Question about singing quality?

[Marsh_is_war]

whats your opinion on singing quality, for example, does a voice HAVE to be good for it to be a good song, or something you personally like, or does sometimes a sort of more untrained voice sound better?
Like, some bands have horrible singers, but are great all the same.

[Dork Paladin]

I think vocal training can usually make or break a band. Local Natives and OneRepublic are great examples of this. Both have great songs that sound beautiful on the radio. However: Their vocalists can't sing for s**t.

[LucidlyDazed]

I think that the singers voice matters very much. But, that doesn't mean it has to sound per-say "good". I'm a fan of Bright Eyes, Amanda Palmer, Wingnut Dishwashers Union, ect. They all have I guss, sort of a raspey sound and change pitches a lot. But, I love that! :p

[PanDah K]

I'm going to reference singing in the classical sense. In the classical sense, there is no such thing as a bad voice, just a bad singer. If the singer lacks training, or has not yet grown into their voice they might not sound as good as say Joyce DiDonato, but thats taking it way out of proportion. But as I said, it's not the voice that's bad. It's the singer that is bad.

Now in my personal opinion, popular artists today would all be WAY better off with some classical training. Not saying they should all shoot to sing opera, but having an understanding of how their voices work may help them in the long run. Being "talented" can only take someone so far.

[Jackilyn Hyde]

I'm afraid it's not as simple as trained=good, untrained=bad. There are many artists that have little to no training that are still very good. Also, good (as in aesthetically pleasing), is subjective to the artist, his/her style, and many other elements. My main case in this point is Tom Waits. Try to get him to sing "Ave Maria", and you might be disappointed. But the content of the song, his look, his style, the music behind, and so much more made his singing practically iconic.

[Jordamn]

Depends on the genre. Singer/songwriters just need to be good enough and have a voice that compliments their style well. A broadway singer or pop singer who doesn't write needs to a fantastic singer.