While on the subject of female singers, I'd like to plug one of
my favorite bands, Grey Eye Glances (www.greyeyeglances.com). They
are fronted by a *wonderful* female singer -- she has a beautiful voice
and a great sense of melody. The music isn't progressive, more along the
lines of Tori Amos or the Indigo Girls, but they have catchy melodies,
good lyrics and great vocals. The music uses a lot of piano and some nice
guitar work by Brett Kull (of Echolyn though the music has no relation
to Echolyn's music). If you want to try them, I'd suggest starting with
"Eventide" or "Painted Pictures".
Another fantastic female singer is Rose Polenzani. She has a
somewhat dry vocal style with an amazing voice. The music uses a lot
of acoustic guitar and builds a great atmosphere. The lyrics are very
good with a poetic style. I'd recommend starting with her self-titled
CD which is superb. I think you can only find her stuff at her web site
(www.rosepolenzani.com). There are samples there (check out "Fell" or
"Whatever Remains"). I happened to see her live at the Rosebud in
Pittsburgh when she opened for another band and was hooked.
I also like Tale Cue, an Italian band fronted by a female
singer. This band's music is progressive, in the vein of old-style
Genesis. Good stuff.
Steve
>
>Other female-fronted bands who aren't "goth metal", but who are worth
>the effort:
>
>* Renaissance - Annie Haslam. 'nuff said. Oh, that's not 'nuff? Sorry.
>Romantic-era-classical-influenced prog from the 70's. Great piano work,
>bass guitar playing lead (or, at least as much lead as the piano lets him
>have),
>acoustic guitar playing rhythm, drums, 80-piece orchestra on all the "good"
>albums, and Annie Haslam, the best vocalist ever. Beautiful folky voice,
>and
>a legitimate 5-octave range. One of the few bands for whom a "greatest
>hits" collection actually contains really good stuff; I'd start with the two
>"Tales of 1001 Nights" discs.
>* Nexus - get "Detras del Umbral". Argentinian band; all vox in Spanish.
>Unabashed "Yes" clone with a great female singer. When she Rrrrolls her
>Rrrr's, I melt.
>* White Willow - Norse folk-prog band. Quirky and good. Try "Ex
>Tenebris" or "Sacrament." Sacrament is one of the discs I use for showing
>off the stereo equipment; immaculate production.
>* Therion - not specifically female-fronted. Take one straight-ahead
>metal band, remove singer, add 4-male/6-female choir and a chamber
>string section. Mentioned here because the song "Clavicula Nox" on
>the album "Vovin" is one of the better female-voiced metal tunes out
>there. Other stuff on the album is also excellent.
>
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