For all you people who rip on LaBrie for his live performances....

[SnakeEyes]

LaBrie has his off nights once in a while, but it could be A LOT worse.  I love this guy's voice.... but, wow is this awful.  And, it's not just this one.... it's like every recent video of him on You Tube (I won't spoil the fun.... just click the link). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuyFn8kELGw&feature=related

LaBrie is about 10,000 better than this even on his off nights. 

[Adami]

This isn't a very good thread.

[SnakeEyes]

Your face isn't good. 













I'm just kidding.  Your face is awesome. 

[Perpetual Change]

DT fans rip on LaBrie because, unfortunately, many DT fans live in this little box where DT are the only band that exists. And they have no idea what having reasonable expectations of live operatic metal singers is.

[Adami]

Eh....

People ripp on LaBrie because for the past 15 or so years he has given a fair amount of less than stellar performances and, also for the past 15 or so years, give or take, the band stopped writing with his vocals in mind and make him give performances that don't naturally sound good with him singing, which shows itself much more live because he doesn't have 100 takes to hone in on whatever modern band portnoy has in his head at the time.

[glaurung]

I think he sounds fantastic.

[Adami]

I think he sounds fantastic.

He often does.

[setrataeso]

Labrie is in God Mode right now.
People haven't consistently ripped on him for a while.

[OperantChamber]

DT fans rip on LaBrie because, unfortunately, many DT fans live in this little box where DT are the only band that exists. And they have no idea what having reasonable expectations of live operatic metal singers is.

I'm very inclined to agree, so I will!
o/

[Darkes7]

Eh....

People ripp on LaBrie because for the past 15 or so years he has given a fair amount of less than stellar performances and, also for the past 15 or so years, give or take, the band stopped writing with his vocals in mind and make him give performances that don't naturally sound good with him singing, which shows itself much more live because he doesn't have 100 takes to hone in on whatever modern band portnoy has in his head at the time.

Lol? Obviously the last two albums (with ITPOE Pt. 2 as the example for the infinite-th time) are a great example?

I saw DT twice in 2009, and his singing was perfect. He pulled off Voices without any problems, which says a lot.

edit: wtf at my mistakes sometimes, I don't get them myself

[2Timer]

I'm convinced that JLB's voice just isn't meant to be recorded live. I've seen them lots of times, his voice has sounded amazing live every time, but for some reason, except for the live DVDs, I don't think his voice records well. For example, when I saw them in NJ on the SC tour, his voice was the best I'd heard up to that point. When a friend of mine found a bootleg of that same show, I couldn't believe the way it sounded. I don't know what it is, but his voice just loses something live when it gets recorded somehow. It doesn't make me love his voice any less, though.

[Adami]

I'm not saying LaBrie sounds bad in the studio or that every single song has vocal melodies that sound akward. Just that when Portnoy writes vocals, he admits that he does it with a different voice in mind.

ITPOE is Petrucci, doesn't quite fit with what I'm talking about. Petrucci just writes whatever he wants, and it seems easier for LaBrie to fix it to fit his voice than it is with portnoys, but not always.

[Perpetual Change]

DT fans rip on LaBrie because, unfortunately, many DT fans live in this little box where DT are the only band that exists. And they have no idea what having reasonable expectations of live operatic metal singers is.

I'm very inclined to agree, so I will!
o/

\o

Seriously. Listen to live boots any of the metal vocal gods- LaBrie, Dio, Hetfield, Dickinson, I don't care who- and you'll see that if you analyze them like you analyze James, you'll come to the same harsh conclusions.

[j]

Just that when Portnoy writes vocals, he admits that he does it with a different voice in mind.

But people are saying in the other thread that Portnoy still maintains that LaBrie is "the" voice of DT.  I wonder why he wouldn't write material with his singer's strengths at least in the back of his mind?

-J

[Perpetual Change]

Hm. It couldn't be possible that Portnoy is human, and just "says things" like we all do sometimes, could it?

[Darkes7]

I'm not saying LaBrie sounds bad in the studio or that every single song has vocal melodies that sound akward. Just that when Portnoy writes vocals, he admits that he does it with a different voice in mind.

ITPOE is Petrucci, doesn't quite fit with what I'm talking about. Petrucci just writes whatever he wants, and it seems easier for LaBrie to fix it to fit his voice than it is with portnoys, but not always.

And it still doesn't make sense. I've never heard about that, but even assuming you're right, there's not a single DT song where I'd think "this just doesn't work with James on vocals". It's rather obvious that they cannot consider the vocals priority one in every single song and do everything to make him shine throughout the entire album, because it's unrealistic in general, and it's even more unrealistic in case of a band with a style like DT. But still, the effect is always at least good, and sometimes you get gems like the Heretic part.

Things look different on his solo albums, but then, well, he's the main songwriter, knowing his own abilities better than anyone, and most importantly it's more straightforward and not as complex in terms of instrumentation which naturally makes it more vocal-driven. DT still do a damn good job at allowing him to shine as well as the rest of the band.

[Adami]

As I said, in the studio he gets lots of takes. He has the writers working with him to really get to the core of the song. Live he gets 1 shot. Mostly he nails it, sometimes he doesn't.

[Darkes7]

But he knows the songs at that point anyway. Especially if it's not the first time.

[Perpetual Change]

As I said, in the studio he gets lots of takes. He has the writers working with him to really get to the core of the song. Live he gets 1 shot. Mostly he nails it, sometimes he doesn't.

Which is completely to be expected by even the best, most legendary vocalists in metal. Sometimes I hear people criticizing LaBrie and I wonder to myself if those same people have ever been to a live show before.

[ConstantMotion]

He sounded good at the DT and IM concert I went to this month.  Everyone has their off days.

As someone who writes songs and sings myself, I also have my off days. And I don't even have to sing to a live crowd for a couple of hours every night.

[icysk8r]

Hm. It couldn't be possible that Portnoy is human, and just "says things" like we all do sometimes, could it?

How dare you deny MP as your lord and savior!

[KevShmev]

  Sometimes I hear people criticizing LaBrie and I wonder to myself if those same people have ever been to a live show before.

A DVD like CIM does not help.  He sounds pretty bad on many of the songs on there.  All we heard that whole tour was how great he was sounding, and then he sounds bad on much of that DVD, leading everyone to say, "Why did they pick performances where he sounded that bad?"  I wonder if that was true, or if he really sounded that good.  I think the excitement and euphoria of being at a concert causes most of us to sometimes overrate individual performances.  It is like when Neil Peart thinks he had a bad night, yet fans are like, "Oh man, that was the greatest performance ever!"

[Adami]

  Sometimes I hear people criticizing LaBrie and I wonder to myself if those same people have ever been to a live show before.

A DVD like CIM does not help.  He sounds pretty bad on many of the songs on there.  All we heard that whole tour was how great he was sounding, and then he sounds bad on much of that DVD, leading everyone to say, "Why did they pick performances where he sounded that bad?"  I wonder if that was true, or if he really sounded that good.  I think the excitement and euphoria of being at a concert causes most of us to sometimes overrate individual performances.  It is like when Neil Peart thinks he had a bad night, yet fans are like, "Oh man, that was the greatest performance ever!"

I made a similar point in the Metallica thread. When you're at a large show (as in, not a small club concert) then it's VERY easy to not hear most of the mistakes a band makes. However, if you get a recording of the same show you were at, often enough, you'll find it wasn't such a flawless performance. But being at the concert, hearing it over the speakers at the frequencies they have it at, hearing the crowd singing along and blah blah blah covers up tons of stuff.

[Darkes7]

  Sometimes I hear people criticizing LaBrie and I wonder to myself if those same people have ever been to a live show before.

A DVD like CIM does not help.  He sounds pretty bad on many of the songs on there.  All we heard that whole tour was how great he was sounding, and then he sounds bad on much of that DVD, leading everyone to say, "Why did they pick performances where he sounded that bad?"  I wonder if that was true, or if he really sounded that good.  I think the excitement and euphoria of being at a concert causes most of us to sometimes overrate individual performances.  It is like when Neil Peart thinks he had a bad night, yet fans are like, "Oh man, that was the greatest performance ever!"

It's like 3-4 songs, and really strong only on Blind Faith. I get the impression people really like exaggerating weaknesses of CiM.

[Perpetual Change]

  Sometimes I hear people criticizing LaBrie and I wonder to myself if those same people have ever been to a live show before.

A DVD like CIM does not help.  He sounds pretty bad on many of the songs on there.  All we heard that whole tour was how great he was sounding, and then he sounds bad on much of that DVD, leading everyone to say, "Why did they pick performances where he sounded that bad?"  I wonder if that was true, or if he really sounded that good.  I think the excitement and euphoria of being at a concert causes most of us to sometimes overrate individual performances.  It is like when Neil Peart thinks he had a bad night, yet fans are like, "Oh man, that was the greatest performance ever!"

CIM is still a mystery to me. But he did sound good on that tour. If the euphoria of being at a concert causes us to overrate it, then 1.) that's true for artists across the board-- not just LaBrie-- and 2.) who cares?

[TAC]

The thing about that video is that Sebastian Bach had the talent and the sound to be one of the best singers EVER. He is personally one of hard rock's greatest missed opportunities.


As far as James goes, no band asks their singer to do what DT asks James to do. Their songs have tremendous range and I'm sure it's very challenging. The bootleg to the Boston 07 show James sounds great, but the CiM version of Scarred and Lines has him sounding very thin. James , I believe, still has the ability to "dial in" when needed. I mean, Has James ever had a bad show in LA in the last 10 years?

Unfortunately when James is off, it's very noticeable. There's no masking it. But James leaves it all out on the stage everynight, no matter what.

[bosk1]

I'm convinced that JLB's voice just isn't meant to be recorded live. I've seen them lots of times, his voice has sounded amazing live every time, but for some reason, except for the live DVDs, I don't think his voice records well. For example, when I saw them in NJ on the SC tour, his voice was the best I'd heard up to that point. When a friend of mine found a bootleg of that same show, I couldn't believe the way it sounded. I don't know what it is, but his voice just loses something live when it gets recorded somehow. It doesn't make me love his voice any less, though.

I think part of it may be what Kev mentioned above.  But another part is, unfortunately, just a reality of bootlegs.  The mics people use to record bootlegs, combined with the sound dynamics involved in how the songs are being captured, just simply don't lend themselves to capturing good vocal performances.  I can't give you all the science behind it, but I do know that certain sound frequencies tend to suffer a LOT more than others, and the vocals, especially a lot of what James' range encompasses, tend to suffer the most.  That's why you can hear a soundboard recording and an audience bootleg of the same show where the vocals sound completely different.  They often sound a lot thinner and pitchier from the audience bootleg.

[Dublagent66]

^That.  Actually being there and watching it on DVD can be two completely different experiences.  CiM and some bootlegs do have sound issues.  But, everytime I've seen James live (in person) he's always been fantastic and that's all that really matters.

[King Postwhore]

The style James sings can take it's toll over a full tour.  Plus, I think the music DT is writing is not always conducive to vocal phrasings.

Geddy Lee is a prime example that with year, he had to change his style of singing and drop down a half step.  Singing takes it's toll and vocal chords take a beating.  Some nights are just better than others.  It's like being an athlete.

[Mladen]

I'm convinced that JLB's voice just isn't meant to be recorded live.

That's an interesting opinion, but how would you explain his awesomeness on Score live album? He absolutely rocked from beginning to the end. I'm sure that the next live album will be amazing in terms of LaBrie's performance.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't read the post properly.

[2Timer]

I'm convinced that JLB's voice just isn't meant to be recorded live. I've seen them lots of times, his voice has sounded amazing live every time, but for some reason, except for the live DVDs, I don't think his voice records well. For example, when I saw them in NJ on the SC tour, his voice was the best I'd heard up to that point. When a friend of mine found a bootleg of that same show, I couldn't believe the way it sounded. I don't know what it is, but his voice just loses something live when it gets recorded somehow. It doesn't make me love his voice any less, though.

 Are you talking about the Score cd or dvd? I know I thought that vocals on the CiM dvd sounded good, but I didn't care for the cd at all. I don't know if that makes any sense, seeing as it could possibly even be the exact same vocal track. Maybe it's my stereo that doesn't do any of his live stuff justice.
Like Dublagen said, all that matters is how he sounds to me when I see them live.

[bosk1]

No, for CiM, they are different performances. 

[Martinman300]

All the songs on CiM are the same on DVD and CD except for surrounded

[BRGM]

AND Blind faith

[SnakeEyes]

The thing about that video is that Sebastian Bach had the talent and the sound to be one of the best singers EVER. He is personally one of hard rock's greatest missed opportunities.

I am in total agreement with this.  When I posted the video in this thread, I wasn't saying it like, "Wow, this guy sucks," it was partly, "Wow, this guy used to be phenominal, what happened?"  Well, what happened is exactly what you said:  a missed opportunity.  I remember Bach was doing Broadway for a while and had an opportunity to become a respected singer, but he blew it with his behavior and got fired.  What a moron.