Along those lines, I remember seeing them on the tour for The Astonishing and he sounded really good for most of the show, but there were a handful of times where he tried to overdo it (trying to scream or take a note or line way higher or more extreme than it was on the record) and it came off badly. JLB is one of my favorite all-time singers, but that has long been a minor annoyance with me when it comes to JLB, as he has those moments where he tries to do too much, and more often than not, the results are not positive.
I don't disagree on this. It's a bit like watching the Olympic skaters, whom you KNOW can land that quadruple jump and then, they fall. But they are no less an Olympian for it. You know they are world class, you know they have the goods. They just had a hiccup, a reminder that they're human.
Singing is much like that. If everything's not perfectly lined up for that high F, it's not gonna happen. And the 'game' of singing is very much like in sports performance. You have to be completely in the right place, physically as well as mentally, for it to all come together. Again and again. I've had voice teachers who have said that singing is an athletic activity, and vocal performance is an athletic event. On so many levels, it's true.
Yes, I acknowledge that I've heard James 'fall' a few times in the last few years. It's always painful and disappointing. But a few falls do not mean the end of an era. How many Olympians have screwed up in the past only to correct themselves and win a gold medal?
It's about making the right choices, and being authentic. I see this happening now and I cannot be happier for him. Maybe I'm too hopeful, call me Pollyanna, so be it. I see good things happening in the present. We need to let go of any preconceived negative expectations from the past, keep our eyes on the positive things happening in the present, and let him amaze us again.