Nine rock bands with the best vocal harmonies, according Sound listeners

There’s no better way to find music opinions than through trusty old Facebook, eh?

Some strong opinions are floating about out there, and the Sound Facebook audience -  in particular, our exclusive ‘Sounding Board’ group - might be some of the most opinionated bunch of the lot. 

Nothing wrong with that, of course, we’re all entitled to our own thoughts. 

Among the many ‘Sounding Board’ posts discussing all things The Sound, classic rock, music, jokes, and more, we stumbled upon a post asking for “bands famous for perfect vocal harmony”, and to no surprise, the comments were full of suggestions. 

We looked through them all and here are some of our favourites (sorry to anyone who commented the Bee Gees and ABBA, they didn’t make the cut… great harmonies, sure, but not very… us.)

The Eagles

Right up our alley - The Eagles are like gods of classic rock (especially when it comes to radio), so it’s no surprise they got the most mentions and comment likes.

If you’re looking for a prime example of their harmonising abilities, give ‘Seven Bridges Road’ a listen, as one commenter highlighted.

Fleetwood Mac

More classic rock and harmonising royalty, yet they didn’t get a whole bunch of comments despite being widely considered some of the best harmonisers. Though they did have one clear fan who prompted everyone to listen to ‘The Chain’ as proof of the band's singing abilities. 

The Beach Boys 

The Beach Boys are at the front of the mind when harmonies get mentioned. Slightly out of our brand, but they were the precursor to classic rock that followed, so it only feels right to include them.

Little River Band 

Hailing from across the ditch in Melbourne, the Little River Band found international fame in the 70s and 80s with harmonies that impressed many, including our Sound audience. 

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

It’s not easy to harmonise with that many voices, but Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young made their three and four-part harmonies work, with a folk-rock twist. 

Queen 

We only saw one comment for Queen, but as a station favourite, it’d be rude not to include them, and you can’t deny they have some great harmonies. I mean, they have a whole album full of them on ‘A Night At The Opera’, and you can’t forget hits like ‘Somebody To Love’. 

Seals & Crofts

Nothing but easy listening and smooth harmonies with this duo, it’s clear why they were a favourite. You’ll hear these guys in our Yacht Rock playlist (along with some of the other names in this list). 

The Beatles 

The Beatles were mentioned quite a few times, as you’d expect; their singing, songwriting and presence changed the music and rock n roll scene forever. Plenty of songs in their catalogue that showcase the tight three-part harmonies between John, Paul, and George. 

Alice in Chains

Alice in Chains got a couple of comments. Not our usual classic rock, but they followed on from the legends that came before them. In their 90s acoustic performances, you really hear a folk, bluesy foundation and harmonies between Layne and Jerry coming through.

Obviously not as polished or as ‘barbershop’ sound as you hear from the likes of the Beach Boys, but a more unique and emotional sound that has some grit to it and pulls you in.

Check out their MTV Unplugged performance of ‘Down in a Hole’ to see what we mean.

To end, we’ll add in a few honourable mentions. A shout-out to The Carpenters, The Mamas & the Papas, and Simon & Garfunkel, who got their share of comments.

Funny to note, the latter of the above three managed to spark a wee debate in the group about whether two people counted as a harmony (spoiler, it does), but hey, it wouldn’t be a Facebook post without a little argument now, would it?