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wjohnd 
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 16 2011
Location: Scotland, UK
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Points: 327
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 Posted: September 24 2011 at 16:29 |
I like a fair bit of DT but the vocals are my least favourite aspect of their music.
My problem with Labrie is his phrasing, which is often non existent. The vocalist is often a listener's 'way in' to a band that plays complex music but JLs seems to care more about diction than emotion and that's where it falls down.
That's not to say he doesn't have his moments -. A Change of Season and Octavarium show off his talents. The ballads on the other hand are universally dire.
Where he comes into his own in my experience is when they are live. he sets aside the carefulness of the studio and just belts out the tune. And in a high energy rock/metal band - that's what you need to do .
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rogerthat
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2006
Location: .
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Points: 9869
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Posted: September 24 2011 at 22:38 |
 wjohnd wrote:
but JLs seems to care more about diction than emotion and that's where it falls down.
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He probably does, for all I know, but his diction is awful nevertheless, especially anytime he goes for a big high note.
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garegin
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Joined: May 26 2013
Location: Brooklyn
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Points: 1
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Posted: May 26 2013 at 14:27 |
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I'm surprised that people don't touch on this. The problem is not the lack of skill. Someone pointed this out to me and stuck me so true. Eric Claptop is not a f***ing virtouso, but his singing is pleasant and enjoyable. Jagger is another extreme example. His talent and range is very limited, but his singing is catchy.
The problem with James is that this singing is (despite being great at times) often so effing obnoxious I wish a chorus of angels descended from the skies just to shut his stupid mouth. The nightmare to remember... ughh Sweet Lord, please end the misery. This is a problem with many prog metal singers. To this list I can add.
Symphony X
Rush
Fates Warning (his monotonic shrill is like cats being neutered)
Nevermore
It is the ultimate irony that "simplistic power chord bands" like alice in chains, soundgarden and zepellin had beautiful vocalists and prog metal (where the members are supposed to be masters of their trade) has vocalists that are so abominable.
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verslibre
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Joined: July 01 2004
Location: CA
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Points: 19304
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Posted: May 26 2013 at 17:11 |
Not a Labrie fan, either. The tone, the timbre, the everything about his voice turns me off. Geddy is a great singer. He's lost a bit of range and the heavy touring takes its toll but his singing was stellar on the albums at least through the 80s or 90s if not later, if you like his sound and style. Ray Alder similarly had a lot of power and range (though he preferred a higher octave) up through Inside Out. After that, he sounds like he's lost some (a lot?) of what he used to have. In his prime, he sounded fantastic, I'm also a fan of Cornell's. Stellar voice. Not a fan of Layne and the other "goat man" guys, sorry. Vedder and Staley and those guys all sound one-note to me. Not a fan of Cobain, either. Grohl's singing is alright, if not that impressive.
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Barbu
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 09 2005
Location: infinity
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Points: 30855
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Posted: May 26 2013 at 17:11 |
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Great vocalist indeed.
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Ambient Hurricanes
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 25 2011
Location: internet
Status: Offline
Points: 2549
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Posted: May 26 2013 at 17:21 |
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I love Labrie's voice. It hasn't held up as well live, obviously, but I believe it an integral aspect of DT's sound. He's the one guy in the band who really stands out individually in performances to me; he's not as technically gifted as the other musicians but his performances have more idiosyncrasy and individuality to me than the others'.
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I love dogs, I've always loved dogs
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rogerthat
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2006
Location: .
Status: Offline
Points: 9869
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Posted: May 26 2013 at 20:44 |
garegin wrote:
I'm surprised that people don't touch on this. The problem is not the lack of skill. Someone pointed this out to me and stuck me so true. Eric Claptop is not a f***ing virtouso, but his singing is pleasant and enjoyable. Jagger is another extreme example. His talent and range is very limited, but his singing is catchy.
The problem with James is that this singing is (despite being great at times) often so effing obnoxious I wish a chorus of angels descended from the skies just to shut his stupid mouth. The nightmare to remember... ughh Sweet Lord, please end the misery. This is a problem with many prog metal singers. To this list I can add.
Symphony X
Rush
Fates Warning (his monotonic shrill is like cats being neutered)
Nevermore
It is the ultimate irony that "simplistic power chord bands" like alice in chains, soundgarden and zepellin had beautiful vocalists and prog metal (where the members are supposed to be masters of their trade) has vocalists that are so abominable.
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I think we have to consider the role of songwriting too here. Even when they are catchy, DT are rarely anywhere near as catchy as Clapton or Rolling Stones or plenty other classic rock bands. The other thing is, attitude. I think good ROCK singing needs an attitude, the terms on which the singer engages with the outside world should come through somewhere. Staley had plenty of it and his conviction came through in his singing. Dio, Halford, even Eric Adams, they all had an attitude that defined their singing. What exactly is LaBrie's attitude? He seems to have an altogether strange approach to singing. Doesn't have the attitude of rock, the cool of jazz or the restraint and elegance of folk. Sounds more like a caricature of opera superimposed on metal. He's probably somewhat like Bruce Dickinson but Bruce could actually do over-the-top artificially pseudo-opera singing quite convincingly, while LaBrie is not able to do that.
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Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Special Collaborator
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Joined: October 12 2011
Location: Melb, Australia
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Posted: May 26 2013 at 20:52 |
I find James is frequently very schmaltzy and overwrought, with rarely a hint of subtlety. But I do think he's gotten better, learned to tone things down on the more recent albums compared to the earlier releases, so I do respect that.
But there is no denying his voice is very distinctive. It would only take hearing him sing for a few seconds to realise instantly who the band is, so I give him credit for that! 
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Dayvenkirq
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 25 2011
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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Points: 10970
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Posted: May 26 2013 at 22:21 |
^ Distinction isn't necessarily a good thing. 
I think James' voice if fine. It's decent. At times it's even mean-pirate-type-of-disgusting (i.e. sounds like a mean pirate). Not sure if I'm making sense to everyone reading this, but I think it's the best description I can come up with for that tone that he uses at times.
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Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: October 12 2011
Location: Melb, Australia
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Posted: May 26 2013 at 22:35 |
It's an interesting question, isn't it Dayvekkirq?! 
In this case, do think it's better to have a voice that is unique and stands out, whether you like it or not, that is instantly associated with that one person, that you can't mistake who they are?
People like, say.....Andy Tillison from the Tangent, Aleena from the new Kaipa albums...some examples I can think of right away where there is a very volatile and split opinion on their voices! 
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Current opinion on James Labrie
