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Rick Robson 
Forum Senior Member 
Joined: September 03 2013 Location: Rio de Janeiro Status: Offline Points: 1607 |
 Topic: Sonja Kristina Vs Annie HaslamPosted: October 22 2014 at 19:46 |
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I open the thread with a vote to the beautiful Sonja, her exotic style shines higher for me no doubt, well I have to admit that Curved Air has become one of my favourite prog bands so far. Annie's best performance for me, hands down, was singing my favourite Renaissance track 'Touching Once (Is So Hard to Keep)' on the show 'Live In Royal Albert Hall With Royal Philharmonic Orchestra' - by the way that show was really amazing! |
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 "Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." LvB |
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Wanorak
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 09 2006 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 4574 |
Posted: October 22 2014 at 20:46 |
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Haslam by far.
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A GREAT YEAR FOR PROG!!!
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rogerthat
Prog Reviewer 
Joined: September 03 2006 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 9869 |
Posted: October 22 2014 at 21:31 |
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Cannot help you about the show from which you linked that Curved Air performance as I am not that clued into their work. Prefer Haslam by far. Also agree about Touching Once at Albert Hall. But she also gave some incredible performances of Ashes are Burning, especially from the late 70s onwards. There's the one at Chicago in 1983 that probably every Renaissance fan knows of. But music vault allow you to view this great performance from a 1979 concert. Audio/video are both pretty dire. But the vocal pyrotechnics at esp the 18 1/2 minute mark are incredible.
Edited by rogerthat - October 22 2014 at 21:32 |
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Man With Hat
Collaborator
Jazz-Rock/Fusion/Canterbury Team Joined: March 12 2005 Location: Neurotica Status: Offline Points: 166183 |
Posted: October 22 2014 at 22:52 |
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Annie
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Dig me...But don't...Bury me
I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect. |
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Tom Ozric
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2005 Location: Olympus Mons Status: Offline Points: 15926 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 00:48 |
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Undoubtedly 2 great singers here. Voted Annie because she is just soooooo pure. Sonja is almost there, but not quite.....
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Progosopher
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 12 2009 Location: Coolwood Status: Offline Points: 6472 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 01:03 |
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Nothing against Sonja, she has a great voice and all, but Annie is, well, Annie.
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The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty"
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richardh
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 18 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 28968 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 01:24 |
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Sonja had a bit more of a punk thing going while Annie is a prog angel. I love both although Sonja is the one I would have liked to meet
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Guldbamsen
Special Collaborator 
Retired Admin Joined: January 22 2009 Location: Magic Theatre Status: Offline Points: 23104 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 03:43 |
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I cannot stand Annie Haslam's singing, never could. Something about them that makes me cringe everytime. Like finger nails on a blackboard.
I do like some of the early Curved Air releases, so I guess my vote is for Sonja. I deliberately chose to stay away from the 'other' option, as I felt it was a bit of a cop out. Safe to say, I'm more of a Diamanda Galas, Pascal Son, Catherine Ribeiroux, Dagmar Krause, Anna Meek, Renate Knaup and Annisette Koppel fan 
Edited by Guldbamsen - October 23 2014 at 06:35 |
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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
- Douglas Adams |
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Hercules
Prog Reviewer
Joined: June 14 2007 Location: Near York UK Status: Offline Points: 7024 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 04:19 |
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Sonja is a great singer, but Annie is a god.
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A TVR is not a car. It's a way of life.
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Tom Ozric
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2005 Location: Olympus Mons Status: Offline Points: 15926 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 04:20 |
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...............if I could, I would vote for the amazing Christina Booth..........
.........whom incorporates the best traits of both these gorgeous Prog angels............. |
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 04:30 |
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Annie is indubitably a great singer and there is no denying her influence on later female Prog singers who are mere imitators by comparison. While I prefer the Renaissance (and Renaissance Illusion) albums with Jane Relf, Annie was the ideal voice for the more successful version of Renaissance and it could be argued that they changed their sound to better suit the tone of her voice and her vocal range, which in turn resulted in their increased popularity.
But for me it's Sonja by quite a long way. She is a one-off talent that has no comparison or equal and few imitators. There is a certain indescribable essence and character to her voice that I find more interesting and more appealing. Unlike Renaissance, Curved Air didn't adapt their sound to fit Sonja, she adapted her voice to fit the music they were playing, which was a lot harder and louder and required a voice that could rise above the music rather than fit neatly in it. This means we didn't get to hear just how good she really was or discover the range and depth that we get when listening to Annie and Renaissance, but we do get to hear that in Sonja's post-Curved Air music. I saw Sonja in a one-woman show in 1979/80 performing folk songs and acoustic versions of Curved Air favourites and she was wonderfully good, giving a warm and engaging performance that was a far cry from the 'rock-chic' image that graced the cover of NME and Sounds in the 1970s. I couldn't find a live performance video from that time (there are some acid folk vids of Sonja on YouBoob but they are more recent), but here is a track from her début solo album from 1980: I'm going to be cheeky and post another video, (because there isn't enough Sonja-love in this thread). This one is more recent, from Sonja's collaboration with Marvin Ayres called M.A.S.K (Marvin Ayres Sonja Kristina) |
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What?
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b_olariu
Prog Reviewer
Joined: March 02 2007 Location: Romania Status: Offline Points: 5534 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 05:54 |
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Annie Haslam, but there are lots more that I like, strictly from this list Annie Haslam
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sleeper
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 09 2005 Location: Entropia Status: Offline Points: 16449 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 06:12 |
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Two of my favourite singers, a tough choice but Annie just nicks it.
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Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005
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rogerthat
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2006 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 9869 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 06:18 |
That 1980 track actually sounds a lot like Jane Relf/Maddy Prior to me, so I am not surprised you voted for her. And while I'd agree that generally speaking, Curved Air's music was louder and harder, Annie's voice rises above a full orchestra when she vocalises with strings on Scheherazade, even in the live performances. Was it that the bed was always nicely made for her (I doubt it, given their struggles from the 80s onwards) or that she simply had a powerful and flexible voice? More likely the latter, I think. Camera Camera (the track) is about as far removed as can be from the glorious pastoral beauty of Ashes Are Burning but Annie's singing is about the only thing that makes the track worth listening to at all, to me (and I am pretty sure I am not alone in saying so).
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Guldbamsen
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin Joined: January 22 2009 Location: Magic Theatre Status: Offline Points: 23104 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 07:00 |
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Seeing as there is the 'other' option, I thought it was fair play to show a clip of the aforementioned Diamanda Galas. Talk about range - and not only that, a will to stretch her own vocal chords to the edge of torture. This clip floors me every time - for quite different reasons no less. Captured on the Jon Stewart show waaay back in 1994 you get to see Diamanda with legendary Zep bass man John Paul Jones performing a tune off the joint venture they'd just recorded. The performance is earth-shattering, literally.
It blows my mind each and every time - mostly because the music is sooooo experimental and mad for an American mainstream tv show, but perhaps even moreso because the musicians know this.....and then purposely take it up a notch  Man I would do anything to have been a guest at that show (I was 12 at the time and had already purchased my first Samla Mammas Manna album, so I was no stranger to music with a twist of the bizarre.) |
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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
- Douglas Adams |
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Imperial Zeppelin
Forum Senior Member
Joined: November 14 2013 Location: Kuwait Status: Offline Points: 6116 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 07:28 |
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I'll take Haslam Annie day.
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"Hey there, Dog Man, now I drink from your bowl."
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Guldbamsen
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin Joined: January 22 2009 Location: Magic Theatre Status: Offline Points: 23104 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 07:33 |
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Cute
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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
- Douglas Adams |
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Rick Robson
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 03 2013 Location: Rio de Janeiro Status: Offline Points: 1607 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 07:59 |
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Wow! Seeing here so many references to check out that I'm literally driving knots!
But hey, can you believe it? the God damned internet connection here at my work is gonna continue forever denying any YouTube access for all of us... OK I get it, this is the so called third world 'bankers' administration politics hahahah |
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"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." LvB |
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rogerthat
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2006 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 9869 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 10:34 |
Very entertaining performance with a great demonstration of vocal prowess. She's a female Mike Patton for sure. Like Patton, she never does anything for me emotionally but it, intentionally or otherwise, sounds funny enough in a weird way that I still enjoy it.
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 11 2014 Location: Kyiv In Spirit Status: Offline Points: 20616 |
Posted: October 23 2014 at 10:39 |
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Sometimes Annie sounds a little too sweet at times, but it's Annie easily over Sonja. I can imagine Curvrd Air without Sonja but not Renaissance without Annie.
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Sonja Kristina Vs Annie Haslam
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Dean wrote: