I am on the same page as you. Of course there are some contexts in life where you shouldn't accept anything less than the best, and hold yourselves and others to the highest standard, but if you do that all the time, you'll probably just bum yourself out. 
Oh I am in
no way saying that we or the band should lower our standards! What I am saying is that yes, there is a
new normal, and that in order to continue to hold up to a certain standard, that new normal needs to be acknowledged, even embraced.
A singer should always
sing what they sing best. Here I go again, I know but please indulge me another opera analogy as both forms of singing are demanding and require an excellent command of technique and smart choices in order to sustain a thriving career: An opera singer typically will sing one type of role when they're young, a different type of role in the middle, and yet a different type later on. With each transition, they remain the same voice type, but take on roles with a different set of demands.
I'll use soprano Natalie Dessay as an example. She is a high coloratura soprano who became famous for singing the role of Olympia the Doll in
The Tales of Hoffman. The role is written with high notes above high C, and her aria (which I've studied) is written with a high E flat (Eb6). She always performed the aria by ending it with a sustained Ab6! 😱
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/abFJyb3cNv8Ultra high notes were her wheelhouse, her claim to fame. As her career progressed, she was a regular Queen of the Night - a role that she sang as her voice achieved weight and drama, but still requires rapid-fired high F's (F6). As she aged, she was singing lower, heavier roles like Violetta in
La Traviata (high D) and eventually switched out of high coloratura repertoire entirely, switching to the mid-range lyric soprano roles in
Hoffman and
The Magic Flute instead (Pamina, another role I've studied, is only written to go up to a B flat). So, long story short, Ms. Dessay has not dropped her high standard by not singing the roles with all the craziest high notes that she became famous for, she is merely embracing her new normal in order to continually achieve that standard.
So if you can compare Ms. Dessay's and James's careers (and bear with me, this may only make sense to me and if so, apologies), I&W/Awake was his Tales of Hoffman era, Octavarium was his Queen of the Night, and Astonishing/today is his switch from the Queen to Pamina. Dessay is no less a great soprano for not singing notes above high C anymore or dropping the Doll and the Queen of the Night to embrace a different set of roles. She has simply made a series of smart moves to sustain her career. James can make similar choices and would still be the same great tenor.
Topic: JLB - "I can't sing like that anymore" (Read 14964 times)
