Hello boys and girls!!! how ya doing?? I wanna ask your opinion about Tom Chaplin's voice... I gues he sings very well if we take his words seriously when he said that he never toke any singing lesson or some kind of stuffs like that... But I think seriously that he has not enough level to be called "the best male voice in UK" and even he's been compared too many times with Freddy Mercury, who has a looooooot of level over him.... What do you guys think?? Am I right or wrong... Kisses!!

Well, what attracted me to Keane in the first place was Tom's beautiful vocals.  I don't know how or why exactly, but his voice reaches me somehow and touches my heart and soul.  No other vocalist has ever done that for me (and I've heard a lot of music from a lot of different parts of the world), and so to me he really is the best of the best.

Absolutely the best! There's a thread somewhere else asking who we would like to join Tom in a duet. I can't think of any male singer whose voice even comes close. Even when I hear Keane do covers of songs I really like, I always prefer Tom's vocals. And I am old enough to have heard a few singers!

Missa:

Well, what attracted me to Keane in the first place was Tom's beautiful vocals.  I don't know how or why exactly, but his voice reaches me somehow and touches my heart and soul.  No other vocalist has ever done that for me (and I've heard a lot of music from a lot of different parts of the world), and so to me he really is the best of the best.

 

I absolutely agree  with you, Missa! His voice and his way to sing are unique!

I think Tom's voice is the BEST of the BEST !! His voice is so special to me , I melt when he sings , and I get real emotional too . I admire Tom for his beautiful voice !!!!

From the technical-professional perspective, Tom's voice isn't the most well-developed.  His vowels get very bright. HOWEVER, with Tom, the value's in the unique sound his voice resonates.  It has a very sweet, almost tender quality to it, which fits perfectly with most of their songs, but when he wants to, he can be loud and poppy, which works great for the more up-beat songs, especially from Perfect Symmetry.  It matches the music.

And so do I... But I'm just asking just a bit of musical objectivity... I agree with you guys that he is such a honey pie, but I also think that his voice is not that good as you said it is... For the music they make his voice style is fine... But I think his level could be better... Kisses...

NPIngrid:

And so do I... But I'm just asking just a bit of musical objectivity... I agree with you guys that he is such a honey pie, but I also think that his voice is not that good as you said it is... For the music they make his voice style is fine... But I think his level could be better... Kisses...

Not quite sure exactly what you're trying to say, but are you comparing Tom and Freddie Mercury? In my opinion, there is no comparison. Freddie singing live (and yes, I saw Queen live back in the dark ages) didn't quite cut it for me. Admittedly he was a great showman, which could well have detracted from the fact that his live vocals weren't that special. Tom Chaplin is in a league of his own.

justanotherdawn:

Absolutely the best! There's a thread somewhere else asking who we would like to join Tom in a duet. I can't think of any male singer whose voice even comes close. Even when I hear Keane do covers of songs I really like, I always prefer Tom's vocals. And I am old enough to have heard a few singers!

ICAM!! First not only, imho,  is his voice the best of the best of the best! But any cover that Keane does I prefer Tom's voice to the original as well. Like another poster said, his voice reaches my heart, and touches my soul like no other voice has ever done.

 Well, in fact, I didn't like at all "under pressure" cover!!!! Chaplin's voice doesn't fit at all with stadium rock like Mercury's... Soft rock fits better on him and his smoothy style... OMG!!! This is a REAL forum!!! We're finally debating something important!!!

 Yes, I am totally agree with you... But it's not me who is making this kind of comparison.. is the whole british media... This is my doubt... What is the comparison between Mercury and Chaplin?? I can't understand it!!!

Well, for me he is the best male voice I have ever heard.. It's so different from all the others, the way he sings and how he plays with the sounds of every word.. I think I wouldn't have been so into Keane if it weren't for Tom's voice, but then again, Keane wouldn't be Keane without any of the members..

I think his voice gives the songs a different touch from others, and that's what I had been looking for for a long time, something different from what the market offers. I think I might aswell have fallen for his voice, so maybe I'm a little partial haha.

Like Tom himself said, critics like Simon Cowell (lol) might think his voice isn't very good, because he can't jump up and down pitches like a dying cat (in the good way)....of course he chooses not to, i'm sure if he wanted to he could...But i'm just pointing out the fact that before I knew about Keane, Queen was my favorite band...that's pretty hard to beat in my opinion.

I think his vocals in Under Pressure were very good. And, call my friends "unprofessional," but when I first made them listen to it they couldn't really tell the difference until they noticed that Bowie wasn't singing as well and that there was use of piano instead of guitar. I remember showing it to my one friend and she said "wait i didn't know Queen did this with piano.." We call that one high note ("whhyyyyyy?") the "epic note," and the first time I found out Keane did a cover of the song, I wanted to see if Tom could hit that note. If he did I'd officially declare him my favorite singer (I was already pulled in by the vocals in their original songs). And he hit it. Not to mention that the video of the performance I saw of it was from a concert that he was sick at. So maybe he didn't sound like Mercury's identical twin (so what if he doesn't? seriously...do we want a copy or an original of its own kind??), but he made it his own and did a beautiful job at it.

I'm not trying to jump down your (or the British media's) throat, and I understand completely where you're coming from here. you're only wondering if we're just saying he's the best because we're biased or something. sometimes I've actually wondered the same thing (yes go ahead and gasp because I did too). BUT it is my UNBIASED opinion that Tom's voice is more beautiful than any voice I've ever heard. Like many others have said, it had some kind of magical pull on me (often it gives me butterflies in my stomach) from the first time I heard it, since a year before I even knew who Keane were. So who cares if it's not technically "perfect" or American Idol-type, it's still really really really breath-takingly good.

So anyone can disagree with me; I don't care who disagrees with me; but in my honest opinion, his voice is the "best of the best."

sorry for the wall-o-text...had a rough day. kinda need to vent.

NPIngrid:

 Well, in fact, I didn't like at all "under pressure" cover!!!! Chaplin's voice doesn't fit at all with stadium rock like Mercury's... Soft rock fits better on him and his smoothy style... OMG!!! This is a REAL forum!!! We're finally debating something important!!!

Really?! I thought his vocals in UP were brilliantly done!! Infact, I think the entire song was covered probably better than any other band could have done. I'm a huge fan of queen so I feel I'm not being bias either lol (:

Honestly: soft rock, fast rock, whatever rock. Give Tom a song to sing and it will be beautiful haha!!!

You're so right Aimalina !!!!!

While Tom's voice might not be technically perfect, or "American Idol-esque" (thank God - all that crazy pitch wandering drives me nuts), or while he might not necessarily be the best singer ever, I think he's incredibly talented and is at least one of the best singers out there today.  I know I am one of the people who routinely (and possibly annoyingly ) champions Tom's voice, but I teach choir and I think that as a singer there are a lot things that he does really well. When I first heard Keane, before I knew anything about them, I thought the lead singer had a great voice. He's got a really clear tone; which is something I always admire in any singer; and I love the vibratto he's got going on right now.  I think he's really progressed from his early days to where he sounds like he has better breath control/support and better resonance and power. I also love the fact that he enunciates when he sings - I can actually understand the words! - and that he puts a lot of emotion into his singing.

And I am totally agree with you... and I am choralist too!! But, you gotta admit that he often in his concerts live, unaffinates (ay no se como se dice desafinado en ingles, I mean, he gets out of tune), specially in these highs notes that describes him a lot.... His no vibratto style is very beautiful, and he is getting better and better everyday!!! 

cowpie21:

While Tom's voice might not be technically perfect, or "American Idol-esque" (thank God - all that crazy pitch wandering drives me nuts), or while he might not necessarily be the best singer ever, I think he's incredibly talented and is at least one of the best singers out there today.  I know I am one of the people who routinely (and possibly annoyingly ) champions Tom's voice, but I teach choir and I think that as a singer there are a lot things that he does really well. When I first heard Keane, before I knew anything about them, I thought the lead singer had a great voice. He's got a really clear tone; which is something I always admire in any singer; and I love the vibratto he's got going on right now.  I think he's really progressed from his early days to where he sounds like he has better breath control/support and better resonance and power. I also love the fact that he enunciates when he sings - I can actually understand the words! - and that he puts a lot of emotion into his singing.

Says it all! I don't believe he's 'just good', neither do I believe him to be the best out there, but certainly among the best, based on all of the above!

His diction does it for me.