About I&W Live Japan 2017... a I think that, at least for the last 10 years, I'm really in peace with James vocals. They changed and that's the reality for almost all vocalists when get older. He will never go back to Octavarium tour days anymore (my fave phase for his voice). Sure, that drastic change in tone and melodies in that part from 2:51 to 3:04 of Take the Time truly is a bit shocking (by the way, that was made by purpose, not by a failure in the middle of his performance - as I thought at first). But I apreciate immensely all the effort James puts in the live performances and I'm really happy that he's still the vocalist of the band.
But... I must say I don't like the pre-recorded backing vocals. I would prefer only James's voice even with its present limitations or, if JP/JR/MM can do some quality backing vocals LIVE, then do it LIVE. I'm not against the use of the click track to enhance the visual presentation of the show, but I'm almost totally against the pre-recorded backing tracks (In DT's case, I think it would be OK just for those movie/robotic voices or some eletronic effects - like in the beginning of Metropolis - or some orchestration).