James LaBrie Solo

[TAC]

The last two albums try to be too many things and I feel they come up short.  It's way to formulaic and nothing stands out at all to me. Sure a melodic chorus may linger. But what's up with the Wildoer vocals? Not sure what it ultimately accomplishes other than trying to spice up generic rock songs. Unfortunately, to my ears at least, it makes it worse.

[MirrorMask]

I hope they try something a little different.

Their last two albums are amazing, but I honestly can't tell which songs are on which album anymore.

Indeed, I really like the albums, but it almost feel like a double album, you could swap some songs here and there and no one would notice. They're nothing alike, but even the idea of the openers is the same, melodic chorus vs growled vocals. Even the titles are same-y, just those kind of "prog metal titles" so to speak, trying to sound deep and clever.

But really, the titles are the things I like the least about the albums. Occasional average song here and there, they're both filled with very good songs and James of course shnes through them. The moment an album will be official and a release date announced, I'll be counting the days!

[wolfking]

I asked James about the new solo album and he said it's in the works and should be out next year. 

[bosk1]

Saddest thing about that pic is that she looks SO young, but I still remember watching that movie and thinking to myself, "man, I hope I'm not like that when I get to be older like her." 

[Tomislav95]

For some reason I've always considered Impermanent Resonance inferior to Static Impulse but after listening to it again I don't know what I've been thinking, IR is so good! Like every songs finally clicked. And it sounds amazing to my ears, really my kind of production.

[Cool Chris]

I am about done buying new CDs, but James' are one of those left I will buy right after release, without previewing on spotify/youtube. Bring it on!

Also, I posted this elsewhere, but... is this James, or Dante from Clerks??

[Orbert]

Saddest thing about that pic is that she looks SO young, but I still remember watching that movie and thinking to myself, "man, I hope I'm not like that when I get to be older like her." 

Julie Dawn Cole was my first "celebrity crush".  I was nine when Willy Wonka first came out, so probably 10 when I saw it on TV.  Julie was 13 when she made the movie, and I thought she was so cute.  Total little bitch, too, but I remember even then being able to separate looks from personality.  She was cute, but I wouldn't want to spend even a minute with her if that's how she acts.

Ha, I realize now that while I was able to separate looks from personality, I did not separate the actor's personality from the character.  All these years, I've thought of Julie Dawn Cole as a total bitch, when I actually have no idea.  It was all based on her portrayal of Veruca Salt.

[TAC]

Also, I posted this elsewhere, but... is this James, or Dante from Clerks??

Looks a little like Adrian Smith.

[wolfking]

Looks more like Russell Allen to me.

[Zook]

Dante cosplaying as Russell Allen.

[CB]

The new solo album will be out (hopefully) by the fall, with the same band members

https://www.moshville.co.uk/interview/2017/04/interview-james-labrie-of-dream-theater

[Mladen]

Nice news. Personally, I'm rooting for something with more grit and aggression (like Static impulse) and less polished pop sensibility (like Impermanent  resonance).

[cramx3]

Best news of the day! 

[MirrorMask]

Excellent news!  looking very forward to it, and also to a tour.

Because of his solo tour, James is actually the only DT member I've ever met (he's obviously more approachable while playing solo in smaller venues), he was very kind and also his performance was impressive. Unless I remember wrong, Mangini himself was the drummer on that tour!

[wolfking]

Amazing news!!

[hefdaddy42]

The new solo album will be out (hopefully) by the fall, with the same band members

https://www.moshville.co.uk/interview/2017/04/interview-james-labrie-of-dream-theater

Anyway, I still remember back in 1993 and we were out with a band called Damn the Machine and Glasgow was one of the last shows on that particular leg of the tour. But the guys in Damn the Machine got us a stripper and in the middle of “Surrounded” she decided to come out and start dancing right in front of me! As you can imagine, I was a bit taken aback by it but the crowd totally ate it up man. I’ll never forget that night.

 

[Adami]

When the hell did/will James find time to record vocals?

[Madman Shepherd]

Excellent news!  looking very forward to it, and also to a tour.

Because of his solo tour, James is actually the only DT member I've ever met (he's obviously more approachable while playing solo in smaller venues), he was very kind and also his performance was impressive. Unless I remember wrong, Mangini himself was the drummer on that tour!

I don't think that was Mike.  He played on the album but I'm pretty sure they got a touring drummer. 

And dude....if there is a tour, my god...I am sooooo there.

[Mladen]

When the hell did/will James find time to record vocals?

I'm guessing during the summer. DT won't be touring then because of JP's commitments towards his guitar camp. It kind of lines up perfectly.

[BlobVanDam]

Very excited for another JLB solo album, so hopefully that eventuates sooner rather than later. The last one was excellent.

[TioJorge]

This has me excited. I've loved the last few JLB albums.

[GasparXR]

Looking forward to it a lot! I really enjoyed the last two, especially IR.

[YtseJam]

 

[Stadler]

I have to say something that may be unpopular, but with respect to James LaBrie solo work...

I love the guy's singing.  He (and Mike P.) were the reason I got into Dream Theater back in '92 when I first heard Pull Me Under and went and bought the album.   His vocals just blew me away.   LOVED them, and for the most part, still do. 

So you'd think I'd love his solo stuff, right?  But I have Elements of Persuasion (which is pretty good) and Impermanent Resonance (which is just not clicking).   I'm sort of lost; I just don't get the point of his solo works.  He's not the primary writer (though it says he wrote most of the lyrics from EoP), so he's singing someone else's works again.  I can't stand the screaming vocals - he's a singer, so I'd rather hear HIM sing than the drummer - and the music sounds like any of a 100 bands from 2004 looking to make it in metal (Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, looking right at you).   That over-compressed, over-processed metal sound... I would have been interested to hear him take on a different genre, or share his thoughts, or show his rudimentary guitar skills.  Something, anything, that made it HIS.   Just seems so... pointless to me.

[cramx3]

Sounds like the music is just not for you, nothing about being pointless.  JLB said himself in the latest interview that his solo band allows him to express his ideas that he doesn't in DT.  Those music ideas just happen to be some more straight forward metal that includes a lot of collaboration with the other guys.

I'm not very big into the screamer vocals, but I really do like them in this band and I think they work very well to contrast JLB's vocals.

I also think JLB's overall vocals are probably a bit better on the last two records than what he has done in DT and it might be due to him not having to perform these songs live, or definitely not in a night in/out basis.

[Adami]

Pointless? He's doing very different music than he is in his main band. That's never pointless, even if you don't dig it.

[Madman Shepherd]

A while back I started a thread about our dream JLB setlists. Might be a good time to resurrect the thread. Feel free to join in. 

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=38508.msg1643784#msg1643784

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

As someone who is a big fan of Linkin Park, I can say with a reasonable amount of confidence that JLB's solo stuff sounds absolutely nothing like Linkin Park. And the harsh vocals are pretty sparse even on SI, and basically non-existent on IR.

Sounds like it's just not your kind of thing.

[cramx3]

As someone who is a big fan of Linkin Park, I can say with a reasonable amount of confidence that JLB's solo stuff sounds absolutely nothing like Linkin Park. And the harsh vocals are pretty sparse even on SI, and basically non-existent on IR.

Sounds like it's just not your kind of thing.

I always thought the song Lost in the Fire sounded a bit like Linkin Park, not exactly like, but that piano sound reminded me of them.

[Adami]

There's that one song on EoP that sounds very Linkin Parkish. Outside of that? Nah.

[goo-goo]

I have to say something that may be unpopular, but with respect to James LaBrie solo work...

I love the guy's singing.  He (and Mike P.) were the reason I got into Dream Theater back in '92 when I first heard Pull Me Under and went and bought the album.   His vocals just blew me away.   LOVED them, and for the most part, still do. 

So you'd think I'd love his solo stuff, right?  But I have Elements of Persuasion (which is pretty good) and Impermanent Resonance (which is just not clicking).   I'm sort of lost; I just don't get the point of his solo works.  He's not the primary writer (though it says he wrote most of the lyrics from EoP), so he's singing someone else's works again.  I can't stand the screaming vocals - he's a singer, so I'd rather hear HIM sing than the drummer - and the music sounds like any of a 100 bands from 2004 looking to make it in metal (Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, looking right at you).   That over-compressed, over-processed metal sound... I would have been interested to hear him take on a different genre, or share his thoughts, or show his rudimentary guitar skills.  Something, anything, that made it HIS.   Just seems so... pointless to me.

Stadler

Have you heard Frameshift "Unweaving the Rainbow" or Madmen and Sinners? I think these two albums should be right up your alley.

[Stadler]

It's less about the "Linkin Park" reference - I'm not terribly familiar with their material, I was looking for a touchstone; think of the chorus of "In The End" to get where I was going (a song I like, by the way) - than it is understanding "what's the message?  What's the voice?"   Maybe I'm too into guys like Neal Morse or Fish, who's every song drips with their world view, their emotions, their presence.   Dave Roth, Sam Hagar; you listen to one of their solo albums and you know INSTANTLY who that person and that persona are.   

It really just seems to me to be Matt Guillory's project, with LaBrie singing, and the best marketing play was to put James' name on there, not Matt's.

To @goo-goo, no I have not heard either of those two albums, but I'm open to hearing anything. 

[Adami]

It's true that, in the prog world, James' is the least "solo" of them. He's more solo in the sense of pop singers who have writers and contribute at times. In this case, you were right, this really is more of Matt's project, and they call it James Labrie to help sell more records. Not something I mind. They tried it the other way for two records (Mullmuzzler) but I assume those didn't sell as much as James Labrie.

[Madman Shepherd]

It's true that, in the prog world, James' is the least "solo" of them. He's more solo in the sense of pop singers who have writers and contribute at times. In this case, you were right, this really is more of Matt's project, and they call it James Labrie to help sell more records. Not something I mind. They tried it the other way for two records (Mullmuzzler) but I assume those didn't sell as much as James Labrie.

Actually I think they didn't use "James LaBrie" for the first two due to some contractual thing. 

[MirrorMask]

A while back I started a thread about our dream JLB setlists. Might be a good time to resurrect the thread. Feel free to join in. 

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=38508.msg1643784#msg1643784

Well, I can offer my current "setlist" which is actually the playlist I listen when I go to work, I always organize them as setlists to have more imaginary fun and, not happy with that, I rotate the songs each time a new album comes out in ways Portnoy would be proud of me.

Since James has currently no new album, this is kinda a greatest hits kind of set, I wanted to try something different and I snuck in a couple of songs from his other collaborations:

Crucify
Statued
One More Time
Venice Burning
Confronting the Devil
La Mer (from Frameshift's Unweaving the Rainbow)
Guardian Angel
Lost in the Fire
Alone
Coming Home
His Voice
Euphoric
Shores of Avalon
Amnesia
Freaks
Agony
==============
Stranger
Shaping the Invisible (from Leonardo The Absolute Man)
A Simple Man