Author Topic: James deserves more credit.  (Read 7410 times)

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Offline BlobVanDam

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #35 on: February 12, 2016, 03:57:11 AM »
He did a fantastic job.  But I don't see anyone saying anything less, so I'm not sure what "more" credit he deserves.

I was just going to say that.  Even the people who thought the album was "meh" pretty much unanimously acknowledge that this was his best album in a long time, if not ever.

Let's not go overboard.
Don't get me wrong, I think JLB is great on the new album, his best of the RR era for sure, but I don't think it's all that like many people do.

I may be slow, but I don't even understand the last part of your sentence. ???  :rollin (it probably has more to do with me than with your post)

What I meant was that although I think JLB's vocals on TA are excellent, and agree they're his best in a while, I don't think they're god tier as others do, and wouldn't compare them to his absolute best vocals.
I mean no disrespect at all to the phenomenal JLB, because he's done an incredible job on the album, I just think some of his earlier vocals were even more insanely good. It's really more of a comment on just how good JLB has been throughout his career.

And deservedly, he's received nothing but praise for TA here, so I think he's getting plenty of credit. :tup
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Offline Bertielee

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #36 on: February 12, 2016, 04:59:24 AM »
He did a fantastic job.  But I don't see anyone saying anything less, so I'm not sure what "more" credit he deserves.

I was just going to say that.  Even the people who thought the album was "meh" pretty much unanimously acknowledge that this was his best album in a long time, if not ever.

Let's not go overboard.
Don't get me wrong, I think JLB is great on the new album, his best of the RR era for sure, but I don't think it's all that like many people do.

I may be slow, but I don't even understand the last part of your sentence. ???  :rollin (it probably has more to do with me than with your post)

What I meant was that although I think JLB's vocals on TA are excellent, and agree they're his best in a while, I don't think they're god tier as others do, and wouldn't compare them to his absolute best vocals.
I mean no disrespect at all to the phenomenal JLB, because he's done an incredible job on the album, I just think some of his earlier vocals were even more insanely good. It's really more of a comment on just how good JLB has been throughout his career.

And deservedly, he's received nothing but praise for TA here, so I think he's getting plenty of credit. :tup

Oh, OK. I told you it had more to do with me than with your post! :lol And, yeah, JLB is top-notch on TA, but I also think he has better performances on other albums.

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Offline El JoNNo

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #37 on: February 12, 2016, 12:11:05 PM »
I can name a number of things I don't like about his performance, I feel that he could correct these issues if he would work on them. There are many parts where he just doesn't sing well, in fact I'd say there are more examples on TA where he doesn't bring the resonance forward in his head then there are where he does. I wish he would take a year off and work on his issues before the next album but I know that will never happen.

He used to sing this way when he was tired but his fatigued bad habits have carried over into his non-fatigued singing. His voice has improved but his technique has degraded. I noticed the major change in DT12. This is the first I have mentioned it just because even though JLB is the one that inspired me to sing and I've made peace with his failings.

Offline ZirconBlue

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #38 on: February 12, 2016, 01:22:07 PM »
There are many parts where he just doesn't sing well, in fact I'd say there are more examples on TA where he doesn't bring the resonance forward in his head then there are where he does.

I think those are consciously-made decisions to give the characters different voices.

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #39 on: February 12, 2016, 02:41:11 PM »
I can name a number of things I don't like about his performance, I feel that he could correct these issues if he would work on them. There are many parts where he just doesn't sing well, in fact I'd say there are more examples on TA where he doesn't bring the resonance forward in his head then there are where he does. I wish he would take a year off and work on his issues before the next album but I know that will never happen.

He used to sing this way when he was tired but his fatigued bad habits have carried over into his non-fatigued singing. His voice has improved but his technique has degraded. I noticed the major change in DT12. This is the first I have mentioned it just because even though JLB is the one that inspired me to sing and I've made peace with his failings.

Cool story, but this is kind of an appreciation thread.

Offline El JoNNo

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #40 on: February 12, 2016, 03:11:20 PM »
There are many parts where he just doesn't sing well, in fact I'd say there are more examples on TA where he doesn't bring the resonance forward in his head then there are where he does.

I think those are consciously-made decisions to give the characters different voices.

He's been doing it for the last three albums.

I can name a number of things I don't like about his performance, I feel that he could correct these issues if he would work on them. There are many parts where he just doesn't sing well, in fact I'd say there are more examples on TA where he doesn't bring the resonance forward in his head then there are where he does. I wish he would take a year off and work on his issues before the next album but I know that will never happen.

He used to sing this way when he was tired but his fatigued bad habits have carried over into his non-fatigued singing. His voice has improved but his technique has degraded. I noticed the major change in DT12. This is the first I have mentioned it just because even though JLB is the one that inspired me to sing and I've made peace with his failings.

Cool story, but this is kind of an appreciation thread.

No it's not, the OP says no such thing. Also BlobVanDam is able to voice his opinion on why he thinks they're not as good as many think then I can certainly voice my displeasure with his technique. I didn't bash him nor say he was complete shit on the album. In fact I said his voice has improved.

Offline wolven74

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #41 on: February 12, 2016, 03:33:05 PM »
TA is truly his masterpiece, but he's been fantastic since he joined on I&W. Every album is diverse vocally. He improves with every recording. What higher praise can one give a vocalist?
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Offline pcs90

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #42 on: February 12, 2016, 03:42:51 PM »
I honestly believe TA is his best work.
I'm also really surprised that some people have complaints about him on this album. I'm usually very critical of singing but I honestly can't find anything wrong here...

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #43 on: February 12, 2016, 04:49:38 PM »
Pretty much, you'd have to be super anal to find fault.

Offline El JoNNo

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #44 on: February 12, 2016, 05:14:33 PM »
Pretty much, you'd have to be super anal to find fault.

Or have ears.

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #45 on: February 12, 2016, 06:37:01 PM »
Pretty much, you'd have to be super anal to find fault.

Or have ears.

While we're at it, why not criticize JP for that 64th note that was half a millisecond ahead of the beat. 🙄

Offline pcs90

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #46 on: February 12, 2016, 06:49:31 PM »
So could you provide examples of specific places on TA where you feel James didn't sing well? I'm honestly really curious.

Offline DragonAttack

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #47 on: February 12, 2016, 07:30:27 PM »
I've enjoyed JLB for what he does with my favorite active band.  I have a young musician friend who mentioned last year that it might be time for JLB to hang it up.  Or in a year or two.  A couple of days after TA came out, he had nothing but high praise, of how he really shines on this release.  I totally agree.  He also sounded like he was having fun, and having fun with it. 

Good points made earlier about doing mostly the same setlists for each tour the last five years.  That has helped them all in uncounted ways.
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Offline El JoNNo

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #48 on: February 12, 2016, 07:48:59 PM »
So could you provide examples of specific places on TA where you feel James didn't sing well? I'm honestly really curious.

It's just his general overall technique that he uses anymore, he's not bring the resonance forward and spreading it across his cheek bones and forehead. By doing this it causes him to have a nasal sound and make it difficult to pronounce 'O', 'OO', 'EE' and causes those vowels to be distorted. It causes other issues like all the sliding from note to note and not just hitting the note right on. He does a scoop up to it. I remember people making fun of it on Score when it came out.

An example on TA would be Lord Nafaryus the first 40 seconds. He doesn't bring the sound forward and ends up pulling his chest voice instead of going into a mix and spreads the vowels multiple times.

For comparison "How the rumors are spreading like vines" sounds free and is a proper 'I' sound it's elegant. Where as "Of a man who has been glorified" is pulling chest voice and spreading the word apart. This is because he's pulling the sound back and no allowing it to flow forward and cause a muffled pinched off sound. This happens throughout the album.

Again, i'm not saying he sounds like complete shit. It's just something I notice because he got me into singing and he is a hero of mine. I still listen to the album and I am going to see them this year. Is it is something I wish he would fix? Absolutely but it's not going to stop me from listening.     

Offline Cable

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #49 on: February 12, 2016, 11:33:57 PM »
Since MP left, to me at least, I've enjoyed his singing better on albums.  Maybe having more control was better for him.

Yeah, if MP were part of this project we would have been subjected to his Nafayrius death growls. No thanks.


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Offline Enigmachine

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #50 on: February 13, 2016, 10:56:44 AM »
So could you provide examples of specific places on TA where you feel James didn't sing well? I'm honestly really curious.

It's just his general overall technique that he uses anymore, he's not bring the resonance forward and spreading it across his cheek bones and forehead. By doing this it causes him to have a nasal sound and make it difficult to pronounce 'O', 'OO', 'EE' and causes those vowels to be distorted. It causes other issues like all the sliding from note to note and not just hitting the note right on. He does a scoop up to it. I remember people making fun of it on Score when it came out.

An example on TA would be Lord Nafaryus the first 40 seconds. He doesn't bring the sound forward and ends up pulling his chest voice instead of going into a mix and spreads the vowels multiple times.

For comparison "How the rumors are spreading like vines" sounds free and is a proper 'I' sound it's elegant. Where as "Of a man who has been glorified" is pulling chest voice and spreading the word apart. This is because he's pulling the sound back and no allowing it to flow forward and cause a muffled pinched off sound. This happens throughout the album.

Again, i'm not saying he sounds like complete shit. It's just something I notice because he got me into singing and he is a hero of mine. I still listen to the album and I am going to see them this year. Is it is something I wish he would fix? Absolutely but it's not going to stop me from listening.     

That just seems to be his style though. He even does stuff like it way back on Awake.

Offline El JoNNo

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #51 on: February 13, 2016, 11:48:55 AM »
Don't remember him pulling chest voice due to poor resonance being throughout Awake. There are times where he spreads vowels but they weren't due to poor resonance.

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #52 on: February 13, 2016, 12:30:03 PM »
He's earned more than enough credit just on his solo work alone and obviously his career with DT.  I don't need albums like DT12 and TA to figure that out.
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Offline Enigmachine

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #53 on: February 13, 2016, 05:08:58 PM »
Don't remember him pulling chest voice due to poor resonance being throughout Awake. There are times where he spreads vowels but they weren't due to poor resonance.

Well, I'm not a vocalist or an expert on the profession but something like 'glorified' doesn't seem any worse than in the high choruses of LSoaD (on 'Dreaaam'). I don't think JLB is known to have great technique overall anyway, especially in the breathy and nasal parts which are basically the signature aspects of his voice and is what many people actually like about him.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #54 on: February 13, 2016, 08:38:26 PM »
JLB is terrific on the new record, and his studio voice has aged really well considering the style he normally sings in, but there is no way on God's green earth that you will convince me that it's a better overall performance than I&W (which still stands as his best vocal performance to date, from a full album standpoint, IMO).

Offline Enigmachine

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #55 on: February 14, 2016, 06:14:11 AM »
JLB is terrific on the new record, and his studio voice has aged really well considering the style he normally sings in, but there is no way on God's green earth that you will convince me that it's a better overall performance than I&W (which still stands as his best vocal performance to date, from a full album standpoint, IMO).

Of course his performance isn't as impressive as on an abum made 24 years ago, but it's reasonable to think that some people could like the melodies he sings and the way he sings them on TA more than IaW. I'd say IaW is better, but I think it's actually relatively close.

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #56 on: February 14, 2016, 08:04:59 AM »
JLB is terrific on the new record, and his studio voice has aged really well considering the style he normally sings in, but there is no way on God's green earth that you will convince me that it's a better overall performance than I&W (which still stands as his best vocal performance to date, from a full album standpoint, IMO).

Of course his performance isn't as impressive as on an abum made 24 years ago, but it's reasonable to think that some people could like the melodies he sings and the way he sings them on TA more than IaW. I'd say IaW is better, but I think it's actually relatively close.

I&W is almost untouchable, but I think TA has more variation and moods in his vocals.

Offline BlobVanDam

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #57 on: February 14, 2016, 08:32:33 AM »
JLB is terrific on the new record, and his studio voice has aged really well considering the style he normally sings in, but there is no way on God's green earth that you will convince me that it's a better overall performance than I&W (which still stands as his best vocal performance to date, from a full album standpoint, IMO).

Of course his performance isn't as impressive as on an abum made 24 years ago, but it's reasonable to think that some people could like the melodies he sings and the way he sings them on TA more than IaW. I'd say IaW is better, but I think it's actually relatively close.

I&W is almost untouchable, but I think TA has more variation and moods in his vocals.

I think it's possible TA has more variety in moods and style of vocals than any DT album, with elements I'd love to hear a lot more of in DT. JLB really got to explore and expand his talents on this one.
For melodies though, I'd personally give the edge to IaW. Aside from my controversial exception of LTL (where I think the melodies suffer a bit for the lyrics), I think IaW is absolutely note for note perfect melodically.
Both albums show JLB at the best of his abilities at that respective point in his career.
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Offline pcs90

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #58 on: February 14, 2016, 12:46:12 PM »
I prefer TA, but his vocals on IW are also amazing.

Offline Rodni Demental

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #59 on: February 14, 2016, 02:57:22 PM »
So could you provide examples of specific places on TA where you feel James didn't sing well? I'm honestly really curious.

It's just his general overall technique that he uses anymore, he's not bring the resonance forward and spreading it across his cheek bones and forehead. By doing this it causes him to have a nasal sound and make it difficult to pronounce 'O', 'OO', 'EE' and causes those vowels to be distorted. It causes other issues like all the sliding from note to note and not just hitting the note right on. He does a scoop up to it. I remember people making fun of it on Score when it came out.

An example on TA would be Lord Nafaryus the first 40 seconds. He doesn't bring the sound forward and ends up pulling his chest voice instead of going into a mix and spreads the vowels multiple times.

For comparison "How the rumors are spreading like vines" sounds free and is a proper 'I' sound it's elegant. Where as "Of a man who has been glorified" is pulling chest voice and spreading the word apart. This is because he's pulling the sound back and no allowing it to flow forward and cause a muffled pinched off sound. This happens throughout the album.

Again, i'm not saying he sounds like complete shit. It's just something I notice because he got me into singing and he is a hero of mine. I still listen to the album and I am going to see them this year. Is it is something I wish he would fix? Absolutely but it's not going to stop me from listening.     

I thought I knew what you might have been talking about, but then I got lost on your example. Is it similar to how he shouts certain parts in the higher register? (see Moment of Betrayal final chorus)

But yea, I love JLBs vocal styles, I consider him a good singing teacher actually just by listening to how he expresses his technique, not that I can sing for shit but I have learnt a lot just listening to how he portrays his technique in various styles, this includes the aspect of learning what not to do, have listened to many bootlegs. Although one thing that sometimes got me, is a certain tonal quality that shows up on certain high notes (especially live or on certain harmonies in studio), and it doesn't happen all the time. But SFAM, Mullmuzzler and EoP albums are plagued with it (screeching harmonies) and to a similar extent TOT with a few moments on 6DOIT but not as prominently. Hasn't been as apparent recently apart from final Chorus of Along for the Ride comes to mind and a few parts of The Astonishing have this.

It's inconsistent though cause sometimes I hear it and go, man that octave harmony sounds awesome!  :metal And othertimes I'm just like man please stop shouting at me in the background.  ::)

EDIT: Yeah it's like he's trying to sound like he did on I&W but it doesn't come across as powerfully. Personally I prefer when it has a bit more grit, ala Awake and some parts of FII.

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #60 on: February 14, 2016, 03:53:57 PM »
Since MP left, to me at least, I've enjoyed his singing better on albums.  Maybe having more control was better for him.

I wouldn't put the milestone at MP leaving.  I'd put it around the Awake to FII era when JP and MP started tinkering with throwing their singing skills into the mix.  I recall in 1994 when JP visited Musicians Institute he was really talking about how he was making great strides in learning how to create *human* vocal melodies.  That he was learning things via his interactions with James about how certain interval jumps were difficult with certain vowel sounds.  Obviously the easiest way to create vocal melodies v. guitar melodies is to write them vocally.  Improving his singing skills helped bridge that divide.

One thing I took away from the Drummer audition video was that JLB had some good musical instincts beyond vocal duties.  They should consider bringing him in for some producing duties.  Even if on a Jr. level.


Offline El JoNNo

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #61 on: February 14, 2016, 08:21:16 PM »
Don't remember him pulling chest voice due to poor resonance being throughout Awake. There are times where he spreads vowels but they weren't due to poor resonance.

Well, I'm not a vocalist or an expert on the profession but something like 'glorified' doesn't seem any worse than in the high choruses of LSoaD (on 'Dreaaam'). I don't think JLB is known to have great technique overall anyway, especially in the breathy and nasal parts which are basically the signature aspects of his voice and is what many people actually like about him.

It's hard to explain and I may not be able to explain to someone who doesn't sing. I'm not trying to be condescending by saying that. It would be like someone trying to explain to me a comparable technique in drumming but I'll try.

For the purpose of this example let's say there are only three gears the voice can be in. Chest voice, mixed voice, and head voice. When vocal folds oscillate you can feel vibrations in your chest, neck/face, eyes and upward wrapping around the head. Regardless of where these vibrations are you need to focus the spread of sound through the bones in the face. James is not properly bringing the focus forward into his face and trapping the quality of the resonance in his throat. By doing this he can't hold notes as long and he slides into the notes a lot instead of hitting them precisely.

I thought I knew what you might have been talking about, but then I got lost on your example. Is it similar to how he shouts certain parts in the higher register? (see Moment of Betrayal final chorus)
Yes, notice how he is putting a lot of effort into it and sliding into each note. It's hard for him to hit the note precisely.

Offline erwinrafael

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #62 on: February 14, 2016, 08:45:26 PM »
COuld it be a stylistic choice, though? I know some singers here in our country who like to slide to the notes, instead of hitting them precisely, because it gives the singing some character. It's a deliberate technique I hear in some some styles, like in traditional Japanese songs.

Offline BlobVanDam

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #63 on: February 14, 2016, 09:00:23 PM »
Sounds completely stylistic to me. Imagining it without the slides, it would just sound bland imo.
He's in the studio environment, with the benefit of studio touch ups. If he wanted it to sound straight up, he could and would have done so.
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Offline pcs90

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #64 on: February 14, 2016, 09:05:52 PM »
Sounds completely stylistic to me. Imagining it without the slides, it would just sound bland imo.
He's in the studio environment, with the benefit of studio touch ups. If he wanted it to sound straight up, he could and would have done so.
Agreed. I've heard live performances where it sounds like a mistake, but this doesn't sound like a mistake to me, just expression.

Offline Gromit1710

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #65 on: February 15, 2016, 05:26:31 AM »
Don't remember him pulling chest voice due to poor resonance being throughout Awake. There are times where he spreads vowels but they weren't due to poor resonance.

Well, I'm not a vocalist or an expert on the profession but something like 'glorified' doesn't seem any worse than in the high choruses of LSoaD (on 'Dreaaam'). I don't think JLB is known to have great technique overall anyway, especially in the breathy and nasal parts which are basically the signature aspects of his voice and is what many people actually like about him.

It's hard to explain and I may not be able to explain to someone who doesn't sing. I'm not trying to be condescending by saying that. It would be like someone trying to explain to me a comparable technique in drumming but I'll try.

For the purpose of this example let's say there are only three gears the voice can be in. Chest voice, mixed voice, and head voice. When vocal folds oscillate you can feel vibrations in your chest, neck/face, eyes and upward wrapping around the head. Regardless of where these vibrations are you need to focus the spread of sound through the bones in the face. James is not properly bringing the focus forward into his face and trapping the quality of the resonance in his throat. By doing this he can't hold notes as long and he slides into the notes a lot instead of hitting them precisely.

I thought I knew what you might have been talking about, but then I got lost on your example. Is it similar to how he shouts certain parts in the higher register? (see Moment of Betrayal final chorus)
Yes, notice how he is putting a lot of effort into it and sliding into each note. It's hard for him to hit the note precisely.

I'm not saying you're wrong at all. I've had vocal training, I know exactly the mechanisms you're referring to and yes, they are important when trying to give a performance.

So with that in mind... A singer using perfect technique all the time does not automatically equate to a "Good" singer. Just like a guitar player using perfect fingering and picking all the time doesn't mean he's automatically a "Good" guitar player, either. He may be able to play, but it's his stylistic choices when using those techniques is what makes that musician someone you like to listen to. And many times, abandoning perfect adherence to those techniques is where your style comes from.

Oddly enough, I'm in the camp that JP was a rather "Soulless" guitar player with no emotion until the COS release. He could play with amazing technique, but his solo's sounded robotic and too perfect to me, missing a lot of that human element of stylistic emotion until about COS to my ears. Doesn't mean I don't love I&W or Awake... I do.

Freddy Mercury, Chris Cornell, Geoff Tate, Bruce Dickenson, Rob Halford, David Bowie, John Lennon.... None of these people use perfect technique either yet are regarded as some of the top male rock vocalists through modern times. Why? Because of their stylistic choices that fit their voice. Not that they had perfect sense when to engage their head voice 100% of the time. They sang what they felt fit the music.


Offline In The Name Of Rudess

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #66 on: February 15, 2016, 06:52:54 AM »
Don't remember him pulling chest voice due to poor resonance being throughout Awake. There are times where he spreads vowels but they weren't due to poor resonance.

Well, I'm not a vocalist or an expert on the profession but something like 'glorified' doesn't seem any worse than in the high choruses of LSoaD (on 'Dreaaam'). I don't think JLB is known to have great technique overall anyway, especially in the breathy and nasal parts which are basically the signature aspects of his voice and is what many people actually like about him.

It's hard to explain and I may not be able to explain to someone who doesn't sing. I'm not trying to be condescending by saying that. It would be like someone trying to explain to me a comparable technique in drumming but I'll try.

For the purpose of this example let's say there are only three gears the voice can be in. Chest voice, mixed voice, and head voice. When vocal folds oscillate you can feel vibrations in your chest, neck/face, eyes and upward wrapping around the head. Regardless of where these vibrations are you need to focus the spread of sound through the bones in the face. James is not properly bringing the focus forward into his face and trapping the quality of the resonance in his throat. By doing this he can't hold notes as long and he slides into the notes a lot instead of hitting them precisely.

I thought I knew what you might have been talking about, but then I got lost on your example. Is it similar to how he shouts certain parts in the higher register? (see Moment of Betrayal final chorus)
Yes, notice how he is putting a lot of effort into it and sliding into each note. It's hard for him to hit the note precisely.

I'm not saying you're wrong at all. I've had vocal training, I know exactly the mechanisms you're referring to and yes, they are important when trying to give a performance.

So with that in mind... A singer using perfect technique all the time does not automatically equate to a "Good" singer. Just like a guitar player using perfect fingering and picking all the time doesn't mean he's automatically a "Good" guitar player, either. He may be able to play, but it's his stylistic choices when using those techniques is what makes that musician someone you like to listen to. And many times, abandoning perfect adherence to those techniques is where your style comes from.

I agree with all of this, but I don't think it is completely applicable to Labrie's situation. Bowie and Lennon had very limited technique, so they developed their style to work around these problems, which made them sound good in the end. Labrie's vocal style is however much more challenging and requires much more technique. Unfortunately, in Labrie's case I'd say his technique is often insufficient to support the stylistic choices he makes. I'd say that usually a singer will only sound good when the amount of technique he/she has is sufficient for the style they want to sing in.

I also wanted to note that James is rarely disliked for his studio performances; it's his live performances that get criticized. And to be fair, James is very, very inconsistent live. Many parts of the last few live releases required extensive autotune and overdubbing. The same is true for Chris Cornell, Freddie Mercury, etc. it's just that with the advent of Youtube it's easier to criticize singers, and having a fanbase largely consisting of musicians doesn't help either. This is why I feel JLB sometimes doesn't get credit.

Offline El JoNNo

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #67 on: February 15, 2016, 07:13:00 AM »
If I quoted you guys and responded individually I think I would end up repeating my self so I'll say this.
 - The sliding
 - The sound of the note hitting a wall when he reaches his passagio
 - The poor exit or dismount off of notes
 - Spreading the vowel (it's worse than LSoaD as you can hear the resonance in his face and the EE sound in the note)
 - The yelling each note when hitting higher notes
 - The EXCESSIVE breathy tone. There is a huge difference in his breathy tone from even TOT.
 -

If I listened to the album and the last three or so I'm sure I'd notice more. This is not a style issue this is a resonance issue, he is keeping it pulled back in his throat and not allowing it to flow forward. His voice has not deteriorated if anything it has improved, it's just the resonance. If he took a year off and focus on bring it forward I guarantee without a doubt that you would hear Scenes quality even almost Images quality (getting old is a bitch). You also wouldn't see him tire out so quickly on tour. I'm surprised he doesn't get headaches from teh amount of push he must do.

Offline erwinrafael

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #68 on: February 15, 2016, 07:17:06 AM »
Does he tire out quickly on tour? I was under the impression that he gets better as the tour progresses.

Offline El JoNNo

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Re: James deserves more credit.
« Reply #69 on: February 15, 2016, 07:27:08 AM »
Does he tire out quickly on tour? I was under the impression that he gets better as the tour progresses.

Maybe I phrased that poorly. You would see him have extended endurance as singing would become easier. Giving him less off nights or his off nights would be less noticeable.