LIAM GALLAGHER'S VOICE: How he discovered a new sound and how he lost it
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 พ.ค. 2021
- Liam Gallagher of Oasis is one of the most instantly recognisable rock stars of the 1990s worldwide, known not only for his wild headline-grabbing antics, but also for his distinctive, powerful vocal style.
Join James Hargreaves to examine how Liam created his own unique sound and singing style... and how he also managed to destroy it.
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Many thanks, JH.
You can listen to Liam’s voice a million times over and you’ll still be in awe of it
Where’s part 3
@@coleevans9484 gotta be coming soon I bet
@@coleevans9484 it’s in the making fellas, cheers for the interest
Dude can sing 👍👍
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar just a tad 😂
He lost his voice live in the mid 2000’s bit recently he’s started clawing it back. It’ll never be mid 90’s level but he’s pretty decent live at the moment
Yeah I like his vocal tone more recently 👍👍 really warm and cool
worth noting thanks to lockdown he's had a year off too. sounded class on the thames
His performance recently on Jonathan Ross was next level. So glad he’s got his voice back.
Liam ruined his voice from Drinking Smoking and Drugs.
2 years later and actually, recently his voice sounds like he did in the 90s 👌👌
Surprised nobody has pointed this out in the comments but the Liam style - both in terms of the full-throated delivery and the looking-up-at-the-mic stance was previously used by Lemmy. Look at any live Motorhead performance from the 70s right up until Lemmy's death and he's doing it. I've never heard Liam express any fondness for the band but the Ace Of Spades video would have been everywhere when Liam was a kid so I'd be amazed if he didn't see it and recalled it when he was looking for a similarly aggressive vocal style.
I was thinking the very same thing.
when you sang Live Forever in Liam style I've got a goosebumps. That's fucking mega, you're very cool! Thanks for video and respect from Russia
Britpop is great
Thanks so much! Kind of you to say 👍👍👍
It's funny how Noel's voice has improved over time with cigarettes..
@@craigmcgill7705 yeah in 2015 but it improved from 1994 until then even with smoking
Noel quit smoking decades ago!!!!
@@5732noel 2015
Some vocals are just more sensitive to damage
@@craigmcgill7705 He quit because he had a massive hangover that lasted for two weeks
Liam's voice nowadays is pretty damn great though. So thats nice.
Yeah, solo stuff sounds v cool
yeah it was good in the 90s and around 2006 his voice was absolutely terrible. In the 2010s and especially during the pandemic, his voice was treated and had time to relax and he's not quite as good as he was in the 90s but his voice has gotten so much better.
Seriously, how do you explain the voice on "All you're dreaming of" in this contest. It is deeper so different, Ok. But it is a return to old form isnt it?
There's a lot of voice enhancing equipment used these days
I think is voice got better now because I don't think he smokes and drinks as much as he use to.
His singing teacher taught him that, and he spoke of it several times in interviews. It helps with power & control as you have pointed out. By putting your arms behind you, your chest & lungs actually expand wider, now able to hold a little bit more air for power vocals.
He says on the Def Maybe 10th Anniversary dvd that he stood like he did because it helped him to drag more power out of his voice. We’re glad he did though ❤️
Ah interesting! Im actually waiting for that to arrive in the post. Live by the Sea dvd just arrived minutes ago
Liams voice sounds as if its slowly repairing nowadays but nothing will ever beat the early sound wish i was around to hear it 😭
1994 was peak Liam imo
94-97 was his peak. But he sounds a lot better now then it has in the last 15 years
@@zlrs0113 He sounds surprisingly good for how much strain he put on his voice in the past
Yeah I feel the same mate! Never had enough money to go see Oasis back in the day sadly
@@27scole what are you on about?
Richard Ashcroft certainly used plenty of vibrato. What a set of pipes he has.
I thought exactly the same as you watching it. He was Godly, and it stood out compared to the others back then.
Ashcrofts got Soul in his vocals! I mean History's to Slide Aways vocals Wow! He's Class live Catching The Butterfly faded version n This Is Music Haigh Hall. Legend
Yeah that's a good call. He definitely wasn't the standard indie singer tho, was very much his own style
Simon Fowler has one hell of a voicd
I like to think of LG's voice as , Lennon + Ian Brown + Johnny Rotten + Madferrit!
Nice, I can see that
Ian brown can’t sing live!
I’m from Brazil and I really love your channel. I’m a big fan of Oasis, especially of Liam Gallagher. I-‘d like tô ask you to tell us the story about Liam Gallagher and Nicole Appleton, the way you told us of Liam and Patsy! Congrats! You’re amazing!
Just watched your video. Love the way you stay humble while still giving plenty of worthy informations. Thanks for this, your voice (talking and singing) is pleasant to hear.
Thank you as ever James! I'm really enjoying Liam’s recent stuff, and I hope he continues to adapt as he can. It's so great to have your research, helps to dispell the idea that Liam only ever walked off because he was "lazy" or a diva or something. The wear and tear was real. It gives me great joy to see him much recovered and still making music for us.
Great video, thanks James. A few points I would add:
- I remember in the late 90s, a vocal coach said in the press that if Liam didn't look after his voice, due to his singing style, his voice would be pretty much finished within a few years
- I went to one of the many gigs over the years where Liam walked off stage due to his voice giving up. One of these was whilst on holiday in Florida in 2002, I saw Oasis live at the Pompano Beach Amphitheater. I think Liam lasted two songs before his voice packing in during Some Might Say. Noel sung the rest of the gig.
- Despite Liam's voice not being what it was (whose voice is well into their 40s??), I love the fact he gave it everything during their peak period. I will leave you with this video - it sums up the strain, the power and the beauty. How on earth this didn't feature on the recorded version I'll never know: th-cam.com/video/goDyCMusV7E/w-d-xo.html
- FINALLY, shout out to Maxi Gonzalez (follow him for all sort of Oasis gems), who has taken the Liam vocals for Step Out and added them to an instrumental. Wow. th-cam.com/video/gVqqpr_wEWM/w-d-xo.html
Love that Liam version of Step Out 👍👍
Really good work man! I'm going to Manchester for the first time in July, and you videos are helping reignite my passion for Oasis. Thanks and keep up the good work!
Liam Gallagher’s voice is a national treasure
Preach
No.
Got FA to with national
@@curly_wyn p
Love the topics you choose, this is something I've often thought about myself.
Cheers Pauly!
Great video :)
Early in 2020 I went to a gig of his in Hamburg, and sadly his voice gave in and it had to be aborted after 4 songs, but that is (apart from covid obviously) the only gig I heard he had to cancel in quite some time.
Also I want to add that it sometimes seems like it is hard for LG to sing in his "new" voice with a loud surrounding in some of the live appearances that are on youtube, especially compared with the recording of the unplugged album or snippets such as "Eh la"
Yeah I think he's still got alot of great live gigs under his belt, but he does still have to cancel now and again. Better than it used to be tho!
Excellent video, liams stance I always considered natural. I've always found myself doing it when singing but without a mic, there isn't much need to bend the knees but with the mic, I always saw how Liams posture only ever changed when digging deep with those knee bends... I love your work as always!
Fantastic analysis video. 90's Liam is phenomenal live or in the studio. The 00's were not a great decade for Liam he was clearly struggling almost to the point by the latter part of the decade where he sounded like a different person. However his solo years have seen a huge improvement and particularly now in 2021 where his festival performances recently have been almost as impressive as the 90's just with a richer tone. His Reading festival performance was class I would urge people to check that out if they haven't and the live on the river Thames last year. I personally have seen him live in 2000, 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2018. 2018 was by far his best performance.
Excellent content as usual! Liam's voice is the reason I started singing and even joined a band, I always wondered how he got that tone I thought that he have some technique etc... The reality as I see is just to sing like this is the last song you're gonna to sing, like you're going to a war. That's incredible!
Thanks Petia! Yes, but dont drink alcohol, make sure you properly warm up and warm down, don't push it too hard and stop if/when it hurts!
So pleased to have found your channel
11:32 i think you’ve missed an important note there. This isn’t Liam’s natural voice breaking randomly. This is him when he’s really sore
No! Liam’s voice is in rag!
What a brilliant video! Well done. Think you’ve got it spot on
Thanks JG!
Live Forever - Live Paris In-Store is probably one of the best live performances I've heard so far
Nice
Is there anything you can add about the change Liam made from having one hand on the mic and kinda leaning into it like you can see on early footage available on TH-cam? And how did that transition to the stance we all know? Supersonic on The Word shows his hand on the mic, but by Glasto '94, he's in the Liam stance. And when did he stop doing the falsetto on Live Forever? It's there at Glasto '94 but gone by Live by the sea (April?) '95.
I can’t believe how much he sounded like Liam there especially in the fist word
Thanks! I'll take that haha
anyone doubting the effects of smoking/drinking/drugging to your voice; listen to judy garland age 16 then compare to how she sounded 30 yrs later.. she remained a consummate entertainer throughout her life, but by the end she was basically holding her voice together through sheer willpower and scotchtape..
I'm glad I am not the only one that noticed it. I figured that out a long time ago myself. I am a huge Oasis fan, and I would try to imitate Liam as a kid. The posture was part of the imitation, of course. When I did that imitation, I noticed that it gave me the ability to sing in a completely different way. I never understood the mechanics behind it, but I definitely figured out that his posture served a purpose. That is also why he keeps his arms behind his back. That makes a difference as well.
I remember seeing a video of him performing at the Brit awards or something like that a few years back & was heartbroken because his voice was completely shot. He looked shot. Then, a few years later, he done an ‘unplugged’ style gig in what appeared to be a cathedral with an orchestra behind him & he sounded as good as new ❤️ Going seeing him in Dublin in a few weeks. Can’t wait 😎
Maaay....beeeyyy i don't really wanna knooowwww how your gaaaarden GG..RR..OO..WWW..LLL..SSS as it soaks ya to the boowwwnne!!
That was in Hull with the orchestra and last year in Blackburn two fantastic gigs, wish I’d gone 💙
such a heart-warming conclusion, well said; edit. addition: when u drink, the alcohol often comes up your esophagus and even affect your vocal chords and damage them
This is the thing I always find so bizarre about when people review Liam’s style or technique. His style did not have any real technique to it, it’s just a combination of his accent and his personality. Obviously it didn’t benefit to gig playing night after night in the later years but the sound he managed to achieve on Definitely Maybe is just incredible, one of kind.
I hear ya but when I listen to stand by me I for the life of me can't find out how he sings the line "I've gotta lotta things to learn" especially how his voice does that almost distortion thing when he sings learn.
Yes his voice is incredible his stand is natural for him, “2023 he sounds older but still awesome” his voice lacks nothing he still sounds like Liam
Good god, James. You’ve done it again. One of my favourite channels on TH-cam, any genre.
Thanks so much C.I. for your kind words! Massive appreciation 👍👍👍🎸🎸🎸
for some reason I feel like Lemmy had something similar in terms of stage posture and body geometry that allowed him to infuse his vocal delivery with such wild energy. and he had a similar life-style to boot, from what i can gather. but then, his was never the task of delivering clear melodic lines, so perhaps we can't see the damage done by said lifestyle as clearly
Great video James!
A little story:
I once sang an entire gig as 'Liam' over WhatsApp voice messages just as a joke for my friends. Three songs in and my voice started to hurt, I had to start pulling out early on words just like Liam would do live in the 2000s.
This continued to happen on and off until about the tenth song, after that my voice became accustomed to the singing style and became a bit raspier for the remainder of the gig, like a mixture between his 2000 voice and his modern voice but not as deep.
I couldn't imagine singing like that for as long as Liam did, I'm amazed he didn't destroy his voice even more than he did. Still, it was good fun to do once!
Cheers Aidan! Ha yeah it's fun to do a bit of Liam singing now and again - but as long as you arent drinking at the same time, and as long as you listen to your body and warm up and warm down - and stop when anything hurts haha
Dont want to end up sounding like Marge Simpson
I really like this video! Spot on mate!
LIAM HAS HASHIMOTO'S WITH SORE THROATS! Doesn't everyone know Liam has Hashimoto's? It causes many problems including terrible sore throats. But definitely affects VOCAL CHORDS causing vocal changes...and can even affect us regular people when we just talk...much less sing. I stay hoarse! My female voice has deepened. Hashimoto's causes fatigue etc...anyway look it up yourself! I admire Liam so much! He works so hard! You can see him sweating onstage within about 5 minutes from the stress on his vocal chords & the other guys are fine. I damaged my vocal chords! My family keeps asking me what is wrong with my voice. Honey helps mine. Singing & speaking more quietly helps a lot! Liam rocks forever with whatever voice. I still love it!
sudoku
Your videos are so good so informative and enjoyable
Great videos my man. Keep it up!
Many thanks Ray! Will do!
I've become a real fan of your videos lately James - especially the Oasis track by track breakdowns. So much so, you've actually made me sign up to youtube properly so I can subscribe to your content! Keep up the great work sir.
Thanks so much and welcome! 👍👍🎸🎸
Track by track is awesome
Amazing analysis. The best artists suffer for all of us, whether it’s mentally or physically. And we’re the better for it.
Great informative video amigo 🙏🏽
Yeah, Liam's 92-95 was pristine but I think I preferred his 97-98 voice (think G-mex). Then he kinda lost it but as of lately, he is sounding really good again.
Could you make a video on Noel's vocal evolution throughout the years?
Excellent analysis... However, I think there might be one other consideration and, oddly enough, it's a psychological one? It's nerves, or specifically, confidence. In the early days of Oasis, Liam went out there in the full knowledge that he was 'just' the singer. (All the others were technically proficient musicians, but he was just the bloke at the front who sang melody and lyric that he didn't write or compose. He must have been aware of that.) The fact that his brother, with whom he had 'issues', was seen widely as the 'talented' one must have burned him... It's reasonable to suppose that the drinking, the drugs and the 'bolshie' persona were all ways to cope with a base nervousness and insecurity.
In order to compensate for this, and, I believe, channeling those feelings of insecurity, this meant that HE HAD TO use his voice as he did in order to 'stamp' his own contribution upon the work and make his input essential. Which he most certainly did! Although his entire public persona was about a confident arrogance, I rather think there was more going on. (He had to PROVE IT every time he went out...) He was never granted the 'easy recognition' that Noel almost immediately, and deservedly, was.
As 'just the singer' he needed to give 110% just to keep up with his own band! (His idol was John Lennon, yet he himself didn't write songs or play an instrument... I'm sure that irony was not lost on him...) I think that cost him...
The funniest thing is that it's impossible to imagine anybody else singing those Oasis songs! (If Liam decided that his 'voice' and delivery were going to be AS ESSENTIAL to the band's sound as any other element, then HE FUCKING DID!!!) You can hear where Liam 'borrows' from other vocalists he liked, The Beatles/Lennon, obviously, but also John Lydon and even Mark E Smith, but his sound was all his own.
Unless you're singing OPERA, singing in a rock band is about much more than singing in tune and hitting the note. (Liam Gallagher intuitively knew that...) And he delivered.
xx SF
I dunno yano, personally I think 2000-2002 is my fav era of his voice, that gravel sound you mentioned I love it, heathen Chemistry he sounds absolutely unbelievable… same on sotsog absolutely mega ! I think for me he started sounded off just before dont believe the truth came out … but from 1993-2002 that’s a solid 9 years in my opinion of gold… ok he might have had a sore throat and cancelled a few gigs in the 2000s period but when he was on fire in that era it was next level.. the 2000 Japan gig yokohoma was unreal, and 2002 yoyogi.. both unreal shows… rock in rio 2001 too ! And obviously the 2000 at Wembley, many great gigs in that 2000s era for me !
Great video. Love this stuff. When I was a teen in the 90's in America, I thought I was in the Twilight Zone - I thought everything about Liam was cool & what I aspired to be. Meanwhile, Liam was so unpopular here - everyone thought he was an ass - and that was the first thing brought up whenever Oasis ever came up (he did self destruct over here post-Knebworth). Anyway, it's cool how all this appreciation of Liam's frontman greatness validates my impression of him back then.
Cheers Eric! Yeah the UK lad culture just didn't translate properly to the States! I remember when I was living there it just seemed odd from the US perspective haha
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar Yeah, I don't think the UK liked Lynyrd Skynyrd too well either. Also, Americans never heard Some Might Say or the best Oasis rockers on the radio, so they saw them as soft rock which did not match Liam's swagger.
Also, he opens his mouth wide when singing, like you did.
Yeah true
You fucking nailed it man. That's it. I think it's so incredible how hard he pushed himself. He's like a professional wrestler. He kills himself physically doing this. That's truly believing for you.
Great video. Interesting you mention Noel’s stance at the start. It was only in the late tours that he swapped from an angled stand, which most guitarists use, with his head up looking straight out. To a straight stand with his head looking down.
Personally I think that later looks awful all hunched up etc. Whereas the former looks a lot more comfortable and surely a better singing position?! Also it means he has direct eye contact with his audience.
This is a fabulous video, James. You've done a public service to all new singers and put on Liam's early vocal style the equivalent of a public health warning. Vocals are often the least-discussed element of rock music and I think you've made a superb contribution here to opening the whole subject up for discussion. I wonder if, in the spirit of that discussion, I could offer a few remarks based on my own experience of singing in rock and alt rock genres. I sang for years in a tribute to Free and would say that Paul Rodgers's voice is definitely one of the most powerful and expressive rock tenor voices on record. He's got all the clout of Liam but never sings in that head-uptilted posture. If you listen to the first Free album you can tell he hasn't yet fully discovered his head voice. He's singing mostly from his chest, like Liam does. He's also doing a lot of 'closed throat' singing, which gives the gravelly rasp often prized in rock--and taken to a further extreme in metal. The singers of the classic rock era who carried on doing that--Robert Plant, Ian Gillan, Joe Cocker, Roger Daltry, Rod Stewart--all damaged their voices to some degree. Rodgers gradually learned how to shift the force of his breath into his falsetto range and also, to hold himself back when singing live. This is where a second factor, I think, becomes crucial, and that's monitoring. If you can't hear yourself properly, as you know, you tend to oversing and your voice will almost certainly give out. If you're able to arrange the monitoring so you've got plenty of headroom and can increase the monitor volume (in-ear or otherwise) as the gig goes on, you will always know how loud you're singing and can keep some of your fire in reserve. The third thing that can get in the way of this, though, is 'rock n roll' mythology: the belief that you should live hard, not fuss, just get up there and belt it out. If Liam had been required to sing a wider range of notes than in a lot of Oasis songs perhaps he would have found that his posture became a hindrance not a help. James Dean Bradfield sings high and can belt it, but he's got a different range and can use his head voice. He avoids the uptilt. Your video is getting these things into public discussion for just about the first time I've seen. A voice is a really delicate, but very strong, instrument and deserves as at least as much attention as guitars, tone-woods, pick ups, amp valves, cables and pedals. Thank you again. I'd expect this video to do a huge amount of good.
Hi Steve - I think you're right when it comes to the R&R mythology - the whole 'screw any fine detail, I'm just gonna get up there and rock' mentality. Many bands put that on as a bit of a show, just as part of the whole R&R theatre, whereas other musicians (like Liam) actually live it... and cause massive damage to themselves in the process
I really appreciate this video. My friends always hates Liam's voice and I stick up for him. Hopefully she'll hear and watch this. He deserves more.
I don’t blame them, there’s no way around Liam Gallagher’s voice. This dude is *unable* to sing. He genuinely makes Julian Casablancas sound like Roy Orbison.
A brilliant analysis with a great conclusion. That's for the continued fantastic content James.
Cheers Luke, more than welcome mate
Great video! I actually sing in an Oasis Cover act, and I find I cannot get that Classic Liam grit on my voice without a pint and a few cigs before hand 😅 I’m not, however, performing every night, usually once/twice a week so my voice gets time to rest I suppose. Big up for the vid 🙏
Cheers Tyler - as long as you're not hurting your voice man! Take care of that thing!
So you need a touch of cigarettes and alcohol before you go live....
Richard Ashcroft is a vocalist that seems to get better with age. His current stuff can get strange but his voice is incredible. I don't know if you like The Verve/Richard Ashcroft I would love to hear your opinion.
dammit jim, you're knockin it outta the park with yer videos. lotsa knowledge
Much appreciated :)
As someone said, Noel over estimated the importance of the music. Liams contribution was overlooked. Look at Jimmy Pages genius on guitar has gone no where since 1980, but Robert Plant has just worked ever since. When did you last hear a new Jimmy Page riff??
Was the American Singer you mentioned Tom Keifer of Cinderella? Some might say they were a cheesy hair band but that mans voice was out of this world. Great video!!
GEZZER MAN
Well done James great video as always love what you doing
And trying to achieve keep it up fella 👍👍👍
Cheers Lee, onwards and upwards!
Great video, Lemmy was doing the singing upwards thing in the 80's, again, probably for maximum power.
I think I remember him saying he started off doing because he didn't want to see that he was playing to 3 people and a dog in the early days hahaha
@@themagnanimous1246 LOL!
Cool yeah - John Lydon and Lemmy both
Thanks for the video!
Another factor to consider could be the songs' required vocal range.
It seems to me that Noel has a slightly higer voice and since he wrote the songs, the notes suit him fine but are a bit of a stretch for Liam.
His raw style of singing might complement also an effort to reach those high notes slightly out of his comfort.
And in studio it's easier to calmly get it "right" and then rest, on tour it's never ending pain.
Different singers can have widely different ranges but anyone who sings can feel how much of a difference even transposing a half-step can affect the performance.
Forcing his voice this way, in his style, adding smoke, alcohol and no "proper" technique was unfortunately not a long term game.
Liam's voice is naturally a light tenor. Usually a voice like his, which is not very common, Is utilized more and best suited to pop music. You can hear in the early Oasis demos that he used a decent bit of falsetto and had a pretty soft onset. I think he pushed his voice a bit to get more of a gritty sound. Word to the wise, tenors... do NOT SMOKE. Your voice doesn't like it and it will leave you if you fuck around with it. Baritones can get away with it for longer without detriment... but they end up paying for it too. It just seems booze, drugs, and smoke, will prematurely knock off a lighter voice first. Liam ended up paying the piper for his " rock and roll" lifestyle. It cost him his instrument. It seems that recently he has got the message and has begun to look after himself more, and it shows in his performances. He is one of the best voices of the 90s, and front men of any Era, and I hope he keeps at it.
I have question for James does the songs Noel writes need a certain amount of. Guitarist,s ?
His voice is awesome,best rock n roll voice ever.legend🇬🇧🙏🏻💙
Yeah he pulled out of mtv unplugged and sat heckling the band from a balcony. I actually love that gig with Noel doing all the singing.
Lemmy from Motorhead also had the same mentality when it came to body stature/pose while singing
Absolutely spot on James.
Thanks Dee-Dee! 🤘🤘🤘
Love this James clap 👏🙌
Cheers JPW 🎸🎸🎸
Interesting explanation of that change. I wondered if it was brought about by lack of use, so rather the opposite explanation occured to me. He certainly had a lot of power, but it must have been physically exhausting
Such a great video ❤️ big Liam fan really interesting think your totally right and your vocals are great James!
Cheers Rich! Thanks haha check out John Calver for a very good example of Liam style 'controlled bellowing' (as John describes it)
Quality stuff man, the only channel inspiring me to be in a band !
Same! X 🎶
Excellent news! Do it! We need as many new rock & roll musicians as possible
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar see you at the top!
I'm currently Jamming n hashing out ideas in a Band and D'yer wanna be a spaceman was the 1st Tune I ever learnt in what 95? Quality channel
Only found your channel in the last few months and its cracking. Think your a bigger oasis fan than me! Thank you
Cheers Darren and welcome
“Cracking”. I love you Brits. Best Rock N Roll country even over ours USA, you boys threw it back us even better.
That Goodbye tour you were talking about was that Rush?
i tried the tied hands behind the back strategy Liam does which he says amplifies his voice and its actually legit! (im not a vocalist) but i just wanted to try it out and it works
the tied hands behind the back is an important aspect i dont think you put enough emphasis on, i tried multiple variations but for pure amplification, tied hands is best. lighten tension or remove hand hold altogether, and it modifies the "amplification level".
one thing i also noticed, is that my core strength and back strength (i work out) also came into play and if i increased tension in the core and back it had an effect
That's similar in a way to what happened to Robert Plant's voice. Sometime between "Led Zeppelin IV" and "Houses of the Holy" his voice deteriorated. This became a major problem for the band as he couldn't deliver the range or power he had previously. Playing live night after night is a major factor as you indicated.
spot on!
Hell, "Champagne Supernova" is a nearly 8 minute song, with Liam singing for at least 5 minutes of that. Two or three takes of the song is like playing 5 or 6 songs of normal length. That's tough for any singer, trained or not.
Another great video James. Liam certainly sounds better now in the studio than the last 3 oasis albums.
Yeah I agree. Quite warm vocal tone now these days
Great video. His voice started to decline during Be Here Now Tour (1997-98), then he rested his voice.
In fact, his studio recordings are brilliant during 1999 (listen to "Carnation" or Little James and Roll It Over) and you can hear how his voice was rested if you listen to the gig at Union Center, Philadelphia 1999. Then his voice was great until the first part of the following year, 2000. His "I Can See a Liar" live performance at Nulle Part Ailleurs is a gem, or live at Later with Jools Holland.
Then the decline of his voice started again in 2001 and 2002 but it was still half decent.
From 2003 his voice was never the same...
Yeah Carnation is excellent, love that version - and Roll It Over too. Massively underrated song
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar absolutely, in fact Roll It Over is in my top 3 Oasis songs❤️ well done, this video is awesome.
Kurt and Liam owned the 90s. Two best singers period.
Hi James. Would you recommend getting your Rockschool grades just to learn different instruments, as if even without goals to teach?
When he bend his knees is because that way the body is more relaxed and makes the head go up a bit to give the throat more space and air to sing. I went to singing classes and that was one of the first things I had to learn. The problem with him is that he was constanly ruining his voice doing drugs and smoking and basically screaming from his lungs instead of doing a good posture on his throat. He also isn't the first of singing that way, where do you think he learned that posture? John Lennon on his early live shows with the Beatles basically was doing the same but without screaming that much and on a different head position. What Liam was doing is just screaming so he had to get away of the mic obviously.
By their 3rd album Noel knew the voice of his brother was fucked up so he had to go to a vocal teacher at the end of the 90's. His voice was gone at this point. He used the chest throat voice so much that even changing to the head voice would just let him without oxigen, that is why he don't sing "falsetto" after She's Electric or Live Forever, when his voice was much younger and perfect. His voice turned much darker, deeper and nasal, and he of course had and has problems with retaining the air on his body.
I personally like the songs of the band after the 3rd album, I think he sounds ok on the albums, but is clear that his voice was slowly dying when his brother had to sing more and more songs. There is also a psychological factor there; Liam is and always was angry at his brother for the fact that he sings songs he can't sing. I also read that Noel on the last album made some songs more high up just to make fun of Liam singing range.
Freddy Mercury had a lot of cracks like Liam had on concerts, belive it or not. Liam tried to sing the songs the same way they were on the albums, and that is just impossible for some songs, just look at how Paul McCartney sings Moon berry moon delight, not even him could sing all the songs like that. Rock music singers usually have this problem because almost all of them don't really know how to sing well, this is why mostly all of the rock singers who pushed their voice like that sounded bad on live and can't barely sing nowdays. David Bowie used an insane voice on his alien albums and a few years later he had to sing those songs on a very different way because his vocal teacher knew his voice would be gone after a few years if he pushed his voice like that. John Lennon used a lot of effects to make his voice sound more thin and high when actually his voice was very deep. These people knew that they couldn't push their songs like they did on studio. That was the chronicle of a death foretold for Liam.
Roberto Iniesta fron Extremoduro started singing like Liam (before him in 1989) bit over the years his voice started to get more "sweet"
Interesting video. Would be interested to hear your thoughts on Axel Rose's voice over the years.
Can't think of many things more tortuous than an Axel Rose vocal analysis
Start anew by Beady eye is a good change of voice by Liam, he sounds mega live recently like a mtv unplugged hull
Yeah his voice these days is cool
Lemmy from Motörhead would often sing with the microphone positioned almost above his head, so he would sing with his chin up and get a similar effect that Liam does
Good and respectful video 👍
Cheers MH, thanks for watching
I completely agree with what you said in the video.
There is also one more detail to throw into the mix: Liam and Noel no longer are in their 20s, and you can obviously hear it in their voices. Their vocal range has changed. To my ears, their voices gained body, but lost punch and presence. This said, they are still very good.
Noel's recent renditions of "Don't look back in anger" come to mind:
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th-cam.com/video/4ranXfis_Bw/w-d-xo.html
vs the ones in the 90s:
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Yeah good point - age definitely affects voice and tone
Liam’s a baritone who then got Hashimptos disease which squashes the larynx and permanently reduces your vocal range. He always sand from chest voice and reached for high notes.
I’m a bass. Then lowest bass with one of those voices so deep I’m like a cinema advert. Since I was 13! Women love my speaking voice.
But I love to sing. If I train my voice every day for a month I can shape a nice mixed voice. But two weeks without constant care I’m stuck in chest voice.
Kurt Cobain had a higher register and sang naturally with mixed voice with a serious rasp.
Noel is a tennor. He can reach higher notes with ease.
He has a higher speaking voice and singing voice. He also sings only with his chest voice but being a tennor he can reach moderately high notes. But don’t expect Robert Plant notes. For that you need mixed voice.
Sorry Liam has a serious autoimmune disease which changes your vocal range forever. It’s not his fault. Despite the narrative Noel likes to spread.
Lemmy stood in the same stance as well mate. That's how that SOB belted those tunes out the way he did.... maybe Liam will sound like Lemmy when he's 60 haha
Interesting. Quality content
Glad you think so!
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar Would love to hear your take on Paul Weller some time.
Another great video, thanks for confirming this is in actual fact recorded in a room in your house, half the time i thought it was a doctors surgery and those were the doctors qualifications on the wall.
Chris Cornell wouldn't go 100% every show (and that dude can belt a tune out), he looked after his voice (probably as he was married to his manager) and would switch between head voice, chest voice and mixing them.. Liam would go, or at least try 100% every show and damaged his voice and maybe didn't know what a head voice/chest voice was in those times.
Matt Bellamy would do some of what Liam did, sorta starts in the back of his throat/voice and exaggerates it when releasing, higher larynx, up front consonants, aggressive and laid back at the same time/not always pushing the beat.
Hahahaha nah they're all musical qualifications, and I usually just film in my back room office at home
Yeah Chris Cornell was a hell of a vocalist, but he also took care of his voice
Great vid. His voice by 2000 was so different to the 90s but he still pulled out some top notch performances, I quite like the raspy 2000-02 period. He was just a bit less consistent. By 2005 however, his live voice was pretty much destroyed.
Yeah - he did have some cool vocal moments after the 90s, especially in the studio, but live it was just not a patch on how it used to be
Hey @James,
firstly I wanna say, that I love the way you try to feel into what has happend then and now.
It is like beeing a witness to an accident when everything in you tries to help but you know it needed "extra special shit" (sry) anyways. BUT: To me it really seems as if the both of them two brothers will find relief for, the most importantly, themselves. Especially when Liam was in that interview lastly.
There was a tear running from my face hearing his '22 "Supersonic", even though I sing it way more relaxed when it comes to the singing position to mark a point.
Only learned singing from him, Petty, Dio and the furthermost Mr. John "fucking" Lennon himself. Just love Liams voice and I promise an Oasis Cover, especially for you.
You may choose amongst 7-8 songs or so privately?
Regards
We Oasis fans appreciate these videos a lot. Keep the awesome job.
👌🎸🎤 Greetings from Spain!
Cheers Mr PF, more to come!
john does sound similar to liam at times also especially on the his first solo and during the roof top he pulled back his neck close to the way liam stands so maybe liam took that and twicked it and made it his
Yeah there could be elements of later-beatles John that are similar, fair play
It is called torso and neck anchoring, taught by the estill vocal technique
Great watch.
Cheers GB
You're right about Liam sometimes forcing the rasp in his voice - the best example of this is, that I know of, is on Columbia live at Knebworth 2nd night.
Yeah Im sure he liked it and pushed it miles too hard
Lemmy from Motorhead was singing with a high placed mic, head up and throat extended long before Oasis existed.