The best harmonies

[Llamas]

I'm not your typical music fan for a variety of reasons, one of which is that I'm far more captivated by an incredible harmony, than melody. Personally, I think it's much, much harder to write a harmony that stands out and grabs your attention, and maybe that's just my elitist attitude toward why I prefer harmony ;)

So, I thought I'd see if anyone else cares about harmony, and ask you to post your favorite bands and songs in terms of harmony. I'll start.

Top Bands (in order)

System of a Down

Their music and lyrics aside, Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian are some of the best out there in terms of making a moving harmony. Their harmonies are completely deliberate, and incredibly creative.

Favorite harmony in song:

Lost in Hollywood (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Y3jg-R1t4)
Starting in the second verse. This some of the most beautiful harmonizing I've heard in popular music. That major second on "best", "big" is just goosebumps-worthy.

Soldier Side (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK4ynCvvV0A&feature=related)
There are no words. This entire song has amazing, simple linear harmony. You know a harmony is great when you're unsure whether to sing along with the melody or the harmony.

Dreaming (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z920P56adxM&feature=related)
The verses of this song don't actually use harmony so much as counter-melody, but it counts just as well. Counter-melody is underused in popular music. The harmony in the chorus is great, too.

Okay, I'm gonna stop with SoaD now, because otherwise I could put most of their songs on this list.

No Use for a Name

Matt Riddle is a genius with harmonizing with Tony Sly. They call NUFAN "melodic" punk, but it's also the only punk band I know that really uses harmony so well. Their harmonies support the melody more, in contrast to SoaD's which go along side.

Favorite harmony in song:

Let Me Down (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW7AYDCCVL0)
Matt comes in at just the right times. There's no harmony where there shouldn't be any. This song really knows when to leave things feeling a bit emptier, and when to add that perfect bit of harmony.

Biggest Lie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca21OXyXh2c)
Awesome harmonies + small counter-melody = one hell of a chorus.

Room 19 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC-SsL0p9lA&feature=related)
Not much to say about this song that I didn't already say about Let Me Down. There's less harmony in this one, but when it's there - in the latter part of each verse, it's perfect.

Imogen Heap

I'm constantly impressed with her. She is the absolute king (I say king instead of queen because queen implies there's a male counterpart who's better than she; she is absolutely the best) of multi-layered, intricate harmonies.

Favorite harmony in song:

Hide and Seek (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYIAfiVGluk&ob=av2n)
Everyone knows this song, and yes she used a vocoder for this. But she did use it to split her voice into harmonic layers. And they are perfect. I tried to do a cover of it with my own harmonies, and it ended up sounding like church music :(

The Walk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9-GrKu8n3U&feature=related)
Wonderful example of non-linear harmony throughout most of it, though she does use linear here and there. So perfectly balanced.


Okay, so does anyone else have anything to add? As I was writing this, I started to feel like I might be the only one :P

[dff_punk]

You're definitely not the only one, and I agree that those songs you listed have really cool harmonies and I also agree that there is a whole lot more. I even remember talking with you some time ago about how awesome Let Me Down is :p

Off the top of my head, the first thing that comes to mind when I want to give an example of a really brilliant harmony that I adore, it is this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NBT1nZRFiw

The best part(actually, the part because of which I linked this song) starts off at 0:48. Gives me goosebumps everytime.

I may think of more :)

[bighead384]

Me and friend used to be blown away by the harmonies in this song after smoking pot. Didn't noticed them for a while.

NOFX- Theme from a NOFX album: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpfeGXRx1_w

"Hefe's not satanic"

I also love the harmony in the second round of "yeah yeah yeah's" in the chorus of this NOFX song (Johnny Appleseed): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxgSROITxsY

[Rooster]

No one can touch Alice in Chains when it comes to vocal harmonies:

Rotten Apple. Just listen to the chorus. Hell, listen to the whole song, it's one big harmony.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEeFNvvR-ng

Sludge Factory. Kind of creepy sounding harmonies, fits extremely well to the overall sound of the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtaYx4WsGEY

Down in a Hole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8hT3oDDf6c&ob=av2e

Would? - actually not so much in this song, apart from a small ammount of harmonization in the verses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nco_kh8xJDs&ob=av2e

I Stay Away
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODTv9Lt5WYs&ob=av2e


edit: Listened to Rotten Apple again, and got totally lost in it. I can't really explain it so I won't even try. This is one of the best songs I ever heard, from one of the best releases by any band. Ever.

[Llamas]

You're definitely not the only one, and I agree that those songs you listed have really cool harmonies and I also agree that there is a whole lot more. I even remember talking with you some time ago about how awesome Let Me Down is :p

Off the top of my head, the first thing that comes to mind when I want to give an example of a really brilliant harmony that I adore, it is this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NBT1nZRFiw

The best part(actually, the part because of which I linked this song) starts off at 0:48. Gives me goosebumps everytime.

I may think of more :)

Oh! Bad Religion often has really good harmonies! I should listen to them this weekend... I go through phases with them. I totally forgot about their harmonies, though theirs are definitely a whole lot of "ahhhhhs" and "ohhhhhs" ;)

[AllIn All It's Not So Bad]

I'm not your typical music fan for a variety of reasons, one of which is that I'm far more captivated by an incredible harmony, than melody. Personally, I think it's much, much harder to write a harmony that stands out and grabs your attention, and maybe that's just my elitist attitude toward why I prefer harmony ;)

So, I thought I'd see if anyone else cares about harmony, and ask you to post your favorite bands and songs in terms of harmony. I'll start.

Top Bands (in order)

System of a Down

Their music and lyrics aside, Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian are some of the best out there in terms of making a moving harmony. Their harmonies are completely deliberate, and incredibly creative.

Favorite harmony in song:

Lost in Hollywood (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Y3jg-R1t4)
Starting in the second verse. This some of the most beautiful harmonizing I've heard in popular music. That major second on "best", "big" is just goosebumps-worthy.

Imogen Heap

I'm constantly impressed with her. She is the absolute king (I say king instead of queen because queen implies there's a male counterpart who's better than she; she is absolutely the best) of multi-layered, intricate harmonies.

Favorite harmony in song:

Hide and Seek (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYIAfiVGluk&ob=av2n)
Everyone knows this song, and yes she used a vocoder for this. But she did use it to split her voice into harmonic layers. And they are perfect. I tried to do a cover of it with my own harmonies, and it ended up sounding like church music :(

You, I swear we have great taste in music. I have to admit I love these songs to the point where they had 200+ plays and I did covers on them(except hide n seek).

A band that has the absolute harmonies in my opinion is Bad Religion. Look up New Dark Ages or Los Angeles is burning. Those harmonies mannn

[Llamas]

I even remember talking with you some time ago about how awesome Let Me Down is :p

By the way, here's the video I took a few months ago when NUFAN played here. I asked Matt during the show if they were gonna play Let Me Down, and he said they were gonna play it later. In the video, right before he starts playing, Matt looks at me and he gave me a thumbs up and nodded, like asking if I was happy ;) I really love how easy and natural his bass solo is at 1:42. He's amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvxEmGJ4IHg&feature=youtu.be

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[Little_Miss_1565]

Oh! Bad Religion often has really good harmonies! I should listen to them this weekend... I go through phases with them. I totally forgot about their harmonies, though theirs are definitely a whole lot of "ahhhhhs" and "ohhhhhs" ;)

True fact: I started learning how to pick out harmonies by ear listening to Bad Religion songs in the car.

[cool 2 hate 681]

completely agree with alice in chains and bad religion:)

[StayInTheHouseCarl]

You cannot deny the awesomeness that Bad Religion harmonies contain.

[KickHimWhenHe'sDown]

System of a Down does have a lot of great harmonies. So does Bad Religion. It really adds to the full sound of a song.

[0r4ng3]

A Wilhelm Scream is another good example, I think. Ruiner is like, 80% harmonies.

[mrconeman]

The only, only, only correct answer is Simon and Garfunkel.
Fuck you all for not mentioning them already.

[Little_Miss_1565]

A Wilhelm Scream is another good example, I think. Ruiner is like, 80% harmonies.

Oh fux thanks for reminding me about Ruiner. I forget about it sometimes. It is stone cold awesome, and those harmonies are doooooope.


The only, only, only correct answer is Simon and Garfunkel.
Fuck you all for not mentioning them already.

Simon & Garfunkel are a little lame. But I love the two-part harmonies to "Sound of Silence."

[mrconeman]

Simon & Garfunkel are a little lame

blasphemy, bullshit etc etc.


But I love the two-part harmonies to "Sound of Silence."
yes

edit: Also, David Gilmour, and Rick Wright harmonising on the Pink Floyd track - Echoes, gives me shivers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGwPSPIhohk

[jacknife737]

Bad Religion has some pretty awesome ones;

I'm also pretty partial to the Menzingers

Sunday Morning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ebRFHLcxg