Your 3 favourite songs on The Origin of Love

[robertina]

Overrated, Make you happy (LA edit) and Origin of Love. But also Popular, Stardust and Ta-dah.

[Dreamy_Queen]

I like those songs but find them a little bit boring to me, and I add Lola as well

 

[silver]

The best song is The Origin of Love, in my opinion, but to me that's the one that misses something or, actually, a lot in the recording. I would prefer a versuon that sounds gradious or at least more uplifting rather than sounding 'dancey' and focusing on the drugged effect (distortion). I also miss dynamics.

 

I feel that several songs on the album miss something in the recording I think it is good that Mika works with other producers, but Greg Wells seems to get the best mix for Mika songs.

 

But I fear it is Mika himself who keeps adding things to the recordings. I wish someone could for once convince Mika that less can be more.

[Dreamy_Queen]

I feel that several songs on the album miss something in the recording I think it is good that Mika works with other producers, but Greg Wells seems to get the best mix for Mika songs.

 

But I fear it is Mika himself who keeps adding things to the recordings. I wish someone could for once convince Mika that less can be more.

 

Completely agree! Especially about OOl. There is no such wind and freedom in the album version, sadly...

And I expected that Kids would had been more epic, and it turned out to be calm and peaceful (I'm not telling that relaxing song is worse, though. I just waited for something more huge).

[silver]

I was disappointed by Underwater, after he performed it in Korea I had this idea in my head that it would be a song with an epic chorus (either a choir or Mika multi-tracked). But it sounds quite weak on the album.

 

I thought he would have worked more on the lyrics too

[suzie]

I feel that several songs on the album miss something in the recording I think it is good that Mika works with other producers, but Greg Wells seems to get the best mix for Mika songs.

 

But I fear it is Mika himself who keeps adding things to the recordings. I wish someone could for once convince Mika that less can be more.

To me it was the arrangements on the 3 French bonus tracks that confirmed how much Greg can contribute to Mika's albums. Those ideas may be more or less Mika's but Greg is the one who 'translates' them.

 

I agree with Mika being the one who overcomplicates and overlayers the songs he choses to be the key ones on the album. Same thing happened to WAG. In my opinion, however, if anything, it is the lyrics that should be paid more attention to and revised by a lyricist if needed.

 

@Dreamy_Queen yes, it's not that any of these songs are 'bad', it's just that some of us may have a vision of what they could have sounded like if there is a different direction... In TOOL's case the first live performance (without the 'disco beat' under it ) that showed clearly how the song could have also been recorded

Edited January 11, 2013 by suzie

[Christine]

I was disappointed by Underwater, after he performed it in Korea I had this idea in my head that it would be a song with an epic chorus (either a choir or Mika multi-tracked). But it sounds quite weak on the album.

 

I thought he would have worked more on the lyrics too

 

Yes me too. It sounds flat and emotionless. I find this with many songs of many artists these days though. I don't know if it's the production or the quality of digital music because they sound especially bad on my computer and iPod. There is so much nuance missing. The Elle Me Dit file I got from iTunes is really poor quality. I don't think the producers are hearing what we're hearing when they work on the master.

[Yuna]

I feel that several songs on the album miss something in the recording I think it is good that Mika works with other producers, but Greg Wells seems to get the best mix for Mika songs.

 

But I fear it is Mika himself who keeps adding things to the recordings. I wish someone could for once convince Mika that less can be more.

 

That's exactly what I said since the very beginning of album release.

The concept and whole sounds of album failed to bring Mika's best musical ability.

 

I was disappointed by Underwater, after he performed it in Korea I had this idea in my head that it would be a song with an epic chorus (either a choir or Mika multi-tracked). But it sounds quite weak on the album.

 

I thought he would have worked more on the lyrics too

 

I repeated the Seoul live ver and the album ver, and todays live ver of Underwater several times, and tried to find what's the difference between 3.

in Seoul the drum was more theatrical and epic, and the backing singing of Ida & iMMa was more powerful.

But the core difference was that, he sang the highest part of 'Underwaterrrrr' with his genuine voice, not falsetto. By touching the highest part with falsetto, the whole song suddenly loose the power I think..But he chose to sing the highest part with falsetto in recorded/recent live ver both. Unfortunately he seems to think that he should take a risk to touch that note with genuine voice everytime. That note is similar as the first note of 'Love you when I'm drunk' , he sings that part with genuine voice in live, but most of times it sounds very umcomportable and out of tunes.

 

Origin of Love, Underwater, Love you when I'm drunk, Step with me - In those songs I found that there are specific voice range that Mika fail to touch in live. Too low or too high. I feel very nervous whenever listening those songs in live cuz I feel that Mika's struggling with those songs to touch some notes while singing. When the singer fail to completely rule the song, the listeners can feel that too. I even thought Mika must have had voice problem at the end of the tour, cuz too many new songs are out of Mika's voice range. To get over that he try to change his voice to falsetto, or 1 octave lower or higher, but that change never worked.

 

I know it's very unrealistic idea, but thought it could be good if entire TOOL is re-produced in other way. Like, fix some songs to be in Mika's best voice range, removes some unappropriate electronic voice twists that hides Mika's beautiful voice tone. Every single raw stone of TOOL songs are so so good.. Once I experienced that the song that I felt the 'Worst' one became 'Absolutely Beautiful one' by some changes, 'Blame it on the weather in Seoul' I mean.

Edited January 12, 2013 by Yuna

[Christine]

But the core difference was that, he sang the highest part of 'Underwaterrrrr' with his genuine voice, not falsetto. By touching the highest part with falsetto, the whole song suddenly loose the power I think..But he chose to sing the highest part with falsetto in recorded/recent live ver both. Unfortunately he seems to think that he should take a risk to touch that note with genuine voice everytime. That note is similar as the first note of 'Love you when I'm drunk' , he sings that part with genuine voice in live, but most of times it sounds very umcomportable and out of tunes.

 

I found it really good live. In fact the first time I heard it I thought he needed to change up the set because Happy Ending right afterwards was anticlimactic when it is normally a huge highlight. Maybe this was just do to with recent vocal problems? All the shows I saw were before the end of October and he wasn't struggling to hit notes IMO. I can't really compare it to Seoul because the recordings were not that great and I wasn't there.

 

I've never thought any note in his songs is out of Mika's vocal range, just that sometimes he is rushing the tempo or jumping around. I have always wished he would just sit quietly to do some songs and now he does and I think it's working. If he tried to sing Stardust like Relax it would be a struggle but he makes it work.

 

For me the problem with the Underwater track is flatness and lack of emotion. Adele's Someone Like You is the same. It sounds 2 dimensional compared to a rich full live vocal. I also find this with virtually all of Rufus Wainwright's pop songs. He sounds so different live and/or singing really slow melancholic poetry I never had any idea he was such an amazing singer until I saw one of his shows.

[Yuna]

I found it really good live. In fact the first time I heard it I thought he needed to change up the set because Happy Ending right afterwards was anticlimactic when it is normally a huge highlight. Maybe this was just do to with recent vocal problems? All the shows I saw were before the end of October and he wasn't struggling to hit notes IMO. I can't really compare it to Seoul because the recordings were not that great and I wasn't there.

 

I've never thought any note in his songs is out of Mika's vocal range, just that sometimes he is rushing the tempo or jumping around. I have always wished he would just sit quietly to do some songs and now he does and I think it's working. If he tried to sing Stardust like Relax it would be a struggle but he makes it work.

 

For me the problem with the Underwater track is flatness and lack of emotion. Adele's Someone Like You is the same. It sounds 2 dimensional compared to a rich full live vocal. I also find this with virtually all of Rufus Wainwright's pop songs. He sounds so different live and/or singing really slow melancholic poetry I never had any idea he was such an amazing singer until I saw one of his shows.

 

I can show you an example..

This is Love you when I'm drunk , sung in October, before the laryngitis.

 

[YOUTUBE]nTydfTcps40[/YOUTUBE]

 

He starts the first note with falsetto, and after genuine voice. The notes are getting flat when singing 2nd line of the 1st verse. So, he decided to use falsetto all lines from the 2nd verse. As you know the recorded ver start with powerful genuine note, same as he used in 1st line of 2nd verse in this vid.

(Oh gosh...see how he's struggling before 'I don't wanna be that guy- part)

 

 

And this one...after the laryngitis. He has to jump to the highest note of the song from the beginning, with his genuine voice, but he didn't do that this time too. Not because of his voice problem but Maybe it's too risky. And it's near the highest limit.

 

[YOUTUBE]0DjVJ6-OYUo[/YOUTUBE]

 

This song should be one scale lower (donno its correct English word) like this.

The first note sounds much comfortable and stable with his genuine voice. Because it's into his voice range.

[YOUTUBE]1xEhmLhfVJI[/YOUTUBE]

 

That's why I say some songs are not in his voice range. This kind of problem appears on Origin of Love live, Underwater, and Step with me, and Elle Me Dit ('Elle me dit C'est ta vie - ' part). I hardly felt this on his 1st, 2nd album songs. He can change his voice in right places, from genuine-falsetto, and falsetto-genuine. I think that's his strongest weapon he has as a singer. But I can hardly find that on 3rd album. I love Stardust live, because it sounds so comfortable in live, he uses his different voices very well just like he did his on old songs. When falsetto and genuine voices are in right places, in record and live both, and when he feels comfortable with that, listeners can be into that song.

Edited January 12, 2013 by Yuna

[Lira]

I chose Origin, Underwater and Heroes. Feeling so guilty, I really love them all!

[tiibet]

I voted Origin, Underwater and Karen. If we talked about live songs I would say Stardust in my top3 as well. It's very difficult to name only three songs, Drunk, Ta-Dah and Lola are the next ones on my list at the moment.

[cathouzouf]

I found it really good live. In fact the first time I heard it I thought he needed to change up the set because Happy Ending right afterwards was anticlimactic when it is normally a huge highlight. Maybe this was just do to with recent vocal problems? All the shows I saw were before the end of October and he wasn't struggling to hit notes IMO. I can't really compare it to Seoul because the recordings were not that great and I wasn't there.

 

I've never thought any note in his songs is out of Mika's vocal range, just that sometimes he is rushing the tempo or jumping around. I have always wished he would just sit quietly to do some songs and now he does and I think it's working. If he tried to sing Stardust like Relax it would be a struggle but he makes it work.

For me the problem with the Underwater track is flatness and lack of emotion. Adele's Someone Like You is the same. It sounds 2 dimensional compared to a rich full live vocal. I also find this with virtually all of Rufus Wainwright's pop songs. He sounds so different live and/or singing really slow melancholic poetry I never had any idea he was such an amazing singer until I saw one of his shows.

 

Oh, that would be a dream:wub2: Just Mika, a piano/guitar, nothing else. He can do it, maybe he's gradually gaining the confidence to do it, as he did a bit lately...

 

I saw Adam Cohen in November, he had only 2 musicians with him and very few gimmics and it was SO magical. He basically had the room at his feet, quietly listening and cheering when the song was over.

 

And I agree with Rufus too, I spent a long time wishin I would love his music and now that I've seen him live, I can say that I DO

[tiibet]

I've never thought any note in his songs is out of Mika's vocal range, just that sometimes he is rushing the tempo or jumping around. I have always wished he would just sit quietly to do some songs and now he does and I think it's working. If he tried to sing Stardust like Relax it would be a struggle but he makes it work.

 

He is doing perfect job with Stardust, I absolutely love the live version

 

And I agree with Rufus too, I spent a long time wishin I would love his music and now that I've seen him live, I can say that I DO

 

I agree, Rufus is someone who must be seen live. I already loved his songs but I had no idea how amazing his voice is before I saw him live. He filled the place with his singing, it was incredible.

[suzie]

I repeated the Seoul live ver and the album ver, and todays live ver of Underwater several times, and tried to find what's the difference between 3.

in Seoul the drum was more theatrical and epic, and the backing singing of Ida & iMMa was more powerful.

But the core difference was that, he sang the highest part of 'Underwaterrrrr' with his genuine voice, not falsetto. By touching the highest part with falsetto, the whole song suddenly loose the power I think..But he chose to sing the highest part with falsetto in recorded/recent live ver both.

 

sorry, but I don't think so ... I have just listened to the Seoul live version and the recorded version and the main difference is that in the live version the audience do not clap to the ryhythm

Anway, they are in the same key and Mika sings them exactly the same way. In the recorded version he sings more voices in the chorus (obviously, since he can only sing one live) but in the Seoul version he also ends the last chorus with the high notes, just like you have those parts as well in the recording. In recent concerts he may turn to the higher part (that you refer to as falsetto) in the second chorus already and in general, more often, but that makes it SO MUCH BETTER because a good audience sings the lower parts so you perform the song with him using mulitvoices. Actually, when you are talking about real voice and falsetto, this part he sings sounds to me like proper headvoice (not falsetto like you'd hear in GK) . There are very few songs he uses it, which is a shame, I actually love it.

[Yuna]

sorry, but I don't think so ... I have just listened to the Seoul live version and the recorded version and the main difference is that in the live version the audience do not clap to the ryhythm

Anway, they are in the same key and Mika sings them exactly the same way. In the recorded version he sings more voices in the chorus (obviously, since he can only sing one live) but in the Seoul version he also ends the last chorus with the high notes, just like you have those parts as well in the recording. In recent concerts he may turn to the higher part (that you refer to as falsetto) in the second chorus already and in general, more often, but that makes it SO MUCH BETTER because a good audience sings the lower parts so you perform the song with him using mulitvoices. Actually, when you are talking about real voice and falsetto, this part he sings sounds to me like proper headvoice (not falsetto like you'd hear in GK) . There are very few songs he uses it, which is a shame, I actually love it.

 

Some part he sings with clear headvoice, When he's in good form he sings 'Underwaterrrr' part with perfect headvoice also. (Sorry I sometimes mix Falsetto and headvoice both) But in Seoul live he clearly use full-voice (genuine voice, I mean) on the 'Underwaterrr' part. why that couldnt be the difference?

(Headvoice or falsetto+weak and smaller drum+soft chorus girls) vs (Fullvoice+theatrical drum+powerful tone of chorus girls) , that's what I meant, not the key or tune

Edited January 12, 2013 by Yuna

[suzie]

Origin of Love, Underwater, Love you when I'm drunk, Step with me - In those songs I found that there are specific voice range that Mika fail to touch in live. Too low or too high. I feel very nervous whenever listening those songs in live cuz I feel that Mika's struggling with those songs to touch some notes while singing. .

 

I think there are many other songs of him that fall into this category. Perhaps most of them. However, him not being able to 'rule' the song is not limited to the diffiult songs only, as I noticed. He had problems with Celebrate as well at that UK tv show

 

When the singer fail to completely rule the song, the listeners can feel that too. I even thought Mika must have had voice problem at the end of the tour, cuz too many new songs are out of Mika's voice range. To get over that he try to change his voice to falsetto, or 1 octave lower or higher, but that change never worked. .

I agree with the first sentence but I really don't feel that these new songs would be out of his range. He claims to have a wide one, anyway.

There are two things that need to be separated: singing out of tune for whatever reason and 'physically' not being able to reach a note.

When a singer who otherwise has good ears and can sing happens to sing out of tune it may be a case of him not hearing the backing / others well or not having 'warmed up' their vocal chords or simply being nervous for some reason, like not having practiced enough...etc:teehee:

If one's voice is not in good enough condition to sing well some high or low notes, they should ideally need do the song in a different key. That is impossible if they have prerecorded backing vocals or music, like they (now unfortunately ) have for TOOL, for example. So they are left with the octave higher and lower version of some parts but it may not sound that good. I agree it could still be the best solution in many cases though.

I know it's very unrealistic idea, but thought it could be good if entire TOOL is re-produced in other way. Like, fix some songs to be in Mika's best voice range, removes some unappropriate electronic voice twists that hides Mika's beautiful voice tone. Every single raw stone of TOOL songs are so so good. Once I experienced that the song that I felt the 'Worst' one became 'Absolutely Beautiful one' by some changes, 'Blame it on the weather in Seoul' I mean.

I am with you on 'Love in Bad Times' but for the recorded version (can't even remember the Seoul one). I don't have any problem with the way the album sounds but some songs, like TOOL or Celebrate could have got an entirely different meaning with different arrangements. What I don't understand is the 'concept'. When I heard MYH i thought Mika would go to a more alternative electronic music direction and try to appeal to a different audience but then they launched the album with Celebrate ... So there was no 'edge' to the comeback at all.

[suzie]

in Seoul live he clearly use full-voice (genuine voice, I mean) on the 'Underwaterrr' part. why that couldnt be the difference?

 

He does that on the record, too So I mean, I can't hear the difference in his singing - obviously considering that the Seoul performance is live.

 

 

PS: OMG, I have just listened to the videos you posted... I know what you mean by the 'range' being too challenging at times, but the second and the third video show that his problem is not limited to the high notes only. He needs to work on this.

Edited January 12, 2013 by suzie

[Yuna]

He does that on the record, too So I mean, I can't hear the difference in his singing - obviously considering that the Seoul performance is live.

 

PS: OMG, I have just listened to the videos you posted... I know what you mean by the 'range' being too challenging at times, but the second and the third video show that his problem is not limited to the high notes only. He needs to work on this.

 

 

no I don't think so it sounds vague with autotune and chorus, but it sounds going up from full voice to headvoice. well at least he sings that more softly, without straining his throat.

 

Yes when I say 'range' , I meant 'comportable range to cover up'. you can hear what I mean when compare those three and CD version

Edited January 12, 2013 by Yuna

[suzie]

@Yuna Shame we can't sit down together and show which part we mean where.. We are probably talking about different aspects of the vocals.

It's not that important, anyway.

On the topic of challenging notes, there were may discussions on this earlier and the conclusion of some fans was that he shouldn't pick such songs as singles (earlier it was songing high notes in Rain at tv shows we were discussing ) However, a better solution would probably be to simply re-write such songs / slightly change the mellody for live performance.

Edited January 12, 2013 by suzie

[silver]

On the topic of challenging notes, there were may discussions on this earlier and the conclusion of some fans was that he shouldn't pick such songs as singles (earlier it was songing high notes in Rain at tv shows we were discussing ) However, a better solution would probably be to simply re-write such songs / slightly change the mellody for live performance.

 

He's not the only artist faced with challenging notes - Freddy Mercury frequently sang slightly different versions of songs to avoid the high notes. And I have to say that Mika live hits the high notes far more frequently than he misses. I think on TV shows etc he is more nervous and it tightens his voice.

[krjsantos]

He's not the only artist faced with challenging notes - Freddy Mercury frequently sang slightly different versions of songs to avoid the high notes. And I have to say that Mika live hits the high notes far more frequently than he misses. I think on TV shows etc he is more nervous and it tightens his voice.

 

I agree

 

Oh gosh other hard poll

 

My top 3:

 

Origin Of Love

Overrated

Make you happy (LA edit)

 

[LaraMay]

My favorites right from the beginning and still are:

1. Overrated 2. Love You When I'm Drunk & 3. Underwater

Still can't believe he hasn't performed Overrated live yet

[Micah]

I voted Origin, Lola, and Step With Me. If Popular was an option, it would have beat out Step With Me.

[Nia-(MikaFan4ever)]

I love all song,but I voted Elle me dit,Love you when I'm dunk and Stardust,I love Underwater and Popular song,But here isn't popular song (( Love you Mika ♥ ♥