Good albums to sing along with on my commute?

August 24, 2016 3:03 PM

I want to sing in the car, both because I won't be overheard and because I'll feel happier driving (an activity that I find inherently tense and unpleasant). But, it's difficult for me to find albums whose songs mostly have a manageable vocal range and lyrics that are either familiar or somewhat accessible. What albums have you enjoyed singing along to while you drive? Thanks in advance for any help.
posted by newtonstreet to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (26 answers total)

I'd start with Cast Albums from musicals if they're your cuppa tea.
posted by tilde at 3:09 PM on August 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

The first Violent Femmes album is hella fun and hella easy to sing along to, if you're okay with all the cussing.
posted by ejs at 3:15 PM on August 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

Iron Chic - The Constant One always has me singing and drumming on every horizontal surface.
Also Bruce Springsteen - The River is another one of my faves
posted by capnsue at 3:17 PM on August 24, 2016

Do you already know any bands that have singers in your range? That could get you more useful suggestions. (I'm a contralto and a good match with Neil Young, but I hope you don't have to go there.) Hell yes to singing in the car.
posted by vers at 3:18 PM on August 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

i think my all time favorite song-along album is Erasure's Pop! Part of the fun is that it has a huge range and forces me into absurd falsetto a decent amount. In general my favorite song-along albums are the ones I know the best.
posted by norm at 3:28 PM on August 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

My vocals playlist on Spotify for when I want to sing!
posted by ellieBOA at 3:33 PM on August 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

Beatles, baby. You can sing practically anything they did.
posted by bearwife at 4:23 PM on August 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'll just leave this here.
posted by ottereroticist at 4:35 PM on August 24, 2016

Abba!
posted by kitten magic at 4:55 PM on August 24, 2016 [3 favorites]

Eddie From Ohio.
posted by jon1270 at 5:12 PM on August 24, 2016

weezer's "pinkerton" was always a favorite for car singing (although it has also almost led to a speeding ticket or two)...
posted by noloveforned at 5:12 PM on August 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

Years ago, I heard that Barenaked Ladies are the best band because it's so easy to sing along with their music. Myself, I blast Frank Sinatra because he sings in my sweet spot (yes, I'm a woman; yes, my range is lower than that of my voice teacher, and my voice teacher is a man).
posted by janey47 at 5:32 PM on August 24, 2016

Don Henley - Actual Miles (greatest hits)
posted by just asking at 5:32 PM on August 24, 2016

Michael Bublé? He's a lyric baritone and has good taste in catchy songs.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:48 PM on August 24, 2016

This would be an easier question to answer if I knew what your range was, or even your musical taste. I have a difficult range as well (female tenor/alto) but love a very wide range of music and pretty much the only things I won't sing along to are things that don't have words. Even then I will hum. So my opinion is - anything you like! Recent faves on my commute have been: The National; Indigo Girls; Chvrches; Frightened Rabbit; Paul Dempsey; Emily Barker; Ben Howard.
posted by Athanassiel at 5:54 PM on August 24, 2016

John Lennon solo albums
posted by cda at 6:04 PM on August 24, 2016

Hamilton!!! I sing/rap the whole thing while driving.
posted by matildaben at 9:37 PM on August 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

Bob Dylan. It would be easier if you said what types of music you enjoy most.
posted by ctmf at 10:05 PM on August 24, 2016

Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen are pretty simple. Also seconding Dylan.

Actually, here's a list of country singers you can probably sing: Johnny Horton, Jimmy Dean, Tom T. Hall, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, David Allen Coe, Hank Williams, John Prine, Jerry Reed, Marty Robbins, Willie Nelson, etc...
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:10 PM on August 24, 2016

Workingman's Dead & American Beauty-era Grateful Dead.
posted by terretu at 11:49 PM on August 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

Paul Simon's "Graceland" is my go-to roadtrip album. Excellent sing-along value.
posted by LKWorking at 7:38 AM on August 25, 2016 [2 favorites]

I, too, sing (LOUDLY) in the car, and I have found that Neither Billy Bragg nor Frank Turner has a huge range, so it's easy for me to keep up with their singing.

Also, I love The Saw Doctors. Their lead singer, Davy Carton, has a good voice and yet I am happy to sing along with him. (Maybe his Irish accent sets it off enough txt I forgive myself? Whatever, it works.)

Bands where more than just the frontman get to sing (and the Saw Doctors count for this) almost always mean you will get someone whose voice isn't their strong suit -- and those will also be singers you can probably match.
posted by wenestvedt at 1:38 PM on August 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

Magnetic Fields, The Charm of the Highway Strip
posted by *s at 3:00 PM on August 25, 2016

Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
Billy Joel - An Innocent Man

both work well & singing them somehow cheers me up when driving.

Also a Meatloaf compilation. Not sure which one.

No need to judge me; my kids have already done that.
posted by Prof Iterole at 5:35 PM on August 25, 2016

Seconding Frank Turner. Also Seconding The National - Trouble Will Find Me was my go-to when taking the hour-long trip to and from my girlfriend's place a few years back. (She's now my wife, for what it's worth.)

Spotify's blocked at work but if the album linked wasn't CAKE's Fashion Nugget, well, CAKE's Fashion Nugget. I won't blame you for skipping the I Will Survive cover though. It's not that great.

The album that meets hardly anyone's vocal range criteria but I still recommend (I give myself points for trying, especially during the breakdown in The Beautiful Ones): the Purple Rain soundtrack.
posted by pianoblack at 6:04 AM on August 26, 2016

Bands that sing in harmony are good because you can join in pretty much anywhere.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:32 AM on August 28, 2016 [1 favorite]