One of the best singers from the last 15 years along with Corey Taylor, Aaron Lewis, and Tim Mcllrath? Yes. Best singer of all time? Nope. Sure Chester is a great and one of a kind singer, but he'll never reach the same level of greatness as Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, Ozzy, or even Freddie Mercury.
Well, could you really compare him to them? Especially to the music they do? That dont make any sense. But yeah, he isnt in their league
Did you saw that time when points of authority/99 problems/ one step closer was performed live for the first time and jay-z and LP didn't rehearse for much time, and he was dazzled to see chester's vocals and he was just blown away when chester ended the song with growing the word 'break....'. AMAZING HE IS!!!
chester is surely one of the best male singers of his era (late 90/early 00). on his best days he could sing pretty much anyything, except for bass stuff and super highs like axl and plant. but now he is far from his best and comparing his 2015 shape to other guys he is far behind on the list now.
I also think there are certainly better singers out there than Chester. The thing is, that I often don't like certain bands because I don't like their singers' voices. But I just love Chesters voice. Whatever he sings, it just sounds good! That's why he also is my favorite singer.
Well, i need to say i rarely heard a better voice than this performances of him: [video=youtube;i6x5POaSaVA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6x5POaSaVA[/video] [video=youtube;dxx-zMvjWqw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxx-zMvjWqw[/video] [video=youtube;7lp92vYHIEc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lp92vYHIEc[/video] I literally could melt away hearing this... Of course not really fair comparing this with now, because of his young age. I would be happy when he sings only half as good on the next STP record.
No, he isn't. At no point in his career was he ever one of the best singers in the world. If you're going on all-time, then you have to put him against the likes of Freddie Mercury. Yeah, no. Robert Plant? Yeah, no. Ronnie James Dio? Yeah, no. Late 90s/early 2000s? Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell. Late 2000s into early 2010s? Nate Ruess and Adam Lambert have both had the honor of being chosen to sing in Freddie Mercury's stead for Queen. That in and of itself puts them in a higher category than Chester. He's a good singer, decent on average. He still hits a lot of dead notes and can fall flat quite a bit, but he's good. But nowhere near the best at all.
I would put him in the top ten of his generation for sure(in his prime of cause) But this whole discussion is pointless and stupid anyway, since it's kind of hard to determine what qualifies a voice to be "the best". Personally I can't stand neither Nate Ruess or Adam Lambert voices, even through I acknowledge their talent. The fact that most people only seem to name extremely famous singers begs the question, rather or not the voice is even half as important as the impact and acknowledgement the singer has gotten throughout the years. Singers like Freddie Mercury has obviously influenced a lot of other singers(like Tommy Karevik(who I actually prefer over Freddie)) but that's a whole other discussion. Basically what I'm trying to say is, it's all subjective, unless by "best" you specifically mean the most influential singer or the singer with the longest range, or the singer with best live/studio performances etc.
minus is pretty much right, chester is far from iconic singers like the ones he mentioned, and also nowhere near guys like patton, axl and even corey taylor in vocal range BUT he is much more than decent, his voice is very unique, his voice type is kind of rare or uncommon at least, and his high notes used to be quite impressive and strong. and as i said here before, he is(was) capable of singing nearly everything at least from the grunge era on in terms of range(except for cornell type stuff). and his covers of Paradise city, whole lotta love, highway to hell and etc show that he really is a very talented and gifted singer. maybe if he were a singer for a different band where he could really shine, and if he had kept his vocal peak for more time he would now be among the best rock singers of the last 25 years at least. or if he was born 10 years earlier and Grey Daze had success in the early 90s along in the grunge scene. just listen to this: [video=youtube;2XRrXAvqEu4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XRrXAvqEu4[/video] actually chester, corey and tankian are the most famous singers from the new metal era, and also the ones with the most recognizable and unique voices. and out the 3 of them, chester is the only one that can sing classic songs comfortably (partly because corey and tankian are baritones)
Still? Maybe not. I don't know enough bands and singers to give you a solid answer on that. Personally, he's my favorite singer still. It all comes down to personal taste. I love how unique he sounds, how he performs, and just how awesome of a guy he is. He's definitely given some legendary performances over the years. I don't think anyone can deny that! They don't happen as often as they used to, but I think he's still got more left in the tank.
Chester was never one of the best singers in the world. Great, sure, but best is surely a stretch. I feel his singing skills peaked at Living Things.