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Steven Tyler - Amazing (Live Acoustic)

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ThePowerOfOne

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"Had an angel of mercy to see me through all my sins ..." that's a brilliant lyric. And a lot of soul, if the pun can be pardoned. Live is where it's at, in my layman's opinion. My opinion and 1.60 USD will get you a Diet Coke.

In a forum where rasp and distortion is so valued, I would have thought there would be more applause. But everyone is entitled to an opinion, even if it is not popular. That being said, I have found that keeping my mouth shut more often makes things go easier.

I think Steven is great and I am glad he was on AI for only a while. That show is beneath him, in my opinion and I think he did it for a paycheck and to keep in the public eye. Because Aerosmith was rejected by every label an average of two times, sometimes more. Just like someone could be rejected from AI because they don't fit the drama and r&b mold that the other judges were looking for. We can't all be "Glee Club." But I digress.

I have you to blame, Power. I could not stop myself from covering "Jaded." It would be easier to break potty-training than to stop myself from that. However, I don't think I will post it because I don't sound like Steven and too many people would expect that. But I did have a lot of fun with it and interesting story.

And thanks for sharing a national treasure with us.

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That was fun and interesting. Mostly good rock vocals, IMO. The man is a rock legend and possibly the greatest rock tenor of all time. Notice that he had some problems with the high notes in the beginning of the song (think the were C5s or close) - but then he started to hit them better as the song went on. That's called being fearless and in his own words, dare to suck. Of course, not everyone likes raspy vocals but his voice really is a wonder of nature. Personally I've started to sing way more non-raspy than I used to, partly because I find it hard to be very consistant with that, partly because the cover songs I sing are mostly clean and partly because I started to have more taste for less raspyness both in my own voices and others.

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Why didn't you like it? What's not to like?

So many things.

-Little to no dynamics or variation of sound, he's basically distorting the whole time whenever he goes high.

-He sounds like he's tearing his voice apart most of the time. Moderate amounts of this can definitely create emotion, but doing it as much as he did here, I don't feel it fits this kind of ballady song, the way it's arranged here. The overall effect is he sounds like he's barely holding his voice together because it's damaged to hell and he's abusing it. That would be FINE in a rebellious full energy ROCK style song. But this is rock vocals in the wrong context to me. If you take him out, you'd think they're just playing a little pop ballad.

To put simply, it's extremely jarring. You either love it or you hate it. It personally made me uncomfortable empathetically (I pity the way he must feel having to push the crap out of an abused voice just to sing a little pop tune) and I thought his overkill intensity compromised the beauty of the song.

-His performance doesn't look comfortable or inviting. Yea when he's NOT singing he looks comfortable, but when he is, he's staring down at his music stand, twitching his hand up to his throat...

-The chorusy effect of the recording kills the vibe

-The instrumentation isn't intense enough to fit the intensity of his vocals

-The band sounds like they have no idea what they're doing toward the end. The whole thing feels off the cuff but in a way where the chemistry isn't meshing between the band

Nothing against Steven Tyler, he's amazing (he he he) and I think a lot of what he's done is legendary. I just feel like this particular performance is more of a departure from his greatness than a highlight of it.

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Like You said Owen, "to each his own"... but listen to the original recording and you'll see that this is how Steven always sang the song.

Yes, this is a more stripped down version for a smaller room, but Steven is singing it like he is backed by a full orchestra in front a packed stadium. No need to "pussify" his vocal just cause it's a simpler arrangement.

It did look like they were a little under rehearsed and It did look like he was struggling in a couple of points, but as opposed to most older rockers who tune down, this performance is actually in a higher key than the Aerosmith version.

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In my personal opinion I think that because we know it's Steven Tyler we say it's good. If we didn't know who it was and we were just listening to a track and judging it on singing ability and/or quality we would say it sucked.

+10,000^ 11 power. :)

As much as I love Steven Tyler, the legends shouldn't have to get a free pass on things they could improve on in a particular performance. Technically I agree with Owen for the most part except for the point he made about context of performances. He is doing a benefit show for recovering drug addicts and since he was one himself I think he gave a very vulnerable raw, performance that fit the occasion and to inspire those in rehab. Technically perfect? Hell no, but the message was there under the imperfections and he gave it his all. Its cool Steven wanted to go out of his way to help out those troubled people in rehab.

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I think Clint makes a good point. And if Steven Tyler had tried out for AI, he would have had the same reception as that of Gabe Brown. "Yeah, nice rocker thing but can you sing soft?"

As for abusing his voice, well, he has been engaging in that abuse for over 40 years, professionally. That's longer than a number of people on this forum have actually been alive. Not to say that Steven is doing anything right. Or wrong.

And absolutely everyone, including classically trained Kip Winger, has had off notes.

And when I saw the scope film of his folds with him doing the Ab5 in "Dream On," I noticed a lot of healthy pink tissue. In fact, the only odd thing I saw was the secondary aperture at the front of his folds that creates an anharmonic tone 180 degrees out of phase with the fundamental. We hear it as noise or "rasp." It is a genetic mutation, not a result of abuse. Or training.

And Steven is known for his particular sound, which is not to be confused with say, torch songs, operatic arias, hillbilly folk singing. So, yeah, it's probably an acquired taste. I just happen to like Steven, without wanting to sound like him.

Just like, Ronnie James Dio is not known for country or traditional irish music.

And Steven is in his 60's, so I cut him a little slack. Just a little. :D

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If this was impromptu with little or no time to rehearse with a new arrangement for acoustic and a sound setup for a small club or a rehab clinic......One take straight through. These guys did pretty good.

Most of the fancy stuff...the things that make a singer sound amazing (pun intended) the dynamics in voice, the sound effects like reverb, limiting ,compression, the sound levels of the instruments and voice, the arrangement of instruments......are done post production and mixed by a proffesional.

You are NOT going to get the awesome sound of a mixed CD live in a club or small venue. You guys should know this. Especially those of you that sing live in clubs, sometimes at a moments notice. You set the levels and pray that the sound man (If you have one) is paying attention.

Steven rocked like he always does. His sound man sucked if anything.

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I think he is pretty amazing. He doesn't sing with perfect technique, but he is able to go way up in his head voice with good control over pitch and tone. And I believe that he is using primarily false fold distortion up there?? Excellent control over that. He differs from the other older rock singers in that he doesn't ever have to lower the key.

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In my personal opinion I think that because we know it's Steven Tyler we say it's good. If we didn't know who it was and we were just listening to a track and judging it on singing ability and/or quality we would say it sucked.

i agree...there's the halo effect going on.......

he's a great singer in his own right, but not one my favorites in the "he has influenced me" department.

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I have to agree that if this was anyone else, we might be saying how ungreat it is. That being said, I'm amazed (no pun intended) that he's singing it sitting down and "hitting" those higher notes. No in ears either. At the beginning, he is singing quietly and also at the end when he goes up to that really high head voice note. But there are spots where he's off pitch and his voice breaks. But it's Steven Tyler, so that's his deal. It's a tough tune with a lot of high notes and he's in a definitely naked setting. He gets kudos for doing this tough song this well. I'd be curious to know how loud he was actually singing. I'd think pretty loud.

I'm also struck by the fact that his botox bill must be heavy. His forehead NEVER creases. ;)

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I have to agree that if this was anyone else, we might be saying how ungreat it is. That being said, I'm amazed (no pun intended) that he's singing it sitting down and "hitting" those higher notes. No in ears either. At the beginning, he is singing quietly and also at the end when he goes up to that really high head voice note. But there are spots where he's off pitch and his voice breaks. But it's Steven Tyler, so that's his deal. It's a tough tune with a lot of high notes and he's in a definitely naked setting. He gets kudos for doing this tough song this well. I'd be curious to know how loud he was actually singing. I'd think pretty loud.

I'm also struck by the fact that his botox bill must be heavy. His forehead NEVER creases. ;)

For me it is kind of the point. IMO he is hitting the notes. The problem is he sure as hell ain't singing them.

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