Which Dream Theater album has the best vocals?

[?]

Everyone uses Autotune, it's not a big deal IMO. It may be easier to notice on ADTOE than on the previous albums, but it isn't used nearly as much as on most pop records today.

[wolven74]

Top 3 vocal performances (because I can never choose just one)

3. A Dramatic Turn of Events: Despite the auto tune, I think this is a return to some great singing. It is pretty safe, but JLB showed some great dynamics throughout.

How do you know he used auto tune?

3. A Dramatic Turn of Events: Despite the auto tune, I think this is a return to some great singing. It is pretty safe, but JLB showed some great dynamics throughout.

Yes. EDIT: Sorry. thought you said I hope you know he used auto tune. :facepalm

It's subtle, but clear nonetheless on the ballads. Particularly BTS.

[BlastParadigm]

Subtle auto tune was and will never be a serious issue.
On the studio you always want the best take possible, but sometimes even the best take of the vocals is not good enough, so just slap a little bit of auto tune in there to fix some minor things.

[425]

I really want to vote for Octavarium. I think that James improved his ability to hit a variety of emotions despite losing technical ability post-accident. I'm just not sure I can vote against Images and Words or Awake. So just to give 8VM its due credit in this thread before I punch the button for I&W, I'll list some of my favorite vocal moments on these three albums:

I&W:
- "They said maybe when it's right for you they'll fall..."
-"...Freely, wandering promises..."
-"Morning comes too early... [whole intro]"
-"Light to dark Dark to light Light to dark Dark to light"
-"But I will hold this one on high..."
-Metropolis. The whole damn song but especially the... No, especially the whole damn song.
-"Praying for time to disappear"
-"In with the ashes"
-F#5 and last chorus of Learning to Live

Awake:
-"So many ways to drown a man..."
-"WOAH! Tried to live the life you lived and saw..."
-"Condescending, not intending to end... Some will transcend..."
-Erotomania. The whole damn song.
-The opening verse and the Sex Is Death verse of Voices
-"How could you be so cruel?"
-"He seems alone and silent..."
-Scarred. The whole damn song.

Octavarium:
-"Driven blindly by our sins..."
-"I'm ready to let it all go..."
-The Answer Lies Within because it just shows the emotional range that James has.
-"You are the only one who knows I'm holding back"
-Also all the rest of These Walls
-The last chorus of I Walk Beside You because oh my god.
-"Run... Try to hide"
-All of Sacrificed Sons, because emotional range, but particularly... No, all of it.
-Octavarium. And you know I'm about to say all of it, but all of it. PARTICULARLY Someone Like Him, Medicate, Intervals and Razor's Edge.

You know what? In the process of making this I think I convinced myself to vote for 8VM. Maybe I&W is technically the best and it may still be my favorite vocal performance, but looking at this thread says to me that post-accident James needs some love, so I'm giving it. Voting Octavarium.

[Nick]

Holy shit. I would never have expected this to be SO lopsided for I&W/Awake.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Which one did you vote for?

[Tomislav95]

Awake, without even thinking.

[mallorier]

...I'll list some of my favorite vocal moments on these three albums:

-Erotomania. The whole damn song.

[SeRoX]

I think this "instrumental music has the best vocal lines, performance...bla bla..." thing is absolutely the worst joke in music history. Just saying. No disrespect to who find it funny.

[Unlegit]

Easily Images and Words.

[425]

I think this "instrumental music has the best vocal lines, performance...bla bla..." thing is absolutely the worst joke in music history. Just saying. No disrespect to who find it funny.

I typically don't find it all that funny either, and downright rude when it is meant to insult a singer. I just did that because I realized that my whole post was probably too lengthy for what it was and I wanted to add a slightly self-deprecating nugget for anyone who actually read it. I think the only reason I would think anyone would find that remark in my post amusing is the fact that it was in a list without missing a beat and reprising the sentence structure as my praise for Metropolis. That way, it's an unexpected and hidden comment only accessible to those who are closely paying attention. And I think it should be obvious from my fawning all over James in that post that I did not mean it as an insult to him in any way.

[mallorier]

...That way, it's an unexpected and hidden comment only accessible to those who are closely paying attention.

Exactly this

[SeRoX]

I think this "instrumental music has the best vocal lines, performance...bla bla..." thing is absolutely the worst joke in music history. Just saying. No disrespect to who find it funny.

I typically don't find it all that funny either, and downright rude when it is meant to insult a singer. I just did that because I realized that my whole post was probably too lengthy for what it was and I wanted to add a slightly self-deprecating nugget for anyone who actually read it. I think the only reason I would think anyone would find that remark in my post amusing is the fact that it was in a list without missing a beat and reprising the sentence structure as my praise for Metropolis. That way, it's an unexpected and hidden comment only accessible to those who are closely paying attention. And I think it should be obvious from my fawning all over James in that post that I did not mean it as an insult to him in any way.

Thanks for the explanation but I *did not* point you out. Generally speaking. I saw the comment written before me so I just said my thought about it. I always see that kind of jokes here and there. That's all, no big deal.

[SnakeEyes]

Awake by a landslide.  But, not just performance-wise.  The way they got LaBrie's voice to sound on that album is SOOOOOOO good.  The high note in "Scarred" at the end of the bridge .... wow. 

[Dreamer]

I thought I'd wake this thread up and say for me the best vocals are certainly on DT12 (as it is known around here).
The band just seem to have worked a lot harder on the vocal melodies this time, obviously James has been totally involved in the writing which must help too.

[King Postwhore]

I am shocked by how many voted for Awake. 

[Tis BOOLsheet]

I chose I&W, but if there were an option for 2nd place I would have chosen DT12.

In general I hate the grittier vocal on Awake; it doesn't sit right with JLB's voice. That is last place for me.

[kirksnosehair]

I voted for Images but its a very close race from my point of view.  The thing that bugs me about Awake is James sounds a bit...contrived...when he's putting that "edge" in his voice.  It's just not a style that comes natural to him and the result, at least for me, is his performance comes across as sort of odd.  That said there is still more than enough excellence here to make this #2 in my book and that's nothing to sneeze at, yo

[Tis BOOLsheet]

I voted for Images but its a very close race from my point of view.  The thing that bugs me about Awake is James sounds a bit...contrived...when he's putting that "edge" in his voice.  It's just not a style that comes natural to him and the result, at least for me, is his performance comes across as sort of odd.  That said there is still more than enough excellence here to make this #2 in my book and that's nothing to sneeze at, yo

This. Agreed 100%

[Crow]

As someone who is a total Awake fanboy, I&W has slightly better vocals. Sliiiightly.

[CharlesPL]

Images and Words

[GentlemanofDread]

DT12

[jakepriest]

Voted for Octavarium. Root Of All Evil, Sacrificed Sons and Octavarium are some of LaBrie's finest vocal moments. Awake is a very close second but I feel he overdid the raspy vocals.

[son_ov_hades]

Images And Words, but Awake is an extremely close second. And for controversial opinions, I think When Dream And Day Unite comes in third.

[Ben_Jamin]

Dream Theater.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

Really surprised that Awake is beating out I&W. I went with the latter. Awake would probably fall in 2nd or 3rd.

[Ben_Jamin]

JLB has better control of his voice than the I&W days. High notes are overrated, and The way he sings certain songs from DT12 rival those from Images and Words, mainly TBP, BTV, TEI,hell the whole album he shines.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

JLB has better control of his voice than the I&W days. High notes are overrated, and The way he sings certain songs from DT12 rival those from Images and Words, mainly TBP, BTV, TEI,hell the whole album he shines.

This I agree with. DT12 is arguably his best vocal performance of the Roadrunner-era. In particular I adore him on IT.

But I feel that it's more than just the high notes that makes his performance on I&W so stunning. Forgive me for my utter lack of knowledge when it comes to using fancy, technical words from that Music Theory 101 class in high school that I never took. Every time I listen to I&W, it's like James punches me with his voice and then soothes me back to health. The emotional delivery behind every line he sings resonates within you, and he always sings in a manner that perfectly fits the mood of the particular song, and indeed the particular sections of each song. There's probably an innate bias when it comes to that seeing as how I&W is my second favorite DT album, and I'm a sucker for high notes, which I&W definitely majors in.

[Ben_Jamin]

JLB has better control of his voice than the I&W days. High notes are overrated, and The way he sings certain songs from DT12 rival those from Images and Words, mainly TBP, BTV, TEI,hell the whole album he shines.

This I agree with. DT12 is arguably his best vocal performance of the Roadrunner-era. In particular I adore him on IT.

But I feel that it's more than just the high notes that makes his performance on I&W so stunning. Forgive me for my utter lack of knowledge when it comes to using fancy, technical words from that Music Theory 101 class in high school that I never took. Every time I listen to I&W, it's like James punches me with his voice and then soothes me back to health. The emotional delivery behind every line he sings resonates within you, and he always sings in a manner that perfectly fits the mood of the particular song, and indeed the particular sections of each song. There's probably an innate bias when it comes to that seeing as how I&W is my second favorite DT album, and I'm a sucker for high notes, which I&W definitely majors in.

Thats how I feel about DT12, my 2nd fave.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

In terms of vocal performance, DT12 is definitely in my top 5 at the very least. Everything I said could just as well apply to DT12 honestly.

[Volante99]

I'm in the camp that feels Labrie's vocals have gotten better on the most recent albums.

While his vocal ability was more impressive in the early albums, I feel like he "over-sang" throughout the Images/Awake era. It seems like the focus on the melody was always on how high and powerful he could sing rather than what fit the song and mood of the lyrics.

I think ADToE is probably the best recent showcase of his vocals.

[Shine]

Awake. I&W comes close, and everything else just isn't comparable.

[Invisible]

While his vocal ability was more impressive in the early albums, I feel like he "over-sang" throughout the Images/Awake era. It seems like the focus on the melody was always on how high and powerful he could sing rather than what fit the song and mood of the lyrics.

Agree on his live performances(93 especially), but disagree completely on the studio, I think he chose each passage very well.

Awake is my favourite and by a long distance. He does everything great, soft voice, impossible high operatic, edgy rocking, emotional melodrama and finishing with emotional numbness and subdued anger on Space Dye Vest. Scarred and Voices are a vocal masterpiece, without his performance I probably wouldn't think that highly of those songs, changing to a soft heartfelt to downright tearing himself apart in the next minute, amazing all the way. I&W is also amazing, but I find more one sided on the soft and operatic, Awake shows everything the man can do and all in the same album. A Change Of Seasons isn't that far though, and the sad part is that it almost proves that if he took a break after the injury he probably would've been just fine .

Post injury I'd say DT12, rivalling with Octavarium and Systematic Chaos. Those three epics(IT, 8VM and ITPOE) showcase what this amazing man can do, but Illumination Theory has the best performance since Awake(Octavarium comes really close though). ADTOE has the same problem as the whole album: very good, but too safe.

[CodyWanKenobi]

I'm still confused as to whether this question is referring to the best sounding vocals as far as the recording goes (sonically) or the best vocal performance.

[robwebster]

Not sure. IAW and Awake have obvious merits, I think Octavarium might actually be a good outside runner - he's properly chameleonic on it. There's some beautiful warm stuff, not least The Answer Lies Within, there's hugely impressive range on Panic Attack, Octavarium, he pulls off the Matt Bellamy thing well despite being a completely different type singer, it's a great range.

I think his voice sounds more mature, since he lost and rebuilt it. It's got a nicer tone. You can see on IAW Live in Tokyo, where he's effortlessly skipping from high note to high note, and it is a phenomenal performance, but it's full of acrobatics. IAW and Awake have the same thing, albeit to a lesser extent, but I think he's better balanced, now - he can still nail the high notes when he wants to, but in conserving his voice, he sometimes makes different choices to the choices he'd have made back in the early nineties, and I think some of those choices are a lot more enjoyable.

That's not absolute, that's not like I'm popping in Images and Words and going, "what is this screeching," then playing Once in a LIVEtime and going, "there's the honey." The Silent Man, Lifting Shadows off a Dream, Surrounded, all plenty expressive. I've not voted for Octavarium, yet, because I'm not sure that it is better than IAW or Awake, I agree, they're both superlative. But it's way, way closer for me than it apparently was for the pollfaring public.