I haven't been regular at this particular sight in quite awhile, so I thought I'd just add a quick note about the human voice.
I have had discussions with people in the past about what constitutes a good voice and what constitutes a bad voice. To me, a good singing voice is one that is honest. At first listen, we may not enjoy the voices of Bob Dylan, Mark E. Smith of The Fall or Robert Smith of The Cure, but upon repeated listening, we realize that this kind of singing, while not technically perfect, has at the very least captured the spirit of what makes for good vocals.
Conversely, we have the Mariah Carey problem. Mariah Carey is the Musical Riddle of the Sphinx; suppose you had the greatest voice in the world and didn't know how to sing? Verbal gymnastics get old fast, as they are usually masking lyrics that have no metaphysical or spiritual meaning.
So bring on the Captain Beefhearts of the world, bury the Whitney Houstons deep in the ground, and just give me something honest and compelling.
Laura Nyro; now THAT was an honest singer!
