Best rock harmonies
 

I like today's rock music as much as the next guy, but the one thing that I think music today has lost is the powerful rock harmony. Bands tend to focus just on the lead singer, with very little backup vocals, and rarely any duets or full song harmonies.

So who do you think had the best harmonies back in the day?

What a great point. And what a horribly difficult choice to make! Gonna have to think on that one. I can think of a couple I would add to the list, but after a while I think it would just grow to be far too big.

Tough one.

Jdoe

do i really have to choose just one?

Alice in Chains was one recent band to aim for this

Alice in Chains is a good point, by the way. When he was alive he did harmonies in a different way. Many a time he would use very inverted chords for them. More often than not they would result in harmonies below the root note. It gave a very haunting feel to their music.

Jdoe

Ya can't forget The Mammas And The Poppas, Three Dog Night, Moody Blues, Fleetwood Mac, Simon & Garfunkle, Electric Light Orchestra, America, Boston, Chicago, The Guess Who, Many many more.

Asta!!

i would have picked simon and garfunkel but they weren't on the list. so i must pick csny! beatles are good too but i'd say they sing more of the same notes altogether which isn't really much of harmonies to me.

yea music theory and chord inversions goes over my head. heh. i took it a long time ago, and learned pretty much nothing, but it was a HS class.. i know what inverted chords are but.. how do you pick up on that? i guess my ear's not very trained for that sorto thing

Wow, tough decision. It actually took me a while. I was looking for an all of the above .

I went with CSN&Y, but could have went for any of them.

I went with Queen, 'cause I wanted the hard rock aspect added to the harmonies. Of course, to be absolutely perfect, I want the sound of Queen with a big horn section as well. (But not choosing Beach Boys for "Good Vibrations" was hard for me.)

Beach Boys, without a doubt.

How about Thin Lizzy?

With a little funk & rhythm added you get some Envogue or Lenny Kravitz

the choices are all really beautiful, technical harmonizers....

BUT - for rock harmony (that is, harmony that doesn't fly in a way that people who like opera can appreciate) you can't beat:

keith & mick all over exile on main st.

tommy stinson's wordless yelps on the 1st couple replacements' discs

exene & john on any X album

I've been a musician since 1983. I also went to college on a music education scholarship with an emphasis on performance. Before getting away from that I had a good two years of harmony and ear training, plus a slew of other analytical courses. Unfortunately I was trained to notice it. I wish I had been one of those just born with it.

Jdoe

btw, I voted for CSNY for my own poll question. The harmonies are what drew me to the band to start with.

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young! I grew up with my dad listening to them. I like them too...so they get my vote.

I thought Queen before I saw the choices, as I personally would not consider the others to be rock.
Alice in Chains, most definitely, and it's also worth mentioning King's X.

I just like to mention 'The Sweet' I don't know if they made any impact in the U.S. but they where really popular here in blighty

Some amazing groups mentioned in this thread, I would add the Bee Gee's and Supertramp to those listed. I for one can't single out any of those already listed, but it does make you think that these are groups that have stood the test of time and the common link; harmonies.

Eagles for sure, their harmonies are riveting

and today, Guster has some amazing harmonies, their music has so many levels its not even funny.... and usually they only use 3 ppl

omg.
i´m not sure if i´ve enough energy to get into this.
from the list, the first band that i thought was the Beach Boys...(its what i grew up on) but then thinking about it all of the others are great examples as well.
i think Bee Gees should have been listed in the main list.

For Christ sakes people The Bee Gee's are NOT Rock! They were a Disco group...classified under pop. They couldn't sing very well either. It's all about America people. They have a huge collection too. Ever watch The Last Unicorn before? Every song on there....the whole sound track was done by America. Yes had pretty good harmonies. The Zombies also were pretty good as well. Don't believe me listen to the stuff. Don't confuse back up singing and shit with harmony. Harmony is 2 or more seperate parts. They have to be seperate though and on different keys, notes, pitch, etc. Harmony in instruments is different from harmony in vocals. You really should have specified.

Asta!!

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. They are absolutely out of this world when they sing together, and even awesome when just two or three on them sing together. I've got some of their albums on vinyl and listening to the harmonies they sing just blows me away every time.

This is one of the closest polls i've ever seen.

I voted for the Beach Boys, but I wouldn't necessarily classify them as "rock." But when you're talking about full song harmony, you're looking at either the Beach Boys or CSNY - sometimes the Eagles (Seven Bridges Road).

If you dig any of the three bands I mentioned and also dig full song harmony, you should check out The Thorns. Matthew Sweet, Shawn Mullins and Pete Droge in a full, all-harmony-all-the-time band. They are hopelessly derivative of your classic 70s bands, but there's no denying how catchy and sweet their harmonies are.

Great call on King's X, by the way. No three piece rock band can touch them, especially in harmonies, in my opinion.

Jdoe

Good pick Quadro...I'm diggin on The Thorns too.

Asta!!

Agreed! They're really good!

the red hot chili pepers harmonies on the last album"By The Way" are amazing
especially "dosed" & "midnight"

No ones mentioned The Byrds yet. They had great harmonies.

Asta!!