A famous rock guitarist served up a scathing appraisal of the singing competition format “The Voice,” calling it "absolutely the dullest, dumbest, most depressing program on TV” and “the ultimate insult to music and to performers.”
Brian May, who earned “legend” status as the guitarist for Queen, shredded the show in a recent blog post. May, who composed songs including "We Will Rock You" and “Fat Bottomed Girls” and is ranked on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, wrote that the show makes him "feel sick."
May’s critique was aimed at the U.K. version of the show, which stars singer Tom Jones. May added, "I hate seeing the great Tom Jones shoehorned into this scenario … it seems to deprive everyone who takes part of their dignity."
May continued, "It brings singing down to the level of a stupid obstacle course. … This is not — NOT — what music is about.”
May also wrote: "When we sing, or play, for real, we are NOT screaming at the top of our lungs trying to persuade someone to notice us. We have messages, we have subtle emotions, we have beauty, which can only be shared by a performer in front of an audience whose whole attention is already freely given. The performance is all about EVERYTHING the performer gives … in voice, in sound, in body language, in facial expression, in intimate eye contact. This stupid, stupid idea that someone can JUDGE a singer by turning his back on him, and missing out on proper contact, is, to me, a fatuous nonsense. And actually poisonous to the growth of young performers."
He added that he hopes the show "dies a natural death very soon."
Brian May
I have never been a fan of Queen or Tom Jones, but I have bought many a new album (yes, I am old enough to know who they are and have over 1000 LPs) from a new band or individual – based only on hearing them on the radio. I heard Rhiannon on the radio while on an interstate. I got to Indianapolis and called the station to find out the name of the song and the band (I’d heard Fleetwood Mac live before they added Nicks/Buckingham). I never understood what the title was, but finally a few weeks later bought the album.
I like pretty people, but I also don’t watch videos and I really don’t care anything about their particular back stories. All I care about is if they could make music I would purchase and be willing to listen to more than once. Neither Tom nor Brian did that for me.