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Fuzzyrocks total noob from a house, very very big house in the country Since: Jul, 2013
total noob
#1: Oct 5th 2013 at 11:14:01 AM

I thought it would be interesting to hear people's opinions on this, so I started a thread about it. What you think can be good about, what can be bad, who does it well, etc.

porschelemans Avatar Sakaki Ignore cat from A Giant Hamster Ball Since: Sep, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Avatar Sakaki Ignore cat
#2: Oct 5th 2013 at 12:54:42 PM

Depends on what you define as screaming. Otherwise, how well it works is purely circumstantial.

Something like this, it works.

A lot of other cases, it's just annoying.

I'm so sorry that my avatar doesn't appear fully in the shot, but the cat was threatening the photographer.
MikeK Since: Jan, 2001
#3: Oct 5th 2013 at 1:08:57 PM

Someone whose musical screams I've started to appreciate lately is James Brown. I have a Greatest Hits Album of his on my ipod, which I frequently just put on shuffle for background music, and that's made it much more noticeable how many of his songs either start with a scream or horn blast that's just as capable of jolting the listener. I've kind of decided this was specifically done to help his songs stand out right away on the radio - if you've just got something on as quiet background music, and suddenly the next song starts with "OWWWWWWWWW!", it kinda gets your attention.

edited 5th Oct '13 1:41:53 PM by MikeK

Twentington Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Desperate
#4: Oct 5th 2013 at 1:23:51 PM

Not really a scream, but certainly a musical Jump Scare for me:

MikeK Since: Jan, 2001
#5: Oct 5th 2013 at 1:46:34 PM

I also find I tend to like the Careful with That Axe sort of screaming more than songs that are just screaming throughout, though that's not always true.

Odd1 Still just awesome like that from Nowhere Land Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
Still just awesome like that
#6: Oct 5th 2013 at 3:59:32 PM

I like screaming if it's soulful screaming (like the aforementioned James Brown), or maybe like an unearthly wail (e.g. Yoko Ononote ). I don't mind it in punk even if it's not too excessive or if it works and isn't just there for the sake of trying (and failing) to sound badass (e.g. The Casualties, who I've actually seen live and who kick ass live). I can't really get behind the kind of screaming a lot of modern, say, metalcore (and related genres) bands tend to do.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.
StillbirthMachine Heresiarch Command from The Womb ov Impurities Since: Mar, 2012
Heresiarch Command
#7: Oct 5th 2013 at 4:33:50 PM

Harsh vocals for harsh music. That sums up the appropriate use of such techniques.

Only Death Is Real
Odd1 Still just awesome like that from Nowhere Land Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
Still just awesome like that
#8: Oct 5th 2013 at 4:35:11 PM

Yeah, that pretty much says it all.

(That's also part of why it took me so long to get into AWOLNATION's "Sail"—he's screaming the vocals like a grunge singer over a very peaceful electronic beat. The disconnect seemed way too jarring for me at first [lol])

edited 5th Oct '13 4:36:22 PM by Odd1

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TopographicOcean A Pathetic from the colo Since: Feb, 2011 Relationship Status: I'm Clockwork and she's Quartz
A Pathetic
#9: Oct 6th 2013 at 1:43:20 AM

I personally find it hard to stand in most cases.

YUUGI WANTS YOU FOR DRINKING BUDDY
Odd1 Still just awesome like that from Nowhere Land Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
Still just awesome like that
#10: Oct 6th 2013 at 7:24:17 AM

Don't you listen to Led Zeppelin, though?

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CardsOfWar Handy-Dandy Chord Finder from The Ocean Bed Since: Apr, 2013
Handy-Dandy Chord Finder
#11: Dec 3rd 2013 at 3:06:43 AM

I hate some people's (Youtube commenters) closed minded responses to screaming in genres such as Death Metal, .eg. It takes no talent (let's see you do a 2 minute guitar solo, you ignorant sphincter), or you can't understand it.

I think that it should be considered another instrument entirely... It is not someone's failed attempt to imitate traditional vocal styles! Its not like they sit down and say "Man we've got these lyrics that we want people who don't want to /can't be bothered investing their time in the music to understand... I know, let's growl them!

I understand that some people are off put by constant growling, (Personally I think it is quite harrowing and amazing when done right.) I just hate people acting as if the whole song 'takes no talent' or something like that, as if popular music/jazz/classical/Power Metal is objectively better because extreme metal has some screaming.

Lyrics of many black/death metal bands (lyrics, not vocals) are quite poetic, as they don't have to worry about anything like singing along or people connecting with some crummy love song message. take Emperor for example; I'm not a big fan of theirs, but Have a look at some of their lyrics, nothing like that would ever be in a pop song, and I think there is something to say for that.

edited 3rd Dec '13 3:07:14 AM by CardsOfWar

"I thought Djent was just a band" -Physical Stamina
FingerPuppet Since: Sep, 2012
#12: Dec 3rd 2013 at 7:17:39 AM

I don't really mind screaming in and of itself. After all, I listen to some bands and artists whose vocals are difficult to make out (e.g., most shoegaze bands) and I listen to some instrumental bands anyway so I'd be fine with treating the voice as another instrument. That being said, it just doesn't happen to show up in most of the music I listen to.

djbj Since: Oct, 2010
#13: Dec 3rd 2013 at 11:36:52 AM

Don't you listen to Led Zeppelin, though?

I don't know if I'd consider what Robert Plant does to be screaming - more like a high-pitched wail. He does let out a pretty legitimate and startling scream near the end of "I'm Gonna Crawl", but like what he does in "Immigrant Song" is more of a wailing cry.

ZestierThanThou Since: Jun, 2013
#14: Dec 3rd 2013 at 12:22:54 PM

I like screaming but not death metal growling.

Halberdier17 We Are With You Zack Snyder from Western Pennsylvania Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Dating Catwoman
We Are With You Zack Snyder
#15: Dec 3rd 2013 at 12:28:05 PM

[up]This I'm okay with screaming I like the screams at the end of Child in Time and the beginning of Highway Star from Deep Purple.

I just don't like Death Metal growling in music; I prefer clean vocals and you can still have screaming in music but as long as it is clean I'm okay with it.

edited 31st Dec '13 6:59:36 AM by Halberdier17

Batman Ninja more like Batman's Bizarre Adventure
PhysicalStamina ain't nothin' but a party y'all (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
ain't nothin' but a party y'all
#16: Dec 4th 2013 at 3:34:17 AM

First thing I thought of.

Near the end, Kanye starts wailing like a banshee. Very uncommon in rap music.

Do not spare the feelings of those who would not spare yours.
TopographicOcean A Pathetic from the colo Since: Feb, 2011 Relationship Status: I'm Clockwork and she's Quartz
A Pathetic
#17: Dec 4th 2013 at 4:45:38 AM

I don't know if I'd consider what Robert Plant does to be screaming - more like a high-pitched wail. He does let out a pretty legitimate and startling scream near the end of "I'm Gonna Crawl", but like what he does in "Immigrant Song" is more of a wailing cry.
Pretty much this.

That said, Plant copped and still cops shit for the wailing. [lol]

YUUGI WANTS YOU FOR DRINKING BUDDY
BrainSewage from that one place Since: Jan, 2001
#18: Dec 27th 2013 at 10:56:57 PM

My favorite musical scream? Hands down, the one by Merry Clayton in "Gimme Shelter." The way her voice cracks at the final "Heyyyy! MURDER!" is just otherworldly. That is the true spirit of rock and roll.

How dare you disrupt the sanctity of my soliloquy?
JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Apparition in the Woods
#19: Dec 30th 2013 at 1:05:43 PM

Screaming is a sonically and emotionally harsh, intense sound, but what that means can vary depending on the context: A howl of ecstasy, a shriek of pain, a roar from the throat of a mad animal. Music does not have to be overtly abrasive to include screaming or shouting, but the piece should be such that the screaming is necessary to properly convey the emotional and intellectual effect of the music. What is a gratuitous scream but a bit silly?

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
supergod Walking the Earth from the big city Since: Jun, 2012
Walking the Earth
#20: Dec 30th 2013 at 2:47:35 PM

When it works, it works. I love it when traditional heavy metal bands employ the "heavy metal scream", and I'm a fan of extreme metal, so I obviously have no problem with it. Don't like "screamo" vocals though, and it's even worse when they're used outside the style.

edited 30th Dec '13 2:47:53 PM by supergod

For we shall slay evil with logic...
KlarkKentThe3rd Since: May, 2010
#21: Dec 31st 2013 at 12:42:18 AM

The greatest (and cutest) example EVAH!

edited 31st Dec '13 12:42:35 AM by KlarkKentThe3rd

iamathousandapples The Collective from Northeast Ohio Megablob Since: Oct, 2009
The Collective
#22: Jan 28th 2014 at 7:52:43 AM

I like it, but I like it more when it's mixed with clean vocals for emphasis like such

"I could eat a knob at night" - Karl Pilkington
threedaysgracelove Even If It Breaks Your Heart from Gay Area Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
Even If It Breaks Your Heart
#23: Feb 2nd 2014 at 8:42:31 PM

I like screaming occasionally, but not if it's the whole song. Like, in Riot by Three Days Grace, or in Save Yourself by My Darkest Days, I really like it. But I don't like music that's completely screaming. It has to complement the song and not be overused.

each day is a drive thru history
MikeK Since: Jan, 2001
#24: Feb 2nd 2014 at 9:34:26 PM

I guess it's not that uncommon, but the band Cave In gradually evolved a Vocal Tag Team where one member does Harsh Vocals and another sings - I haven't heard all their albums, but it seems like this was used most extensively on the album Perfect Pitch Black, which had several tracks with both styles of vocals. I think this is the track where that approach works best.

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