Pussycat Dolls- Vocal analysis
For the longest time, I’ve thought of doing a Pussycat Dolls vocal analysis but I never thought anyone would be interested given most people don’t want to give them any credit for their talent, singing and dancing. I often felt the rest of the members besides Nicole deserved to have their talent recognized but for some reason I was never able to bring myself to actually do it- I think partly because at the time, I didn’t have any material from the other ladies to work with. Seeing as now, they’ve all had solo careers and I got a proper taste of their voices, and at the request of someone who has read my other analyses, I guess it’s about the right time to do it.
So, who remembers the first time they saw the mv for ‘Don’t Cha’? I certainly do, listening to that song full of sass and in-your-faceness and watching the video with a bunch of sexy women driving on an empty highway like sexy road ragers, jumping on trampolines, the blonde mohawk girl getting pulled ins some wild cage fight (poor Kimberly) ,dancing in girtty underground boxing rings like a bunch of savages. My first thought was ‘, wth is happening ? who are these women? why are they are they sexily angry? why are they angrily sexy? So many questions. They certainly caught my attention and they’ve given us many entertaining hits over the years so without further ado.
Nicole Scherzinger aka...
...'I’m the lead doll, hear me roar’ ***
There is no denying when Nicole sings she catches your attention, just listen to any PCD songs, no really, she sings 99.9% of them. She can make any kind of song come alive. From her time in Eden’s Crush, to her time in PCD and throughout her solo career, she has demonstrated that she can sing a variety of song types from pop, R&B, Jazz- she is a vocal chameleon, her voice can be sexy, sultrous, vulnerable, she can also display attitude and excitement. She also has good range; her low notes and falsetto notes tend to be soft but stable, when she belts her voice is very clear, when she goes higher though her voice strains a bit when singing live. Last but not least, I first heard her whistle note in the song ‘Let Me Know’ from Eden’s Crush album, that made the song and the album for me lol (besides everyone’s favorite ‘Get Over Yourself’ of course.)
I think the vocal producers who worked with the Dolls also suffered from the ‘ higher singing = better singing’ as Nicole was often screaming in some songs like this live version of ‘Don’t Cha’ and her prolongued ‘hey’ at the end of the dance break of ‘Beep’- which sounds great in the studio, live... not so much. She is the complete package as a true commercial artist in that she has the look, the talent and the sexiness to boot, her songs are catchy to listen to, her music videos are amazing and her voice is fantastic but in my opinion she lacks humility; she seems to be more focused on showing off her vocal skills (and making weird animal sounds) then connecting with her audience. She sings as if she were a world-renowed songstress who’s been on the scene for decades when really most people know her as the ‘lead singer of the PCD’ but not ‘Nicole, the artist, the person,” etc..
Speaking of connecting with the audience, the main thing that has prevented me from fully connecting with ther as an artist is that fake ebonics voice or accent she uses/used Example:
“Dawls.
Let's daince.
Ooh behbeh.
I know you lahik meh
That's why wheneva I come araound, she's all ova yoo!
I know you won't it
It's easy to see
And in the backayo maaaaaind I know it should be on wtih me
Let's keep it friendlaaay
Yah have to play fay ah
See I don't caaaaaayy but I know she ain't gon wonna shay-ah" etc...
Omg, who sings like that? Whoever told this woman singing with attitude meant singing as if her jaw was dislocated needs to be ashamed of themselves.
The style of singing doesn’t feel her own, she sounds like she’s imitating someone else and she comes off as dishhonest and try-hard. Compare that to times when she gives up the ‘accent’ such as 'I Hate This Part’, Sway and if you really want to hear a song when I can ‘feel’ Nicole, I advise you listen to her song ‘Run’, raw, pure, and goosebump-worthy. I’m not going to spend any more time on factors that may be affecting her career because this is about her vocal talent. To put it simply, anyone (including myself) can say whatever they want about Nicole and regarless of a few minor vocal flaws, her vocal versatility is off the chain and she is a vocal powerhouse, period.
Vocal range: Soprano- Best suited for: Pop, R&B, Classic, Jazz, Alternative and many more.
Listen to: I Hate this Part, Try With Me, Run, Poison, Don’t Hold Your Breath
I just love the tone of Carmit’s voice because it’s raw, raspy and edgy. It sucks how fickle the industry can be given that singers with voices like hers don’t get much appreciation. For example, watch this performance for Carmit’s raw and edgy voice (also featuring Melody’s beautiful melismatic runs). Now though her edginess comes out mostly when she’s in her belting range but she can also soften up as she did here- although in that song I think she goes in and out of falsetto albeit very softly. In general though, she doesn’t seem to have an extensive range, the lowest I’ve heard her go is as far as this performance when she sings “you give me fever” a few times and her low notes are very quiet. Any higher than what her range is and she falls flat a bit like here; to be honest, she sort of all over the place but she tried.
One thing I noticed she did in that performance is how she threw her hand up as she was singing a high note. Like, girl, why? Many singers do this especially when they’re struggling to hit a note lol. You can either reach the note or you can’t, throwing your hand up is not going to save you from not hitting that note. Most of the time they come close(they shout it or scream it) but they don’t actually hit it lol. In any case, Carmit is/was the oldest member of the group but don’t let her age fool you, she is a joy to watch while performing and she dances with such passion. She’s also got some cool acrobatic moves in her skills and she’s also a ‘split’ master
though she didn’t get to showcase it often during her time in the group.
Vocal range: Mezzo-Soprano- Best suited for: Rock, Alternative, Indie, Pop, R&B, Jazz
Listen to: Tainted Love, Santa baby, Fierce, Keep on Smiling, Cream.
...the fiesty, edgy blonde.
Well, how can I put this lightly? Kimberly’s voice sounds...underdeveloped? I’m not quite sure which word to use but that’s the closest I can come up with. Her ‘Don’t Wanna Fall in Love’ solo for the Doll Domination album was..difficult for me to listen to; she almost souned like a chipmunk and her voice was nasal. Though after PCD, she formed a duo with Spencer Nezey called Her Majesty & the Wolves and in their song ‘Stars in Your Eyes’ she sounds like she has better vocal control but her voice forever sounds light and sweet. She sounds good during this performance but the backing track is so loud as if to cover the lack of vocal strength on her part; so take that and add the awkward dancing and it looks like she’s performing karaoke.
Kimberly doesn’t have a wide range but then again having a big range isn’t everything and it doesn’t mean with proper vocal technique she can gain even better control and help her voice ‘mature’ a bit. In ‘Goodbye, Goodnight’, she uses her falsetto which sounds cute, light and sweet but in this live performance, with that loud backing track again her voice does nothing for me at all and the woman looks like she is trying to sing. I. Just. Can’t. But during ‘Walking On the Sun’ her voice sounds beautiful; well controlled, cool with some nice subtle vibrato.
Apart from singing, many PCD fans love Kimberly for being a beast on a the dance floor. Watch this performance, and this one, she’s dancing as if her life depended on it, I LOVE it! She was also known mostly for her standing splits, so here’s ‘split’ master #2.
Vocal range: Mezzo-Soprano- Best suited for: Pop, Electro Pop
Listen to: Santa baby, Glaciers, Stars In Your Eyes
the brunette (turned redhead) with
Before I start my analysis, I just want to laugh at PCD’s record label’s poor attempt at covering up the fact that Carmit had left group. Before PCD’s second album, rumor is (label, Robin Antin, whoever it may have been) had Jessica dye her hair red so maybe people or fans wouldn’t notice, now that’s what you call cutting corners! And are the members that repleaceable or unimportant? these people are sad. Anyway, moving on to better things.
My introduction to Jessica’s vocal talent was ‘If I Was A Man’ on the ‘Doll Domination’ album which to be honest, a child could sing. PCD’s record company must have really wanted to downplay the girls’ talents because if that song was all I ever heard from Jessica, then any time I heard her name, I would run in the opposite direction.
But THANK GOODNESS Jessica for showing us what sexy, sultrous and beautiful voice which was hiding underneath that sing-talking, nasal and whiny falsetto or whatever thing you had going on. I love the tone of her voice and she is also a vocal chameleon; she can easily portray different kinds of emotions and she has good voice control as well; not very powerful but defintely solid. Examples of her low notes would be in the bridge of ‘We Can’t Dance Anymore’, that rich tone in ‘Gotta get you’ also take note of her belt notes in that song. Other songs like ‘Shame’ demonstrate her mezzo range and she sings with vulnerability in the song. Not only that but if you haven’t heard her mixtape ‘Feline Resolution’ nor her album ‘I say Yes, Give them a listen, you won’t regret it! You’ll have jams for ‘dem nice cozy nights, chilly summer nights, rainy days, sunny days, romantic days, party days, days you wanna beat somebody up, days you wanna cry, whatever you have going on in your life, she’s got a song for you!
Vocal range: Alto, Mezzo-Soprano- Best suited for: Pop, R&B, Rock, Contemporary
Listen to: Show Me, Shame, Lights Out, Feline Resurrection, Gotta get you, We can’t dance anymore, Feel Like Making Love, Universe.
...the sweet and sassy blonde
I feel with Ashley I don’t really have much to say except for that she has a beautiful voice. Whatever she’s singing, she delivers and i think it’s because she knows her limits and knows her strengths. Her voice is sweet and light and sometimes raspy, her lower notes are hauntingly beautiful and she sings songs that are within her range so she always sounds beautiful lol. But I think in knowing her limits she limits herself a bit too much when she could have pushed on a little bit more. For example in ‘All in a day’, her voice is dark and raspy and I kept waiting for the part of the song that would bring an emotional high and take me to the Heavens but alas, it never came. Oh welp. In another song, she plays it way too safe then again I could listen to this while sitting on a cozy sofa while watching a sad movie.
Vocal range: Mezzo-Soprano- Best suited for: Country, Pop, R&B, Folk
Listen to: Clockwork, Lonely lights, Face of Love, All in a Day
Two years after getting into the Pussycat Dolls, I see this video and nearly fell off of my chair, obviously from the shock of hearing Melody’s voice for the first time and wondering why the hell she wasn’t one of the lead singers. Well we all know now that the company wasn’t gonna have any of that. I’ll keep my analysis simple for Melody , she has a powerful voice, that’s all there is to it. ‘Baby Doll’ was her nickname while in the group because she was the youngest but who can forget her set of pipes? She made it into the group as a vocalist and we know why, it’s because of the runs, um...vocal runs that is lol, melismatic vocal runs. I bet you all PCD fans know her runs by heart because they’re so iconic lol. As far as range, her low notes sometimes fall flat so she sings better when she’s in her middle notes (belting chest voice), falsetto and head voice. She also has a strong vibrato which can get out of control during live performances, other than that, she has a solid voice.
Vocal range: Soprano- Best suited for: R&B, Pop
Listen to: Sway, Tainted Love, Buttons, Stickwithu, Bite The Dust, I don’t Need a Man.
In conclusion, my final rank is: Nicole, Melody, Jessica, Carmit, Ashley and Kimberly.
My favorite PCD & solo songs: Buttons, I Hate This Part, Beep (PCD), Don’t Hold Your Breath, Poison, Run, Boomerang (N), Show Me, Gotta Get You (J), Clockwork (A).
Credit goes to owner(s) of any article, picture, audio, or video mentioned or used. None of those belong to me.
Thanks everyone, leave comments, suggestions, discuss!
*Following Robin Antin’s de-facto motto about ‘every woman having an inner doll’ I included 2 picures for each member, 1 picture “represents’ the person and the other her ‘doll’ side. Feel free to disagree with my interpretation.
***Mini rant: I used stereotypical taglines for all the members not because I prefer to use them but because that’s the way most non-fans would remember them in case they read this analysis. Imagine how far they could have gotten if their record contracts didn’t suck? I don’t think the company really thought things through and the way they handled PCD makes the group seem like a novelty act with Nicole and the 5 nameless women behind her.
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