIT: Found something interesting regarding Thom Yorke. He sings what is pretty close to an A#5 (falsetto) at around the 3 minute mark in this (not very good) song from the 80s sometime:

YouTube - On a Friday (Radiohead) - I'm Coming Up.

This means that if we are to believe this page: Matthew Bellamy - Muse Wiki: Supermassive wiki for the band Muse that Thom's actually has demonstrated a greater range than Bellamy ever has, given that his lowest recorded note is probably the E2 in Skip Divided (YouTube - Skip Divided).

Of course, this doesn't decide the question as to who is a better singer, but it certainly cuts the legs out from the assertion that Bellamy has a greater range.

 

[playseverything]

Wow. It never ceases to amaze me how many different definitions of falsetto and head voice you can see on the net. Books I've read on vocal technique as well as most of my voice teachers have more or less agreed that head voice and falsetto are the same thing. There are two physiological ways the vocal cords vibrate: vibrating full length to produce chest or modal voice or closing half and vibrating half length to produce head voice or falsetto. falsetto however does have the connotation of a sloppy or weak sound that comes at the bottom of the head voice range, in the tesseratura or passagio section of the range. Falsetto is never produced by notes higher than head voice range.

 

[kaimon96]

Yeesh....Muse and Radiohead comparisons everywhere I go.
 
IMO Yorke's singing is best with haunting songs. Bellamy's best with the more aggressive, powerful songs.
 
I think I'll have to go with Yorke, but I still find Bellamy a damn good singer.

 

[Smoke]

I somehow can't listen to Muse because of the inhaling of Matt Bellamy. I do like Yorke's voice on the other hand. To me he sounds more sincere. 

 

[batphink]