I've heard some Symphony X but don't remember it but what I know Allen from most is Adrenaline Mob. Obviously a good vocalist but his style never suited me. And yes, the style does remind me of Soto's. They both have been hailed as these great vocalists but have a more bluesy tone, not an outstanding range, and just overall underwhelming for me. This based off of the 3-4 songs I've heard of Soto's and the dozen or so I've heard from Adrenaline Mob.
That explains a lot, actually. I'm not advocating that you should like Allen more than you do. You are entitled to like or not like whatever you choose, and I'm not trying to persuade you. But if your take on him as a vocalist is derived solely from Adrenaline Mob, you are getting a VERY unfairly narrow view of his singing ability. He has an incredible range and diverse palette.
Soto also has a pretty solid range. I agree about the bluesy tone. But although he is more comfortable in a high baritone range, he has a warmth and fullness that allow him to sign some nice bass when called for, and he has the range to nail to incredible high notes, as long as the songs don't call for him to stay way up in a high tenor range for a super extended period of time. Case in point (and I know Samsara disagrees with me on this), during his brief stint in Journey, he definitely has the range where he CAN sing Journey songs, and can go even higher than what is called for by those songs. But he really struggled because that isn't his natural range, and his voice just couldn't handle being constantly up there in that range for an entire set of material. But he's also a very accomplished, very diverse singer, although much less diverse than Allen. He could sing the neo-classical operatic power-metal that was called for when he sang with Yngwie. He can do the somewhat-Broadway-ish/power metal of Transiberian. But his comfort zone is straightforward blues-ish hard rock.
So I think both guys, but Allen ESPECIALLY, are much, MUCH more diverse singers in terms of range and style than what you have heard. But your explanation makes sense in terms of why you think as you do.
It's funny you say that. Constant Motion is one of my favorite DT songs. Same goes for Rite of Passage (my favorite from BC&SL, not overall catalog though). Much easier to digest for an initial taste of the album. I totally get why they released those first.
Yeah, I love Constant Motion. At first, I thought it was so-so, but I warmed up to it quickly and it became one of my favorites. But I think that, even among those that like it, the argument can be made that it isn't necessarily the
strongest or
most diverse song on the album. It was released as the album teaser for reasons that had less to do with it being a "strong" track than just as something rocking to generate interest. I get the sense (rightly or wrongly) that this one is in a similar vein with relation to the rest of the album. I guess we'll see.
As for Portnoy's comments, you would think by now even he would be tired of over hyping everything he's involved with.
Not sure why you would think that. He's in the business of hyping everything he's involved with. That's what musicians do (or should do). I don't get your point.