Well, I understand your points and I agree to an extent, but it depends on what we're talking about; we are talking about great metal singers. I don't consider JLB a metal singer, and if you want someone else in this category, I'd give you Ian Gillan. Ian Gillan is AMAZING, and for him to sound as good as he does today is miraculous (though I don't think anyone would say he sounds THE SAME as he did in '69), but he isn't Rob Halford either. This will sound odd, but I LOVE Gillan, I LOVE Sabbath, and I LOVE Born Again (one of my favorite Sabbath albums), but I don't really think it is a great representation of Gillan. He does well, but that is clearly not his forte.
I do think that there is one criterion that should carry over, and that is the furtherance of the melody line in a way that adds something to the piece as opposed to just "doubling the lead instrument" (which a lot of singers do). I'm thinking of "This Is The Life" (and there are other examples of this as well) where JLB doubles his OWN part; I think that is inspired, and I think that not every singer could do that and have it sound that good. BIG Paul Stanley fan (I mean BIG) but he couldn't do that as effectively. He just doesn't have the voice for it (though Gillan could).
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See, that's interesting, because I agree with all of it except the "metal" designation, and if I'm being honest, I'm not sure why. They do have metal in their catalogue, and if you look at the cover series (both the Ytsejam album sets and the one release that is just songs) JLB can sing almost ANYBODY to an amazing degree (who else could credibly cover Dickinson, Dio, Ozzy, Hetfield, Waters, Gilmour, Gillan, Mercury, Anderson, Perry, Plant, Walsh, and Daltrey... c'mon. Dio could barely cover the Ozzy stuff; not because he didn't have the range, but because his voice is so singular).
Well, I think we're getting a little too much into semantic territory.
Because you're obviously giving JLB his props. He is an amazing singer. And Dream Theater as a band are unquestionably a Metal band, even if not for 100% of their songs. And JLB's solo stuff lately has been riding into some very heavy territories.
So I think the question is, do we make a distinction between being a "Metal singer" and being a "Singer in Metal"? I mean, maybe that's the issue. I would unquestionably say that JLB is one best singers in Metal.
But if we were to make a distinction between the two, then yes, I understand what you mean. Because when it comes to being a "Metal singer", I'd say there are guys out there who just have those typical Metal qualities that make them more suitable for the genre, such as Tim "The Ripper" Owens or Russell Allen. They both just have so much power that they absolutely destroy any song they sing (in a good way.) And if anything, I'd say they'd be the best two Metal Vocalists in my book, based on the overall evolution of metal, and their voices having a traditional quality suitable for, say, Judas Priest or Dio songs, but at the same time, still having enough aggression to be able to fit in with more modern sounds.
Of course, talking about this whole Metal singer business, I'm not even sure we can define what a good Metal singer is, because Metal itself has evolved into so many subgenres, that even for guys like Allen and Owens, it would be impossible to fit in with ALL of them. So maybe we need to start making a bit more of that distinction between Heavy Metal, Prog Metal, Thrash Metal, Symphonic Metal, etc.
JLB actually has a very conventionally fitting voice for genres like Glam Metal, Power Metal, and of course, Prog, everything that's more melodic and not as downtuned. Whereas, you have him try to do Thrash, then yes, I do think he just can't do justice to Master of Puppets at all. That's not a big deal, James Hetfield has the perfect voice for Thrash, but he wouldn't be able to pull off The Spirit Carries On to save his life. "Victoria's Real! Yeeeah!"
So I think that's why when it comes to judging JLB as a Metal singer, I don't really put convention into account, and judge him purely based on his ability, because it is very fitting in Prog and other, more melodic genres. If I was asked who's the best Prog Metal Singer? I would say James LaBrie, hands down, bar none.
Another interesting point, and not to sound like a kiss-ass, but I tried to account for that in my post. I DON'T actually think Dio is a great frontman, and Halford is in-between for me. I think Dickinson is the best metal frontman as well, but not the other two, and I tried to limit it to just singing. And by the way, nice call with Dee Snider; I LOVE Dee, and I always cite Twisted Sister as one of those bands that really IS a guilty pleasure. God, I wish they would not be so cartoony sometimes; You Can't Stop Rock and Roll is an UNBELIEVEABLE metal album, but I can never shake that stupid f-ing picture of Dee with a turkey bone in his hand... embarrassing...
I agree completely with the first part about Dio and Halford.
As for Dee, I have no problem with the cartoony stuff, and I take no shame in my love of Twisted Sister.
Blasphemer!!!! Hahaha, I kid; I&W is my favorite DT album, but to me, it is what it is, and the live albums are what they are. I LIKE that they are different enough, and that the live renditions bring something new to the table. I realize this is bordering on cliché now, but if they are going to re-record something, I would vote for WDADU. I am so used to James' vocals as the sound of DT that I have a hard time getting into that album, even though I recognize that musically it isn't that far removed from I&W and Awake.
Yeah, but I think after WDAD Reunite, there's very little chance that it'll be rerecorded. But again, I have no problem with that, because there is a ton of great live material from that album with JLB to listen to. And even if someone isn't happy with how WDADRU turned out, the best of that album is available on other releases such as Live at the Marquee, Budokan, Score. Between them, they have A Fortune In Lies, The Killing Hand, Afterlife and Only A Matter of Time which are the best songs on the album. Ytsejam has been done well on multiple releases, and everything else on the album sounds just fine on the Reunite version, and even if JLB doesn't quite nail some parts, the three songs that are left aren't anything to write home about if you ask me, so I'm not really bothered by it.