That was my point, pdq. It always comes down to a matter of taste. We could use guitar tuners to see who's hitting the notes accurately; we could also read people's brains wired to EKGs to determine which sounds 'get to us'. Bucks to donuts it would differ person to person. I think this type of thread asks us to say what we like. It also asks us about singers--with no definition of what that means. Pavarotti could sing. I don't know that he COULD miss a note, but opera does nothing for me. For some people it's the greatest music in the world. I listen to Goodnight-Loving Trail by Utah and it sends shivers through my being. Others of his songs leave me cold. Other folks love Bryan Adams--I'm one of them. His Summer of '69 is imo a great song, well-sung. There will be lots of people who disagree, and rightfully so. It is not in a genre they like. To me, it boils down to what we like, what resonates within us. Dylan's Times They Are A Changing is wonderful. He SINGS that. I think Baez would murder the song. And many people would disagree.

I like to hear songs the singer(s) make work. I love some of MCC's work. Not all of it. I'm like that with Sinead O'C, too. But to blanket any vocalist or singer with "this one is in the top 10" seems to deny the songs they've done that just don't cut it. Define the criteria, define the genre, define yer musical likes and dislikes and have at it.

S'far's I'm concerned, The Family Brown nailed it with The Three Bells. Some folks might find it a bit too sentimental. Listen to Deep River Blues by Doc and whoa--what a song. "16th Avenue" by Lacey J is phenomenal--but if you don't like singer-songwriter stuff, likely you wouldn't care for it. (I wish English had another pronoun that meant the impersonal 'one'.)

I boils down to whatcha like and whatcha've heard. Nothing more, nothing less. IMO.