James LaBrie Solo

[ZirconBlue]

The only person I know who was kind of 'shut down' from writing lyrics was John Myung in Dream Theater but yeah I don't think James was ever prohibited from writing anything or told that his lyrics were 'too hard to write music around' 

There was one album (I think ADToE) where James said he submitted lyrics for 3 songs, but they weren't used.


Personally, with as good as the Mullmuzzler/JLB albums have been, I'm not going to question how they divide the songwriting. 

[Madman Shepherd]

The only person I know who was kind of 'shut down' from writing lyrics was John Myung in Dream Theater but yeah I don't think James was ever prohibited from writing anything or told that his lyrics were 'too hard to write music around' 

There was one album (I think ADToE) where James said he submitted lyrics for 3 songs, but they weren't used.


Personally, with as good as the Mullmuzzler/JLB albums have been, I'm not going to question how they divide the songwriting.

Yeah it was a non-English interview so I don't think it got much notice.  With how great Petrucci's lyrics were on ADTOE, I can't be too upset but I still would be more satisfied if the albums felt like more of a band effort. 

[Madman Shepherd]

Maybe he doesn't want to? Not every musician is bursting at the seems with ideas they want to write. Sometimes they just love the act of performing. There's been some instances of him being told he can't write lyrics to a song here or there in DT, but I'm pretty sure in his solo band, the dude can do what he wants. So if he's not writing lyrics, he's probably not fighting terribly hard for it.

I always had the impression that LaBrie kind of wasn't allowed to write a lot of lyrics because he's never (or very rarely?) involved in the song writing process and the lyrics and vocal melodies are already written when he comes into the studio to start recording vocals. However, I have no real evidence of this. I didn't mean to imply that he should write lyrics. If LaBrie chooses not to then that's cool.

No, it's not really a question of "allowed to" or not.  James is perfectly welcome to write lyrics.  I honestly think that if he came into the writing sessions with a bunch of ideas and said, "Hey, I have a lot of lyrical ideas that I think would be great for 8 of the 10 new songs on our new album," JP and the others would likely react along the lines of, "Great!  Have at it!" 

I doubt it, personally.  I think JP is much more of a control freak than one might think because he is always relatively quiet and humble sounding.  I mean, when you have written the majority of the lyrics for every release, have also been the main songwriter and producer, I doubt youd be willing to give up that much creativity.

[SystematicThought]

I don't know, I think it was ADTOE where JLB said he had lyrics for a few different songs but JP chose to go with his own ideas over JLB's and I remember he seemed frustrated in that interview. It was either ADTOE or DT, but I think it was the latter because he was happy with Far From Heaven, but felt he had more to add and would be more vocal the next time about letting his ideas be known.

[gzarruk]

Maybe he doesn't want to? Not every musician is bursting at the seems with ideas they want to write. Sometimes they just love the act of performing. There's been some instances of him being told he can't write lyrics to a song here or there in DT, but I'm pretty sure in his solo band, the dude can do what he wants. So if he's not writing lyrics, he's probably not fighting terribly hard for it.

I always had the impression that LaBrie kind of wasn't allowed to write a lot of lyrics because he's never (or very rarely?) involved in the song writing process and the lyrics and vocal melodies are already written when he comes into the studio to start recording vocals. However, I have no real evidence of this. I didn't mean to imply that he should write lyrics. If LaBrie chooses not to then that's cool.

No, it's not really a question of "allowed to" or not.  James is perfectly welcome to write lyrics.  I honestly think that if he came into the writing sessions with a bunch of ideas and said, "Hey, I have a lot of lyrical ideas that I think would be great for 8 of the 10 new songs on our new album," JP and the others would likely react along the lines of, "Great!  Have at it!" 

I doubt it, personally.  I think JP is much more of a control freak than one might think because he is always relatively quiet and humble sounding.  I mean, when you have written the majority of the lyrics for every release, have also been the main songwriter and producer, I doubt youd be willing to give up that much creativity.

The rest of the DT guys know they shouldn't question a man the size of a bear 

[?]

I don't know, I think it was ADTOE where JLB said he had lyrics for a few different songs but JP chose to go with his own ideas over JLB's and I remember he seemed frustrated in that interview. It was either ADTOE or DT, but I think it was the latter because he was happy with Far From Heaven, but felt he had more to add and would be more vocal the next time about letting his ideas be known.

I remember he didn't write lyrics for DT12, because he'd just finished Impermanent Resonance and already felt fulfilled creatively.

[Mladen]

I don't know, I think it was ADTOE where JLB said he had lyrics for a few different songs but JP chose to go with his own ideas over JLB's and I remember he seemed frustrated in that interview. It was either ADTOE or DT, but I think it was the latter because he was happy with Far From Heaven, but felt he had more to add and would be more vocal the next time about letting his ideas be known.

I remember he didn't write lyrics for DT12, because he'd just finished Impermanent Resonance and already felt fulfilled creatively.

I remember that as well.

[Madman Shepherd]

I don't know, I think it was ADTOE where JLB said he had lyrics for a few different songs but JP chose to go with his own ideas over JLB's and I remember he seemed frustrated in that interview. It was either ADTOE or DT, but I think it was the latter because he was happy with Far From Heaven, but felt he had more to add and would be more vocal the next time about letting his ideas be known.

I remember he didn't write lyrics for DT12, because he'd just finished Impermanent Resonance and already felt fulfilled creatively.

I remember that as well.

I remember that too but I almost feel that was a diplomatic answer.  I got the feeling he was pushed out of writing again.  I could be wrong.  But I also remember him saying something like, "But for the next one I'll definitely have more to contribute" and then came The Astonishing. 

At least on The Astonishing he was given a lot of control over the recording of the vocals. 

[bosk1]

Maybe he doesn't want to? Not every musician is bursting at the seems with ideas they want to write. Sometimes they just love the act of performing. There's been some instances of him being told he can't write lyrics to a song here or there in DT, but I'm pretty sure in his solo band, the dude can do what he wants. So if he's not writing lyrics, he's probably not fighting terribly hard for it.

I always had the impression that LaBrie kind of wasn't allowed to write a lot of lyrics because he's never (or very rarely?) involved in the song writing process and the lyrics and vocal melodies are already written when he comes into the studio to start recording vocals. However, I have no real evidence of this. I didn't mean to imply that he should write lyrics. If LaBrie chooses not to then that's cool.

No, it's not really a question of "allowed to" or not.  James is perfectly welcome to write lyrics.  I honestly think that if he came into the writing sessions with a bunch of ideas and said, "Hey, I have a lot of lyrical ideas that I think would be great for 8 of the 10 new songs on our new album," JP and the others would likely react along the lines of, "Great!  Have at it!" 

I doubt it, personally.  I think JP is much more of a control freak than one might think because he is always relatively quiet and humble sounding.  I mean, when you have written the majority of the lyrics for every release, have also been the main songwriter and producer, I doubt youd be willing to give up that much creativity.

Oh, he definitely is a "control freak" of sorts.  When you talk to him, he makes no bones about it.  But that said, he is also VERY open to others' ideas and input, and I have gotten that not only from several conversations with him, but with others in the band as well.  It kind of depends on the issue.  For example, on the issue of having Jordan take up guitar on a song here or there, JP is pretty inflexible and doesn't want that in the band.  If Jordan ever really wanted to and pushed hard for it, might he reconsider?  Perhaps.  But as it stands now, he has been pretty clear that he is dead set against it.  But then take the recording of the vocals for ADTOE.  He wanted everyone together in studio.  But James wanted to record the vocals alone in Canada.  JP gave him the complete green light to do that.  The one exception was the vocals for BTS, because he felt very strongly about how the delivery should go, so he took a trip up there to give input on that one.  But otherwise, he deferred to James.

How would that translate to lyric writing?  Obviously, none of us know for sure.  But given what I know of how the guys work and what they have said to me on other topics, I still strongly believe that James (or anyone else in the band) could take a much larger role if they wanted to.  I mean, I doubt any one person would write the vast majority of lyrics on an album because JP likes doing it and wouldn't completely step back (I was exaggerating when I said 8-10 songs).  But I really don't think he would have any problem with James taking an expanded role if James strongly felt he had more lyrics he wanted to contribute.

[gzarruk]

Maybe he doesn't want to? Not every musician is bursting at the seems with ideas they want to write. Sometimes they just love the act of performing. There's been some instances of him being told he can't write lyrics to a song here or there in DT, but I'm pretty sure in his solo band, the dude can do what he wants. So if he's not writing lyrics, he's probably not fighting terribly hard for it.

I always had the impression that LaBrie kind of wasn't allowed to write a lot of lyrics because he's never (or very rarely?) involved in the song writing process and the lyrics and vocal melodies are already written when he comes into the studio to start recording vocals. However, I have no real evidence of this. I didn't mean to imply that he should write lyrics. If LaBrie chooses not to then that's cool.

No, it's not really a question of "allowed to" or not.  James is perfectly welcome to write lyrics.  I honestly think that if he came into the writing sessions with a bunch of ideas and said, "Hey, I have a lot of lyrical ideas that I think would be great for 8 of the 10 new songs on our new album," JP and the others would likely react along the lines of, "Great!  Have at it!" 

I doubt it, personally.  I think JP is much more of a control freak than one might think because he is always relatively quiet and humble sounding.  I mean, when you have written the majority of the lyrics for every release, have also been the main songwriter and producer, I doubt youd be willing to give up that much creativity.

Oh, he definitely is a "control freak" of sorts.  When you talk to him, he makes no bones about it.  But that said, he is also VERY open to others' ideas and input, and I have gotten that not only from several conversations with him, but with others in the band as well.  It kind of depends on the issue.  For example, on the issue of having Jordan take up guitar on a song here or there, JP is pretty inflexible and doesn't want that in the band.  If Jordan ever really wanted to and pushed hard for it, might he reconsider?  Perhaps.  But as it stands now, he has been pretty clear that he is dead set against it.  But then take the recording of the vocals for ADTOE.  He wanted everyone together in studio.  But James wanted to record the vocals alone in Canada.  JP gave him the complete green light to do that.  The one exception was the vocals for BTS, because he felt very strongly about how the delivery should go, so he took a trip up there to give input on that one.  But otherwise, he deferred to James.

How would that translate to lyric writing?  Obviously, none of us know for sure.  But given what I know of how the guys work and what they have said to me on other topics, I still strongly believe that James (or anyone else in the band) could take a much larger role if they wanted to.  I mean, I doubt any one person would write the vast majority of lyrics on an album because JP likes doing it and wouldn't completely step back (I was exaggerating when I said 8-10 songs).  But I really don't think he would have any problem with James taking an expanded role if James strongly felt he had more lyrics he wanted to contribute.

Yeah, that's the same impression I get when I listen to JP or James' interviews. I think JP does great with the lyric writing, but I'd love to have JM and JLB lyrics on a few songs on DT14.

[Madman Shepherd]

Maybe he doesn't want to? Not every musician is bursting at the seems with ideas they want to write. Sometimes they just love the act of performing. There's been some instances of him being told he can't write lyrics to a song here or there in DT, but I'm pretty sure in his solo band, the dude can do what he wants. So if he's not writing lyrics, he's probably not fighting terribly hard for it.

I always had the impression that LaBrie kind of wasn't allowed to write a lot of lyrics because he's never (or very rarely?) involved in the song writing process and the lyrics and vocal melodies are already written when he comes into the studio to start recording vocals. However, I have no real evidence of this. I didn't mean to imply that he should write lyrics. If LaBrie chooses not to then that's cool.

No, it's not really a question of "allowed to" or not.  James is perfectly welcome to write lyrics.  I honestly think that if he came into the writing sessions with a bunch of ideas and said, "Hey, I have a lot of lyrical ideas that I think would be great for 8 of the 10 new songs on our new album," JP and the others would likely react along the lines of, "Great!  Have at it!" 

I doubt it, personally.  I think JP is much more of a control freak than one might think because he is always relatively quiet and humble sounding.  I mean, when you have written the majority of the lyrics for every release, have also been the main songwriter and producer, I doubt youd be willing to give up that much creativity.

Oh, he definitely is a "control freak" of sorts.  When you talk to him, he makes no bones about it.  But that said, he is also VERY open to others' ideas and input, and I have gotten that not only from several conversations with him, but with others in the band as well.  It kind of depends on the issue.  For example, on the issue of having Jordan take up guitar on a song here or there, JP is pretty inflexible and doesn't want that in the band.  If Jordan ever really wanted to and pushed hard for it, might he reconsider?  Perhaps.  But as it stands now, he has been pretty clear that he is dead set against it.  But then take the recording of the vocals for ADTOE.  He wanted everyone together in studio.  But James wanted to record the vocals alone in Canada.  JP gave him the complete green light to do that.  The one exception was the vocals for BTS, because he felt very strongly about how the delivery should go, so he took a trip up there to give input on that one.  But otherwise, he deferred to James.

How would that translate to lyric writing?  Obviously, none of us know for sure.  But given what I know of how the guys work and what they have said to me on other topics, I still strongly believe that James (or anyone else in the band) could take a much larger role if they wanted to.  I mean, I doubt any one person would write the vast majority of lyrics on an album because JP likes doing it and wouldn't completely step back (I was exaggerating when I said 8-10 songs).  But I really don't think he would have any problem with James taking an expanded role if James strongly felt he had more lyrics he wanted to contribute.

Yeah, that's the same impression I get when I listen to JP or James' interviews. I think JP does great with the lyric writing, but I'd love to have JM and JLB lyrics on a few songs on DT14.

Same here.  And I agree with everything you said, Bosk, but I am a little suspicious of ADTOE and LaBrie having a few lyrics rejected (were they just not good enough, did JP just have a burst of inspiration and overruled James?).  It's hard to be mad at Petrucci because the lyrics he wrote were incredible but I wish we had a little more input from James.  Regardless I do have a lot of respect for Petrucci and thought that was cool that he let James record his vocals in Canada.  While I wish there would have been a few high soaring notes, I don't think that detracts from an otherwise great performance.  In fact, I think it is one of LaBrie's finest.  LaBrie did the same with TA and even though I don't care for the album it is clear that James was kicking ass in the vocal department even without JP looming over his shoulder.  That's the right balance of control freak if you ask me.

[bosk1]

...but I am a little suspicious of ADTOE and LaBrie having a few lyrics rejected (were they just not good enough, did JP just have a burst of inspiration and overruled James?). 

Speculation on my part, but based on how I understand how they work in general, I assume it was much more along the lines of--James had some lyrics and John had some lyrics, and James either didn't feel strongly enough to push or felt that John's were worked up more (either more complete, or had a more complete vocal melody with them, or something).  And not--James had some lyrics and submitted them, and John disregarded his input and did what he wanted.  But the thing is, it's all subjective too, right?  I mean, John may feel it was the former because (hypothetically) James didn't speak up and say "hey, I really want to do this song," and James may feel it was the latter because he generally would rather not speak up and make an issue out of something unless he REALLY feels strongly about it. 

I will again come back to the fact that we just don't know.  So I would just be careful about reading too much into it and assuming "the worst."  But I'm just offering my perspective on the discussion, and not really strongly disagreeing or trying to shout you down or anything.

[Madman Shepherd]

...but I am a little suspicious of ADTOE and LaBrie having a few lyrics rejected (were they just not good enough, did JP just have a burst of inspiration and overruled James?). 

Speculation on my part, but based on how I understand how they work in general, I assume it was much more along the lines of--James had some lyrics and John had some lyrics, and James either didn't feel strongly enough to push or felt that John's were worked up more (either more complete, or had a more complete vocal melody with them, or something).  And not--James had some lyrics and submitted them, and John disregarded his input and did what he wanted.  But the thing is, it's all subjective too, right?  I mean, John may feel it was the former because (hypothetically) James didn't speak up and say "hey, I really want to do this song," and James may feel it was the latter because he generally would rather not speak up and make an issue out of something unless he REALLY feels strongly about it. 

I will again come back to the fact that we just don't know.  So I would just be careful about reading too much into it and assuming "the worst."  But I'm just offering my perspective on the discussion, and not really strongly disagreeing or trying to shout you down or anything.

Yeah, and that's what is awkward about this because if John had crappy lyrics on the album I would be like, "Damn...shoulda let James write."  As it stands, the album worked the way it was (it is my favorite DT album) but I still get lost in the "what ifs". 

That's why when I met them I complimented John on his lyrics, hoping he would write more in that vein than BC&SL which I was not happy with.  Then I complimented James and said I really hope he writes more lyrics because they were excellent, hoping of course he will push more to be included.  He seemed appreciative and reached out his hand to shake mine (even though we were asked by the host person not to shake their hands since it was the start of the tour, germs, etc....reasonable request).  Not that they would listen to a random person anyway but who knows?  Maybe it planted a seed. 

And wouldn't ya know it, John's lyrics on DT12 were again excellent.  So maybe he did listen to me.  And wouldn't ya know it, James hasn't contributed to DT lyrics since.  *sigh*

[ReaperKK]

A little bit off topic but I would love to hear JR play some guitar live with JP

[Orbert]

That came up shortly after it was learned that Jordan also plays guitar.  JR playing rhythm guitar behind JP's solos or even dual leads could be cool, but JP nixed that idea right away.  Dream Theater has one guitarist; none of that "gay Winger shit".

[mikeyd23]

That came up shortly after it was learned that Jordan also plays guitar.  JR playing rhythm guitar behind JP's solos or even dual leads could be cool, but JP nixed that idea right away.  Dream Theater has one guitarist; none of that "gay Winger shit".

Yeah, JP would never be cool with that idea.

[ReaperKK]

That came up shortly after it was learned that Jordan also plays guitar.  JR playing rhythm guitar behind JP's solos or even dual leads could be cool, but JP nixed that idea right away.  Dream Theater has one guitarist; none of that "gay Winger shit".

Yea I remember the gay Winger shit line

[sfam2112]

That came up shortly after it was learned that Jordan also plays guitar.  JR playing rhythm guitar behind JP's solos or even dual leads could be cool, but JP nixed that idea right away.  Dream Theater has one guitarist; none of that "gay Winger shit".

I remember reading something similar to that. But, with Derek. Not Jordan. Derek wanted to play guitar for Lie and JP nixed it. Something like that.

[Orbert]

Interesting!  I'd forgotten that Derek plays guitar too.

[devieira73]

Did you see this?
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1727613287269770&id=112306702133778
Anybody knows who is the 5th member of the band?

[JayOctavarium]

I don't, but have been meaning to ask Matt on FB. I'll shoot him a comment and ask.

[devieira73]

https://bravewords.com/news/matt-guillory-gearing-up-to-release-new-single-featuring-members-of-james-labrie-band-and-former-amaranthe-vocalist

[devieira73]

I've just heard some of his vocals on Amaranthe and it's very similar to the ones of Peter Wildoer on James Labrie albums. To bring him to this project seems a bit unnecessary IMO. Anyway I'm expecting that the music will be very much in the vein of the last 2 JLB albums, which I like a lot!

[Adami]

Yea. Let his solo stuff be a lot like the last two albums (which I’ll totally dig) then maybe try some new stylistic ideas with James.

[cramx3]

I liked that screamer from Amaranthe, I'll be interested in this since I loved the last two JLB albums.  Seems this might be similar music.

[gzarruk]

It'll be very similar because it's the same guy writing the material On JLB albums, Matt even wrote most of the lyrics anyway.

[Bolsters]

The new Matt Guillory track is up on Spotify, if anyone is curious.

[kaos2900]

Listening to EoP right now and this still far and away my favorite JLB Solo album. Looking forward to the new record!

[gzarruk]

Listening to EoP right now and this still far and away my favorite JLB Solo album. Looking forward to the new record!

Listened to it yesterday and I completely agree with you, it's James' best solo album by far. Also, imo, the lineup is the best too: LaBrie, Guillory, Sfogli, Mangini and Beller.

[JayOctavarium]

New video for Matt's single


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFrvZdMjVW8

[YtseJamittaja]

Matt's solo album seems to sound really much like JLB solo albums but I like the new single!

[JayOctavarium]

Matt's solo album seems to sound really much like JLB solo albums but I like the new single!

His solo band is basically the same as the JLB band. Peter Wildoer on drums (he didn't play on the record for reasons but he's officially Matt's drummer). Marco Sfogli on guitar, Not sure who the bass player is, Obviously Matt on keys and writing, and then whoever the dude doing the harsh vocals is.


I like it.

[mikeyd23]

I really like the single!

[Madman Shepherd]

Bass player is Ray Riendeau on the song except they used a stand in for the video.

[JayOctavarium]

Ah

So it IS the entire JLB band.