The Downward Spiral Of James LaBrie
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- Опубліковано 18 бер 2018
- This video compares LaBrie singing the “watch the sparrows falling” part of Pull Me Under over the years. It’s pretty clear the overall trend is towards LaBrie’s voice getting worse over time, as it is for most singers, but he has aged badly compared to other singers such as Bruce Dickinson or Rob Halford.
The concept of this video was sort of ripped off from another called “LaBrie sucks,” but that one just compares the studio version of Pull Me Under with the Download Festival from 2009. Pull Me Under did not get played live in 2008, 2011, or 2015, so I had the idea of doing Metropolis rather than Pull Me Under, but Metropolis did not get played in 2002 except for the Instrumedley. I thought it was more important to represent 2002 because LaBrie’s voice and physique took a real turn for the worse that year, to the point where the band almost fired him and gave him warning to shape up instead.
This video also establishes that the food poisoning is only a minor contributor to LaBrie’s deterioration as a singer. Many of his performances from the Falling Into Infinity era were still quite good. It’s when Jordan Rudess joined that LaBrie’s real problems began, and I’ll leave people to decide for themselves whether Rudess’ induction into the band had anything to do with that.
Videos like this will inevitably lead to accusations that I’m “obsessed” with James LaBrie. Actually, what I’m obsessed with is quality. LaBrie did a good job between January 1991, when he was hired, and December 1998 - the last shows with Derek Sherinian. LaBrie’s place in Dream Theater has gotten shakier and shakier since the time when Jordan Rudess joined. It’s really baffling to me why Dream Theater would sign a new long-term record contract with LaBrie when he epically embarrassed himself on three tours in a row with Live At Wacken and the failed tribute to Chris Cornell being the biggest embarrassments. When will this pirate be made to walk the plank?
![JAMES LABRIE VOCAL CHANGE (1989 - 2017) [ENG/ESP]](/img/n.gif)
All i Heard was "WASAPARALABA MASALARAPALARA NARASARALARALALA LARANARALAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
JLB in a nutshell. You deserve a medal for making me piss my pants!
My ears heard “WASDATSMELLOFFARTING GIVESNOOMEANIETOOOEEAaAaAaAaAH NADATOODAY NAYATOMAAAH DENSOMEMADADaAaAaAY”
Thought I was the only one.
Lol
I love DT and JLB but damn this comment made me chuckle
To be fair, had Dream Theater taken six months off after James Labrie tore his vocal chords in 1994, he might be better.
these fuckers don't seem to be keen on the idea of "having breaks", ask Mike
@Ashton Peacock Imo he *was* a really good singer back on the Images And Words tour.
Nah, he never used his voice well. It would take its toll regardless.
To be fair, if my aunt had a dick she might be my uncle.
katt 😂😂😂😂😂
James' voice slowly gets Pulled Under
thats a Lie, he's Scarred
I thought he was good before but this comment is breaking all illusions
The Best of Times have long past...
it changes with seasons....
its a nightmare to remember
The lyrics slowly started to become a bunch of similar-sounding syllables. Interestingly enough, if you try to emulate his face while singing (open your mouth sideways (like in a smile), make your tongue shape as wide and large as you can, and sing pretty much without closing your mouth (without touching your lips)), you will also sound just like him. Why the fuck he does that is beyond my comprehension.
Because (I'm a singer) singing high notes is much more difficult if you close the vowels to articulate consonants, it is harder on the throat than singing just open vowels, the notes come out much more easily
I take voice lessons and my vocal professor would never approve to the vocal techniques he is using.
@@GuerrillaGuitarthis. If you interrupt airflow with super defined consonants it's impossible to hold
It's the Goatee. He really started spiraling once he got the goatee.
Spenser Zimmermann I was thinking the same thing haha, at least it means I can tell if concert footage is worth watching by quickly checking if he has a goatee or not
😂
Lmfao
Evil James
The goatee as a beardstyle works only for some people and facetypes in general
Otherwise it only makes you look like a severe twat. See exhibit A: chubby cheese-face in the video above
I love the raw 93/94 vocals but you could tell he wasn't taking care of his voice.
G.P.M. 210 there are techniques to sing and Not damage your Voice. Je just dont has a good technique
@@trendmassacre8423 You're making excuses. No vocalist worth their weight in salt has ever let their voice go this badly.
@@trendmassacre8423 Oh yeah, all that downloading going on in the 90s is what forced them to tour and killed his voice. Give me a break.
@Johnny Dong I'm not disputing that they might have done too much touring. But it had little to do with downloading the first 10 years of their career.
MuikuliWander actually, violent vomiting with food poisoning ruptured vocal chords in the mid 90s, and it took years for him to get back to a good place. Late 90s were difficult.
I’m a singer. I sing four hour shows, once, sometimes twice a week. You can have all the technique, lifestyle adjustments, pre and post show care. That kind of head/mixed voice isn’t sustainable note after note night after night ESPECIALLY the way Dream Theater do, with their super long “evening with” style shows. I am constantly between nodules and swelling in the throat and trying to sing around the problem. The thing is, I stop singing I stop eating. It would be a similar situation with James, 30 years of Dream Theater. How many times has the man had a real six months of NO singing and real rest? I’ve seen him on the first show of a whole tour and he could tear paint off walls with his pitch and power.
Jed Nadin but then you have singers like Bruce Dickinson or Michael Kiske who still manage
And I have even heard Bruce not hit certain spots in songs, as I have seen them 4 times and Dream Theater 5. It happens with live performances and age. And I am a huge Dream Theater, Iron Maiden fan.
Both of their voices (Bruce and Mikael) lost the highest notes during the years, you won't sound like you're 20 forever. While Vruce on the last record (with exception of empire of the clouds) sounded more like a 50-year old man screaming than Iron Maiden vocalist, Mikael still maintains his voice and can hit relatively high notes. Saw Helloween last november, all of the singers were great.
atranfanatic you gotta realize though that bruce still sounds good. He has adapted his technique to his age. LaBrie didn’t, and it took its toll.
check out the vocal coach at www.rapidvocalresults.com he can help you restore your vocal power and voice flexibility
There was a long interview with LaBrie on the UA-cam vocal channel "The Charismatic Voice". He talked quite a bit about his struggles after the food poisoning incident. I forget what year he said he finally started getting confidence in his voice back, but it was like 10 years later, well into the 2000's. He said for every show during that period he just did not know whether or not his voice was going to do what he was asking it to. Some nights it would work, some it wouldn't regardless of diet, rest, exercise, practice. Just no rhyme or reason. That must've been supremely frightening to put himself out there night after night having no idea or control over whether he would be able to pull it off that night!
That said, most of his early parts like this were overambitious, overreaching and oversung. And his live singing often utilized improvising that was also overambitious and also often left him falling on his face.
Back then I appreciated the chances he was willing to take, even if they didn't quite come off. Because I would have done the same sort of thing were I in his shoes with his sort of talent. But I have matured to appreciate the more crafty judgement involved in making better choices to work with what you have. Modifying arrangements of older songs and better writing on newer ones.
The comparison with Rob Halford is appripo. After seeing Priest live several times, and then listening to their whole catalog looking for the best example of one song that showcased we'll all that Halford was capable of, I discovered that a great deal of their catalog is really NOT that high. Then there were those unbelievable, inhuman moments!
Rob Halford was a master of pacing himself, carefully designing the songs and the setlists to allow him to relax and regain his energy for those astounding moments.
James La Brie for so many years never let up on himself and that is just not sustainable over the long haul of a career.
This is a great, intelligent comment
I don't agree with LaBrie's narrative. 95-98 is when he was actually hit-or-miss. After that, he was consistently bad, except for maybe a few shows in 2003-4, and 11. I agree that LaBrie pushed himself too hard. DT was touring constantly, playing really long sets, especially in the 2002-4 era.
@@theravenskillrebelmilitia13906 he sounded pretty good
@@Coconuthut1 Only if you go by the faked Score DVD. Other shows from that year, he sounds awful.
@@theravenskillrebelmilitia139 honestly idc if it’s faked it still sounds cool
I'm not a big fan of DT vocals but I'm happy to give LaBrie a break for this passage. It's a crazy difficult passage for any singer.
Burn Halfmetal yeah and he's aging too! He's still doing a pretty damn good job taking into consideration that he recorded that song 25 years ago. He still tries though.
Burn Halfmetal and his voice died because he also got food poisoned
Wrong! I have seen Dream Theater in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2011. And James Labrie was spot on excellent! As well as the entire band not missing a note and in perfect sync. I seen and heard it for myself, there is just too many hateful people that don't like James. And it gets annoying. lol
atranfanatic he isn't taking good care of his voice that's why it sounds worse
Agreed. He even screwed it up a little bit on the original recording.
5:41 LMAO I THOUGHT THE AUDIENCE'S DUDE WAS ACTUALLY LABRIE XD
Krakatoa Dude lol
THAT WOULDVE BEEN THE DEEPEST PITCH CHANGE EVER HAHAHA
😂😂😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Is he mocking him? lmao if he is
That unnecessary rasp he started adding to his singing from '93 onwards is what really killed his voice, not age or even the food poisoning
Do you think the band members made him do that? He didn't do that in his old bands or even in 1992.
The food poisoning ruptured his vocal cords due to him vomiting profusely and too hard. He almost left the band at that stage, since he wasn't sure he could even sing again. Saying that didn't affect his voice would be a bit dishonest. His register dropped considerably after his recovery. You can hear that his voice is not as bright and clear as before and he can barely hit those high notes in tune.
My thoughts exactly!!!!
BrunoDSL it was his poor technique. He had a powerful gifted voice, but a technique that wasn’t healthy at all.
Food poisoning or not, the fate of his singing was going to be the same.
And yes, i’ve heard that Portnoy and Petrucci wanted him to do the raspy singing :/
Yeah vocal cords take a beating after years of this. Try singing for just 30 minutes tonight and see how your throat feels. I’m amazed they do as well as they do especially the rock and metal genres.
On the records his voice is always just fine. Sounds great.
@@genustinca5565 there's a big difference in Studio And live, One is you can take a break for 5 days to record the next vocal line and the other is you have 30 seconds to mentally prepare for the next song, poor guy's voice is being Fucked hard
There are 4 stages in Labrie's vocal history.
Stage 1 - the peak: 89'-94', with the particular performance in 93' being the stuff of legends.
Stage 2 - the revovery period: 95'-00'. You can hear the effect of the food poisoning accident on the overall quality of his voice. The pitch is less stable in monotone lines, but he still sounds good and can hit the high notes well.
Stage 3 - the sudden regression: 02'-12'. Nobody's sure what's happened but the quality of his voice suddenly crashed down even further in just two years. The power that made his vocals in the 90's so iconic suddenly disappeared and replaced by something nasaly that sounds like something between a duck and a crow. He starts to struggle keeping it together, especially in 04'-06 when it seems harder for him to hit the note at all, but the pitch improved around 07', meanwhile the overall tonal decline gets stronger and stronger.
Stage 4 - the final form (?): 14'-now. The decline seems to be amplified in both vocal tone and pitch. It got so bad that in 17' they tuned the song down and it still didn't help
No, even in this video, he is obviously pushing past his limits and harming his vocal chords permanently, especially in 93-94.
I know some singers losing 1 even 2 octaves of their ranges without so caleld food poisoning, but using wrong technic.
For me it's because his mustaches are cursed...
1989 - 1992: True Prime years
1993 - early 1994: Still strong but is where he starts being abusive with all those vocal rasps
rest of 1994: (start of the Awake tour): Pretty much strong but is evidently cracking.
1995 - 1996: Total loss of vocal range, yeah! Lots of vocal cracks but it's all forgivable.
1997 - 2001: Pretty hit or miss but his beautiful youthful tone remains intact. He also still has that energetic stage presence.
2002 - 2004: This is where his beautiful feminine tone shifted to that of a choking grandma/parrot. His stage presence and mannerisms also suddenly mellowed out as if he stopped giving a damn and just walks around the stage. You see him needing to raise his one arm while one foot going on a tiptoe every time he tries reaching a high note, indicating labored attempts at climbing to the top.
2005 - 2006: Just like 2004 but evidently gained weight and a changed fashion sense
2007 - 2010: Vocal range is pretty hit or miss like that of 1997 but without his youthful tone.
2011 - 2013: I personally think this is James' true recovery from food poisoning, not in 2004! Live at Luna Park contains overdubs but it still accurately represents his performance of that era. There are audience captures of Awake and I&W songs which show James' performance being on par with the DVD. He's noticeably less chunky compared to 2006. He regained his confidence in hitting G5's and his vocal tone is more powerful and less grandma-esque.
2013 - 2014: Somewhat decent though not as good as 2011. The food poisoning thing may no longer haunt him but he's forgetting another enemy that is starting to knock at his door: FATHER TIME
2015 - 2016: The start of the downfall
2017: Lord have mercy!
2019: is somewhat stronger compared to 2017 (still not a good sign though) All songs that require him to go to the stratosphere are no longer included.
2021-present: All that is left of what made him loved is gone! No range! No beatiful tone! Bad adlibs! Struggles even in songs like Solitary Shell. Just when you thought 2017 was his all-time low. Will probably be his final form.
Now it's really really bad. I've seen DT in September 2023. It was the 16th time I've see them perform live. Labrie was really embarassing. Did not post any video how bad it was. Now that MP is back, I'm wondering if things will get better or worse concerning Labrie situation.
@@RigoStar they performed in my country last January and I saw so many local metal facebook posts about how James needs to be fired lol
"The vocal coach" quite accurately explains what is going on with James LaBrie's vocals. It seems the problem is common with many singers.
I love James the band wouldn’t be the same without him, he has very difficult vocals and it’s just a concept people need to understand. No vocalist can replace him, nor do I want to hear another vocalist take his position
"No vocalist can replace him"
When you can find a lot of people on UA-cam doing Dream Theater covers who sound better than LaBrie has for 10-20 years, yes, he is replaceable.
@theravenskillrebelmilitia139 hell no James is the initial reason a lot of people got into DT so no he isn't easily replaceable
@@philipkarovski281 He's also the main reason a lot of people are not enjoying the band, including thousands of people like myself who WERE fans. Stop with the rationalizations.
@@theravenskillrebelmilitia139 Out of pure curiosity, are you a fan of his vocals before the food poisoning incident?
@@bengaltiger1667 Yes. And I like some of his vocals 95-98.
3:14 - When he hits the "all" it sounds like someone shot him with a tranquilizer dart.
I really don't like how he changed the "i am not afraid" part, takes away the passion and anger from the lyrics... And of course he can't sing the words anymore, that's awful...
To be fair, LaBrie's voice actually sounded not too bad in 2003, many years after the poisoning incident. Then it just keeps going downhill, which can really only be attributed to poor technique or old age. For example, the following shows, had he actually enunciated, it would've sounded so much better...
I agree with you re: 2003 - I was surprised how good he sounds on that clip, it stands out from the others, it reminds of how he sounded in '92. 2003 may be my favourite take actually.
@@jlflisten561 Really really bizarre how he get progressively worse from 98-02,(98 being pretty good, 99, 00, 02 not so much) and then 2003 he almost sounds the same way he did in 1992. Then, only 6 months later in 2004, he sounds terrible and super nasally. It's always been a mystery to me why he rebounded for one year in 2003 and then got even worse in 2004 compared to 1998-2002
@@GINGOLOGUNGA The same reason why people who are inclined towards being fat can temporarily lose weight if they try really hard through diet and exercise, but usually end up gaining it all back and then some. His own body has been fighting back against the overuse of his vocal cords I think.
I still don't understand what is up with being in concert. I went to DT's shows for their homonimus and Astonishing tours and I paid much attention to how James sounded during the show and didn't sound bad at all! However, as soon as I checked my own recordings I heard that in fact he was sounding horrible. I still can't explain that. I don't know what to trust, if my real ears that MAY get a reduced part of the sounds during a very high volume event, or a device that for instance is not prepared to record these kind of sounds (which is my phone) but, as far as I know, records EVERY sound and does not select specific ones like the human ear. I'm still very confused.
This happened to me once when listening to a cover band. They sounded amazing live, but the recording didn’t sound as amazing. I think that it’s your state of mind. You’re exited when you’re on a concert.
And that's what really matter in the end. They are fucking awesome live.
Oslam Phoenix I know what you mean. I'd always thought he sounded terrible on live recordings but when I actually saw them in concert back in 2012 I was pleasantly surprised that he sounded pretty damn good. Of course it could have been my excited state of mind too. No telling.
Exactly
I've experienced the exact same thing. For some weird reason he sounds great live but in my recordings from the same show he sounds terrible
I was at that deer park 1992 show the name of the place was Sparks. It was a warm up show for the tour. John myung was so hammered. He walked on stage with a bottle of Jack and drank like crazy!!! Great show
Myung? Wtf??
That’s awesome dude
It seems like that grasp in his voice since 1993 added up to the degeneration of LaBrie's voice... maybe that is why he is resentful of Portnoy, it always seemed to me that that the Awake voice of LaBrie was the kind of that the other guys in the band were aiming to but it wasn't possible for him to maintain it... like, "wait, so I ruin my voice for you and now you want to fire me?" i didn't came up with nothing related to Rudess adding up to the problem... any clue? I must clearify that i'm no Mike Portnoy hater, i love the guy, i'm just trying to see the whole scene... (i'm sorry if my english is messed up)
Yes, that rasp singing was a terrible damage to his voice, LaBrie began to use that rasp in 1993 (in 1992 his voice was clean) and take care of him just in 2003 onwards.
Listen to 0:30, that was impressive, but sounds weird and out of place.
considering that he really wasn't doing any of those rasps prior to joining DT (e.g. Winter Rose) your theory of Labrie resenting a bandmate for asking him to do a harmful technique might actually be possible. His beautiful younger voice doesn't really suit well with all that Hetfield/Chuck Billy-esque singing
What's weird is that in 1997-8 he went back to singing clean and it sounded much better (to me anyway). Then by 2002 he's back to rasping away.
Also worth considering where Pull Me Under is in the set throughout this video. IIRC in the early years it wasn't always the encore after a 3+ hour set. By 2000 his voice was already shot before he got anywhere near this song.
The band also started transposing down a half step longer ago than is apparent it this video. Maybe they varied it depending on the state of James's voice. Need to remind Jordan to hit the 'transpose' button.
Hi Juan. Your English is very good. I agree completely that rasp in 1993 is unhealthy. Remember, he had been singing clean since 1988 with Winter Rose and had 0 problems. Then a few years later he incorporates rasps and techniques that damage the voice. I wouldn't be surprised if the food poisoning narrative was a cover-up and what really happened is that he had an actual rupture after a show.
@@johnaldrincastro492 that way of singing isn’t inherently harmful I think he just wasn’t doing it in a sustainable way
i cannot be able at find the 'boobs in audience" he mentions in video comment. where is boob? what time
According to Wikipedia his food poisoning happened at the very end of 1994. But it seems that the loss of his voice control was more gradual, rather than suddenly due to food poisoning.
I don't get why he decided to change the way he sings "some other day" and "I'm not afraid". The whole point of those lines was to bring it back down and lower the tone after several verses of being super high. Not only does keeping the tone high sound worse but I can't imagine doing it like that is easier for him.
I completely agree that keeping it high is not the artistic choice i prefer. However, keeping it high can actually make it easier, because sometimes just staying in the mixed voice is easier than going rapidly in and out of that «mode» in lack of better terms
1998 Korea - it seems like they were performing on the roof of a running train. 🤣
2021 James LaBrie - 'Big chungus'
92-94: The James we fell in love with
95-97: Slightly more nasally and raspy but still good
98-01: Starting to sound noticeably more labored
02-05: The beginning of the "Labrieisms" this video is making fun of.
06-08: Gettin' real nasally and forced now, almost unrecognizable compared to his early work.
09-15: Hard to listen to.
16-present: Literally sounds like he's holding his nose as he's singing.
*11-12 actually okay-ish, he sounds a bit better after Portnoy left
It's really friggin difficult to sing that. Especially with that espresso and that tad bit of honey
I'd say the "LaBrieisms" started in 1998
05 to 08 he had many great shows he struggled but some shows he sounded better than 93-94
@@raichu7187 Yo this comment is an absolutely hilarious sneak diss. "Espresso and that tad bit of honey" is the exact line out of Labrie's mouth lmao
Very few singers can keep their voice the same with age. Out of all the singers I've listened to, I can only name one who's voice sounds practically the same: David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. During his latest tour in 2016, he sung Comfortably Numb and the only difference was that his voice in the live version was slightly older sounding. Otherwise, the exact same. Even Geddy Lee, who can still sing f*cking Anthem, has aged in his voice (not appearance bc of his deal with lucifer). James LaBrie can still sing very well and the fact that he can still sing Pull Me Under is impressive.
Edit: Going through the comments and I'm fucking dying of laughter
Captain Deadeye Tommy Shaw is a freak of nature... still perfect...
I understand why John Petrucci has no vocals in his monitor mix :D
Lmao sad but it could be true
@@richardmg9903 It actually is true. He's said so in several interviews.
and he claims it is because James' mic picks up sounds from the rest of the band... yeah right
@@donclarence3644 :D :D Somehow that argument has never stopped people before...
Saw them in the early 90s four times for I&W and Awake. His voice before the food poisoning incident was incredible in concert. Singing and pronouncing words to the speed and range of their songs is no small feat.
Next album sounded like he was singing background vocals. Really sad for him. One of the greats!
love this compilation. saves me time. he was such a natural talent and got by on it for so long, like everybody that does the same thing, that of course suffered deterioration. glad to hear the latest stuff now that many years have passed and his sound and technique have improved. wow.
that 2017 one cured my depression omg
2017..... My grandma yelling at me
Reading through these comments I can't help but remember Metalocalypse. "The audience ams a fickle mistress, Tokis!"
Рысец Обыкновенный Poor Toki. I would love to see him have more lead guitar sections.
They ams dildos, toki
The thing with passages like this that strain the upper limits of a singer's range is that when their voice starts aging, their enunciation deteriorates rapidly. Another example is Geddy Lee, who, whilst he could sing Rush's later albums wonderfully, struggled to hit sections from their early music when his range used to cap out around an F#5-Bb5. I'd say his voice still aged better than LaBrie's, but then we could compare prog rock singers all day. (Lee also played bass fantastically, and I don't think his bass chops ever got worse.)
James’ vocals got so bad the spirit stopped carrying on
I'm a professional voice teacher, and I can give you a million reasons why his voice went to shit. Food poisoning may or may not be one of them. Honestly, I don't buy that story. I have performed operas after having food poisoning and I am just as strong and probably stronger of a singer now than I was then. I don't have time to get into all of the minutia, but JLB has been showing signs of MTD, or Muscle Tension Dysphonia for many many years.
EDIT: For more information, and a comprehensive breakdown of his singing, check out my video analyzing his voice:
ua-cam.com/video/J3fGgEciPcI/v-deo.html
MTD is basically when the inner vocal muscles are being worked so hard that the outer muscles, which aren't designed to support phonating, have to help stabilize the voice. It is very very common in rock singers. James' problem is that he has always ignored his vocal health. He has even admitted to taking cortisone shots to help him get through performances. The voice isn't built to be used like that, and singing 2+ hour sets over 100 times a year for 20 years doesn't help matters either. I would argue that James hasnt been in peak form since Awake was recorded. Awake was probably the most vocally demanding album Dream Theater has done, and James' delivery on that album simply isn't sustainable over the long term. He is more likely to get a hemorrhage, a hematoma, or a rupture as a result of singing the way he did on Awake every night for however long they toured.
Also, even at his vocal peak his technique was terrible. Bad embouchures, poor use of the diaphragm, poor resonance placement, lots of subglottal pressure, bad onsets... It just goes on and on. Early 90s JLB was a bad technique cocktail waiting to explode, and as things tend to be this way, he fell off a cliff.
Zach Ansley Man i think we need more explanations! I don't know so much about singing but i want to see why LaBrie got worse and worse, that stupid rasp voice in the 90's was a significant damage? Was necessary sound "badass" to fit the DT songs? He doesn't even know that sing in that way would hurt his voice?
Zach you have written the best diagnosis for like 80% of singers I've seen people constantly comment about "losing their voice as they got older".
People just don't think about stuff, from the first clip in this video I can hear the singer scraping at the end of his range essentially screaming and the video showed what will naturally happen if you do that.
Well, in truth the sad reality is that many people who try to sing in a healthy way go nowhere in their singing careers. The majority of people who listen to singing want a 'distinctive' sound that makes the singer separate themselves from other singers. The downside to creating distinctive, unnatural sounds with your voice is that it causes it use mechanisms in ways that it either wasn't designed to or are generally not used as frequently as the singer utilizes them. A tell-tale sign is to listen to how the singer sings compared to how they speak. If their speaking voice sounds like their singing voice it is probably healthy. If they sound like two different people then they are probably manufacturing the sound in an unnatural and unhealthy way.
I say all this to say that lots of popular singers see destroying their voices as an investment. JLB is now a multimillionaire minus a voice, and he is still milking money off of people who don't know any better, so in his mind he is probably doing just fine and the destruction of his voice is a small price to pay for his wealth and fame. Pretty much the exact same thing happened to Adele, and now she has had something like 3 vocal surgeries, but she is worth tens of millions of dollars, so to her I'm sure it is no big deal.
Also, don't be fooled by other comments here talking about passagio and head voice and whatnot. Those people have no idea what they are talking about. James doesn't utilize his passagio or his head voice at all in any of these examples. All of his sound is created through his chest voice, sub glottal pressure, and back of mouth resonance (at least in these particular examples on this video).
2004 onwards sounds like the General Lee's horn
Man. That was funny
tub3scr3am3r LOL
tub3scr3am3r more like dave mustaine in the 80s
nice!
I gut laughed for a good 5 mins at this comment. Man I wish we could get a version of that in Pull me Under. “Watch the sparrow falling (Dixie plays on a horn”
You know who's been able to maintain an awesome voice for over 30+ years? Michael Kiske!
He is not human 🙌😎💯
Recently saw DT for their Distance Over Time/Scenes From a Memory Tour, and honestly... I thought James did PHENOMENAL. Yeah, his voice is going to degrade over time, and I was worried about it when I went to go see them, but honestly, it was fucking PERFECT.
I actually think that their Live Album Score from 2006 is one of Labries best live performances
It's massively overdubbed.
There isn't a single second of real live singing in that CD/DVD
@@booli8542 Tell me you're joking :(
@@phoenix7289 I have a video proving that Score is overdubbed, and/or pitch corrected. I was always skeptical about that one, because LaBrie sounded consistently awful at other shows from 2006.
@@theravenskillrebelmilitia139 That's believable, but even when I unearthed a few bootlegs years ago from around that time, the most noticeable year-on-year tonal change was from 2006 to 2007. Maybe he fixed some notes on Score, but his tone wasn't that awful nasal one that appeared in 2007 and stayed thereafter.
I don't think it's coincidence that the rift with Portnoy about wanting to take a hiatus and creatively recharge started around that time. I think Mike could see where things were going, that James was struggling live and that their writing output was becoming repetitive because they spent too much time touring.
When James hits the note at 5:33, Jordan just turns and quietly asks himself, "Is it even worth keeping this job any more?"
Hahahah that’s funny as hell!
He really says lets get a burger after this song...drummer said sure in about 44 minutes
Guess it’s officially time to give Myles Kennedy a call.
or Axl
Michael Sweet can probably do a good job, or Russell Allen
No hell no
ZP Theart’s the man to call for the job!
Get Sebastian Bach on the line. After all LaBrie replaced him in Winter Rose.
I also watched a vocal coach talk about how difficult it is to hit that note at the point at where it's placed in the song. He said that sometimes you might hit it and sometimes you might not, but that it is extremely difficult you go up that high that quickly in that song structure.
The longer it goes on, it starts to sound less like Dream Theater and more like Christian and the Hedgehog Boys.
Compliment?
2:13 That was tough to watch and listen to. Poor dude is literally yelling. Notice how his diction also gets progressively worse. 6:19 was hilarious, though.
Yup, from that point he just starts screaming it, and then just sings it mix
It gradually morphs into one continuous vowel
Play the 2017 performance in 0.25x speed if you want to take the bus straight to The Suicide Circus.
My brain's melting down
1992-1993 - super enjoyable
1994-1998 - enjoyable
1999-2003 - not enjoyable
2004-2013 - actually a chore to listen to
2014-2018 - horrific
BassManqk honestly 1994 version sounds the best. He prob sang it at the highest level on first recording but quality makes it hard to comprehend
I like the 1995
The one from 2003 is actually as good as 1992
Mr. Side Comments What!!!!
I must be hearing this different from the rest of you but they all sounded like trash to me.
92-95 The James we all loved
96-98 Slightly more labored, still pretty good
99-03 Started going downhill quite rapidly, you can tell from how damaged his voice sounded in that 99' recording
04-07 James still sounded good singing vocals in his natural range, but adapted this weird, nasally voice when singing higher notes (like in this video)
09-15 can't even recognize it as the same singer as in the early days.
16- Can't stand it...
He turns into the Wicked Witch of the West near the end
2004: when the nasal vocals start. Shit.
Nasal and flat... not so good to listen :(
It's surprising that 2000-2003 was bad, but the mid-200X's were actually quite good. The 201X's just made me sad.
25 years of trying to tell us something. I still can't here a goddamn word he sings in that passage. And downward spiral or not - listening to that passage over and over again just makes it funny.
From 2009 onwards, James Labrie became genderbent Fran Drescher
I've read a lot of comment threads that talked about how endless touring has made LaBrie's voice die and I've had an epiphany about Portnoy's departure from the band. Go with me on this:
It is 100% clear that the only member Portnoy really "attacked" after leaving DT was James and, funnily enough, JLB seems like the only one in the band worried enough to respond back, whereas MP shows lotsa love regarding the other members (playing with Jordan on Cruise to the Edge, Taking new year photos with JP, etc.)
Do you guys think perhaps MP wanted the "DT hiatus" stating that it was evident that JLB had to stop and rest his voice?
It's true. I've read DT biography and Mike said that there was a time where James and him didn't get along very well because of James' vocals issues. So James started to sing with the help of a vocal coach and things seemed to be better, but after Mike's departure, as you said, the only member he don't have contact at all with is James Labrie.
I feel so sorry because James had one of the most powerful voice, but the endless circles of studio album - tour - writing session and the bad way he uses it damaged his potential.
Omg I think you're italian, so I've just wasted my time to write english correctly with an Italian like me 🤣
I want to learn to sing like he did, but I will definitely go out of my way to make sure my voice doesn't take any more damage than necessary.
He lost his chest voice because of the technique he choose in all his career, happens a lot
Explained, in the early days he used mixed voice in his upper range, now only head voice (falsetto)
I enjoy your videos. Could you maybe do an analysis on how Petrucci's right hand picking technique changed over the years. I believe around 2010 his picking hand style changed, he started doing more elbow movement. This seems to be changed again to wrist picking style, but a bit more flappy.
Pretty sure I was at that 92 show in a small club called “Sparks.” Priceless
how would labrie sound if they had that break which mike portnoy proposed before he left the band
G.Phillips his voice NEVER sounded good.
@@trendmassacre8423 Bruce Dickinson toured as extensively, if not WAYYYYYYY more than Labrie and still sounds fucking great, so thats a fuckload of bullshit. I like Jamess voice, but its become an absolute disaster.
James Labrie was the best singer to be alive in 1994.
Layne Staley and Dio
Dio, Staley, Cornell, Tate...
Does anyone if JLB solo tour announced in 2018 has ever took place? I can't find anything about it on the internet: no video, no report, neither a single announcement of the cancellation of one or more evenings.
It'ss not even clear how many concerts he should have done and where.
Did someone attended at one of this concert? Or they was all canceled? Did someone bought tickets for these gig (and been refound) or have they not even been sold?
I know that James made some brief appearance with other bands, but it seems that his solo concerts has disappeared from the web, maybe expecting that people would forget that news. I've read that even on Dream Theater Forum the threads about JLB solo tour was deleted.
1:56 there it is, the Kermit tone that comes with a lack in enunciation. It’s not a downward spiral, it’s like something just suddenly happened between ‘97-‘98 and THEN gets worse.
Downstream effect of the food poisoning incident probably. You can even hear a difference in the timbre of his voice between Awake (lots of rasp) and Falling Into Infinity (more nasal, more midrangey). I still like LaBrie in 97-98 though. I'm increasingly convinced that Rudess killed the vibe of this band.
He sounds just fine to my ears. This song is so damn hard to sing anyway. Any singer would have a hard time
Ikr
Yes.. all the negative things about his voice never know about vocal anyway
True. It's Dream Theater's fault to write such a hard vocal lines that torments JL to sing this live even past 50 years of age lol. He is still a great singer.
get them checked out
2:52 Are two Labries in one XDDD
Watching this video again you can tell his voice died in 1999. Something weird must happened to him to have his voice already broken before touring... and then an entire year of SFAM world tour just overkilled it.
LaBrie was juggling his solo material and other collaborations on top of Dream Theater in the late 90s/early 2000s, plus he started smoking cigars.
2:13 Ouch... That July 1999 Incheon, Korea... I can hear that it hurts... He was really trying hard to appease the performance.
The train seemed to go completely off the track from 2002 onwards
1992: watch the sparrow falling gives new meaning to it all.
2014: walllabaalllaaballing gibnoomeemeetooaaasallllll
jerry seinfeld called...he wants his puffy shirt back..
Honestly I thought he sounded good up until 04 when he started doing that bouncy/wavy pitch change. You hear that a bit in 2006 Octavarium performance, but from 94-02 he sounded pretty damn good to me
He had an accident and damages at the voice in 1994
The vocal structure of early Dream Theater songs is very complex and are RELLY damn hard to sing. He could pull it off when he was younger but time is taking it's toll on James. He's a super cool guy but dang, even I think Dream Theater would be better off with a new, young 4 octave singer.
What happened to his voice? I heard rumors about food poisoning but I don't known if it is true.
Keep coming back to this . I post on everyone’s comments about James killing it every night
In 2019 he got better. Honestly. Saw them in 2017
And 2 times in 2019
Idk what he did
But he fixed his voice
Johnny Dong my name isn’t James
It’s Brett
But hello
To have such a highly technical band tolerate tone deafness is tragic. Rush retired when they could technically do it. Unacceptable
Bob Black That’s the power of in ear monitors. They shut his vocals out so they can’t hear him and concentrate on the music.
LMAO!!!
They also weren’t playing 4 hour “Evening with Dream Theater” shows in 1991. I play in bands with a lot of different singers and one thing that always comes up is “I CAN sing it, but I CAN’T sing it at the end of a four hour gig after I’ve already done 4 gigs during the week.
It honestly sounds good to me. Yes, it’s less aggressive, but he sounds like he is managing his voice for long shows on long tours. He probably has lost some of his range as he gotten older, but I think he’s still a good singer.
2017 sounded like a drunk old lady singing the song on karaoke
Pabblo Vittar needs to be in DT
progressive trans-popmetal
UHEHEUHEUHEUEHUE
Porra mano, aí cê lasca nois
Banana metal
nem fodendo aseseauhseuhesauhesauhseauhaseusae
2:14 Did they perform this while a tornado was happening?!
my vocal chords hurt just watching this
The biggest problem I've had with this vocals over the years has been him consistently softening every hard vowel he sings. Every "me" becomes "may." Many singers do this but he takes that liberty and runs with it more than others. He also runs all of his words together the higher he sings. It all just because one long word of vowel barking.
Exactly
So if I shout during a concert I'm a boob?
To be fair you could do this with every rock singer in history and it would be similar!
Geddy Lee is one I really wish someone would have called out. He sounds terrible after about 2005 tryna sing the high notes
Meanwhile, Dream Theater has been touring with Devin Townsend, who hasn't had anywhere near the plunge into the abyss as LaBrie. If anything, he's gotten better over the years.
Maynard James Keenan?
2017 then transposed it down two steps! They should have done that in he 90s to not kill his vocals.
92 and 96 is only one where he didn’t say ‘manning’ lol
Great pfp
@@TheDarkEternalKnight07 thx lol
Peyton manning
That's what happens when you record a song without thinking that you will be touring for years singing that shit. Well maybe nobody expected that kind of success after all
Ouch.
TheFabio "Ouch the sparrow falling!"
Carlos V LOL
1999 looks like he's about to be consumed by the storm and he's just screaming
The 2012 Netherlands one sounds too good compared to years around that.
Watch the spiral falling
Gives new meaning to it all
If not today nor yet tomorrow but in 94'
MOST UNDERRATED COMMENT OF 2020
His voice has always been cringe worthy to me whether hitting the right notes or not
Neon Black His high voice sounds like my mom when she is yelling.
I just heard this clip umpteen times and for the life of me I can't understand what the hell the lyrics are.
BÄÄÄ BÄÄÄ BÄÄÄ BÄÄ BÄÄ BÄÄÄ BÄÄ BÄBÄBÄ BÄÄÄ BBÄÄÄ BÄÄÄ BÄÄ BÄÄÄÄ BÄÄBÄ ÄBÄBÄBÄÄ IM NOT AFRAAAAAID
2003, 2010 and 2012 are not that bad, in my estimation. LaBrie started using this passaggio technique, if I'm not mistaken, in 2004 and he has been using it ever since, and that's why he sounds so nasal. I've always wondered about something for some time now. Considering that Labrie cannot hit those high notes anymore, why doesn't he avoid the higher register and try to adapt the notes in the lower register? Ray Alder from Fates Warning has been doing this for 20 years now (the last time he sang The Ivory Gates of Dreams like on the album was in 1998). If Labrie had started to do that in 2004, by now, he could have kept his voice intact.
Comte de Rochefort if he can't sing anymore the correct or actually the more professional decision is to leave, not to limit the whole band and change the character of existing songs like it's some shitty metal band (wich btw is what they're doing now by tuning pre-FII songs half a step down).
This isn't true, and passagio has nothing to do with placement of resonance.
He can come back its possible, look at axl he's made a recovery.
@@nekrovanvindicator9471 Axl sounds good. He's just lazy.
Oh, I didn't know they were tuning down the songs until listening this 2017 version. But anyway, who's the singer who still sings in the original key? Bruce Dickinson?
i feel bad for him, people are basically criticizing him for aging. but on the flip side, his voice was always shitty. dream theater sucks