In Defense of James LaBrie: A Manifesto

[hefdaddy42]

Just like one clip of him botching something isn't proof that he's lost it, one clip of him nailing something isn't proof that he's still got it.

JLB doesn't need any defending.  But the evidence is clear: on a night to night basis, and sometimes on a song to song basis, he is no longer what he once was, and any attempt to say claim that he is undiminished is futile.

BTW, no shame in not being what he once was.  On any given night, he can be and is still fantastic.  But he is no longer consistently great.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

I love James, he's possibly my all time favourite singer. I believe those Cameo performances were from 2021 while we were still in lockdown. He'd had plenty of time to rest as well as take his time getting the perfect recording for those clips. The great thing about them is that it shows he still has the ability to reach those notes. However when he returned to the stage in 2022 we can hear his performance was not even close to the level shown in those videos.

An interesting thing I noticed about those clips are that many of them are much slower than the original recording, I'm by no means a vocal expert but it's almost as if he needs to give his voice more time to transition from chest into the head register and slowing down the performance allows him to do that. Whereas live on tour they obviously can't slow down the songs to that degree which seems to result in James trying to push his chest voice higher or not being able to get his vocal positioning correct for his head voice. Resulting in that strange, almost choked sounding tone that's been plaguing him increasingly over the past few years. This is also why I think he tends to sound better on the slower, more ballady songs, for example on the images & words & beyond tour in 2017, he sounded fairly bad on the I&W stuff, however some of the performances of to live forever I've heard from that tour sounded pretty good. And that's a pretty slow song.

So that's my little theory, it's the speed that is fucking with him.

My other theory is that he needs to shave that goatee and let his hair be a natural colour, that's secretly what drains his vocal powers.

Welcome to the Forums!

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

Just like one clip of him botching something isn't proof that he's lost it, one clip of him nailing something isn't proof that he's still got it.

JLB doesn't need any defending.  But the evidence is clear: on a night to night basis, and sometimes on a song to song basis, he is no longer what he once was, and any attempt to say claim that he is undiminished is futile.

BTW, no shame in not being what he once was.  On any given night, he can be and is still fantastic.  But he is no longer consistently great.

We'll just have to agree to disagree. Have you seen the Cameo?

[jimgolf]

We'll just have to agree to disagree. Have you seen the Cameo?

It's very different to sing something slower and at home where he can rerecord it a couple times if he wants and singing a song on stage at the regular tempo night in and night out. If James went in the studio, he could probably reasonably nail Innocence Faded - but him doing it live? Very different.

[hefdaddy42]

We'll just have to agree to disagree. Have you seen the Cameo?

No, but seeing it won't change my opinion, or the history.

Have you seen all the other attempts he made at recording the Cameo that he had to delete because he didn't nail it?

[cramx3]

He was pretty bad last tour. Simple as that. You can't explain how bad he was using cellphone excuse. Other singers sound awesome via cellphone but James not?

Yeah, you can find a single video from the last tour from a phone that includes Devin Townsend singing incredible and JLB.... not so much (in fact, I even have one!).  It has nothing to do with the camera other than the camera will likely pick up on things your own ears may not hear in the moment.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

Have you seen all the other attempts he made at recording the Cameo that he had to delete because he didn't nail it?

No, because presumably he either nailed it in the one take (what I choose to believe), or they were deleted and therefore nobody, myself included, could see it.

[hefdaddy42]

No, because presumably he either nailed it in the one take (what I choose to believe), or they were deleted and therefore nobody, myself included, could see it.

OK, sure.

I don't understand this whole thing, but believe whatever you want.  Hopefully he takes steps to be healthier or find a new vocal teacher or technique or something, and gives a better performance on the upcoming tour than he has recently.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

OK, sure.

I don't understand this whole thing, but believe whatever you want.  Hopefully he takes steps to be healthier or find a new vocal teacher or technique or something, and gives a better performance on the upcoming tour than he has recently.

I'm confident he will. I think we're on the same page

[DTwwbwMP]

*IF* he blows once again on this upcoming tour, it's time to say "C'Ya"! Let's hope for the best though.

[hefdaddy42]

I'm confident he will. I think we're on the same page

We are not.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

*IF* he blows once again on this upcoming tour, it's time to say "C'Ya"! Let's hope for the best though.

I highly doubt MP will fire JLB. I'm pretty confident the present lineup is the final one

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

We are not.

Damn, RIP me

[Schurftkut]

do we get any inheritence?

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

do we get any inheritence?

Here you go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S16NbCeTz0

[Metro]

Also, the cameo in the OP was recorded in 2021, before the release of AVFTTOTW and before the tour. It doesn't prove anything about his vocal abilities in 2024. I don't see any evidence to suggest he's "back", as you insist.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

i think it being the 20 year anniversary of his food poison helps. it's been a long road to recovery but he seems fully healed now. as other have mentioned in other threads, we're so  back!

[TAC]

i think it being the 20 year anniversary of his food poison helps. it's been a long road to recovery but he seems fully healed now. as other have mentioned in other threads, we're so  back!

More like the 30 year anniversary.

20 years ago was the Train Of Thought tour, and James was excellent on it.

[Metro]

i think it being the 20 year anniversary of his food poison helps. it's been a long road to recovery but he seems fully healed now. as other have mentioned in other threads, we're so  back!

No.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

More like the 30 year anniversary.

20 years ago was the Train Of Thought tour, and James was excellent on it.

holy shit i can't math lmao. Yes, it's the 30 year anniversary. So if he sounded amazing on the 20th anniversary think about how much better he'll sound this year!

[TAC]

holy shit i can't math lmao. Yes, it's the 30 year anniversary. So if he sounded amazing on the 20th anniversary think about how much better he'll sound this year!

Well, he sounded great in 2004, and then again in 2014, so we'll see!

[hefdaddy42]

holy shit i can't math lmao. Yes, it's the 30 year anniversary. So if he sounded amazing on the 20th anniversary think about how much better he'll sound this year!

Are you actually a crazy person

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

Are you actually a crazy person

Yes. We're on the same page again!

[hefdaddy42]

OK

[Metro]

As with all of his threads, we arrive at this question.

What is the point of this thread?

[Trav]

Yes. We're on the same page again!

You good, bro?

[JeopardousRaven]

We'll just have to agree to disagree. Have you seen the Cameo?

May I ask why you feel a 30 second video in which he had unlimited takes to sing perfectly is a more accurate representation of his night-to-night touring abilities than the dozens of clips of him singing at live shows recorded over the past 2 years? I love JLB as much as anyone but I don't really see the point of putting your head in the sand like this.

[wolfking]

Just like one clip of him botching something isn't proof that he's lost it, one clip of him nailing something isn't proof that he's still got it.

JLB doesn't need any defending.  But the evidence is clear: on a night to night basis, and sometimes on a song to song basis, he is no longer what he once was, and any attempt to say claim that he is undiminished is futile.

BTW, no shame in not being what he once was.  On any given night, he can be and is still fantastic.  But he is no longer consistently great.

This whole thread is futile.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

May I ask why you feel a 30 second video in which he had unlimited takes to sing perfectly is a more accurate representation of his night-to-night touring abilities than the dozens of clips of him singing at live shows recorded over the past 2 years? I love JLB as much as anyone but I don't really see the point of putting your head in the sand like this.

It's about the power of belief. I know that James gets a lot of flack from the less faithful fans but I know in my heart of hearts he still has it and can still prove it.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

This whole thread is futile.

I'm sorry I let you down

[crystalstars17]

It's also futile for anyone to argue that he must've done a million takes just because he could. Maybe he did two or three, maybe one, maybe fifteen. But assuming off the bat that he did more rather than fewer is just assuming the worst.

The point is, he has the notes. Consistent delivery is going to depend now upon whether he fixes his technique.

And I have no reason to believe that, with the 40th anniversary tour upon us, that he won't understand that they need to be at their best and give it his all.

[TAC]

And I have no reason to believe that, with the 40th anniversary tour upon us, that he won't understand that they need to be at their best and give it his all.

Yeah, this is why I'm cautiously optimistic.

[wolfking]

Yeah, this is why I'm cautiously optimistic.

Agree.  Hopefully though that doesn't add more pressure again to James.

[TAC]

I feel like James responds to pressure.

[wolfking]

I feel like James responds to pressure.

That's fair, how much criticism would he have seen in his time and handled everything like a boss.