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Dream Theater => Dream Theater => Topic started by: ricky on October 31, 2010, 10:15:53 PM
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One of the best voices there is! Can we show some love for James? kthanx.
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I appreciate him more for being a class act.
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Appreciates.
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Appreciates by quoting CJS: "I won't waste anotha brea'!" :yarr
(taken from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp29csZTnsA&feature=fvwk at time 2:21)
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One of the greatest singers ever; 9 great albums and a great ep with Dream Theater, 4 great solo releases, and countless great guest appearances. I can't wait to see what he brings to the new DT album.
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Spelled his name wrong.
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That 'Take the Time' clip is incredible! JLB sounded brilliant on it; much better than he sounds on recent live albums (as far back as OIALT).
PS. I'm aware of Shrimpgate... ;)
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There's that overused "-gate" again...
Anyway, JLB is one of my favourite singers, and judging from interviews and video clips, he seems to have a really cool personality. JLB all the way. :tup
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His voice is what first got me into DT, so I think he has most definitely earned my appreciation.
Go to 4:35 in The Killing Hand - Live at the Marquee. This is another one of the many reasons I appreciate him.
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James has arguably the toughest job to do as ANYTHING, no matter how insignificant it may seem, can affect his voice. Since everyone has a voice of their own but not everyone plays guitar/keys/drums, it's easy for people to hear when James is off but not so much when the other guys are. It's a difficult career but I think he pulls it off perfectly more often than not.
I hope with MP gone James will up his front-man stage presence. I've always felt it very lacking but that could have been cuz MP was doing so much to engage the audience from behind the kit. Now is his time to shine and engage the crowd better/more.
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JLB is lacking as a frontman, but as a singer and a classy gentleman, he is amazing. If DT had any other singer, I'm not sure if I'd be into them as much as I am. *appreciates to the max*
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Spelled his name wrong.
Yeah, amazing isn't it? The simplest form of appreciation.
I appreciate James LaBrie. :metal
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James rules. 'Nuff said.
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I've enjoyed my recent enrolement at the Labrie forums. Nice place.
Serox says hi.
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Just got Static Impulse -best album I've bought in ages - absolute stormer!
And yes.... what a job the guy has done threading the melodies through all that rock awesomeness...
Props to JLB!! :metal
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Just got Static Impulse -best album I've bought in ages - absolute stormer!
You need to buy more albums :P. Plenty of good songs, but some stinkers as well, unfortunately.
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Just got Static Impulse -best album I've bought in ages - absolute stormer!
You need to buy more albums :P. Plenty of good songs, but some stinkers as well, unfortunately.
I buy a fair few albums. No accounting for taste and all that. I really like it! But that doesn't mean anyone else has to.... ;D
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Just got Static Impulse -best album I've bought in ages - absolute stormer!
You need to buy more albums :P. Plenty of good songs, but some stinkers as well, unfortunately.
I buy a fair few albums. No accounting for taste and all that. I really like it! But that doesn't mean anyone else has to.... ;D
You must be new here.
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:omg:
Could James be leaving Dream Theater???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-1A8N1-YNo
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:omg:
Could James be leaving Dream Theater???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-1A8N1-YNo
:facepalm:
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James is one of the main reasons i am a DT fan now,he is so great singer and a classy guy.
Appreciates.
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:omg:
Could James be leaving Dream Theater???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-1A8N1-YNo
:facepalm:
I approve of this post.
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His voice is a perfect fit for DT. Met him once on the ToT tour. He was in a hurry but gladly stopped to give me an autograph and picture. Polite and humble. I like em!
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he's Canadian.
Polite and Humble is pretty much in our blood....along with hockey skates that begin growing out the bottom of our feet around 2 and a half.
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"Actually, if you've watched this whole commentary, you need to get a fucking life."
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"Actually, if you've watched this whole commentary, you need to get a fucking life."
One of my favourite lines :biggrin:
JLB: "What are you playing there, John?"
JM: "Umm... bass...."
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"... They shake our hands, eat our food, STEAL OUR DRINKS!"
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Just got Static Impulse -best album I've bought in ages - absolute stormer!
You need to buy more albums :P. Plenty of good songs, but some stinkers as well, unfortunately.
I buy a fair few albums. No accounting for taste and all that. I really like it! But that doesn't mean anyone else has to.... ;D
Guilty as charged, your honour! :-[
Not that keen on 'Coming Home', come to think of it...... and there's 2 of 'em.... ::)
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Just got Static Impulse -best album I've bought in ages - absolute stormer!
Yeah, SI is good, but Elements of Persuasion is still much better, I think.
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Nobody does it better than James labrie.
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One of my favorites and in fact im hearing him right now as i type on Ayreon's album thinking do more with him !!!
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I can't stop listening to Live at the Marquee. LaBrie is amazing.
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F#. :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal
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JLB - Funny guy, all round Gentleman and King of the F#5
*Appreciates*
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King of the F#5
Though he nails A5's pretty well too :P
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He makes me enjoy being trapped-in-side-this-oc-ta-var-i-um.
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"Actually, if you've watched this whole commentary, you need to get a fucking life."
One of my favourite lines :biggrin:
JLB: "What are you playing there, John?"
JM: "Umm... bass...."
Epic commentary.
MP: Hey, Derek! What are you doing today, man?
DS: Making history, and you?
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In Forbidden Dreams, JLB introduces JMX as "the bass player from Hell."
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He makes me enjoy being trapped-in-side-this-oc-ta-var-i-um.
I second this! James rocks!!
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I think he gives the best interviews out of anyone in the band. He says what's on his mind, and I find that very cool. Oh, he also has a bangin' voice.
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I think he gives the best interviews out of anyone in the band. He says what's on his mind, and I find that very cool. Oh, he also has a bangin' voice.
Same here. I love his interviews. I think he's just a very interesting character overall.
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Wow, Static Impulse gets way better with more listens. I'm lovin' this album. It's catching up with EoP bigtime.
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best metal singer to be honest. noone in metal comes close. but thats my opinion.
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Just got Static Impulse -best album I've bought in ages - absolute stormer!
Yeah, SI is good, but Elements of Persuasion is still much better, I think.
Ok, I jumped the gun here again. After giving SI a lot more attention recently, I'm totally loving this album bigtime. What an outstanding progression from EoP. JLB is doing top notch work here. I hope he brings some more of his great ideas to DT's next album.
Great stuff.
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I have never listened to any of DT's side-projects. They're are never in music stores where I am, and I don't want to download them. :sadpanda:
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I have never listened to any of DT's side-projects. They're are never in music stores where I am, and I don't want to download them. :sadpanda:
Dude, Amazon is your new best friend. I never download music. I have a CD to backup every album in my PSP Go.
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BUMPING because James is awesome :metal
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Nobody does it better than James labrie.
Did YouTube take that video off recently? Nobody does it better than James LaBrie had to be the coolest video ever.
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James is awesome. Not only do I love his voice, his presence stage is really good (although he's not your typical rockstar-front man, he has this way of saying that he appreciates everyone coming to the show and he's partying with you, not for you). Also, he has a really cool personality, laidback and seems very well-spoken and intelligent. James for president! :metal
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James :hefdaddy :heart
As others have mentioned, he also seems pretty cool from interviews etc. as well as chatting to fans on Facebook.
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Necrobump, but whatever.
I came across this recent clip of James singing Innocence Faded, acappella (Cameo). I got to admit, I was a bit nervous, but ... he still got it lads. :coolio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX0k8oRuiOY
From the comment section, "1.25x speed and you have the exact song from 20 years ago" ...
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Hopefully the couple years off from touring has allowed him to rest his voice and work on his technique a bit more. I'm no singer but his singing in that clip, while replicating the original vocal line pretty well, looks absolutely painful with excess strain. I could easily see him passing out after this video from lack of oxygen
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Here's another fairly recent one. Learning to Live. His voice is in good shape nowadays! That's promising for the upcoming tour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o0P49FG_nY
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I do appreciate his tuning skills on these cameo videos.
On many a capella videos with Bruce Dickinson (like in his spoken word shows where he's sung bits of songs), he'll settle for singing melodies in a whole 'nother key (which isn't a problem, he doesn't have a pitch reference onstage).
What gets me is that James manages to nail the keys without having the song on headphones or whatever – and either he listened to the passage a few minutes prior to recording the video or he just went from memory. Either way, even though he's singing the songs at a slower pace, he's definitely got the right notes in his head.
Go, James!
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Say what you want about JLB; I still remember the moment I first heard him belt out “WATCH THE SPARROW FALLING…” during Pull Me Under and it was like a slap across the face, a “holy shit” moment where the whole band suddenly clicked for me and I’ve been a fan ever since.
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Say what you want about JLB; I still remember the moment I first heard him belt out “WATCH THE SPARROW FALLING…” during Pull Me Under and it was like a slap across the face, a “holy shit” moment where the whole band suddenly clicked for me and I’ve been a fan ever since.
That specific line has been one of his more hit-or-miss moments for a while.
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Either way, even though he's singing the songs at a slower pace, he's definitely got the right notes in his head.
In the recent interview he did with Peter Orullian, he talked about how he'd sing the songs at a slower pace and (I'm paraphrasing) said that he was doing so to give more bang for the buck to the person that requested the cameo instead of just trying to get over with it as fast as possible. The interview as a whole was very insightful and worth checking out if you haven't done so already:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJkh3aAZvAM
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Either way, even though he's singing the songs at a slower pace, he's definitely got the right notes in his head.
In the recent interview he did with Peter Orullian, he talked about how he'd sing the songs at a slower pace and (I'm paraphrasing) said that he was doing so to give more bang for the buck to the person that requested the cameo instead of just trying to get over with it as fast as possible. The interview as a whole was very insightful and worth checking out if you haven't done so already:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJkh3aAZvAM
I really enjoyed that insight. I really appreciate him going into how he utilizes he vocals and how he chooses what to sing.
Just shows how difficult it is to sing these songs, night after night without wearing out the vocals by the end of the tour.
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I like his singing and I think it sucks that, not only do a lot of people not like it, but he also takes so much crap for it. I've played DT for a few people I know and the first words out of their mouths is always something like "I'm not sure about that singer" (as if they could do better). One of my friends likes the band, but as soon as JLB comes on she completely bails and refuses to listen to anything he sings.
To each their own, I guess.
I can't imagine another voice for DT's music - it cuts through all of what is otherwise a barrage of sound.
The Captain gets my vote every time! :yarr
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I like his singing and I think it sucks that, not only do a lot of people not like it, but he also takes so much crap for it. I've played DT for a few people I know and the first words out of their mouths is always something like "I'm not sure about that singer" (as if they could do better). One of my friends likes the band, but as soon as JLB comes on she completely bails and refuses to listen to anything he sings.
To each their own, I guess.
I can't imagine another voice for DT's music - it cuts through all of what is otherwise a barrage of sound.
The Captain gets my vote every time! :yarr
For the life of me I will be never understand this sentiment. The first time I heard his voice, I will never forget. I thought, this is the best rock voice I have ever heard. Now I understand tastes vary, but his voice is just beautiful. Frankly the low and edgier rock voices are just boring to me by comparison. To much the same.
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For the life of me I will be never understand this sentiment. The first time I heard his voice, I will never forget. I thought, this is the best rock voice I have ever heard. Now I understand tastes vary, but his voice is just beautiful. Frankly the low and edgier rock voices are just boring to me by comparison. To much the same.
Same here. I doubt I would have been drawn to DT back in 1993 if not for JLB's voice.
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For the life of me I will be never understand this sentiment. The first time I heard his voice, I will never forget. I thought, this is the best rock voice I have ever heard. Now I understand tastes vary, but his voice is just beautiful. Frankly the low and edgier rock voices are just boring to me by comparison. To much the same.
Same here. I doubt I would have been drawn to DT back in 1993 if not for JLB's voice.
I am sure he was awesome to hear then. The problem is that 99% of the people hearing James the first time aren't hearing that version of him which is why it's hard for people to get over the hump.
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For the life of me I will be never understand this sentiment. The first time I heard his voice, I will never forget. I thought, this is the best rock voice I have ever heard. Now I understand tastes vary, but his voice is just beautiful. Frankly the low and edgier rock voices are just boring to me by comparison. To much the same.
Same here. I doubt I would have been drawn to DT back in 1993 if not for JLB's voice.
I am sure he was awesome to hear then. The problem is that 99% of the people hearing James the first time aren't hearing that version of him which is why it's hard for people to get over the hump.
Still, if I were a newby and for the first time listened to any of the MM albums, I would not be turned off by his voice.
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For the life of me I will be never understand this sentiment. The first time I heard his voice, I will never forget. I thought, this is the best rock voice I have ever heard. Now I understand tastes vary, but his voice is just beautiful. Frankly the low and edgier rock voices are just boring to me by comparison. To much the same.
Same here. I doubt I would have been drawn to DT back in 1993 if not for JLB's voice.
I am sure he was awesome to hear then. The problem is that 99% of the people hearing James the first time aren't hearing that version of him which is why it's hard for people to get over the hump.
Still, if I were a newby and for the first time listened to any of the MM albums, I would not be turned off by his voice.
Despite his increasing live struggles, he still sounds really good on the studio albums, and while it is matter of personal preference, I think he has a terrific natural and pleasant sounding voice. That is why I love songs like Far from Heaven and Wait for Sleep, as he is singing in a more subdued manner, but has such a great natural voice that the songs work extremely well.
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Far From Heaven is AMAZING! And it's all James!
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As someone who only really became a DT fan this year, I can say I was one of those who had trouble appreciating James at first. I kind of ignored the band for many years, not only because I had trouble connecting with the music (especially the overindulgence at times), but I also sort of (unfairly) lumped JLB in with other screeching "hair metal" singers that I was very tired of by the end of the 80s.
Fast forward to 2021 and as I finally warmed up to the catalog, I realized how wrong I was about James. Not only did I become able to accept him, I began to see just what a strength he is in the band's overall presentation. He has such a versatile voice and is really the perfect fit for DT and all the different moods their music taps into. Now I can't imagine, nor would I want, to hear anyone else behind the mic.
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Love his voice. He has something no-one else does.
Vocals are so subjective. You can primally react either for or against them super-fast. James connects with me.
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To those still unsure about James, just imagine what would've happened if DT chose John Arch (who did audition for them) instead... yikes! :eek
Arch is probably the no. 1 in my "completely unlistenable vocalists" list (along with most death metal growlers out there) :lol
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To those still unsure about James, just imagine what would've happened if DT chose John Arch (who did audition for them) instead... yikes! :eek
Arch is probably the no. 1 in my "completely unlistenable vocalists" list (along with most death metal growlers out there) :lol
That's pretty harsh. I love John Arch BUUUUUUUUTTTTT...I can see why some people wouldn't like his voice. There are very few vocalists I don't appreciate. I can love everything from King Diamond to Alice Cooper to some of those death metal growlers.
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To those still unsure about James, just imagine what would've happened if DT chose John Arch (who did audition for them) instead... yikes! :eek
Arch is probably the no. 1 in my "completely unlistenable vocalists" list (along with most death metal growlers out there) :lol
That's pretty harsh. I love John Arch BUUUUUUUUTTTTT...I can see why some people wouldn't like his voice. There are very few vocalists I don't appreciate. I can love everything from King Diamond to Alice Cooper to some of those death metal growlers.
Not trying to be disrespectful to Arch, he surely can sing well and has his very own distinctive sound, I just can't listen to him. I've tried with early Fates, his Twist of Fate EP and the Arch/Matheos band and nope, can't even manage to listen to a full song start to finish :eek
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Same here. I doubt I would have been drawn to DT back in 1993 if not for JLB's voice.
I know it's cliche by this point, but:
Me listening to the first couple minutes of Pull Me Under the first time in 1993 "Cool instrumentation, sounds like this song is building up to something special, wonder where it's going from here...."
Me listening to the Pull Me Under once James hits the Sparrows Fly line "OMG THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING I HAVE EVER HEARD!
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To those still unsure about James, just imagine what would've happened if DT chose John Arch (who did audition for them) instead... yikes! :eek
Arch is probably the no. 1 in my "completely unlistenable vocalists" list (along with most death metal growlers out there) :lol
That's pretty harsh. I love John Arch BUUUUUUUUTTTTT...I can see why some people wouldn't like his voice. There are very few vocalists I don't appreciate. I can love everything from King Diamond to Alice Cooper to some of those death metal growlers.
Not trying to be disrespectful to Arch, he surely can sing well and has his very own distinctive sound, I just can't listen to him. I've tried with early Fates, his Twist of Fate EP and the Arch/Matheos band and nope, can't even manage to listen to a full song start to finish :eek
He does have a very thin sounding voice. I can see how someone would be put off.
An ex of mine could almost pick out which songs I was going to respond to most when a new album was released because according to her, I "always like the theatrical sounding stuff the most." I never realized that especially since I don't care for musicals. But it's true. I typically respond to stuff that is out of the norm, somewhat dramatic, and I kind of feel arch is that way. Even though his voice isn't very diverse, it has a lot character.
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By the way, EoP was released as a yellow vinyl for this year's RSD. EoP is one of my favorite all time albums.
https://www.newburycomics.com/products/james_labrie-elements_of_persuasion_2lp_color?variant=40966343884980
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He was kind of annoying for a while, though I don't know why.
But the last two albums, and especially the new one, he is simply fantastic.
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Just out of curiosity, in a recent interview for this magazine: https://roadiecrew.com/veja-a-nova-revista/
JLB said: "Even though it horrifies our fans, the record that really allowed me to show all the colors and all the different styles of my voice was The Astonishing".
He didn't said literally that, but I do think TA is his favorite recording (as it's mine).
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I haven't heard TA enough times to make that determination. I'll just take James' word for it I suppose. :dunno:
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I haven't heard TA enough times to make that determination. I'll just take James' word for it I suppose. :dunno:
No matter what anyone thinks of the end product, TA is the best thing James has done in the band since the BC&SL Covers album.
James is so underutilized on the DT studio albums it's criminal.
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I'll take your word for it Tim. I like James much better as a metal and hard rock singer than a ballad singer.
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I'll take your word for it Tim. I like James much better as a metal and hard rock singer than a ballad singer.
Well, I'm with you on the ballad thing. It depends how breathy he gets. But there's plenty of hard rock moments on The Astonishing.
Steve, here's a link to my Astonishing Abridged playlist.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1vESXL238jGArSrka94iLx?si=b44dfe158c5f4121
There's tons of great James on this, and I generally cut out most of the ballad-y things. To me, it cuts out the fat.
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James sounds good in these cameos. I think this time off has helped him. We'll see in a few months.
I hope they do Innocence Faded this tour.
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I'll take your word for it Tim. I like James much better as a metal and hard rock singer than a ballad singer.
Well, I'm with you on the ballad thing. It depends how breathy he gets. But there's plenty of hard rock moments on The Astonishing.
Steve, here's a link to my Astonishing Abridged playlist.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1vESXL238jGArSrka94iLx?si=b44dfe158c5f4121
There's tons of great James on this, and I generally cut out most of the ballad-y things. To me, it cuts out the fat.
Nice! Surprised Our New World is missing. ??? That's one of 9 tracks or so I actually like. It didn't quite fit into the mix?
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I'll take your word for it Tim. I like James much better as a metal and hard rock singer than a ballad singer.
Well, I'm with you on the ballad thing. It depends how breathy he gets. But there's plenty of hard rock moments on The Astonishing.
Steve, here's a link to my Astonishing Abridged playlist.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1vESXL238jGArSrka94iLx?si=b44dfe158c5f4121
There's tons of great James on this, and I generally cut out most of the ballad-y things. To me, it cuts out the fat.
Nice! Surprised Our New World is missing. ??? That's one of 9 tracks or so I actually like. It didn't quite fit into the mix?
I kept the songs in running order, but I've never been in love with Our New World. It feels like such a detached coda. With my abridged version, I liked the epic styled ending of Hymn..."She lives again....". I was like fine, we'll just leave it at that.
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I listened to Six Degrees the other day and the one thing I was struck by was, "WOW does James sound great on this!".
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Nice. He is an absolute gem of a vocalist.
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I watched the Metallica 40 year concert the other night. James Hetfield has not aged as well as JLB. I love Metallica and the show was great!. But James has so much more to offer, even still.
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Mike is better than Mike. James is better than James :coolio
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Really enjoyed "Devil in Drag" this morning. Looking forward to James' next solo record. Impatiently waiting for it to appear as a CD on Amazon for pre-order.
As for the song, that sort of acoustic-driven prog is what I wanted DT to do before MP left the band. I hope that's the direction of the record. JLB sounds great. And I think it's killer his son is doing the drums. Sounded fantastic.
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Wrote in other thread.
Devil In Drag gives Mullmuzzlers and a little bit EoP vibe musically which I like the most among other JLB's solo albums. He sounds so fresh and confident. Production is killer. I also like acoustic driven albums and there is nice acoustic melodies backround.
I'm glad James always tries something different from what he does in DT.
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It's OK. Nothing earth shattering but not bad either.
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It's OK. Nothing earth shattering but not bad either.
That's basically my feeling too after one listen. It's not enough to move me to order the album yet, but I have more hope than I did for his last 2 solo albums. For me, it's a step in the right direction and I'm interested in hearing the rest of the album.
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New single sounds good.
Question for singers: do you think some of James’ problems live is that he feels he has to belt all the time? What if he just sang the words normally and let the microphone do the work? Wouldn’t that be easier and possibly make certain notes more attainable? I don’t know singing at all so thought I’d throw it out there.
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New single sounds good.
Question for singers: do you think some of James’ problems live is that he feels he has to belt all the time? What if he just sang the words normally and let the microphone do the work? Wouldn’t that be easier and possibly make certain notes more attainable? I don’t know singing at all so thought I’d throw it out there.
His live problems are from the fact that it is a live performance. You are moving around and sweating and getting fatigued. It is impossible to keep those things from affecting your vocal performance.
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New single sounds good.
Question for singers: do you think some of James’ problems live is that he feels he has to belt all the time? What if he just sang the words normally and let the microphone do the work? Wouldn’t that be easier and possibly make certain notes more attainable? I don’t know singing at all so thought I’d throw it out there.
I do think he tries to do too much live. When I saw them on The Astonishing tour, he sounded great, but there were a handful of moments where he tried to take it up a notch too far (above where he did it on the album) and it was like, "Noooo!! You were doing great, don't ruin it!" He could get away with that more when he was younger, but not anymore. On my list of favorite singers ever, he is still way up there, despite his live struggles.
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I do think he tries to do too much live. When I saw them on The Astonishing tour, he sounded great, but there were a handful of moments where he tried to take it up a notch too far (above where he did it on the album) and it was like, "Noooo!! You were doing great, don't ruin it!" He could get away with that more when he was younger, but not anymore. On my list of favorite singers ever, he is still way up there, despite his live struggles.
Agreed. But I am not even sure how well it turned out in his younger days. Many times when he turned it up a notch were.... eh.... not good. His album performances were aces, no one was going to complain if he sang the difficult parts exactly like he did on record, or even turned it down to 90%.
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I do think he tries to do too much live. When I saw them on The Astonishing tour, he sounded great, but there were a handful of moments where he tried to take it up a notch too far (above where he did it on the album) and it was like, "Noooo!! You were doing great, don't ruin it!" He could get away with that more when he was younger, but not anymore. On my list of favorite singers ever, he is still way up there, despite his live struggles.
Agreed. But I am not even sure how well it turned out in his younger days. Many times when he turned it up a notch were.... eh.... not good. His album performances were aces, no one was going to complain if he sang the difficult parts exactly like he did on record, or even turned it down to 90%.
For sure. I remember being just amazed at the vocals when I got Images and Words, and then one of my first impressions of Scenes the day it was released back in '99 was, "Damn, James sounds awesome!!" That was back in my days of taking a 1/2 day off from work for new releases by DT and Rush so I could leave the office at noon, get the new CD and spend the rest of the day listening. I didn't want to work all day and have to wait. :biggrin: :lol
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I do think he tries to do too much live. When I saw them on The Astonishing tour, he sounded great, but there were a handful of moments where he tried to take it up a notch too far (above where he did it on the album) and it was like, "Noooo!! You were doing great, don't ruin it!" He could get away with that more when he was younger, but not anymore. On my list of favorite singers ever, he is still way up there, despite his live struggles.
Agreed. But I am not even sure how well it turned out in his younger days. Many times when he turned it up a notch were.... eh.... not good. His album performances were aces, no one was going to complain if he sang the difficult parts exactly like he did on record, or even turned it down to 90%.
For sure. I remember being just amazed at the vocals when I got Images and Words, and then one of my first impressions of Scenes the day it was released back in '99 was, "Damn, James sounds awesome!!" That was back in my days of taking a 1/2 day off from work for new releases by DT and Rush so I could leave the office at noon, get the new CD and spend the rest of the day listening. I didn't want to work all day and have to wait. :biggrin: :lol
In my senior year of high school, I bailed at lunch to go buy Train of Thought when it was released.
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JLB ROCKS!!! :metal :metal
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He is good.
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Voice of an Angel ✨✨✨💖
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Love James ! Bothers me when people say his on stage banter is weak , boring , abysmal , not funny , etc … Hell , he’s a lead singer who brings it all every night ! He’s not a talker , comedian , motivational speaker , etc , but one thing he is when he speaks to the crowd is genuine ! And that’s good enough for me !
He’s just a great guy that id just love to hang with , have some wings or a burger and a cold drink… keep Rockin’ James !
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Love James ! Bothers me when people say his on stage banter is weak , boring , abysmal , not funny , etc … Hell , he’s a lead singer who brings it all every night ! He’s not a talker , comedian ,
Gotta disagree. That dude cracks me up so much. Remember when Jordan was posting daily youtube videos? There's some off the wall gold there. My all tie favorite has to be when Portnoy was ordering Wendy's after a show and Jordan was throwing out suggestions, then pans over to James who I think was eating Raisin Bran and just yells, "This Raisin Bran is the shit! Fuck you Wendy!"
Tip of the iceberg there. I wish somebody would make a compilation.
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I have a chat with him this week to talk about his upcoming album. Can't wait!
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I have a chat with him this week to talk about his upcoming album. Can't wait!
I know this might not be the best thing to ask, but it'd be great if you could ask him to give more light on his ProgPower solo band cancellation a few years ago.
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I have a chat with him this week to talk about his upcoming album. Can't wait!
I know this might not be the best thing to ask, but it'd be great if you could ask him to give more light on his ProgPower solo band cancellation a few years ago.
Why? What good could come of that now?
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I have a chat with him this week to talk about his upcoming album. Can't wait!
I know this might not be the best thing to ask, but it'd be great if you could ask him to give more light on his ProgPower solo band cancellation a few years ago.
Why? What good could come of that now?
If you can, could you ask why he went to Cuba in 1994? It might not be the best thing to ask.
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I have a chat with him this week to talk about his upcoming album. Can't wait!
I know this might not be the best thing to ask, but it'd be great if you could ask him to give more light on his ProgPower solo band cancellation a few years ago.
Or if that's too heated, just in general how the solo band thing has panned out over the years. Matt and James were talking about an EP in 2019 and another old-lineup-JLB-band-album short after then boom, Paul Logue charms JLB and it's crickets with Matt :lol
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I've been thinking about this:
- COVID; not in terms of touring and whatnot, but purely in context of SINGING, how has COVID impacted you? Does the use of masks actually help you in terms of those seasonal "illnesses" that affect all of us?
- Anything on the horizon along the lines of your work with Arjen on the Ayreon records?
- Has there ever been any desire to do a stripped back acoustic record like Myles Kennedy did for his first solo record? Or Devin Townsend did on the live release for the Empath album?
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Or I have been curious about.
I see Jordan is touring this summer. Which means DT is not. Any thoughts on JLB touring to promote new record?
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The interview is confirmed for this Friday! I haven't received the album yet, but will give you my impressions when I get it.
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The album is better than i expected, just to hype you up, i've got the promo for a week or so.
Some really catchy melodies.
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The album is better than i expected, just to hype you up, i've got the promo for a week or so.
Some really catchy melodies.
The weirdest thing happened to me with this album...nothing grabbed me at first, but on the second listen, I absolutely love it! James' voice is in the forefront, and there are some really cool melodies throughout the album. The Led Zeppelin cover is well done too!
I just spoke with James about the album, and did ask him about making peace with MP. I hope it gets published soon, it came out great!
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The album is better than i expected, just to hype you up, i've got the promo for a week or so.
Some really catchy melodies.
The weirdest thing happened to me with this album...nothing grabbed me at first, but on the second listen, I absolutely love it! James' voice is in the forefront, and there are some really cool melodies throughout the album. The Led Zeppelin cover is well done too!
I just spoke with James about the album, and did ask him about making peace with MP. I hope it gets published soon, it came out great!
:metal
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The album is better than i expected, just to hype you up, i've got the promo for a week or so.
Some really catchy melodies.
The weirdest thing happened to me with this album...nothing grabbed me at first, but on the second listen, I absolutely love it! James' voice is in the forefront, and there are some really cool melodies throughout the album. The Led Zeppelin cover is well done too!
I just spoke with James about the album, and did ask him about making peace with MP. I hope it gets published soon, it came out great!
:tup :tup :tup
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The album is better than i expected, just to hype you up, i've got the promo for a week or so.
Some really catchy melodies.
The weirdest thing happened to me with this album...nothing grabbed me at first, but on the second listen, I absolutely love it! James' voice is in the forefront, and there are some really cool melodies throughout the album. The Led Zeppelin cover is well done too!
I just spoke with James about the album, and did ask him about making peace with MP. I hope it gets published soon, it came out great!
Looking forward to reading it.
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The album is better than i expected, just to hype you up, i've got the promo for a week or so.
Some really catchy melodies.
The weirdest thing happened to me with this album...nothing grabbed me at first, but on the second listen, I absolutely love it! James' voice is in the forefront, and there are some really cool melodies throughout the album. The Led Zeppelin cover is well done too!
I just spoke with James about the album, and did ask him about making peace with MP. I hope it gets published soon, it came out great!
Thanks! You are great.
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Devil in Drag kind of reminds me of his Mullmuzzler stuff. Those weren't my favorite albums, but I dig the new single.
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My interview with James was published today. Tons of great information on the interview, and his take on making amends with MP towards the end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcI7PMms1o0&t=489s
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My interview with James was published today. Tons of great information on the interview, and his take on making amends with MP towards the end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcI7PMms1o0&t=489s
Rodrigo, that's a great grab, and that should make the media rounds. He felt comfortable enough with you to be truly honest. You can tell it weighed on him. That walk he took must've been very interesting. I'm glad he accepted the opportunity that Mike had given him.
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My interview with James was published today. Tons of great information on the interview, and his take on making amends with MP towards the end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcI7PMms1o0&t=489s
Rodrigo, that's a great grab, and that should make the media rounds. He felt comfortable enough with you to be truly honest. You can tell it weighed on him. That walk he took must've been very interesting. I'm glad he accepted the opportunity that Mike had given him.
Thanks, man. And I left that question for last on purpose...if he had an issue with it, at least it wouldn't spoil the rest of the chat. Also, it would give me a chance to show how much of a fan I am, and not just some guy who was assigned a task of promoting his album, so he would be more comfortable with a loaded question like that. I'm really happy with the end result of this interview.
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Excellent, Rodrigo!! And the part about Portnoy was asked very nicely and in a very positive way!!
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By the way, I just checked Rock in Rio 2019 and the penultimate shows lasted around 1 hour and 20 minutes, with the exception of Maiden/Scorpions - but Maiden played earlier as own choice, even being the headliner. I really wish that the festival could open a exception for DT to have a 2 hours show since Megadeth gave up.
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My interview with James was published today. Tons of great information on the interview, and his take on making amends with MP towards the end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcI7PMms1o0&t=489s
Rodrigo, that's a great grab, and that should make the media rounds. He felt comfortable enough with you to be truly honest. You can tell it weighed on him. That walk he took must've been very interesting. I'm glad he accepted the opportunity that Mike had given him.
Thanks, man. And I left that question for last on purpose...if he had an issue with it, at least it wouldn't spoil the rest of the chat. Also, it would give me a chance to show how much of a fan I am, and not just some guy who was assigned a task of promoting his album, so he would be more comfortable with a loaded question like that. I'm really happy with the end result of this interview.
Hey Rod! This is Entre_Perpetuo from TRF. Just finished watching your interview with James and it was fantastic! I really felt like James was an open book during the whole conversation, and you had great questions and great charisma. So congrats!
Btw, as a more general note, I didn't realize when I heard about MP being at that NYC gig that James and Mike had never actually made up before that night, so that whole last story James told was really eye opening to me as a fan. James is such a wonderful human being, and I'm so glad he and Mike were able to put the past in the past and return to that friendship they originally shared. I was always more of the understanding that MP had been unfair and cruel to JLB back when they first started having issues, and that understanding had led me to think of MP in a less positive light. So to hear that Mike actually came forward and wanted to put things right between them, and to hear what he wrote to James after that Grammy win... that gives me a lot more respect for Portnoy than I had been fostering before.
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My interview with James was published today. Tons of great information on the interview, and his take on making amends with MP towards the end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcI7PMms1o0&t=489s
Very good interview, thanks for sharing! Obrigado.
By the way nice Rush t-shirt.
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Brilliant, Rodrigo. Thanks for asking that question. :tup
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By the way, I just checked Rock in Rio 2019 and the penultimate shows lasted around 1 hour and 20 minutes, with the exception of Maiden/Scorpions - but Maiden played earlier as own choice, even being the headliner. I really wish that the festival could open a exception for DT to have a 2 hours show since Megadeth gave up.
They're promising to add a new band on the Megadeth slot, and there's speculation that it's Judas Priest. Imagine that?!?!!
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My interview with James was published today. Tons of great information on the interview, and his take on making amends with MP towards the end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcI7PMms1o0&t=489s
Rodrigo, that's a great grab, and that should make the media rounds. He felt comfortable enough with you to be truly honest. You can tell it weighed on him. That walk he took must've been very interesting. I'm glad he accepted the opportunity that Mike had given him.
Thanks, man. And I left that question for last on purpose...if he had an issue with it, at least it wouldn't spoil the rest of the chat. Also, it would give me a chance to show how much of a fan I am, and not just some guy who was assigned a task of promoting his album, so he would be more comfortable with a loaded question like that. I'm really happy with the end result of this interview.
Hey Rod! This is Entre_Perpetuo from TRF. Just finished watching your interview with James and it was fantastic! I really felt like James was an open book during the whole conversation, and you had great questions and great charisma. So congrats!
Btw, as a more general note, I didn't realize when I heard about MP being at that NYC gig that James and Mike had never actually made up before that night, so that whole last story James told was really eye opening to me as a fan. James is such a wonderful human being, and I'm so glad he and Mike were able to put the past in the past and return to that friendship they originally shared. I was always more of the understanding that MP had been unfair and cruel to JLB back when they first started having issues, and that understanding had led me to think of MP in a less positive light. So to hear that Mike actually came forward and wanted to put things right between them, and to hear what he wrote to James after that Grammy win... that gives me a lot more respect for Portnoy than I had been fostering before.
Thanks! And I didn't know you were here, man...TRF is down! What's up with that?
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Brilliant, Rodrigo. Thanks for asking that question. :tup
Thank you!
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My interview with James was published today. Tons of great information on the interview, and his take on making amends with MP towards the end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcI7PMms1o0&t=489s
Very good interview, thanks for sharing! Obrigado.
By the way nice Rush t-shirt.
Thank you! I always try to avoid the black t-shirts from bands, because I have PLENTY of them. This blue Rush one is from Henderson Brewery, and the design is from Hugh Syme.
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JLB addressed this very nicely, and what cannot be overlooked is how this was put on him at basically the last minute, so while mad props to both guys for burying the hatchet, mad respect to James especially for handling it the way he did. :tup :tup
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JLB addressed this very nicely, and what cannot be overlooked is how this was put on him at basically the last minute, so while mad props to both guys for burying the hatchet, mad respect to James especially for handling it the way he did. :tup :tup
Imagine having that thrown at you right before a concert! "How about burying the hatchet on a ten year grudge?".
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https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/dream-theaters-james-labrie-says-its-great-to-be-talking-to-mike-portnoy-again-we-carried-around-negativity-far-too-long/
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It's making its way around Fbook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/dreamtheaterworld
Good job! :tup
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My interview with James was published today. Tons of great information on the interview, and his take on making amends with MP towards the end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcI7PMms1o0&t=489s
That's such an awesome interview, thanks for sharing! Such a chill vibe.
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It's making its way around Fbook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/dreamtheaterworld
Good job! :tup
Yes, I saw it translated to Portuguese and Italian already. Cool!!!!
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My interview with James was published today. Tons of great information on the interview, and his take on making amends with MP towards the end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcI7PMms1o0&t=489s
That's such an awesome interview, thanks for sharing! Such a chill vibe.
Thank you! James made it easy - it was clear to me that he was in good spirits right at the start. And I've always aimed that my interviews were like a casual conversation, but not all of them come out as natural as this one. If you compare the one I did with James in 2018, it's a stark contrast!
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It genuinely warms my heart to see those guys make up after all these years. Great interview, Rodrigo!
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My interview with James was published today. Tons of great information on the interview, and his take on making amends with MP towards the end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcI7PMms1o0&t=489s
Rodrigo, that's a great grab, and that should make the media rounds. He felt comfortable enough with you to be truly honest. You can tell it weighed on him. That walk he took must've been very interesting. I'm glad he accepted the opportunity that Mike had given him.
Thanks, man. And I left that question for last on purpose...if he had an issue with it, at least it wouldn't spoil the rest of the chat. Also, it would give me a chance to show how much of a fan I am, and not just some guy who was assigned a task of promoting his album, so he would be more comfortable with a loaded question like that. I'm really happy with the end result of this interview.
Hey Rod! This is Entre_Perpetuo from TRF. Just finished watching your interview with James and it was fantastic! I really felt like James was an open book during the whole conversation, and you had great questions and great charisma. So congrats!
Btw, as a more general note, I didn't realize when I heard about MP being at that NYC gig that James and Mike had never actually made up before that night, so that whole last story James told was really eye opening to me as a fan. James is such a wonderful human being, and I'm so glad he and Mike were able to put the past in the past and return to that friendship they originally shared. I was always more of the understanding that MP had been unfair and cruel to JLB back when they first started having issues, and that understanding had led me to think of MP in a less positive light. So to hear that Mike actually came forward and wanted to put things right between them, and to hear what he wrote to James after that Grammy win... that gives me a lot more respect for Portnoy than I had been fostering before.
Thanks! And I didn't know you were here, man...TRF is down! What's up with that?
Yeah I haven't been on here long at all. I just felt like joining finally after I saw DT last month, and then I never actually took the time to log on and start chatting till TRF started bugging out recently. Looks like it's down for me again right now, not sure what the issue is this time.
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Here's a question for you guys. Even when James was at his peak, pre-injury; it seems he still was a "polarizing" vocalist in the metal community or even among casual listeners. I was just wondering what the main reason for that was - speculating that maybe it was his tone, or maybe his enunciation? Or maybe both? Because he certainly had range and power back then, and wasn't having as much trouble with pitch.
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Here's a question for you guys. Even when James was at his peak, pre-injury; it seems he still was a "polarizing" vocalist in the metal community or even among casual listeners. I was just wondering what the main reason for that was - speculating that maybe it was his tone, or maybe his enunciation? Or maybe both? Because he certainly had range and power back then, and wasn't having as much trouble with pitch.
Lot's of top-tier singers appear ploarizing (meaning, they elicit strong praise and equally strong razzing), but I personally feel that, in actuallity, the negativity we see online with virtually anything is a very loud, very small minority.
Go on reddit, type in any A-list frontman, and regardless of who they are, someone has written a thosuand word post tearing them apart. I've seen it with everyone from people whom I'd think are unassailiable (like James Hetfield) to guys like Ross from Haken.
My view on all of this? Haters gonna hate.
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I've listened to the his new album and the FII demos this weekend. I've been harsh on James this year, but the one thing that's always been true is that he is amazing at the soft emotional vocals (especially studio).
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Had a couple of nice Father's Day gifts (James' and Jordan's recent solo releases). 'Grey' is good, but surprisingly acoustic and mellow throughout. A shame there's a 'sameness' about it, as it's really well done (other than 'Supernova Girl').
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My Top 10 James Work
1- Awake (Dream Theater)
2- Leonardo - The Absolute Man (Trent Gardner Project)
3- The Human Equation (Ayreon)
4- Images & Words (Dream Theater)
5- Mullmuzzler 2 (Mullmuzzler)
6- Madmen & Sinners (Tim Donahue)
7- Unweaving the Rainbow (Frameshift)
8- Elements of Persuasion (James LaBrie Solo)
9- The Astonishing (Dream Theater)
10- Terra Incognita: Beyond The Horizon (Roswell Six)
Honorable mention:
1- Black Clouds and Silver Linings Cover Disc (Dream Theater)
2- Beautiful Shade of Grey (James LaBrie Solo)
3- Babysteps (Henning Pauly)
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Images and words, Awake, Systematic chaos, The Astonishing and Static impulse are my choices. Not sure about the order, though.
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I still marvel at 4 guys writing the vocals for Images and Words, and legitimately thinking "Yeah, we should be able to find someone to sing this, no problem."
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I still marvel at 4 guys writing the vocals for Images and Words, and legitimately thinking "Yeah, we should be able to find someone to sing this, no problem."
And what’s incredible is that before the injury, they did! It cannot be overstated how absolutely amazing James sounds on both Images and Words as well as Awake, and those early live performances, when he pushed the vocals even harder and added some grit to his tone, are just insane.
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Probably in the minority with this opinion, but, hey, if not here (in the JLB appreciation thread), then where?
For me, JLB's I&W and Awake performances are a bit, well, not my speed.
I mean, in terms of sheer power and range, yes, it's impressive, but there is just so much 'over' singing and it really does nothing for me. I'm way more of a 'feel' over 'range' guy. DT could've dumped JLB for a young, hot-shot replacement at any point, but they would've lost me right then and there.
But, if the band had continued on with him in that vein, I likely would not have been the die-hard fan I've become.
For me, JLB circa '99-'07/08 is where I feel he was his most versatile/best. I'll take his vocals on 'Scenes' or '6 Degrees' over I&W any day of the week.
To that point, I recently checked my Apple Music listening stats, and so far, in 2022, I've listened to DT twice as much as the next closest artist (some 200 hours :metal).
Not since I was a wee lad has that been the case, but something clicked this past year and I spent months diving back into the catalog. Bottom line: JLB has provided a remarkably consistent string of recorded performances over the years/decades.
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Probably in the minority with this opinion, but, hey, if not here (in the JLB appreciation thread), then where?
For me, JLB's I&W and Awake performances are a bit, well, not my speed.
I mean, in terms of sheer power and range, yes, it's impressive, but there is just so much 'over' singing and it really does nothing for me. I'm way more of a 'feel' over 'range' guy. DT could've dumped JLB for a young, hot-shot replacement at any point, but they would've lost me right then and there.
But, if the band had continued on with him in that vein, I likely would not have been the die-hard fan I've become.
For me, JLB circa '99-'07/08 is where I feel he was his most versatile/best. I'll take his vocals on 'Scenes' or '6 Degrees' over I&W any day of the week.
To that point, I recently checked my Apple Music listening stats, and so far, in 2022, I've listened to DT twice as much as the next closest artist (some 200 hours :metal).
Not since I was a wee lad has that been the case, but something clicked this past year and I spent months diving back into the catalog. Bottom line: JLB has provided a remarkably consistent string of recorded performances over the years/decades.
I am firmly in the camp of 1992-1995 James Labrie being one of the greatest singers ever but I understand where you are coming from. Objectively, by 2000, he had lost that ringing quality with a shit-ton of harmonics that made his voice such a marvel but in a way, he had learned how to do more with less. He could just no longer drop your jaw with nothing but the sheer sound of his voice like he would, for example, in so many1992-1993 performances of The Killing Hand.
IMO, he always sounds best in songs that sit in normal tenor tessitura, with an occasional super high note or scream- ACOS, TKH. The most of IaW and Awake songs have him sing too high for too long so they are not the best advertisement for the vocal sound he was capable of, though they certainly do advertise his range and power...I would say the vocal melodies there are absolutely horrendous in terms of "how to properly write for a lyrical tenor voice" - but they are also unique and totally awesome (and JLB was probably bound to eventually pay the price for singing such melodies so often, bad shrimp or not).
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Coming back to this:
Here's a question for you guys. Even when James was at his peak, pre-injury; it seems he still was a "polarizing" vocalist in the metal community or even among casual listeners. I was just wondering what the main reason for that was - speculating that maybe it was his tone, or maybe his enunciation? Or maybe both? Because he certainly had range and power back then, and wasn't having as much trouble with pitch.
It's hard to generalize about why a large, diverse group of people don't like something. But one thing I found during this time period (and after) is that younger metal fans who didn't cut their teeth on '80s metal just had different tastes in what metal or hard rock should sound like, and a band with soaring high clean vocals didn't fit that mold. When you look at lists of the most popular metal acts of the '90s, it isn't surprising when you see bands like Tool, Korn, Deftones, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Rage Against the Machine, Slipknot, System of a Down, and Nine Inch Nails topping a lot of those lists. Vocals like James' were not the popular choice. Even Maiden decided to go in a completely different direction vocally during Bruce's departure during that period. I think it's safe to say that we can lump a lot of the criticism during that period to the fact that a new generation of metal heads had tastes that James' style just didn't fit. That may seem rational or fair given James' talent, but it ultimately doesn't come down to talent--it comes down to taste. Honestly, I did a similar thing when I was developing my musical tastes in the '80s. There were a LOT of acts that are really talented from the '70s and '60s that I rejected out of hand just because the '80s sound had "moved past" that earlier sound, and my tastes aligned with the style I was getting into in the '80s. In the same way, because the music scene in the '90s and changed and "moved past" the '80s sound, a singer that sounded a lot more similar to those '80s stylings was bound to be disliked by a lot of the newer metal fanbase, and even the older metal fanbase that was ready for something new and was tired of that '80s sound.
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Coming back to this:
Here's a question for you guys. Even when James was at his peak, pre-injury; it seems he still was a "polarizing" vocalist in the metal community or even among casual listeners. I was just wondering what the main reason for that was - speculating that maybe it was his tone, or maybe his enunciation? Or maybe both? Because he certainly had range and power back then, and wasn't having as much trouble with pitch.
It's hard to generalize about why a large, diverse group of people don't like something. But one thing I found during this time period (and after) is that younger metal fans who didn't cut their teeth on '80s metal just had different tastes in what metal or hard rock should sound like, and a band with soaring high clean vocals didn't fit that mold. When you look at lists of the most popular metal acts of the '90s, it isn't surprising when you see bands like Tool, Korn, Deftones, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Rage Against the Machine, Slipknot, System of a Down, and Nine Inch Nails topping a lot of those lists. Vocals like James' were not the popular choice. Even Maiden decided to go in a completely different direction vocally during Bruce's departure during that period. I think it's safe to say that we can lump a lot of the criticism during that period to the fact that a new generation of metal heads had tastes that James' style just didn't fit. That may seem rational or fair given James' talent, but it ultimately doesn't come down to talent--it comes down to taste. Honestly, I did a similar thing when I was developing my musical tastes in the '80s. There were a LOT of acts that are really talented from the '70s and '60s that I rejected out of hand just because the '80s sound had "moved past" that earlier sound, and my tastes aligned with the style I was getting into in the '80s. In the same way, because the music scene in the '90s and changed and "moved past" the '80s sound, a singer that sounded a lot more similar to those '80s stylings was bound to be disliked by a lot of the newer metal fanbase, and even the older metal fanbase that was ready for something new and was tired of that '80s sound.
I feel it's the same reason people don't like Rush vocals or Coheed and Cambria vocals.
My friends mother was a singer in her younger days, and she has told us many times how much she doesn't like JLB's vocals. They're too pitchy, screechy, and sort of whiney. She doesn't consider him a good vocalist either. This is due to his inconsistency live and not being able to replicate his studio vocals. That right there is what determines whether a singer was good or not for my friends mom.
This is how I view singers as well. That is because singers can do many vocal takes, and choose the best ones, they can try and try to get the best possible note, but at that, they had to try. When they try and sing these songs live, you realize that they sort of went overboard, and are having difficulties actually singing it live.
I have also heard some bands talk about making a song, and then realizing they're going to have to play it live some day, or don't acknowledge it and never play it all because it'll be difficult to sing/play and it won't be as good.
I am one that does enjoy JLB's tone, and vocals, but I admit that he is a very inconsistent live singer and he modifies his vocals a lot when singing live. Also, he is a singer who does sing demanding parts live, they tour constantly, so I do not expect his vocals to be the best all the time.
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My Top 10 James Work
1- Awake (Dream Theater)
2- Leonardo - The Absolute Man (Trent Gardner Project)
3- The Human Equation (Ayreon)
4- Images & Words (Dream Theater)
5- Mullmuzzler 2 (Mullmuzzler)
6- Madmen & Sinners (Tim Donahue)
7- Unweaving the Rainbow (Frameshift)
8- Elements of Persuasion (James LaBrie Solo)
9- The Astonishing (Dream Theater)
10- Terra Incognita: Beyond The Horizon (Roswell Six)
Honorable mention:
1- Black Clouds and Silver Linings Cover Disc (Dream Theater)
2- Beautiful Shade of Grey (James LaBrie Solo)
3- Babysteps (Henning Pauly)
Thanks for this list! Some of these I’ve never heard before and I’m checking them out right now :metal
I’ll return with my thoughts (I havent heard Babysteps, Ayreon, Terra Incognita, The Absolute Man)
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I just wish DT would use more of James' different voices (which they did with The Astonishing). Frameshift's Unweaving the Rainbow, Leonardo The Absolute Man and the Black Clouds covers disc are just flawless performances by James and covers his complete voice palette if that makes sense.
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James was nice enough to help me with a Christmas gift for a friend of mine. We ended up doing a "virtual" duet together with the song "Disappear"!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eou6RhB1xKA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eou6RhB1xKA)
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James was nice enough to help me with a Christmas gift for a friend of mine. We ended up doing a "virtual" duet together with the song "Disappear"!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eou6RhB1xKA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eou6RhB1xKA)
Guy is a class act.
Say what you will about his range, James’ warmth has always been the key selling point to me, and “Disappear” still sounds amazing!
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James was nice enough to help me with a Christmas gift for a friend of mine. We ended up doing a "virtual" duet together with the song "Disappear"!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eou6RhB1xKA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eou6RhB1xKA)
Great job Ricky and James sounds amazing! Would love to see this song back in DT's setlist sometime.
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Probably in the minority with this opinion, but, hey, if not here (in the JLB appreciation thread), then where?
For me, JLB's I&W and Awake performances are a bit, well, not my speed.
I mean, in terms of sheer power and range, yes, it's impressive, but there is just so much 'over' singing and it really does nothing for me.
While I wouldn’t go as far as to say it does “nothing” for me, I actually agree with your main premise, primarily with “Awake.”
This is probably a sacrilege amongst DT fans but I actually think JLB’s vocals are a weak spot on that record rather than a highlight. Don’t get me wrong; from a technical/performance standpoint, it’s nothing short of phenomenal, but because JLB is going full-throttle, balls to the wall through 30-40% of the album, it actually loses a lot of its impact. I realize this is prog metal, but a little restraint probably would have gone a long way.
To illustrate my point- take a song like “Pull Me Under” - a song where I feel DT utilizes JLB’s range and power to good effect. His vocals build and crescendo until he finally takes off with “WATCH THE SPARROW FALLING” and instantly it grabs listener’s attention and you know it’s ON like Donkey Kong. If JLB had been belting it out prior to that section of the song, then that moment loses its impact/power.
Basically, as impressive as JLB is on “Awake”, I wish they had been a bit more strategic (?) about choosing their vocal dynamics or “high spots”, to borrow a phrase from pro wrestling. Notice I don’t put all the blame on JLB as he’s not responsible for all the vocal melodies.
By the time we get to Falling Into Infinity and Scenes, JLB and the boys have calmed down on the vocal theatrics (at least partially out of necessity, I’m sure) and I don’t think that was a bad thing for the overall sound of the band.
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Probably in the minority with this opinion, but, hey, if not here (in the JLB appreciation thread), then where?
For me, JLB's I&W and Awake performances are a bit, well, not my speed.
I mean, in terms of sheer power and range, yes, it's impressive, but there is just so much 'over' singing and it really does nothing for me.
While I wouldn’t go as far as to say it does “nothing” for me, I actually agree with your main premise, primarily with “Awake.”
This is probably a sacrilege amongst DT fans but I actually think JLB’s vocals are a weak spot on that record rather than a highlight. Don’t get me wrong; from a technical/performance standpoint, it’s nothing short of phenomenal, but because JLB is going full-throttle, balls to the wall through 30-40% of the album, it actually loses a lot of its impact. I realize this is prog metal, but a little restraint probably would have gone a long way.
To illustrate my point- take a song like “Pull Me Under” - a song where I feel DT utilizes JLB’s range and power to good effect. His vocals build and crescendo until he finally takes off with “WATCH THE SPARROW FALLING” and instantly it grabs listener’s attention and you know it’s ON like Donkey Kong. If JLB had been belting it out prior to that section of the song, then that moment loses its impact/power.
Basically, as impressive as JLB is on “Awake”, I wish they had been a bit more strategic (?) about choosing their vocal dynamics or “high spots”, to borrow a phrase from pro wrestling. Notice I don’t put all the blame on JLB as he’s not responsible for all the vocal melodies.
By the time we get to Falling Into Infinity and Scenes, JLB and the boys have calmed down on the vocal theatrics (at least partially out of necessity, I’m sure) and I don’t think that was a bad thing for the overall sound of the band.
FWIW - I agree with you 100%. I&W is a phenomenal album but I feel the vocals were a bit over the top and that's probably because the album was written before JLB came aboard and his vocal technique was prolly coached from the producer. Same with Awake and his vocals were so strained that people thought DT hired a new vocalist.
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Probably in the minority with this opinion, but, hey, if not here (in the JLB appreciation thread), then where?
For me, JLB's I&W and Awake performances are a bit, well, not my speed.
I mean, in terms of sheer power and range, yes, it's impressive, but there is just so much 'over' singing and it really does nothing for me.
While I wouldn’t go as far as to say it does “nothing” for me, I actually agree with your main premise, primarily with “Awake.”
This is probably a sacrilege amongst DT fans but I actually think JLB’s vocals are a weak spot on that record rather than a highlight. Don’t get me wrong; from a technical/performance standpoint, it’s nothing short of phenomenal, but because JLB is going full-throttle, balls to the wall through 30-40% of the album, it actually loses a lot of its impact. I realize this is prog metal, but a little restraint probably would have gone a long way.
To illustrate my point- take a song like “Pull Me Under” - a song where I feel DT utilizes JLB’s range and power to good effect. His vocals build and crescendo until he finally takes off with “WATCH THE SPARROW FALLING” and instantly it grabs listener’s attention and you know it’s ON like Donkey Kong. If JLB had been belting it out prior to that section of the song, then that moment loses its impact/power.
Basically, as impressive as JLB is on “Awake”, I wish they had been a bit more strategic (?) about choosing their vocal dynamics or “high spots”, to borrow a phrase from pro wrestling. Notice I don’t put all the blame on JLB as he’s not responsible for all the vocal melodies.
By the time we get to Falling Into Infinity and Scenes, JLB and the boys have calmed down on the vocal theatrics (at least partially out of necessity, I’m sure) and I don’t think that was a bad thing for the overall sound of the band.
I don't think it's "sacrilege," but I'm going to disagree, and here's why: James has gone on record explaining that he came to the band during the Awake sessions and told them he wanted to go for a harder, grittier approach, and they supported him in that. This was a bit new and different, both for James and for DT. So it's understandable that this new approach would have dominated a significant part of the album, which goes to your point. But where I disagree is that, notwithstanding what I just conceded, Awake is still vocally very diverse and dynamic. Voices and Scarred, for example, show off incredibly wide dynamic and stylistic range, going from soft and breathy to either full belting or grit, and a lot of places in between, all within the same song. And while you have songs where James is just going for it the entire song, like 6:00 or CIAW, you also have entire songs where he is very restrained in different ways, like Lifting Shadows, the Silent Man, and Space Dye Vest. And even among those, James is doing very different things in terms of style, technique, and dynamics. So while it's one thing to not like the vocals on Awake (which is fine), I don't really agree with the specific criticism for why you say you don't like them.
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James was nice enough to help me with a Christmas gift for a friend of mine. We ended up doing a "virtual" duet together with the song "Disappear"!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eou6RhB1xKA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eou6RhB1xKA)
Dang, that is AWESOME!!! 💯💫👏
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Probably in the minority with this opinion, but, hey, if not here (in the JLB appreciation thread), then where?
For me, JLB's I&W and Awake performances are a bit, well, not my speed.
I mean, in terms of sheer power and range, yes, it's impressive, but there is just so much 'over' singing and it really does nothing for me.
While I wouldn’t go as far as to say it does “nothing” for me, I actually agree with your main premise, primarily with “Awake.”
This is probably a sacrilege amongst DT fans but I actually think JLB’s vocals are a weak spot on that record rather than a highlight. Don’t get me wrong; from a technical/performance standpoint, it’s nothing short of phenomenal, but because JLB is going full-throttle, balls to the wall through 30-40% of the album, it actually loses a lot of its impact. I realize this is prog metal, but a little restraint probably would have gone a long way.
To illustrate my point- take a song like “Pull Me Under” - a song where I feel DT utilizes JLB’s range and power to good effect. His vocals build and crescendo until he finally takes off with “WATCH THE SPARROW FALLING” and instantly it grabs listener’s attention and you know it’s ON like Donkey Kong. If JLB had been belting it out prior to that section of the song, then that moment loses its impact/power.
Basically, as impressive as JLB is on “Awake”, I wish they had been a bit more strategic (?) about choosing their vocal dynamics or “high spots”, to borrow a phrase from pro wrestling. Notice I don’t put all the blame on JLB as he’s not responsible for all the vocal melodies.
By the time we get to Falling Into Infinity and Scenes, JLB and the boys have calmed down on the vocal theatrics (at least partially out of necessity, I’m sure) and I don’t think that was a bad thing for the overall sound of the band.
FWIW - I agree with you 100%. I&W is a phenomenal album but I feel the vocals were a bit over the top and that's probably because the album was written before JLB came aboard and his vocal technique was prolly coached from the producer. Same with Awake and his vocals were so strained that people thought DT hired a new vocalist.
I&W is an over-the-top album then? MP and JP played way more notes than what they could have. I don't see what makes JLB's performance excessive in particular unless you're thinking that the whole project is just a bit much.
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Probably in the minority with this opinion, but, hey, if not here (in the JLB appreciation thread), then where?
For me, JLB's I&W and Awake performances are a bit, well, not my speed.
I feel Awake was James' best performance. You can hear all his different "voices" in Awake from a soft/hypnotic voice Space Dye Vest to the aggressive/metal voice in Lie/The Mirror, to the everything but the kitchen sink in Scarred. Performance wise, this is my favorite James album and he is the reason I keep coming to it. I think Awake is also full of emotion, albeit an aggressive one and imo, it was done flawless throughout the record.
Now, the phrasing and enunciation did get better in SFAM and SDOIT and both of them are just great in the vocal department. He had to adapt and he did it in a great way. I think when James participates in the lyrics and melodies, they come a whole lot better than when he doesn't (AVOTOTW). At Wit's End is a great example of what he can do vocally in the current DT form.
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Probably in the minority with this opinion, but, hey, if not here (in the JLB appreciation thread), then where?
For me, JLB's I&W and Awake performances are a bit, well, not my speed.
I feel Awake was James' best performance. You can hear all his different "voices" in Awake from a soft/hypnotic voice Space Dye Vest to the aggressive/metal voice in Lie/The Mirror, to the everything but the kitchen sink in Scarred. Performance wise, this is my favorite James album and he is the reason I keep coming to it. I think Awake is also full of emotion, albeit an aggressive one and imo, it was done flawless throughout the record.
Now, the phrasing and enunciation did get better in SFAM and SDOIT and both of them are just great in the vocal department. He had to adapt and he did it in a great way. I think when James participates in the lyrics and melodies, they come a whole lot better than when he doesn't (AVOTOTW). At Wit's End is a great example of what he can do vocally in the current DT form.
To me, James' singing on Awake is the best harsh vocals performance I have ever heard, by any singer. His mix of extremely bright operatic tone with so much distortion and aggression is unique.
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James has gone on record explaining that he came to the band during the Awake sessions and told them he wanted to go for a harder, grittier approach, and they supported him in that.
Cool. I always thought Petrucci and Portnoy were behind that. Was it also LaBrie's idea to sing like that on Live in Tokyo 1993?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajt5pxbB8is&ab_channel=K%C3%9C2H
First time seeing this concert. Godly vocal performance.
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Probably in the minority with this opinion, but, hey, if not here (in the JLB appreciation thread), then where?
For me, JLB's I&W and Awake performances are a bit, well, not my speed.
I feel Awake was James' best performance. You can hear all his different "voices" in Awake from a soft/hypnotic voice Space Dye Vest to the aggressive/metal voice in Lie/The Mirror, to the everything but the kitchen sink in Scarred. Performance wise, this is my favorite James album and he is the reason I keep coming to it. I think Awake is also full of emotion, albeit an aggressive one and imo, it was done flawless throughout the record.
Now, the phrasing and enunciation did get better in SFAM and SDOIT and both of them are just great in the vocal department. He had to adapt and he did it in a great way. I think when James participates in the lyrics and melodies, they come a whole lot better than when he doesn't (AVOTOTW). At Wit's End is a great example of what he can do vocally in the current DT form.
To me, James' singing on Awake is the best harsh vocals performance I have ever heard, by any singer. His mix of extremely bright operatic tone with so much distortion and aggression is unique.
:|
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajt5pxbB8is&ab_channel=K%C3%9C2H
First time seeing this concert. Godly vocal performance.
Yeah he was off the charts back then!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajt5pxbB8is&ab_channel=K%C3%9C2H
First time seeing this concert. Godly vocal performance.
Yeah he was off the charts back then!
:metal
I had this on as a VHS boot back in '93. But wow, this quality is amazing.
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Wow, that's REALLY good.
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Probably in the minority with this opinion, but, hey, if not here (in the JLB appreciation thread), then where?
For me, JLB's I&W and Awake performances are a bit, well, not my speed.
I feel Awake was James' best performance. You can hear all his different "voices" in Awake from a soft/hypnotic voice Space Dye Vest to the aggressive/metal voice in Lie/The Mirror, to the everything but the kitchen sink in Scarred. Performance wise, this is my favorite James album and he is the reason I keep coming to it. I think Awake is also full of emotion, albeit an aggressive one and imo, it was done flawless throughout the record.
Now, the phrasing and enunciation did get better in SFAM and SDOIT and both of them are just great in the vocal department. He had to adapt and he did it in a great way. I think when James participates in the lyrics and melodies, they come a whole lot better than when he doesn't (AVOTOTW). At Wit's End is a great example of what he can do vocally in the current DT form.
To me, James' singing on Awake is the best harsh vocals performance I have ever heard, by any singer. His mix of extremely bright operatic tone with so much distortion and aggression is unique.
:|
I was confused at this too but guessing he means like.......clean but raspy gritty performance, not actually harsh like death/black metal style vocals.
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Just adding my two cents here regarding what I think is his best era of vocals.
I happen to love Score (biased maybe, as it was my first exposure to the band) and I had never before beard such a capable, controlled, powerful, sweet and angelic tenor voice before in any rock genre. Just, a glorious sweep of warmth and bell-like sound. It was love at first listen.
To this day I have never heard anything like it. I have other favorite singers (Geoff Tate, Bruce Dickinson, Michael Kiske) and each has his own superpower, but James is unique in his utterly angelic and beautiful sound.
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It's gonna be real tough to sell this take and not seem like a complete fanboy, but as years go by, JLB's performance in I&W, Awake and his live renditions of WDADU songs in the 90s have reached the Mercuries. I call "The Mercuries" to a state of performance in an album made by a singer that is so unique that, no matter how good other vocalists are, can never match the level of interpretation made by the original vocalist. I had this opinion after listening to Freddie on Queen's albums from their self-titled to "The Game": These songs might be made as covers by singers who might even have a wider range or more potency; but they can never reach the characteristic voice color and interpretation of the original. Happens with Freddie, happens with James. Historical.