Old James Labrie vs. Russell Allen

[Flacracker]

Who do you think is better?

[El JoNNo]

James. I've only ever heard one mode from Russell and it is grit, grit and grit.

[SystematicThought]

Old James. I love the range on the guy

[Jamesman42]

old JLB because RA gets samey

[MajorMatt]

James. I've only ever heard one mode from Russell and it is grit, grit and grit.

Exactly, James all the way - his range and power is fantastic. Although I must say I do quite like RAs voice.

[manticore999]

Russell all the way. Especially when he sings instead of screams. James' voice is like nails on a chalkboard - cringe-inducing.

[Scrub206]

As much as I love Russell Allen (second favorite vocalist of all time), I've always been a HUGE JLB fan. I love his range, his style, I even love his stage presence  the things that he used too, and even still does, with his voice is just mind blowing 

[skydivingninja]

James in any era.  Russel Allen is boring.

[lithium112]

Tough call. My favourite JLB performance is actually a tie between LATM and Score, so both old and new James. LATM was just so powerful, even if he did oversing a couple of parts. Score, on the other hand, had less of that raw energy but a lot more maturity and was basically a flawless vocal performance. RA has always been one of my favourites and his style on The Odyssey and previous albums was actually much less gritty and more diverse than Paradise Lost, Iconoclast and with A. Mob. Hm... I dunno, I'm still reserving my judgement.

[BlobVanDam]

Old James LaBrie.

[Gadough]

I prefer Russell, but just barely.

James' voice is like nails on a chalkboard - cringe-inducing.

Why are you on this forum then?

[Kotowboy]

James LaBrie > Glenn Hughes > Russell Allen.

[wolfking]

I prefer Russell, but just barely.

This.

[GunsOfThePatriots]

Russel Allen All The Way .

[Bertielee]

I would have voted RA if he didn't always sing  in the same manner. JLB all the way.

B.Lee

[a51502112]

How about OLD Russell Allen. Now he just sounds like a yelling pirate.

[Super Dude]

Wouldn't he actually be young JLB?

But yeah I went with before the shrimp, although I must say he's made an excellent recovery.

[Phoenix87x]

Old school Labrie is probably my favorite singer of all time, followed by John Arch and Tate.

I really like contemporary Labrie too, but not as much as Images Labrie. 

[jingle.boy]

Despite all the wiki references to shrimp, Lifting Shadows quotes James as eating "rice, pork and eggs" for breakfast that morning in 1994.

None-the-less, I abstain from this.  All three are awesome.

[namgalsipsclar]

Old LaBrie all the way. Awake and I&W are my favourite vocal performances ever. There should be an option for pre-odyssey Russell Allen, some of Divine Wings is sensational, Candlelight Fantasia in particular

[RuRoRul]

Probably Russell Allen - he's a much better singer than JLB in my opinion even though JLB is great. But I do agree that JLB is probably more versatile, I couldn't imagine Russell Allen (or in fact any other singer) fitting all of DT's different songs as well. Russell excels a little more than JLB but could get more samey (and while I like the fact that he is able to sing harshly as well, I much prefer his cleaner singing voice).

Incidentally I don't see what's so special about "Old" JLB compared to current one. I realise he had a better range due to being younger and the food poisoning incident later, but I possibly prefer the way his voice sounds now compared to older albums.

[snapple]

Post-shrimping incident. Many sailors died that day. James once told me the horrors of the sea from that fateful day. Nets upon nets were being filled with the largest most succulent shrimp a man could ever eat. "The emperors of Rome would be envious!" he told me. The ships cargo holds were nearly filled when a quiet came upon the ship and her crew. A warrior-esque shrimp creature came out from the warm Caribbean waters, donned in armor and wielding a spear. The spear, James said, looked as though it had killed a thousand sailors in it's past if it's killed one. The crew went to arms and attacked the shrimp, and one by one they were slaughtered. After  several minutes, it was down to James and the Shrimp creature. James realized there was only one way to kill the mighty beast. He would have to expose himself to attack to get the Shrimp's weak point. He grabbed a spear and charged the Shrimp. The Shrimp lowered it's spear and charged at James. James sprung into the air with a horrifying war cry. The Shrimp let off the most disgusting sound ever heard by man.

 WhOOSH, WHOOSH.

The Shrimp collapsed on the ship's deck in the blood of James fallen comrades. Slain, the Shrimp was. Our hero, however, had taken the Shrimp's mighty weapon to the throat, where his vocal cords were injured.  He clenched his throat and quickly found bandaging. Once the bleeding stopped and he regained some strength, James gave all a burial at sea - that damned Shrimp included.

To this day, no one knows if there are more warrior Shrimp in the sea. James was promoted to Captain after the fierce battle. He continues to sing for his band, Dream Theater. Fearful that his Earth defying F#'s may have caused the creation of the Shrimp (it's science, look it up if this doesn't make sense), he only hits the note on occasion. Knowing, fearing, that another Shrimp would be born.


edit: In all seriousness, I think James is the better vocalist. I'm actually happy that the food poisoning incident happened. His voice has matured and, I think, has added so much to Dream Theater's music.

[reneranucci]

Russell all the way. Especially when he sings instead of screams. James' voice is like nails on a chalkboard - cringe-inducing.

[obscure]

James all the way....

[krands85]

Early LaBrie for me.

But Allen doesn't always sing in the same way as some think.

[tjanuranus]

Not sure if serious...

but if for some reason you are, Images and Words and Awake Labrie > everyone.

[KevShmev]

I'll take JLB of every era over Allen, whom I not really a fan of.

[Jaffa]

I'll take JLB of every era over Allen, whom I not really a fan of.

Basically this.

[lithium112]

But Allen doesn't always sing in the same way as some think.

This. I feel like people who say this are only thinking of more recent RA stuff. I would argue that pre-Odyssey and even The Odyssey had pretty varied vocals. A song like "The Turning" for instance exemplifies both styles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d58JYoBaFro)

[Jamesman42]

James all the way....

Haha, I told you not to post your thoughts about me on the forums hahaha

[Bertielee]

Early LaBrie for me.

But Allen doesn't always sing in the same way as some think.

Nowadays, he does. Before, no, he didn't, but JLB has always been more varied for me. I think that the fact that SX music sounds very samey doesn't help either.

B.Lee

[02T]

I like JLB's voice now better than the old days.  But RA all the way.

[wolven74]

I prefer Russell, but just barely.

James' voice is like nails on a chalkboard - cringe-inducing.

Why are you on this forum then?

exactly

[Nekov]

I've never been a fan of JLB. Even though I don't like Symphony X, Russell Allen is a fantastic singer. So he gets my vote.

[Madman Shepherd]

Any and all James over Russell