Great question; for me, the greatest metal singer of all time is Bruce Dickinson. Rob Halford is a close second, and I would have to put Dio at third.
Yeah, but come on, those guys are/were the freakin' masters. You can't hold everyone to their standard, because the vast majority would NEVER measure up.
Good points all around though, but personally, I honestly don't see why JLB wouldn't fit into that criteria. I mean, maybe not at the level of the three you mentioned, but those guys are/were the absolute masters, and even guys like Ozzy can't be held to their standards.
For me personally, I tend to make a very clear distinction between singer and front man. Bruce Dickinson to me, first and foremost, the absolute greatest Metal front man. The kind of energy he brings to a show is unparalleled. And there are only a handful of guys who have ever come close. One of which being Dee Snider of Twisted Sister. If you watch any of their concert footage you will see that Dee is almost as good as Bruce Dickinson in terms of getting the audience energy up, interacting with them, and just captivating the whole room with his energy and stage presence.
When it comes to the term 'singer' however, for me, that's entirely about how crafter the individual is. The range, the technique, etc. And honestly, I can't think of a single metal singer who's maintained, or even regained their range into their 50s the way JLB has. That's really the main reason I consider him one of Metal's greats. It takes a certain kind of discipline to take care of one's voice and maintain one's range so well. Rob Halford did a pretty great job of maintaining his voice too. Honestly, he'd be my number one pick as the best Metal singer, just for the sheer fact that he can still hit quite a few of those really high parts at Judas Priest shows. Or at least he could last I heard him, that might not be the case anymore, I don't know.
Yeah! I love James' performances during the I&W tour! They're not all flawless, but some of them are damn close. I sometimes imagine an alternate I&W where James vocals are more like the way he delivered during the tour or even similar to the Awake sessions. But then I've violated the sanctity of the sacred I&W and it might as well be blasphemas to consider changing stuff on that album now.
Yeah, I never got that myself. I was always up for the idea of re-recording the drums, and remixing the album. I don't think it's all that untouchable. If people don't like it, they'd still have the original, no one's gonna take it away from them. But hearing songs in different mixes always brings out certain nuances that couldn't be heard before. It's half the reason I listen to live albums at all.
And hey, we'll always have Live at the Marquee and Live in Tokyo to hear James' live awesomeness from those days.