Best vocalists from 90s-00s pop groups

VoR

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As somebody with fairly minimal musical literacy I'm really interested in this. Every pop group tends to have the one member who gets designated as 'the voice'. But which ones do Moopy's vox experts consider to be genuinely great singers as opposed to just 'best of a bad lot'?

Do any of these singers genuinely excite you?

Claire Richards


Jo O'Meara


Mel C


Nadine Coyle


Lee Ryan


Natasha Hamilton


Natalie Appleton


Keisha Buchanan
 
Isn't it Mel Blatt from All Saints?

I always got the impression that Natalie had the most powerful voice, although I guess you could make an argument for Mel and Shaznay being more distinctive. All Saints are probably the group where all of them are genuinely gifted vocalists out of this lot, though.
 
I don’t think the Sugababes really fit in to this criteria, as they all were very good singers?
 
Also, it goes without saying that I'm TEAM BUNTON in terms of Spice Girls vocalists, but Mel C is obviously louder/more showy.
 
I'd have guessed Melanie Blatt for All Saints as well.
 
I'm genuinely surprised. She has a nice tone, but I struggle to think of a standout moment for the minor Mel B compared to Natalie.

I mean I didn't even post THIS:

 
As for Kym Marsh, Hear'say came and went so quickly. She's probably better than some of the singers in my initial post, but I always found her to be average at best.

But FINE

 
Natalie had a fairly unremarkable voice... I always assumed Shaznay was the standout but then as has already been mentioned, they’re slightly different to the rest in the sense that they are more about the vocals in general.

Although I assume when you said they were all gifted you weren’t including Nicole in that.
 
Disappointed at the lack of Gabriela Irimia in this thread :(
 
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I think Melanie and Shaznay's voices are so distinctive that even if Natalie Appleton's voice is possibly stronger, it's less important to their sound.
 
I genuinely can't find any notable youtube clips of Mel singing live. :D

Have THIS then, you bunch of weirdos. I still say Natalie is a far superior singer.

 
Ranking these though

Keisha
Shaznay
Claire
Natasha
Nadine
Mel C
Kym
Lee
Jo
 
Mel Blatt is such a pleasure to listen to. She isn't showy at all, her voice is quite mellow (see also T-Boz) which I think it's why you're not finding standout clips, but she's so distinctive and consistent
 
I do think All Saints are the only group on this list where there's anything resembling a 'fifth voice' where it's just lovely to hear them all singing in harmony. Shaznay, Natalie and Mel did have the most glorious blend. (Nicole was there too :) )

 
Natalie has such a pleasing tone. A bit like Bunton, she's their vocal backbone even if others pull focus, but she was often picked out by her peers as having a special quality. It's very evident on One Woman Man - she's the one who makes that one truly take flight despite not having a lead. She's a modern day Karen Carpenter - twice the woman, half the vocalist, so it balances out.

Sugababes-wise, I always thought Mutya was regarded as having a real vocal talent above the others around her at the time.
 
I never really thought of All Saints or Sugababes having one “the vox” role, more of an ensemble. At least not in the S Club or Steps sense.

How about Nicole Scherzinger? Do we like her vocally?
 
No doubt if VoR was doing a 90's pop group equivalent thread he would list Louise as the VOX of Eternal in the same way he has listed Natalie for All Saints.
 








I always found Justin's young voice to be annoyingly whiney, I always thought JC would be bigger

 
I genuinely can't find any notable youtube clips of Mel singing live. :D

Have THIS then, you bunch of weirdos. I still say Natalie is a far superior singer.


I still LOVE this song. It is one of most annoying spotify omissions :evil:
 
Where is Easther Bennett?

My Sugavocals of choice always came courtesy of Mutya (and latterly, Amelle).

Claire is clearly the powerhouse vocalist of Steps, but Faye (and H, to be honest) both have something to offer.

Jo O'Meara's voice always had that "Brexit" timbre, even if she was singing in an American accent. Bradley was probably the best S Club vocalist. Rachel had a nice but totally unremarkable voice. This also being true of Natalie Appleton (especially versus the more distinctive voices of Mel and Shaznay), but she has slightly more character with her dead-eyed Canadian delivery.
 
Isn’t VOR supposed to be some kind of music journalist?

HAND IN YOUR PRESS ID
 
Going to co-sign the Mutya and Mel Blatt comments.

I always found Vanessa from The Saturdays a little off-putting vocally, very shouty. See also: Melody from PCD.
 
Vanessa was unable to control her voice and then she fucked it up with drinking and smoking, but I think by the end of the group she was on track again. I preferred Rochelle's voice. Una was fine but totally the wrong kind of voice for pop songs. Mollie and Frankie, well..
 
With All Saints, they are all (bar Nicole) decent singers but none of them are amazing singers. Natalie has the most 'pop' voice which is unsurprising why VoR singled her out.

However in a band, the loudest doesn't ALWAYS mean the best.
 
I stand with VoR on this! Natalie's voice is really quite lovely. Someone already mentioned it, but One Woman Man on the One Show was a real highlight of it. I think she's just not the "obvious" lead when you've got Shaznay (the real 'leader' of the group really) and Mel (somewhat her sidekick), but vocal prowess alone I do think Natalie has my favourite. The One Strike middle 8 :emoji_hearts::emoji_hearts:
 
As VoR posted, no one else in All Saints could have carried off The Burt Bacharach song but then Natalie's voice is the most suited to that style.
 
Oh I am fascinated by this twist on the Mandela Effect giving some people the impression that Natalie Appleton could ever be regarded as anything more than 'one of the other two', never mind the BEST SINGER

tenor.gif
 
I was really talking about best singer rather than lead singer. Obviously that's quite subjective - I will die on the hill that Emma is the best singer in the Spice Girls, for example, but Mel C obviously has a bigger vocal range so in this instance I went with her.

I was always under the impression that Shaznay and Mel were fairly limited vocalists who both have nice, distinctive tones, whereas Natalie can really belt. See also Mutya vs Keisha in Sugababes. Mutya has a more interesting voice, sure, but I get the impression Keisha has more power.

Anyway, glad it's stirred up some healthy debate! :D
 

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