OK, I'll preface this by saying I like 6DoiT -- especially Glass
Prison and Misunderstood. So, don't kill me... ;-)
Does anyone else feel that Dream Theater's vocal melodies have
gone downhill lately? Vocals are very important to me and I like to see
them have a strong melodic influence. One of the things I love about
Images and Words and Awake are the wonderful vocal melodies that fit
tightly with the music. See songs like Learning to Live, Pull Me Under,
Take the Time, Voices, Space Dye Vest, etc...
I just don't get into the vocal melodies as much with the more
recent DT CDs, especially SfaM and now 6DoiT, but probably starting
with FII. I thought that maybe I was just more familiar and comfortable
with the older tunes since I heard them first so I put all the DT CDs
into the changer and listened again. There was still something about
the vocal delivery during the earlier CDs that I prefer.
A lot of the SfaM vocals seemed a bit stilted to me but I always
put it down to the play-like lyrics. But, after hearing 6DoiT I think
that it's more than that. Don't get me wrong -- I still like many
of the vocals -- but it seems that they're not quite up to par with the
earlier albums. On the other hand, I do like how LaBrie varies his
singing style more these days with some harsher delivery mixed in with
his classic operatic style.
I'm not sure that it's any single aspect of the vocals that
troubles me. But, while listening to them all again I noticed that
the more recent vocals seemed to have a more disjointed delivery.
Often, you'll find that each line of the lyrics is delivered independently
of the next one, with a pause between them. It gives the singing
something of a spoken quality. Not all the time mind you, but often.
Many of the older songs would use that style occasionally but would also
consist of longer melodic lines delivered in a fluid style. The vocals
would also be more tightly integrated into the music, rather than
almost chanting over it in the more recent songs. I find that I prefer
the fluid style and that small change makes a big difference to me in
the feel of the song.
Actually, I'm not even sure that's the real difference, since
there are exceptions that I could point to on every album. For example,
I think that Misunderstood is a return to the older fluid vocal style
with longer melodic lines and blending with the music (and I like it).
But, it's the only thing that I could positively identify.
Am I crazy? Does anyone else feel similarly about the vocal
delivery? :-)
Steve
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