Great frontmen

Invader

Ancient Mariner
I don't recall there ever being a great deal of discussion on frontmen in this forum, though there are plenty of great frontmen in metal.  So who are your favourite frontmen?  Their singing ability doesn't matter (though it helps :D ), just how good frontmen they are.  And I don't think it's necessary to mention Bruce, that wouldn't create much discussion. ;)

So aside from Bruce, easily my favourite frontman is Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquillity.  He's one of the best growlers in metal, sings cleanly pretty well too, and a great lyricist.  But more important than that is his stage presence.  He doesn't just perform the songs, he lives them.  He becomes the song when he's singing it, and I'd never have thought it possible to pack so much emotion into a performance.  While he's not that great at festivals for a bigger audience, he's just amazing in a club environment.  I've seen DT once in a club gig and excluding Maiden, it was the best gig of my life (granted, I haven't been to that many, but still).  Because of Stanne, DT are one of the best live bands ever.

Kai Hansen is another I like very much.  Gamma Ray was the first band I saw (touring with Helloween) and I didn't know them at the time, but they made a huge impression on me.  I started listening to them because of that gig.  And again, the appeal was because of the frontman.  I've never seen someone who's just so 100% happy doing what he is doing.  He put himself 110% into the performance and it showed.
 
I like Sammy Hagar.  I know he did a lot of solo work; would you call him a frontman for Van Halen (I would)?  I saw the video from the 5150 tour(when I didn't know Van Halen very well), and I thought that Hagar was the king because of all the energy he brought to the stage and all the action.  (I know some don't like the Hagar years at Van Halen, but I'd be happy to debate that one.)
 
Mark Jansen of Epica comes to my mind. Very motivated, with Steve Harris determination qualities, giving himself 200% and enjoying every second of it. Intelligent and sharp lyrics, not afraid to address problems in society.

I also highly respect his communication with the audience, also after a gig when he starts talking to the people, face to face, in person.

Being on the same level with someone else, regardless of what you do or what the other person does is something I find very important. In this topic I could regard this quality as a big frontman quality, meaning that the "front" doesn't have to be the stage only.

Further I should mention Peter Garrett from Midnight Oil. That man is just amazing. I guess there never was such a frontman with such a drive, and energy on stage. In fact his motivation was so big that he had to quit music and become a politician, to try and achieve some things he had been singing about. ;)
 
So if Sammy Hagar and Peter Garrett are on the table, then I guess we're not talking about strictly metal frontmen...

By the way, both Hagar and Garrett are great choices. :ok: to Wasted and Foro for those.

(Not that the others mentioned are worse - I just don't know them as well.)

Among the singers I've seen live, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and David Lee Roth were both fantastic - constantly running around, keeping the crowd involved. (DLR was solo at the time I saw him, not fronting VH.)

And one who many here may not have heard of: Robbie Steinhardt, the original violin player / singer for Kansas (no longer with that band). I saw him with Kansas about 10 or 11 years ago. When not playing violin, he was a whirling dervish on the stage - using his violin bow to "conduct" the band or mock-fence with the other musicians ... running, spinning and jumping all over the stage ... and keep in mind the guy is tall (about 6 and a half feet, or about 2 meters for you Europeans) and (in recent years) heavyset, easily 300 pounds (about 136 kg). This is not some thin and naturally nimble rock singer - it's more like an elephant jumping around the stage, making you wonder how the rest of the band doesn't get hurt being in his path.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
By the way, both Hagar and Garrett are great choices. :ok: to Wasted and Foro for those.

:)

Too bad I never had the chance to see the Oils myself. After I got into them they didn't tour Europe anymore.
 
Though he is not a singer, he is clearly the band's frontman:  Angus Young.  In terms of live energy, he's tough to top.  Not that he's the greatest guitarist ever, but he's a true frontman that has the audience in the palm of his hand. 

Also, using the "palm of his hand" test, I've never seen anything like Freddie Mercury at Live Aid, before or since. 
 
Forostar said:
Mark Jansen of Epica comes to my mind. Very motivated, with Steve Harris determination qualities, giving himself 200% and enjoying every second of it. Intelligent and sharp lyrics, not afraid to address problems in society.

I thought Simone was the frontwoman... Jensen only growls ocassionally.
 
Ocassionally? Absolutely not. I guess he has about half of the lyrics. In some Simone has more, but in others he has more. Epica has two frontpersons. ;)
 
Haven't really noticed, specially since Simone gets more booklet space, video time and interviews...
 
I think there's something to be said for Freddie Mercury.  Not that I ever saw him live, but in all the recordings he's utterly masterful, holding the crowd in the palm of his hand while delivering stunning vocal performances.
 
Thank you for bringing him up LC. I was going to mention him, but like yourself, never saw him live, like most of the frontmen I'd consider "great." but after much thinking, of all the live shows I have seen I have to say the best frontman is Alice Cooper, fucking amazing.
 
Ok, great frontmen, well, I'll just number them off, #1 being best, to whatever the last number is to not the best, but still decent!

1. Jim Morrison-The Doors
2. Bruce Dickinson-Iron Maiden...duh
3. Michael Hutchence-INXS
4. Ian Astbury-The Cult
5. Billy Idol-Billy Idol
6. Axl Rose-Guns N' Roses
7. Vince Neil-Motley Crue
8. Kurt Cobaine-Nirvana
9. Scott Weiland-Velvet Revolver
10. Brian Vollmer-Helix
11. Jack White-The White Stripes/The Raconteurs
12. Geddy Lee-Rush
13. Alice Cooper-Alice Cooper
14. Ozzy Osbourne-Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath
15. Grace Slick-Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship
 
DLR and Steven Tyler are the best frontmen I've seen live but honourable mentions must go to Lemmy, Phil Anselmo and Zach De La Rocha for their larger than life onstage presence.

Doug Pinnick of Kings X radiates a feeling that he's so happy that you personally turned up to see the band, never felt like that with any other band.

Oh and Blaze isn't half bad either....

Biggest disappointments have been Hetfield, Mustaine, Max Cavalera, Rob Zombie, and solo-Ozzy (but he was great when I saw him fronting Sabbath...)

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Now playing: Meshuggah - Qualms Of Reality
via FoxyTunes
 
I wish I could have been at the show Phil Anselmo was actually a good frontman. When Down opened for Metallica he was a fucking jack ass dissing the crowd and just being a general douche bag, he was probably high and/or drunk... Intoxicated period.
 
Onhell said:
I wish I could have been at the show Phil Anselmo was actually a good frontman. When Down opened for Metallica he was a fucking jack ass dissing the crowd and just being a general douche bag, he was probably high and/or drunk... Intoxicated period.

Ah, I saw him when Pantera opened for Megadeth in the pre-prima-donna days, I must admit he does sound like a bit of an arse on the 101 Live Proof album too.

Consider Big Phil to be retracted under advice, I'm making him go and sit with Sebastian Bach and Ginger Wildheart on the Would Be Great If They Could Stop Acting Like A Numbskull Step. Can I replace him with another loud American, namely Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day?

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Now playing: Dio - Man on the Silver Mountain
via FoxyTunes
 
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