13inlet wrote:Release_Me wrote:13inlet wrote:Release_Me wrote:For the last time, Sirens isn't a difficult vocal for Ed at all. It's all in his comfort zone. There really is no 'high' part in the song. It's all in his comfort zone and even the highest parts are upper fourth octave, just belted out. He just couldn't belt in this performance. His voice was shot and it has nothing to do with the song's difficulty. It's probably the easiest song for him to sing from tracks 1-8 on the new album. If he struggles with Sirens, he'll struggle with just about everything.
The youtube performances of Sirens from the tour have all been ok if not perfect. Minor issues which happen in a live setting. This one shows him clearly struggling. Could have been sick. Could have been tour fatigue. A bad night happens once in a while.
I did a cover of Sirens -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB2hCHuFXzA ...I mention that just so you know I have tried the song.
Although I respect your input here on singing (I've read a lot of it), I don't agree at all about this song (in terms of difficulty). This is a very hard song to sing. It's very intimate and anything that throws one's voice off can completely F it up. Also, there are high parts in the true chorus (I study your face). The difficult part of this song is the variance from verse to pre-chorus to chorus.
This wasn't a good version, unfortunately. But, I think it had to do with the tour and wear on his voice.
First off, decent job. When I said it wasn't difficult, I meant it wasn't difficult for Ed who is a professional vocalist. I didn't mean it wouldn't be difficult for you or me. Ed is someone who can hold notes for freakin' forever when he wants to. The most difficult aspect about Sirens is that it has parts with a lot of words to sing in one breath and the way he belts it out with power is impressive. However, compared to some of the other tracks on LB, it isn't that difficult. He's singing in a range where he has the most power naturally. The highest parts which are belted are not as high as Infallible or In Hiding for example. The other highs you talk about are falsetto, which isn't hard on the chords. The transition to falsetto requires a degree of control which any professional singer should have. In the Fallon performance, Ed's struggling with the simple notes. He sounds rough when this song is one which requires 'smoothness'. His voice sounds shot. He can't sing the verses properly, what to talk of belting out the chorus/pre-chorus. Funnily enough, the falsetto transitions were fine because they aren't that demanding. I put this down to either being sick or just fatigued from the tour, not the difficulty level of the song.
I understand you think it's not difficult for Ed. My point back is - I respectfully disagree (in comparison to many other songs - I think this song is somewhat difficult for him to sing "well"). I think he could have done better vocally with another song, maybe even Infallible. The reason I say this is he struggled all along, and actually sounded better in the latest portion of the chorus, relative to the intro verse. Yet, you'd probably say is the intro is the "easiest" (note-wise). That's where the tone is important though and it's delicate because the underlying music is low-key there. His tone was off which immediately made people here (and me) think something was off. Like you and others have said, it's probably a cold or tour fatigue.
The song is difficult because of its build and it's thin to thick musical nature. He starts in a very low register and builds higher and higher, providing more and more power. There's a variance from low to a bit higher within the verse, that grows into the pre-chorus, grows further into the part 1 of the chorus and then further into part 2 of the chorus, and just to make it a bit more difficult, he tosses in the falsetto piece at the end. Then he does the process over again, and then ends with just the two pieces of the chorus post-solo.
The point being, structurally, there's four distinct pieces to vocal parts of this song. This is very difficult to sing to because there's FOUR melodies: Verse, Pre-chorus, Chorus Part 1 and Chorus Part 2. Each of the above has different underlying music underneath. This isn't even discussing the nature of these lyrics and how they fit in the melody.
In my opinion, you are tending to focus in on vocal notes, which seems to be your critical area of expertise, but I'm saying I think singing this song is much more difficult than a sole focus on notes could describe. You kinda hint at that with the lyrics aspect. In my opinion, the difficulty also has to do with tones and variance of vocal melodies. The entry part on "hear the sirens..." is actually quite difficult. Try it yourself if you don't believe me and feel free to post it.
P.S. Based on this video, Mike McCready should not sing back-up.
In comparison to which other songs in the catalogue, though? I can sure think of a ton of songs (mostly ballads) which are easier than Sirens in their catalogue. My point was in response to posts which were saying 'Man he's really struggling with Sirens live. He shouldn't write songs which are outside his range. He can't sing high anymore'. So obviously, I have focused on dispelling the myth that this song is challenging from that perspective, i.e. singing the higher parts. The fact that structurally the song is not as simple as some others is something I have not argued for or against. Now that you have mentioned it, despite the structure, it is still not vocally as challenging overall as some of the other LB songs. Melodically, there is a lot going on but it's not a song that a professional singer like Ed will struggle to sing as long as he remembers the parts and isn't hindered in some way (which Ed obviously was).
He rarely gets live performances as good as studio these days regardless of the song's difficulty, but there are certainly songs he 'struggles' to sing live and that tax his voice and there are those that don't. This is one which doesn't tax him too much. He might flub it at certain parts because he's lazy or because he's too tired to execute properly, or because he's too busy bobbing his head, playing guitar or gesturing to the crowd, but then he'd do that to many other songs too. Sirens is not special in that regard. I can't imagine him trying to sing MYM, My Father's Son, Getaway, Lightning Bolt or Infallible in the shape he was in. If he tried Infallible, I would cover my ears or I might even 'cringe'. The Fallon performance was bad because he was struggling with his
voice. Tone is not something you have control over, much. If you sound hoarse, you sound hoarse. The verses have him not doing much, just singing normally. He sounds off there because his
voice is shot. That was my point all along. When you're hoarse, you might actually sound a bit better if you try to belt. That's why the chorus may sound a bit better, if more strained, than the intro verse.
Again, I'm not arguing Sirens is not a difficult song in an absolute sense. It's just not that difficult compared to some of the others on the album. And if we have to discuss Ed writing songs which are outside his 'current capabilities', Sirens would be a bit down the list for me.
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