Ooh, not Images and Words?
That's the one that inspired a genre. I mean it wasn't the
first, Fates Warning were doing a similar thing a few years before they came along, but Images and Words became kinda the acceptable face of progressive metal.
I fully agree with you Orcus. I might add that just because a band is supposedly "progressing" doesn't mean that the direction chosen was a wise choice. Need proof? Two bands that show how to do it wrong: Metallica and Queenswrëck. Metallica finally got it together; Queenswrëck is beyond hopeless. Both tried to do different stuff in an effort to progress, going beyond their core sounds, and look at the results - many long time fans threw up their hands in disgust. Even MP was very critical of the output by both bands for that very reason (that they left their core sound). Sure Metallica still gained in popularity, altho I personally would question how much they'd have gained in popularity if not for the black album. Nonetheless, they pretty much have turned their back on those 3 albums (Load, Reload, St. Anger) in live shows - why? Surely there are plenty of fans that wanna hear Load/Reload stuff. Probably because they realize what a HUGE mistake it was to put those albums out. Here's to hoping that DT doesn't continue down a similar path with cookie monster vocals...
I don't know. I don't think they're planning on using cookie monster vocals very much. I mean, at worst, they're going to be occasional injections. Mike's backing, though, has actually added quite a lot. Even the gruffer bits.
Full Circle would be a lot more dull without MP - and that's part of one of the best received songs of the entire decade. Which also climaxes in the closest performance James LaBrie has done to cookie monster vocals. And then there's The Glass Prison. Heck, for Prophets of War his falsetto screams are positively the highlight. And you've got the fantastic cover of Flick of the Wrist.
I dunno. Three out of four of those are fan favourites. And I mean, if we look back, he's only really prominent on eleven tracks or so total. Entire career.
But Mike and JP don't compare to "the other guys". Even though Mike did do a respectable job of imitating Queen recently, he's not on that level and doesn't write the amazing vocal lines and harmonies that Queen could.
Good! Wouldn't want them to. Nah, I know what you mean. But "well, they're not quite Queen!" is a pretty weak slur. They clearly can write good harmonies. Again, Don't Look Past Me is absolutely fantastic, and completely different. Scenes is full of 'em, as you say. I Walk Beside You actually has some really lush stuff going on, too. That kind of stuff would be lovely.
...but tangential, come to think of it! We're talking about the gruffer stuff. All I was saying is that there's nothing inherently wrong with giving the backing vocalists a few more roles, and it won't necessarily reflect badly on JLB. If Freddie Mercury of all people reckoned there was a place for other vocalists in his bands to sing music that he was
more than capable of doing himself, I'm sure James LaBrie won't mind sitting back for a little while Mikeyboy takes the rougher stuff that he can't quite reach.