'Cog' is quite likely a metaphor for the person being described. He (or she) is a cog. In a machine.
I know we're supposed to say nice things in this thread, and I love many of the moments described above - my own additions would be the 'oh-oh-oh-oh-ohhh' coming out of the middle eight in Blue Chair (straight out of Meet The Beatles! ) and ALL of the unbelievably brilliant 'Beyond Belief' - but gee, I find that EC's singing has, in general, gotten worse rather than better, at least on record. Yes, there are moments of awesome force ('Either Side of the Same Town,' for instance) but far more frequent is a kind of bludgeoning of the song: oversinging. Perhaps this is because he tends nowadays to push his voice up in the mix more than he used to; but I suspect it's just a sustained error of delivery.
When man has destroyed what he thinks he owns
I hope no living thing cries over his bones
As for how he sings things ... well there's so many things to choose from. Um... I'll say the entire performance of "Riot Act" - but in particular the "when the HEAT gets SUBTROPICAL" and "why do you talk such STUPID NONSENSE" bits. Particularly as he is talking to himself in the song!
On Riot Act, I love the energy & emotion when he's going into the second chorus.
Trying to be so bad is bad enough
Don't make me laugh by talking tough
Don't put your heart out on your sleeve
When your remarks are off the cuff
"Try telling that to the desperate father who just squeezed the life from his only son" from "Tramp the Dirt Down" - makes me tear up every time I hear it
Tramp the Dirt Down is a great one. I'm quite fond of the way he sings "I never thought for a moment that human life could be so cheap..." He makes it sound all the more despicable.
And my other favorite is from Delivery Man...The way his voice gets lower with each word "I want to be a de liv ere yy maaan"....sexy! This was a highlight for me at his 2005 Wolf Trap performance.
) and ALL of the unbelievably brilliant 'Beyond Belief' - but gee, I find that EC's singing has, in general, gotten worse rather than better, at least on record. Yes, there are moments of awesome force ('Either Side of the Same Town,' for instance) but far more frequent is a kind of bludgeoning of the song: oversinging. Perhaps this is because he tends nowadays to push his voice up in the mix more than he used to; but I suspect it's just a sustained error of delivery.