Greatest Voice Ever Contest - Number Five

My love of female vocalists knows no bounds whatsoever. Unfortunately, the days of the great female vocalists is over, replaced with Lindsay Lohan, Hillary Duff, and Paris Fucking Hilton (her actual middle name, if there is a God in heaven). Is it even really necessary to name them? They are not even worth the effort to draw a breath to name them.

So, in light of this crisis, I want to try and go over my top five favorite female voices. Those who know me well already can guess my number one - but let's make a game of it.

Guess my number one as I ascend my list. The winner receives...um...fame??

Number FIVE:

Sinead O'Connor

Say what you will about her buzz cut, her politics, her publicity-baiting antics ... if you strip it all down to voice and vision, this woman must occupy one of the top spots. Suffice it to say that I doubt if anyone ever sounded like this. Her voice has the rare ability to project warmth and softness at one moment, and then rise into a full-flight rage in the next.

Her most famous song is "Nothing Compares 2 U", which is obviously penned by Prince (the 2 U gives it away....the man loves to act like a sixteen year old girl). Her version made Prince sulk away in defeat - she absolutely nails the anguish in the lyrics Prince wrote but could barely understand. Here it is:



However, her best song is a song named "Troy," which she wrote for an ex-lover. It is unrelenting, tender, and scathing. She sings it as if she was an exposed nerve-ending, and the effect is brilliant. And to show she has some actual chops, here is the live version:



Okay ... that's number five. Who would be on YOUR list? What do you think of Sinead? Hit me with your best shot, bitches!