DTF singers: how is LaBrie getting so much better as he gets older?

[KevShmev]

Just wanted to say that JLB absolutely nailed the last line of A Fortune in Lies on the Luna Park Blu-ray.

"You rode the reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!"

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I love how his voice gets more and more distorted as he gets to the end, that's a highlight of the whole performance for me.

[TheGreatPretender]

I keep listening to LALP over and over and man, I'm still blown away by JLB's performance. The kinds of little different things he does in the songs, the little crazy high screams that he does. The man is in top form. I remember watching the Live in Tokyo DVD with commentary, and JLB did a high pitched F# scream, and he said something like, "God, I can't believe I used to do that." Obviously his voice is in a much better shape now than it was in 2004.

Also, I wasn't crazy about some of the vocal melodies on ADTOE, and I hoped for more variety. Welll, in LALP, when he does the very end of OTBOA, THAT'S what I would've liked to hear on the album! I have a feeling the concert version of OTBOA will be my go to version from now on.

[Another_Won]

Welll, in LALP, when he does the very end of OTBOA, THAT'S what I would've liked to hear on the album! I have a feeling the concert version of OTBOA will be my go to version from now on.

I've been slowly digesting little pieces of LALP so as to get all the "nutrients" out of it.  This was one that stood out right away, absolutely how it should end!

[Sacul]

I've made a video about this some days ago using Surrounded as reference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6SOm5GWfTg

I think his performance in LALP is great, but... the song is a bit slow for me. Anyway, suggest a song for the next video

[bosk1]

That was cool.  How about Metropolis next?

[Sacul]

That was cool.  How about Metropolis next?

Yeah, I was thinking on that song because it appears in almost all live setlists:

Live at the Marquee
SFNY
WDADRU
Score
I&W 15^th Anniversary
LALP

Or maybe Learning to Live, but I'd need a good quality recording from the last tour.

[bosk1]

Yeah, Learning To Live hasn't appeared on anything official recently.  I wouldn't do that one.  Pull Me Under is pretty well represented.  The Spirit Carries On might be good as well, even though you couldn't go back earlier than 2000 for that one, obviously.

[TheGreatPretender]

A Fortune In Lies would also be a good choice. There are plenty versions of that one.

[bosk1]

Oh yeah, good call.  I hadn't even thought of that.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I've made a video about this some days ago using Surrounded as reference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6SOm5GWfTg

I think his performance in LALP is great, but... the song is a bit slow for me. Anyway, suggest a song for the next video

Good God, there's such a BIG difference between CIM and LALP. James has come a long way since 2008, luckily. In CiM, he sounds like he just swallowed a ton of helium.

[Flacracker]

Labrie has got much better recently. Still sucks he had that accident though. I wonder what he would sound like now.

[TheGreatPretender]

Labrie has got much better recently. Still sucks he had that accident though. I wonder what he would sound like now.

Considering that it's almost been 20 years since that happened, and the kinds of notes he's been hitting lately, I have a feeling that by now, he pretty much sounds the way he would if he never did have an accident.

Or, without the accident, he would've kept overdoing it in terms of performances and ended up wearing his voice out and losing much of his range. Who knows?

[TheAtliator]

I've made a video about this some days ago using Surrounded as reference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6SOm5GWfTg

I think his performance in LALP is great, but... the song is a bit slow for me. Anyway, suggest a song for the next video

Good God, there's such a BIG difference between CIM and LALP. James has come a long way since 2008, luckily. In CiM, he sounds like he just swallowed a ton of helium.

I don't think the CiM comparison is very fair considering the vocals on that album were recorded on an auto-tuned telephone answering machine. He didn't really sound like that live. If you want to know how he sounded in 2007, watch something like this one- https://youtu.be/W0CVzEkBxhI?t=41m26s and you'll notice he sounded at least as good as pre-accident or nowadays.

[Prog Snob]

Just wanted to say that JLB absolutely nailed the last line of A Fortune in Lies on the Luna Park Blu-ray.

"You rode the reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!"

I love how he sang that song on LaLP.  I feel like he was in his comfort song singing that. 

[Sacul]

I've made a video about this some days ago using Surrounded as reference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6SOm5GWfTg

I think his performance in LALP is great, but... the song is a bit slow for me. Anyway, suggest a song for the next video

Good God, there's such a BIG difference between CIM and LALP. James has come a long way since 2008, luckily. In CiM, he sounds like he just swallowed a ton of helium.

I don't think the CiM comparison is very fair considering the vocals on that album were recorded on an auto-tuned telephone answering machine. He didn't really sound like that live. If you want to know how he sounded in 2007, watch something like this one- https://youtu.be/W0CVzEkBxhI?t=41m26s and you'll notice he sounded at least as good as pre-accident or nowadays.

Damn, now I realize that CiM production is awful. I should have used the I&W anniversary bootleg. Well, next song to use: Metropolis

[Rodni Demental]

Live vocals can be tricky to mic/amp up correctly aswell. You can have flawless singing but if you're not amped up to a mic or PA system that's been calibrated or tested with your voice, it can easily change the tone or the way your voice sounds when it's projected. I swear this was half the issue with Chaos in Motion. That and there was possibly little effort on post production. Things can also sound very different on a recording compared to physically hearing the music in person.

I kind of expect DT to be a band that always uses all their own equipment. But you do find that a lot of bands touring all over the place, have to deal with some of the systems that are already in place, and a lot of microphones that are used for talking end up getting used for a band performance and it's just not ideal for optimising the performance.

I've had similar equipment issues happen as a keyboardist for one particular performance, you get up on stage and then you realise the keyboard they have set up is a piece of ****, and the patches just sounded all wrong but you kinda gotta work with what you've got by that point.

[DTFan0789]

I just wanted to say that every time I hear the "YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" at the end of the solo to A Fortune in Lies on the LALP DVD, I'm just like, "SUCK ON THAT, JAMES HATERS!" 

[TheGreatPretender]

 

I just wanted to say that every time I hear the "YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" at the end of the solo to A Fortune in Lies on the LALP DVD, I'm just like, "SUCK ON THAT, JAMES HATERS!" 

Frankly, as far as lead vocalists go, I think DT has been extremely blessed. JLB is just as much a master of his craft as the rest of the members.

[DTFan0789]

I just wanted to say that every time I hear the "YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" at the end of the solo to A Fortune in Lies on the LALP DVD, I'm just like, "SUCK ON THAT, JAMES HATERS!" 

Frankly, as far as lead vocalists go, I think DT has been extremely blessed. JLB is just as much a master of his craft as the rest of the members.

This. The guy is SO underrated it's not even funny.

[Perpetual Change]

I don't think JLB is underrated, but he sure is over analyzed. But that might be because he's an operatic singer held to some pretty high standards, most of which were set during a time when you couldn't really analyze a singer's live performance without going to a show, where'd you be caught up in the moment and way less able to detect mistakes anyway. In contrast, guys like Bruce Dickinson, Steven Tyler and Rob Halford gained their reputations during a time when there were far less raw live recordings of bands availabile to analyze, let alone mass-distribute on Youtube.

Since the late 90s all that's changed, to where every performance is available on Youtube and ready to be analyzed. And with a fandom like Dream Theater's, where people analyze everything and want to see perfection, you know JLB is gonna get it.

Not sure any other rock singer has ever really been placed under the microscope JLB has to deal with.

[TheGreatPretender]

I don't think JLB is underrated, but he sure is over analyzed. But that might be because he's an operatic singer held to some pretty high standards, most of which were set during a time when you couldn't really analyze a singer's live performance without going to a show, where'd you be caught up in the moment and way less able to detect mistakes anyway. In contrast, guys like Bruce Dickinson, Steven Tyler and Rob Halford gained their reputations during a time when there were far less raw live recordings of bands availabile to analyze, let alone mass-distribute on Youtube.

Since the late 90s all that's changed, to where every performance is available on Youtube and ready to be analyzed. And with a fandom like Dream Theater's, where people analyze everything and want to see perfection, you know JLB is gonna get it.

Not sure any other rock singer has ever really been placed under the microscope JLB has to deal with.

Yeah, but you know what, you don't even need raw live recordings, even in some of the official, old Iron Maiden stuff, such as Live After Death, for quite a few of the songs, Bruce isn't really at the top of his game. There are quite a few times when he's not hitting the high notes, even on songs like Hallowed Be Thy Name. He has a tendency to just yell out certain parts without putting any musicality on them, which is a very theatrical thing to do, and probably why people let it go. But it was a bit of a disappointment when I first saw it.

But I don't even think it has anything to do with the era, I just think it has to do with the style of the band. DT might have been inspired by the rock legends of the 70s and 80s, but they've always been much more focused on the actual music. With guys like Maiden, Priest, AC/DC, etc, what mattered more was stage presence and showmanship, and as long as they managed to put on a good show and give good energy, and of course, nail the guitar solo, then people didn't care if the singer sounded like ass because he drank too much before the show, or whatever.

[Lowdz]

I just wanted to say that every time I hear the "YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" at the end of the solo to A Fortune in Lies on the LALP DVD, I'm just like, "SUCK ON THAT, JAMES HATERS!" 

Frankly, as far as lead vocalists go, I think DT has been extremely blessed. JLB is just as much a master of his craft as the rest of the members.

This. The guy is SO underrated it's not even funny.

I agree with this. Just dropped in to say JLB's performance on LALP is exceptional. The "lost" years are truly gone.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

I don't think JLB is underrated, but he sure is over analyzed. But that might be because he's an operatic singer held to some pretty high standards, most of which were set during a time when you couldn't really analyze a singer's live performance without going to a show, where'd you be caught up in the moment and way less able to detect mistakes anyway. In contrast, guys like Bruce Dickinson, Steven Tyler and Rob Halford gained their reputations during a time when there were far less raw live recordings of bands availabile to analyze, let alone mass-distribute on Youtube.

Since the late 90s all that's changed, to where every performance is available on Youtube and ready to be analyzed. And with a fandom like Dream Theater's, where people analyze everything and want to see perfection, you know JLB is gonna get it.

Not sure any other rock singer has ever really been placed under the microscope JLB has to deal with.

I agree with most of what you said. I would only add that he gets more criticism than the average prog/metal vocalist because of the company he is in. The instrumentalists are leaders at their respective instruments. John Petrucci for example is an electric guitar legend with extreme technical skill and decades of performing at an extremely high level. Mike Mangini is a technical machine of a drummer. JR is an innovator who is also very technical in his approach. JM is obviously a hell of a bassist with far more ability than the average Joe. It's only natural the people expect the vocalist to be the same in his respective category. Obviously much of the frustration about JLB is that he isn't the same type of musician as the others.

I agree that guys like Steven Tyler don't get scrutinized as much and have relied far more on stage presence and rock-star auras, but you have to take into account the type of band they're in.

[TheGreatPretender]

^Right. That's exactly what I'm saying.

[wolfking]

I may be alone on this opinion and I've only watched the DVD up until the drum solo, but I don't find LaBrie's performance as good as everyone is making it out to be.  He certainly can hit the higher notes more comfortably and his little screams are good, but at times he is quite pitchy and some of his passing notes are a little off IMO.

[Rodni Demental]

The Dark Eternal Night. 6:00 and The Root of All Evil, probably A Fortune In Lies too, are definitely some of the weaker vocal performances and they all happen fairly early on in the show. But I'm only saying this relative to the ADTOE songs which for whatever reason, seem to have very strong vocal performances. I don't know if it's having the harmonies to keep the vocals in line, or if it's just that they are more modern songs that are in a much more comfortable range with his current voice. I don't think any of us claim the vocals to be perfect, but they're overall better and more consistent that possibly most of the live releases I think is why we're raving on about it.

We probably have stronger versions of TROAE and AFIL. But in any case, TDEN and 6:00 are arguable fairly strong performances for those particular songs all things considered so he's off the hook.   

[TheGreatPretender]

The Dark Eternal Night. 6:00 and The Root of All Evil, probably A Fortune In Lies too, are definitely some of the weaker vocal performances and they all happen fairly early on in the show. But I'm only saying this relative to the ADTOE songs which for whatever reason, seem to have very strong vocal performances. I don't know if it's having the harmonies to keep the vocals in line, or if it's just that they are more modern songs that are in a much more comfortable range with his current voice. I don't think any of us claim the vocals to be perfect, but they're overall better and more consistent that possibly most of the live releases I think is why we're raving on about it.

We probably have stronger versions of TROAE and AFIL. But in any case, TDEN and 6:00 are arguable fairly strong performances for those particular songs all things considered so he's off the hook.   

Are you nuts? Those are the songs that I thought were some of the stronger performances. At least TROAE and AFIL. The Root of All Evil, especially. I fell like, maybe it lost a little bit of its emotion with the little theatrical motifs that JLB put into it, but if you set aside the fact that the song is supposed to come from a genuinely remorseful and angry place, the performance itself was stellar and the little adjustments he made to the melodies were quite interesting.

And while he doesn't go crazy on AFIL the way he did on Live at the Marquee, I thought that this performance of it was still a lot better than LAB, WDADR or any other live version I've heard since LATM.

[wolfking]

I thought TDEN and 6:00 were pretty ordinary too.  AFIL was pretty okay, and TROAE was fine but nothing spectacular.  I'm still working though this DVD, I only get to watch a song or two at night before bed.  I'm up to Outcry.  The Silent Man was pretty good.  JP's vox have improved a lot too.

[1neeto]

I recently did a back-to-back listen of the Pull Me Under performances from Budokan and LALP, and while I pretty much prefered the Budokan performance over the Luna Park one in most categories, the vocals on LALP really stoodd out as being superior.

One thing I've noticed about James is that, over the years, his ability to hit notes hasn't really changed, but the quality of the notes he hits definitely has gotten better. On Budokan, it seems like he more or less hits all the notes, but his voice has a shrill quality to it by the end of the evening. Score features him hitting the notes, but will a fuller albeit less sustained tone. On Luna Park, he's hitting all the notes, but his tone is also a lot fuller and more jagged, and he sustains notes longer too.

I saw James twice on the BC&SL tour, and was extremely impressed with his vocal performances both nights. I missed seeing the band for ADTOE, but it appears from what I've read and what I'm seeing here that James has continued to get better and better from LSFNY to LAB to Score to LALP.

To all singers and vocalists at DTF, how is it possible that James continues to improve so much, despite his age? Granted, we all know how seriously he's taken recovery, it is almost too good to be true that he's improved this much thanks to taking better care of his voice, especially since there are ten additional years of mileage on his voice compared to his performance on Budokan. Can anyone with deeper knowledge explain what is going on with James' voice that is making him do such a better job these days?

He sang horribly at Budokan, he was flat for most of the show. His Luna Park performance is night and day when compared to that.

[Sacul]

A bit late, but I finished another video, with Metropolis as reference.

https://youtu.be/8nfun2sYGRI

Next song: Peruvian Skies

[marlencrabapple]

Labrie has got much better recently. Still sucks he had that accident though. I wonder what he would sound like now.

Considering that it's almost been 20 years since that happened, and the kinds of notes he's been hitting lately, I have a feeling that by now, he pretty much sounds the way he would if he never did have an accident.

Or, without the accident, he would've kept overdoing it in terms of performances and ended up wearing his voice out and losing much of his range. Who knows?

I'm not sure if he would've "worn his voice out" but we'd definitely have less performances with his "correct" technique taking precedence over style. There's really no way of knowing if that would be a good thing or not though. Maybe without the accident he'd be able to go all out without issue for extended periods of time still, or maybe learning these new singing techniques is the only thing that kept his voice in shape enough to deliver the performances he does now.

[Sacul]

Peruvian Skies rules
https://youtu.be/TSbTtAOX9yM