Possessing a phenomenal three octave vocal range, rehearsing with Led Zeppelin and singing with Slash - it's all in a day's work for Alter Bridge's frontman.
It goes without saying that in 2014 if you consider yourself anything close to a rock fan you've at least heard of one Myles Richard Kennedy, the man who effortlessly traverses every known high and low on the vocal spectrum. With one of the greatest voices in all of rock n' roll, be it past or present (or most likely the future too), he's done everything from starring in the brilliantly funny Rock Star film to auditioning for Led Zeppelin and going on tour with Slash. And that's without mentioning how in between all this he's also fronted his own band Alter Bridge across stadiums worldwide. Although whenever any adoration goes his way he's more than humble, every Alter Bridge fan will scream from the rafters about just how indescribably amazing Mr. Kennedy's exquisite set of pipes really are. There are some of us that have been following him from the early jazz-infused days of Citizen Swing through to the more melodic rock of The Mayfield Four - which any self-respecting Myles fan needs to check out. However as he now alternates between Slash and Alter Bridge, the world is finally taking notice of how incredibly gifted the guy is. So from his most jaw-dropping vocal highs and sustained notes to those choruses you always try and sing along to but can never get up in the heavens with, it's time to take stock of the past, present and future of rock.
10. Lyla - The Mayfield Four (Second Skin)
Oh Myles God At: 2:29 Seriously, if you're anything of an Alter Bridge fan but you're yet to check out the two previous Mayfield records, get yourself online and find them ASAP. There's a wealth of phenomenal material on both Fallout and Second Skin - the latter especially where you can really feel the early signs of where some of Alter Bridge's melodic sensibilities would come from. Alongside White Flag (which acts as something of a precursor to AB's Watch Over You in terms of chorus structure), Lyla is a great little acoustic-tinged number with a killer final chorus that sees Myles' range put to full effect. Although the song starts out relatively bouncy and energetic, it's given an extra jolt of life when the distortion kicks in halfway through, leading to a great moment where Myles holds the final lyric of "Never ever looking back" in one of the most sonically satisfying ways you'll ever hear.