Soul vs Technique

[datura800.livejournal.com]

I hope he won't mind me quoting him, but I read an interesting assertion in Alex's review of the new Mariah album (today's Guardian):

"Carey's voice has been mocked, bizarrely, as being a triumph of technique over soul - an argument that fails to comprehend that technique and soul are intertwined, that technique primarily exists as a means to convey emotion".

I thought this would be a good discussion to have here - it's a point I quite strongly disagree with (generally, not specifically with relation to Mariah), but I'll wait to see if anyone is interested in commenting before launching into it.

Comments

[datura800.livejournal.com]

Well i think it has been aimed at Beyonce many times, but perhaps one of the reasons for it is that Beyonce has largely made her name with quite cutting-edge songs that crossover into pop and don't really allow her too much room to cut loose vocally, whereas Mariah made her name with big, histrionic power ballads where she turns each syllable into 10 notes?

I mean, Beyonce's vocal on 'Emotions' is painful in terms of the bombastic over-singing, but it's just not something she's really identified with in the main.