Who's the better back vocalist?

[Lolzeez]

So yeah! I'm actually gonna go with JP just because of his Awake and Sfam back vocals. And at least he didnt Roarrrrr!!!!

[robwebster]

I like the tone of John Petrucci's voice more, but I did dig the vocal trade-offs that we only really got with the Mike Portnoy backing band. War Inside My Head, Full Circle, Glass Prison type thing. Love stuff like that - I'm a sucker for a good backing line. DT never embraced that side of them as much as other bands. Great when they do it, though! I'd be very pleased if they could find a way to play Don't Look Past Me live without tracks.

[wolfking]

Easily Mike.  JP is good on some songs, but cringe worthy on others, and overall not a good singer.  Portnoy has always been solid and some of the harmonies he did with James were excellent and Petrucci would stand no chance trying them.

[Cedar redaC]

John gets my vote by a hair. Both of them are pretty great singers, and when John, Mike, and James all worked together harmonizing, some of Dream Theater's most epic moments resulted. John gets my vote because his voice is such a rare occurrence in a solo setting, but when he does sing solo, his voice adds a darker texture to the music that few can replicate. (The pre-chorus of The Ministry of Lost Souls leaps to mind.)

The Glass Prison had some great lead vocals from Mr. Portnoy, and I think that these definitely show how multi-talented he is. I hope he does some more singing in the future!

[WDADU]

In b4 JMX.




Seriously, Mike Portnoy.

[KevShmev]

The Glass Prison had some great lead vocals from Mr. Portnoy

Wait, what?  How low are your standards for you to consider those vocals great?  I mean, I'd consider vocals by guys like Steve Walsh, Freddie Mercury, etc. to be great, and I can't imagine putting someone who isn't even a real lead vocalist in that mix, regardless of who it is. 

[SeRoX]

I'll go with Petrucci on this one but it's very close.

Actually it goes two way. I never find MP's voice well-harmonized with James' voice. But alone, his voice is quite Ok. For instance, The Glass Prison. But JP's and James' voice work well together. Especially now because I think Petrucci's improved his vocals, their harmonized vocals never bother me at all. JP alone, it's not good. He is all out of tune with no emotion. MP, at least got that one.

But, since you ask who is better "back" vocalist: my answer is Petrucci.

[BlobVanDam]

Easily Mike.  JP is good on some songs, but cringe worthy on others, and overall not a good singer.  Portnoy has always been solid and some of the harmonies he did with James were excellent and Petrucci would stand no chance trying them.

This, easily. MP had better range, in both musical range, and range of sounds. There are many songs that they use backing tapes for even though it's only one vocal part, that JP couldn't pull off.
I like JP's tone a lot (and put JLB/MP/JP together, even better), but he's not as good a vocalist as MP. The amount of pitch correction necessary on his demo of Wither says it all.

[ResultsMayVary]

JP wins regardless, but his current back-up vocals FAR EXCEDE his back-up vocals from circa 2009.

[Ħ]

I like JP's tone a lot (and put JLB/MP/JP together, even better), but he's not as good a vocalist as MP. The amount of pitch correction necessary on his demo of Wither says it all.

This, exactly. Mike is way better. In fact he's a pretty good backing vocalist IMO.

[Adami]

Are a lot of people voting JP because MP did a lot of awful co-lead vocals?


Cause despite those, his actual back up vocals are pretty good, and much better than JP who is also good.

[TheGreatPretender]

I voted JP just because I think he's got a nicer quality to his voice, much more appropriate for melodic backup vocals. I think he has a hard time with it though due to focusing on guitar, because I've only ever seen him do it on slower, more ballad oriented songs/parts. But while MP has a great musical ear, his voice is way too coarse to be doing backup vocals for LaBrie.

[Scorpion]

Even though no JP backing vox ever made me cringe like MP on ANTR, I'll have to go with MP, 'cause I like his backing vocals a little more as a whole.

[nikatapi]

I like JP's backing vocals more, because he doesn't try to steal the spotlight (like the high pitched voices MP did on CiM) and sound stupid, he simply does his job, and seeing DT live in 2011, he's improved very much recently.

[MoraWintersoul]

I like JP's tone a lot (and put JLB/MP/JP together, even better), but he's not as good a vocalist as MP. The amount of pitch correction necessary on his demo of Wither says it all.

Basically this. JP really has a beautiful, melodic voice, but he can't really sing backing vocals as good as MP did. MP could always focus on playing the drums and singing backing vocals (which become parts of lead in some tracks), JP can't do that, and JP overall made more mistakes while singing. He's improved now, but the fact they partly rely on backing tapes tells a lot.

[Cedar redaC]

JP wins regardless, but his current back-up vocals FAR EXCEDE his back-up vocals from circa 2009.

Anyone who saw "War Inside my Head" or "The Dark Eternal Night" on the last tour would probably agree.

[BlobVanDam]

JP wins regardless, but his current back-up vocals FAR EXCEDE his back-up vocals from circa 2009.

Anyone who saw "War Inside my Head" or "The Dark Eternal Night" on the last tour would probably agree.

I can't remember for WIMH, but for TDEN they were definitely using backing tapes throughout the song. I recall seeing a video where JP's vocals for the chorus were playing when he wasn't even near the mic.

[OsMosis2259]

MP

[Jaffa]

I agree with Cornelius.

[Cedar redaC]

JP wins regardless, but his current back-up vocals FAR EXCEDE his back-up vocals from circa 2009.

Anyone who saw "War Inside my Head" or "The Dark Eternal Night" on the last tour would probably agree.

I can't remember for WIMH, but for TDEN they were definitely using backing tapes throughout the song. I recall seeing a video where JP's vocals for the chorus were playing when he wasn't even near the mic.

They did use some taped parts on The Dark Eternal Night during the verse, but when I saw them, John sang Mike's parts in the pre-chorus and the harmonies in the chorus.

[?]

So yeah! I'm actually gonna go with JP just because of his Awake and Sfam back vocals. And at least he didnt Roarrrrr!!!!

JP didn't sing anything on Awake, it was one of the producers who sang the backing vocals on The Silent Man (and a few other songs, if I remember correctly).

Anyway, a good question. While I don't like the way MP started singing more and more towards the end, he was pretty good at backing vocals and this poll is about those. On the other hand, I prefer the tone of JP's voice and it meshes better with James' vocals. However, I think I have to go with Mike, because his voice has a bit more variety, and if you compare their backing vocals on the live DVD's, he stands out more. But as I said, I'm only talking about backing vocals, NOT lead vocal spots!

[Lolzeez]

Which is worse? The Spirit Carries On by JP or the amazing "ROOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!" by MP!!!!???

[SjundeInseglet]

JP gets my vote. His voice is prettier and I like his tone much, much better than MP's (whose tone I always found pretty jarring, to be honest). He's actually got a pretty soothing and beautiful (there's no other way to describe it, really) voice that suits the calmer, smoother songs perfectly (as evidenced by the "Wither" demo... if it wasn't auto-tuned into oblivion and JP had sung it in tune, I'd prefer the demo to the album version). And he clearly upped his game on the last tour. So yes, JP all the way.

[Lucidity]

Honestly, I don't like when anyone besides LaBrie is used to back LaBrie. Petrucci and Portnoy honestly just don't have pleasant singing voices. But I'm going with Petrucci by default since I hate MP's growls and tradeoffs of the SC/BCSL era.

[jonnybaxy]

MP but if JMX was inclided, its just a shame his mic is never on...

[Elite]

Easily Mike.  JP is good on some songs, but cringe worthy on others, and overall not a good singer.  Portnoy has always been solid and some of the harmonies he did with James were excellent and Petrucci would stand no chance trying them.

this is the correct answer.

[Ħ]

It's a good thing MP is finally winning the poll (as he should be).

[Perpetual Change]

I like the tone of John Petrucci's voice more, but I did dig the vocal trade-offs that we only really got with the Mike Portnoy backing band. War Inside My Head, Full Circle, Glass Prison type thing. Love stuff like that - I'm a sucker for a good backing line. DT never embraced that side of them as much as other bands. Great when they do it, though! I'd be very pleased if they could find a way to play Don't Look Past Me live without tracks.

The exact inverse of this opinion.

[TheGreatPretender]

Upon thinking about this further, here's what I think, MP was better at doing the alternate vocals, as in stuff like, "We can hope for the future, but there may not be one," and the tradeoffs on Constant Motion, etc. But JP was better at singing the harmonies, since his voice compliments LaBrie a lot more, rather than this coarse, dry tone that MP had.

[Madman Shepherd]

Honestly, I don't like when anyone besides LaBrie is used to back LaBrie. Petrucci and Portnoy honestly just don't have pleasant singing voices. But I'm going with Petrucci by default since I hate MP's growls and tradeoffs of the SC/BCSL era.

While a lot of people complained about that, I never saw it to be a huge problem and actually dug some of the backing vocals by other band members.  Then MP left and James got to do his thing more and I realized that a lot of the time, not all, but a lot of the time, all of MP's backing vocals took away from the music. 

Sometimes a band just needs to let the singer have the stage, even if it means a few harmonies are missing in a live setting.  That is what makes live music so cool is that you are seeing a more raw, less processed version of the music. 

[TheGreatPretender]

Sometimes a band just needs to let the singer have the stage, even if it means a few harmonies are missing in a live setting.  That is what makes live music so cool is that you are seeing a more raw, less processed version of the music.

Amen!!

[Lolzeez]

It's a good thing MP is finally winning the poll (as he should be).

Look now

[obscure]

tone over competency.... I say JP

I find Portnoy's voice to be kinda.... ummmm... minty.... what?

[wolfking]

I seriously cannot believe Petrucci is winning this poll.  I'm not the biggest Portnoy fan either but Jesus, these results are just insulting.

[Sycsa]

It's a good thing MP is finally winning the poll (as he should be).

How can you prepare for what would happen next?