Respect!

Big Nasty

Anyone else think it's very hard to respect a hard rock / metal band when the singer is just a singer!?!

My best example would be Iron Maiden, absolutely great band but watching them on vids just pees me off!

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Say what?

Big Nasty

When the singer just prances around the stage and doesn't play any instrument!

MoominPapa

So you don't respect Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath or Deep Purple?

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Singers play an instrument too - the voice! I have lots of respect for good musicians. The band's format doesn't really factor for me TBH. In fact, not having to play a guitar or bass can let you concentrate more on the singing and do a better job of it.

Max Power1

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Anyone else think it's very hard to respect a hard rock / metal band when the singer is just a singer!?!

My best example would be Iron Maiden, absolutely great band but watching them on vids just pees me off!

No. Just No.

That is all

Big Nasty

I respect them all! Maybe I worded it wrong. Axl Rose was the same! Was just watching some Maiden on Youtube and it peeed me off watching Bruce jump around with nothing in his hand.

Big Nasty

OK-Cancel-Apply wrote: »

Singers play an instrument too - the voice! I have lots of respect for good musicians. The band's format doesn't really factor for me TBH. In fact, not having to play a guitar or bass can let you concentrate more on the singing and do a better job of it.

Great point but in a hard rock or metal band it give's me boy band vibes!

Max Power1

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Great point but in a hard rock or metal band it give's me boy band vibes!

Sabbath/Zeppelin/Deep Purple/GNR etc???

Hardly boybands :rolleyes:

Big Nasty

Max Power1 wrote: »

Sabbath/Zeppelin/Deep Purple/GNR etc???

Hardly boybands :rolleyes:

You're dead right dude!

Many of the leads in these bands don't play at all but tend to hold a six string in their hands, maybe to give them summit to do! Either way, even if they are not contributing to the music, it makes them look good!

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Queen, Alice In Chains, Whitesnake, Judas Priest... the list goes on. I honestly can't say that any of those bands looked strange or that the singer looked like he had nothing to do.

Big Nasty

It's quite possible that I've made an ass of myself with this post looking at so many bands that have singers only. That said, you've got to admit that a singer with a guitar in his hand looks way more cool, even if it;s just a prop!

Max Power1

MCMLXXV wrote: »

You're dead right dude!

Many of the leads in these bands don't play at all but tend to hold a six string in their hands, maybe to give them summit to do! Either way, even if they are not contributing to the music, it makes them look good!

now that one youll have to explain to me

lord lucan

Look at Queen,if they had any other frontman they'd be boring to watch,may and deacon just standing there playing their instruments. But add freddie to the mix and instead of a gig you've got a show! Great frontmen can make a band or certainly give them an extra dimension,look at axl rose,bon scott,steve tyler and ozzy!

Big Nasty

Look, I've opened a can of worms here and I'm the first to admit it!

Anyhow, there are bands out there where the lead singer holds a string in his paws, functional or not! IMO this looks a lot better in the flesh, end of!.

lord lucan

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Look, I've opened a can of worms here and I'm the first to admit it!

Anyhow, there are bands out there where the lead singer holds a string in his paws, functional or not! IMO this looks a lot better in the flesh, end of!.

Tbh i can't think of any BIG name bands that have frontmen that do that,maybe some crap like the jonas brothers or avril lavigne or bono:pac:

grames_bond

MCMLXXV wrote: »

It's quite possible that I've made an ass of myself with this post looking at so many bands that have singers only. That said, you've got to admit that a singer with a guitar in his hand looks way more cool, even if it's just a prop!

if a front man did this there would be a thread on here goin "did you see your man from X band posing with the fcukin guitar pretending to play? fcukin poser"

Like was mentioned previously one of the greatest live bands ever: Queen didnt need freddie to have a guitar in his hands at all time!

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Ugh I hate it when people just 'wear' guitars.

Malice

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Anyone else think it's very hard to respect a hard rock / metal band when the singer is just a singer!?!

I thought this was going to be a thread about different vocal styles like rapping, screaming or growling rather than plain old singing. It turns out it was much worse!

As others have pointed out, Freddie Mercury, Axl Rose, Layne Staley, Brian Johnson, Ozzy Osbourne, Corey Taylor and so many more are not just singers. They are the focal point of the band, they are the one leading the song and they are what most people look at during a gig.

Kess73

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Anyone else think it's very hard to respect a hard rock / metal band when the singer is just a singer!?!

My best example would be Iron Maiden, absolutely great band but watching them on vids just pees me off!

You are not a Maiden fan then, otherwise you would have known that in many of the tours Maiden had in the 1980's, Dickinson did play guitar for intros and the likes for certain songs. On the Powerslave tour he did so for the song Revelations and sometimes for Children Of The Damned. And he looked odd with a guitar just hanging there, as it just looked wrong, especially as he only had to play it so such a short bit of the show.


But Bruce for 99% of the time would be without an instrument, which is pretty much the same for the frontmen and women of pretty much the majority of all the major rock/metal acts for the last 40 years.


There are some noteworthy examples of frontmen who also were an instrument player on a full time basis for their band, like Phil Lynott, Kurt Cobain, and I will throw Springsteen in there. But if you look at the biggest bands out there, past and present, you will find that the frontman is not carrying a guitar, and to be honest if they all were it would make for a pretty boring show in general in terms of watching.




In Maiden's case you could have something that looks wrong, with Bruce just holding the guitar for the most part, like this........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjoxJsgbWbM

Or he could just leave it to this two guys at the time....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59x4e_HRv6Q

And nowadays he still has the two of them, plus Janick, on guitar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUJoQol5QUw

Max Power1

It looks REALLY weird when a frontman holds a guitar without playing it imo. I saw Trivium in the ambassador last year and they did a few covers. For one (ac dc i think) Matt - vocals - said he didnt know the guitar part to the song so he just sang, but kept the guitar in place. Weirdest thing Ive ever seen!