What is it about Labrie's voice that some people complain about?

[TheGreatPretender]

Aboot. They say aboot, not aboat.

I think we know what we say. It's actually more like abeut.

[Grizz]

Pretty sure that comparing accents is easier externally.

[TheGreatPretender]

Pretty sure that comparing accents is easier externally.

Only if you actually hear the proper accent, and not the "stereotypical outsider's interpretation" of that accent.

Speaking of which, I watched some footage of Dream Theater performing back in 1992, and man, JLB's Canadian accent was so much heavier back then. These days, it's not noticeable at all. Or at least, it's as "Americanized" as it gets here in Toronto. Back then, he still had that heavy small town Canuck accent.

[King Postwhore]

TGP, you better be on the debate team. 

[TheGreatPretender]

TGP, you better be on the debate team.

Something I REALLY missed out on when I was at school, it seems.

[Skeever]

James' accent seems to come and go. Sometimes he has it, other times he doesn't. I've noticed it more when it's a video where someone is talking to him casually, and less when it's like a formal interview.

So I have heard three James voices - his full-on Canadian voice, his slightly more plain sounding "American" voice, and whatever the heck he has going on with his voice when he's bantering on stage.

[TheGreatPretender]

James' accent seems to come and go. Sometimes he has it, other times he doesn't. I've noticed it more when it's a video where someone is talking to him casually, and less when it's like a formal interview.

So I have heard three James voices - his full-on Canadian voice, his slightly more plain sounding "American" voice, and whatever the heck he has going on with his voice when he's bantering on stage.

Well, it was on stage, in 1992, when his Canuck accent was the heaviest I ever heard it.

But yeah, I guess it's entirely possible that in casual conversation, I simply didn't notice it because we live in the same city. 

[XB0BX]

As a Canadian, I honestly don't know what people are saying when they refer to JLB's Canadian accent, can someone link to some YT videos showing it?

[rumborak]

James IMO doesn't have a stereotypical Canadian accent. He just has terrible diction when singing.

[TheGreatPretender]

As a Canadian, I honestly don't know what people are saying when they refer to JLB's Canadian accent, can someone link to some YT videos showing it?

This video at the very beginning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj50lT1H6EM

It's really not that heavy, there's just the odd word here and there that he says that sounds very Canadian. And sometimes not even the way he pronounces them, just the pacing in his speech.
I have this friend, and she speaks with a normal American accent, but the way she bends the occasional vowel, or the emphasis on certain words in her speech that makes her sound very Hispanic, since she's Puerto Rican. It's kind of the same thing with JLB in this video.

Also, funny how he refers to Kevin Moore as "The wizard". All those years ago, way before JR came into the picture.

[EraVulgaris]

I have weird, mixed feelings towards this. On the one hand, I can definetly hear that JLB is a trained singer and I can't imagine another voice for DT. On the other hand, I don't really like his voice, especially regarding many live performances. There is something about his voice that just feels off to me. Not sure what it is though.

[Newmz]

I think the crazy vibrato and weird diction gets people a bit.

if you listen to the human equation (ayreon), though, you get less of those things than in DT (at least in my opinion). I wonder what those same people would say about his voice there...

[TheGreatPretender]

I honestly don't think it has anything to do with those things. I mean, I guess for some people, that might be the main issue, but I think most people just don't like his voice, which is a shame.

Can someone please give me an example of this so called "crazy vibrato"? I've never heard him do anything that I thought was too over the top. Nothing that made me go, "Whoa! That's way too much vibrato" even back when I wasn't into him.

[rumborak]

No offense, TGP,  but you never "hear" the stuff we point out. I doubt this instance will be any different.

[TheGreatPretender]

No offense, TGP,  but you never "hear" the stuff we point out. I doubt this instance will be any different.

Hey, I'm not expecting you to change my mind. I'm just curious what you guys consider to be "too much vibrato" from James. You could've named one part of one song, from one live release and answered my question, instead of being all snooty about it.

[rumborak]

BTFW, Illumination Theory, the section that ends in "Money, love, and faith". It's the shrillness we were talking about, and " faith" has this super-wide vibrato that just doesn't sound good.

[marlencrabapple]

My biggest problem is how comfortable he's gotten with his Labrie-isms. Half of the time it sounds like he's mocking the lyrics or delivering them with entirely different intonations than originally intended.

Also, I find it kind of interesting that so many people here dislike the kind of singing that made him famous in the first place.

[TheGreatPretender]

BTFW, Illumination Theory, the section that ends in "Money, love, and faith". It's the shrillness we were talking about, and " faith" has this super-wide vibrato that just doesn't sound good.

It doesn't sound so bad. It is pretty wide, and I guess it wouldn't be too good if it was that wide on every song, but every once in a while it's okay.
Although there's not a single part of that passage that I'd refer to as shrill.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

BTFW, Illumination Theory, the section that ends in "Money, love, and faith". It's the shrillness we were talking about, and " faith" has this super-wide vibrato that just doesn't sound good.

It doesn't sound so bad. It is pretty wide, and I guess it wouldn't be too good if it was that wide on every song, but every once in a while it's okay.
Although there's not a single part of that passage that I'd refer to as shrill.

Agree. Yeah, it's wide, but it sounds good. I mean, it sounds like JLB. It's not an out-of-place excessive vibrato like the ones we can hear from him in Chaos in Motion. Even if it was corrected in the studio, that part right there is one of JLB's best live moments in recent years by far.

[Sycsa]

Even if it was corrected in the studio, that part right there is one of JLB's best live moments in recent years by far.

This. When I first heard the studio version, I couldn't believe my ears ("wow, he can still do this?"). While watching the DVD for the first time, my heart was pumping in anticipation ("can he pull it off like in the studio or will he tone it down like on some other live bootlegs?"). He completely nailed it and I felt incredibly satisfied as shivers ran down my spine and my eyes got a little teary. James motherfuckin' LaBrie!

[rumborak]

BTFW, Illumination Theory, the section that ends in "Money, love, and faith". It's the shrillness we were talking about, and " faith" has this super-wide vibrato that just doesn't sound good.

It doesn't sound so bad. It is pretty wide, and I guess it wouldn't be too good if it was that wide on every song, but every once in a while it's okay.
Although there's not a single part of that passage that I'd refer to as shrill.

Agree. Yeah, it's wide, but it sounds good. I mean, it sounds like JLB. It's not an out-of-place excessive vibrato like the ones we can hear from him in Chaos in Motion. Even if it was corrected in the studio, that part right there is one of JLB's best live moments in recent years by far.

Hmm, don't get hung up on that specific example. I was yesterday trying to come up with an example of wide vibrato and screechiness, and obviously IT from BTFW came to my mind because it was the most recent thing I listened to. He does it regular in his performances.

[TheGreatPretender]

Agree. Yeah, it's wide, but it sounds good. I mean, it sounds like JLB. It's not an out-of-place excessive vibrato like the ones we can hear from him in Chaos in Motion. Even if it was corrected in the studio, that part right there is one of JLB's best live moments in recent years by far.

While I would agree that he doesn't sound particularly good on Chaos in Motion, it is pretty well known that there were some unfortunate post-processing decisions made that made him sound like that. So when it comes to Chaos in Motion, I don't really take it as an accurate example of what I'd call "JLB's worst moments". Perhaps whatever it was they did, did exaggerate his minor flaws to a somewhat unpleasant level. But on a normal basis, especially on recent recordings like BTFW and LALP, he hasn't been doing anything unpleasant, like I mentioned, except for those extremely high screams on Under A Glass Moon chorus. Otherwise, he's been in top form, I'd say. And any vibrato he's been doing, I'd say sounds good.
Of course, sadly, we'll never have the LATM JLB back, but heck he still (or should I say 'again') sounds absolutely amazing, even if you don't consider the throat injury and his age.

[sylvinception]

WTF ? 

JLB is the perfect singer for DT, period. 

With age it become more and more difficult for him to take care of his vocal chords, yet he still a great singer, but I think that the criticism about his voice will never end...

And concerning this quote : "Of course, sadly, we'll never have the LATM JLB back..."
It's a joke right ?? The vocals on LATM were "re-recorded" in the studio, this is a well known fact!!

[hefdaddy42]

And concerning this quote : "Of course, sadly, we'll never have the LATM JLB back..."
It's a joke right ?? The vocals on LATM were "re-recorded" in the studio, this is a well known fact!!

Yeah, but that is still the release he sounds best on (in the opinion of many people), so I'm pretty sure the quote just refers to that performance by JLB, or JLB of that era.  Not sure why that is hard to understand.

[TheGreatPretender]

And concerning this quote : "Of course, sadly, we'll never have the LATM JLB back..."
It's a joke right ?? The vocals on LATM were "re-recorded" in the studio, this is a well known fact!!

Yeah, but that is still the release he sounds best on (in the opinion of many people), so I'm pretty sure the quote just refers to that performance by JLB, or JLB of that era.  Not sure why that is hard to understand.

Yes, that is what I meant. Thank you Hef.  But even outside of LATM, if you listen to their Ytsejam bootleg from 1993, or watch Live in Tokyo, and all those shows around the I&W era, he may have overdone it a little on his gritty voice when performing, but still, the effortless range and power that he delivered the vocals with... Like, I was listening to it and (cheekily) I said, "Fuck! James! Stop being so good!"
Ironically enough, since he did stop being so good, because of that damn throat injury. Anyway, yeah, that was my point. As amazing as he is now, we'll never have the Images and Words era JLB back.

[sylvinception]

Ok I see what you mean, my mistake fellas!! 

[TheGreatPretender]

Ok I see what you mean, my mistake fellas!! 

But yes, I do agree that he is the perfect singer for DT. If people don't like him, it's their loss.

[sylvinception]

Ok I see what you mean, my mistake fellas!! 

But yes, I do agree that he is the perfect singer for DT. If people don't like him, it's their loss.

Amen to that.

[El JoNNo]

Wide vibrato
His often over use of vibrato. It's girth making this point worse
His high notes are no longer full
Instead of singing Aww he sings Aaa
He doesn't hit most notes he slides into them
He often doesn't pronouce E in the proper context. Example, he'll say buh-lieve instead of believe

I still love listening to him.

[TheGreatPretender]

He doesn't hit most notes he slides into them

I found this to be a prominent issue in mid 2000s, but recently, I haven't heard him doing it too much.

[erwinrafael]

I was listening to Awake the whole day yesterday. Listened around five times.  Then this morning, I have been listening to Soundgarden's Superunknown, and all I can think about now is Chris Cornell would surely sound amazing on Awake. 

[fischermasamune]

Yes, that is what I meant. Thank you Hef.  But even outside of LATM, if you listen to their Ytsejam bootleg from 1993, or watch Live in Tokyo, and all those shows around the I&W era, he may have overdone it a little on his gritty voice when performing, but still, the effortless range and power that he delivered the vocals with... Like, I was listening to it and (cheekily) I said, "Fuck! James! Stop being so good!"

I went to listen Metropolis on Live at the Marquee after your post, and I need to thank you for pointing it out. Wow, what a performance, Labrie's really standing out! I used to held Labrie slightly below the other members from the technical point of view but now I discovered James also has some impressive skills.

[TheGreatPretender]

I went to listen Metropolis on Live at the Marquee after your post, and I need to thank you for pointing it out. Wow, what a performance, Labrie's really standing out! I used to held Labrie slightly below the other members from the technical point of view but now I discovered James also has some impressive skills.

No problem! 
If you haven't heard it before, I also really recommend listening to that album's version of The Killing Hand. The definitive version of the song in terms of vocals, IMO.

[hefdaddy42]

Nothing to do with JLB's vocals, but that recording also has THE definitive version of Another Hand.

[TheGreatPretender]

Nothing to do with JLB's vocals, but that recording also has THE definitive version of Another Hand.

Another Hand was always so brief that I haven't done the comparison between all the different versions, lol. They all sound great to me, but if you say so.