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women and music

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Elysiana:
So guys, the chick from Theatre of Tragedy has a thin, reedy voice and is often off-key, but they're often hailed as one of the most popular female-fronted metal bands out there and I have heard people say her voice is strong and stunningly beautiful. What gives? Am I just pickier than most? Is it because the "novelty" of having a female singer leads people to follow them? Do you think that having a female singer but a male band can lead to popularity more than having an all-female band?

ALoveSupreme:
Well, I had never heard of this group, but her voice sounds about as good as I would expect someone in the genre sounding.  Not amazing but passable as good.

I don't think it's sexist to acknowledge the fact that, yes, this band probably enjoys better success because of their thin female singer.  I'm going to guess this band plays up the dichotomy of having a singer like that in a metal band or something obvious like that.  

Women in metal is an interesting topic as well.  I think the website is down now, but I remember reading an article on xsisterhoodx.com at least 5 years ago (or longer, probably) by the singer of Chunsa / Fall River that was very enlightening.  I can't remember all of her points, but one thing she noted was how frustrating that even when a group or underground movement tries to be accepting of women, she would still find ignorant sexism occurring, such as comparing her band to other metal/hardcore bands that feature a female singer, even if the two bands sound nothing alike.  The comparison would be drawn simply because both bands feature a female vocalist.

ALoveSupreme:
"The band made use of contrasting vocals (commonly referred to as "Beauty and the Beast" vocals)" - their wiki page

yep.

Elysiana:
Yes, but doesn't that mean any band with a female and a male singer could be said to be "playing it up"? That's a really difficult question to deal with. A band with a female lead is already going to stand out because it's a pretty male-dominated industry. A lot of them use the "sex sells" theory, though - Lacuna Coil comes to mind. Granted, she has an amazing voice and they're a band that has stood out considerably since they first started, but they definitely play up the "hot chick" aspect. I wonder, does metal distinctly place female singers on a pedestal? Hmm.

Re: comparisons - that's a tough one. I have noticed that happening, but mostly with people who don't listen to much metal to begin with. To be fair, a lot of them DO have a lot in common - power metal has a lot more female-fronted bands than death metal has, I would think, so when people think of female singers, they tend to be in similar bands. But as someone who has been listening to metal for a decently long time now, I hear them and can tell the differences a lot faster.

I mean, I've had people tell me that Opeth is like GWAR because they both growl, or that Dream Theater is like Rhapsody because they both have guys that are high-pitched singers.

ALoveSupreme:
No, I would say a band plays up the utilization of a female vocalist when they focus on the fact that it is a female, rather than, say the registers of the vocalists or nature in which they sing.  My guess is a press release for any of these types of bands would mention that a band has a woman with a band photo that features her directly visible before they have a release that does neither.

I'm not even really saying I completely fault a band for doing that.  It could be out of unintentionally ignorant sexism or basically just giving in and acknowledging that, yes, metal and hardcore is mostly a medium dominated by male performers so when a female becomes involved it is pretty obvious and the smart way to market that is to capitalize on it.

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