Brian Johnson of AC/DC is the most underrated singer in rock

raging clue wrote:

Steve Perry, Freddie Mercury, Chris Cornell, and Robert Plant (honorable mention Jeff Buckley) are the four heads of what I call Mt Rockmore.

I actually don’t know many people who think Steve Tyler is one of the greatest vocalists ever. Sure he had a great voice but I’m not convinced he is an all time great.

Ok, I've got to weigh in here. David Coverdale is one of the all time greats. Since nobody's mentioned him, that makes him also under rated.

Flagpole wrote:

Yeah, I said it.

Old white men love primitive white only music . Try to find an Asian to break up this band , just like Yoko .

Flagpole wrote:

Not so much... wrote:

AC/DC has been their own tribute band ever since Bon Scott died. Quick, name a song they released after "Back in Black" - which is over 40 years old. Johnson is meh.

1) Johnson was there with Back in Black, so not sure why that's your milestone.

2) I can name several songs since then...Thunderstruck, Who Made Who, For Those About to Rock, Money Talks.

3) Makes no difference anyway, because I didn't say AC/DC has been tearing it up since Back in Black. I didn't even say ANYTHING about the band...just Brian Johnson. He's the most underrated singer in rock. The very first song he wrote for them was You Shook Me All Night Long...a classic, and his vocals are nuts on that song.

I chose Back in Black as the benchmark because those are all Bon Scott's songs - despite the band not giving him writing credits. The band quietly settled with his estate when a lawsuit was threatened.

The four songs you listed are lame. 3rd-tier stuff compared to their classics.

Bon Scott wrote "You Shook Me".

Brian Johnson is meh.

as read on Letsrun wrote:

I'm not sure if he's underrated or not, but I enjoy listening to AC/DC.

IMO, he's by no means one of the all-time great signers of rock.

I remember one time you sung the praises of Steven Tyler's voice and I thought you were being too generous. I don't believe Steven Tyler belongs anywhere on the Mt. Rushmore of rock vocalists. Now Steve Perry, that's a different story. He's on my Mt. Rushmore for sure.

It's all subjective, obviously. Look up that isolated vocal recording of David Lee Roth singing, "Running with the devil." He does not sound good but when you look at his voice as an instrument in a rock and roll band, it fits the song.

Steve Perry can really sing in terms of vocal range and hitting the notes accurately. Steven Tyler is more interesting.

raging clue wrote:

Steve Perry, Freddie Mercury, Chris Cornell, and Robert Plant (honorable mention Jeff Buckley) are the four heads of what I call Mt Rockmore.

I actually don’t know many people who think Steve Tyler is one of the greatest vocalists ever. Sure he had a great voice but I’m not convinced he is an all time great.

This guy gets it.

I looked at the thread title and thought, ya. If you started making a list of the best singers in rock and roll Brian Johnson probably wouldn't spring to mind. That's why he's underrated. Now that I think about it, he's pretty darn good. That's the definition of underrated. Like vanilla ice cream.

Not so much... wrote:

AC/DC has been their own tribute band ever since Bon Scott died. Quick, name a song they released after "Back in Black" - which is over 40 years old. Johnson is meh.

Who made you such an idiot?

Um...we're talking about ROCK music here, brother. My "taste" there is very much in line with the general consensus, especially with regard to stellar ROCK singers.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Not so much... wrote:

AC/DC has been their own tribute band ever since Bon Scott died. Quick, name a song they released after "Back in Black" - which is over 40 years old. Johnson is meh.

Who made you such an idiot?

Hmm. We are in agreement there. Nice job, brother.

Not so much... wrote:

Bon Scott wrote "You Shook Me".

Um...NOPE!

Dude, this is SOOOO easily looked up. Why do that to yourself?

raging clue wrote:

Steve Perry, Freddie Mercury, Chris Cornell, and Robert Plant (honorable mention Jeff Buckley) are the four heads of what I call Mt Rockmore.

I actually don’t know many people who think Steve Tyler is one of the greatest vocalists ever. Sure he had a great voice but I’m not convinced he is an all time great.

Chris Cornell was influential, but hardly one of the best rock singers ever. Steven Tyler (and it's "Steven") is easily one of the best rock vocalists ever, and WAY better than Cornell.

Flagpole wrote:

raging clue wrote:

Steve Perry, Freddie Mercury, Chris Cornell, and Robert Plant (honorable mention Jeff Buckley) are the four heads of what I call Mt Rockmore.

I actually don’t know many people who think Steve Tyler is one of the greatest vocalists ever. Sure he had a great voice but I’m not convinced he is an all time great.

Chris Cornell was influential, but hardly one of the best rock singers ever. Steven Tyler (and it's "Steven") is easily one of the best rock vocalists ever, and WAY better than Cornell.

BUT, props to you on the other three AND on "Mt. Rockmore". I give credit where credit is due.

Hobby_Jogger_999 wrote:

I looked at the thread title and thought, ya. If you started making a list of the best singers in rock and roll Brian Johnson probably wouldn't spring to mind. That's why he's underrated. Now that I think about it, he's pretty darn good. That's the definition of underrated. Like vanilla ice cream.

CORRECT! Even the vanilla ice cream is on point. People who call it "plain vanilla" are just wrong. Vanilla is one of the best flavors in the world, and while there is bad vanilla ice cream out there, a GOOD vanilla ice cream (usually has to be a vanilla bean kind with flecks of vanilla bean in it) is GREAT.

Homemade brand makes a GREAT vanilla bean ice cream.

I'd consider him one of the greatest rock singers ever, but maybe not so underrated. People rated him with their dollars.

If you listen to his Geordie recordings, pre-AC/DC, he could be more melodic when he wanted to. The vocal on their version of House of the Rising Sun is astounding . So maybe he was underrated in the sense that people only know one side of what he could do.

https://youtu.be/rPab0qMd-V4

My nominee for most underrated rock singer is Ben Orr. Hardly anyone knows his name or that he sang a bunch of the Cars' greatest songs. Excellent bass player, too.

https://youtu.be/mOyLNI4SYV8

Flagpole wrote:

Yeah, I said it.

He can’t sing.

raging clue wrote:

Steve Perry, Freddie Mercury, Chris Cornell, and Robert Plant (honorable mention Jeff Buckley) are the four heads of what I call Mt Rockmore.

I actually don’t know many people who think Steve Tyler is one of the greatest vocalists ever. Sure he had a great voice but I’m not convinced he is an all time great.

No shame in those choices! I’ll take Geoff Tate from Queensryche (listen to Eyes of a Stranger for vocal excellence). over any of them, but those 4 are very very good.

Johnson was only underrated for the first minute or so of Hell’s Bells when Back in Black first came out.

From that point on, he was the lead singer of one of the highest grossing albums and rock bands of all time.

AC/DC are a rock guitar band and his singing needed to complement their sound.

Both singers were awesome.

Not so much... wrote:

Brian Johnson is meh.

I mentioned this comment and thread to me mate Brian while we were down at the local having a few quiet beers 🍺 (real beer, not that insipid sepo stuff), poor bugger went home devastated and cried in to a few more when he got there. 😭

Talking about the dude singing this? Goes well with this clip of Higuita and Martinez ripping through some hobby cyclists. Listened to this at least a dozen times.

https://twitter.com/faustocoppi60/status/1457778336256520201