If you’ve ever wondered what your favorite singer’s voice sounds like in its purest form, the musical sub-genre of isolated vocal tracks can offer a clue. Here are 12 videos of popular songs stripped of everything but the vocals—some of them strange, others eerily beautiful.
1. “HELLO” // ADELE
Adele - Hello (isolated SNL live vocal feed) by dailyvariations
Adele’s vocals for her new hit single “Hello” are even more powerful without the background music.
2. “SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT” // NIRVANA
Nirvana kicked off a new era in rock music in the 1990s, but can “Smells Like Teen Spirit” be as powerful without the driving guitars? The song feels more eerie than hard-hitting with only Kurt Cobain’s haunting vocals.
3. “BEAT IT” // MICHAEL JACKSON
One of Michael Jackson’s most iconic songs seems less urgent without the music behind his amazing vocals. Something is lost without Eddie Van Halen’s killer guitar solo, too.
4. “FELL IN LOVE WITH A GIRL” // THE WHITE STRIPES
Even without the heavy guitars and feverish drum beats, “Fell in Love with a Girl” is still a catchy tune.
5. “BEAUTIFUL” // CHRISTINA AGUILERA
Christina Aguilera’s isolated microphone feed vocals of her live performance of “Beautiful” prove that her voice is just as impressive without the music.
6. “BLACK HOLE SUN” // SOUNDGARDEN
Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” is a haunting song. Even without the benefit of music, Chris Cornell’s vocals are just as stirring.
7. “WONDERWALL” // OASIS
Noel Gallagher’s lyrics and his brother Liam’s vocals for Oasis’ “Wonderwall” seem even more sad without the backing music.
8. “LOSE YOURSELF” // EMINEM
“Lose Yourself” won Eminem an Academy Award in 2003 for “Best Original Song” for 8 Mile. He probably still would’ve won the Oscar even without the music behind his intense rhymes.
9. “NO ONE” // ALICIA KEYS
Alicia Keys’ performance of her hit song “No One” with her microphone feed isolated proves that she’s a genuine talent.
10. “GOD ONLY KNOWS” // THE BEACH BOYS
The acapella and isolated vocals of The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” work just as well as the studio version with musical accompaniment.
11. “BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY” // QUEEN
Freddie Mercury’s vocals and harmonies for “Bohemian Rhapsody” are awe-inspiring. The video also highlights Brian May’s amazing guitar work.
12. “WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS” // QUEEN
This stripped-down version of “We Are the Champions” proves, yet again, what made Freddie Mercury one of rock’s most iconic vocalists.
769 Comments
Jesus Christ Pose by Soundgarden is a shocking vocal track
Especes de sales fils de putes d’enculés de batards de merde pourquoi vous n’avez pas mis TAKE ON ME ou THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES ON TV ? Ils sont disponibles sur youtube. Bande d’enculés de vos mères.
Not exactly “isolated” for most, but great, sometimes thrilling, stuff
How about the Beatles’ Helter Skelter and that crazy McCartney voice? It’s hard to beat, and available on the internet.
Where on earth is WHITNEY-FREAKING-I-WON-AN-EMMY-FOR-A-GRAMMY-PERFORMANCE-VOICE-HOUSTON…When she died, multiple television news anchors played her a Capella version of How Will I Know. No could hold a candle to Whitney in the 80’s or 90’s
Where are the Beatles? Nat King Cole?
To everyone asking if these have auto-tune:
None of the recordings have any pitch correction (or Auto-Tune / Melodyne as you might know it)
When it comes to studio recordings, vocals are quite recorded WITH fx so the vocalist feels as though their part of the track. Studio mantra is very often, “Get the sound you want NOW”.
None have these tracks have any more than EQ, a bit of compression and some delay or reverb.
The Beach Boys track is nowhere near dry, there’s a big plate reverb on it.
Only the Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys tracks are completely dry.
Every one of these vocalists has risen to the top because they’re the BEST and for no other reason.
Wonder how many of them DONT have auto tune on them? The Beach Boys certainly wont nor Queen and possibly Nirvana as pretty sure it wasnt invented then, defenitely wasnt in the 60’s and early 70’s. Happy to be proved wrong though.
Waww the melody of the Alicia Keys song is very bad, very poor, very empty.
I’m curious if these isolated tracks had the reverb/effects printed to tape on the original takes?
It would be nicer to hear them dry (like on the Beach Boys cut), but I guess they used to print the effects to tape because they wouldn’t have had multiple effects units or digital effects like we have today.
But I was surprised that the Nirvana track had effects on it. It certainly would have been recorded dry in the studio???