Normally, when a band replaces a singer with one who is obviously trying to sound like their former singer, it really turns me off. I can't bare to listen to 90's era Rainbow. I've simply never been able to get past Joe Lynn Turner. The music is still phenomenal, still quintessential Blackmore, but I never found Turner to be an adequate replacement for Ronnie James Dio.
Poor Joe, he's really a great vocalist, but he tries so hard to be Dio, and falls so short of it, I find myself wondering what the real Joe Lynn Turner sounds like. I am likely going to anger a few of my fellow metal heads with this post, but I feel the same way about Tony Martin.
It is so painfully obvious that Martin is trying with every fiber of his being to channel Dio's magic. Again, he falls short. I hate even saying that, as Tony has a massive voice, but it just doesn't work for me in the context of Black Sabbath. He deserves massive points for helping keep Sabbath going all those years, and I do thank you for that, Tony, I truly do. He was a good collaborator for Tony Iommi, they wrote excellent songs together, but I still can't get past it.
It is not that I feel no one besides Dio is suitable for Rainbow or Sabbath. I love the Sabbath album with Ian Gillian, and the Seventh Star albums with Glenn Hughes are nothing short of spectacular. I also love Sabbath with Ozzy, as well as Sabbath with Dio, but vocally, they are all very different song birds, so to speak. I don't feel the same of Martin or Turner.
It isn't just Dio, either. The Judas Priest years with Ripper Owens didn't interest me in the slightest. It is just too obvious that Ripper hailed from a Priest tribute band. Though a great singer, he too falls short. Great pipes, or no, he simply isn't Rob Halford. Perhaps if they would stop trying so hard, and let me hear their own way of doing it, it wouldn't bother me so.
It didn't bother me in the slightest when Bruce Dickinson replaced Paul Di'anno in Iron Maiden, but Di'Anno and Dickinson have two totally different style, both of which I find amazing. I respected Bruce even more for being Bruce, and not just "the new Di'Anno".
I have often wondered, as you all probably are right now, if I was being a bit of a "vocal snob". Then, I happened upon the new Queensryche album...sans Geoff Tate, of course.
While I do wish Queensryche had chosen someone who did not sound like Geoff Tate, I can actually listen to this. Musically, it is typical Queensryche, very much so vocally as well. As I've said, normally that would bug the crap out of me, but why does it not in this case?
The answer is simple, Todd La Torre. Todd already sounded considerably similar to Geoff Tate. I already liked La Torre when he was with Crimson Glory. Even though he sounded like Tate, I liked him. Perhaps even because he sounded like Tate...I like him. The new Queensryche sounds great.
The only thing to dislike now, is the apparent "bad blood" between the two vocalists. It is apparent that La Torre was influenced by Tate. Admit it, get past, and everyone get on with the business of making fabulous music, shall we?
New Queensryche :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w4RfoUv9KU
Crimson Glory (compare for yourself) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVFLFQ1b95A&list=TL2esV_W_2mJk
Oh, and, thank you, +LooseCannon700 for the side by side comparison. Great job!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZigtUTnigsk
As you probably know, Uriah Heep fans have been divided for decades about the very same issue: My favorite lineup is the classic one with Byron, but I am not going to hate on anyone who feels differently.
ReplyDeleteReplacing lead singers is a tricky thing. It does make you wonder how some bands decide on someone.
I am with Byron, Alexandra. That's not to say any of the others are bad, though. Sometimes it's just not the right sound when combined. I felt Turner cheapened Rainbows sound. They lost all they're "mystic" for me. Yeah, some choices boggle my mind! Others, I'm like, "This is awesome"!
DeleteBadlands vocalist Ray Gillen (R.I.P.) also sang for Black Sabbath, but when he died suddenly they brought in Tony Martin to re-record all the vocals on Eternal Idol. The "Dio soundalike" criticism of Martin is justified probably fifty percent of the time, but Gillen also had a great set of pipes and sounded remarkably like David Coverdale.
ReplyDeleteI think Tony Martin really came into his own as a vocalist on Cross Purposes and the underrated Forbidden. He sings in a lower register on the former and sounds grittier than his usual self on the latter, and it really works.
LaTorre has no beef with Tate. That's all between Geoff and his former bandmates. Todd is slowly morphing his vocal style to not sound so much like Tate. He's very good. Queensryche's new album is way better than Tate's but for some reason some of the material falls flat. I think the next album will be much stronger. "Fallout" is definitely a step back in the right direction.
Uh-oh, I see some Uriah Heep talk! I like Byron but wow, John Lawton was awesome on Firefly! It was like Dio coming into Sabbath: a new, more direct style. I love that album. John was also great with Rebel in the early '80s. I like John's pre-Heep band Lucifer's Friend, too. (For the record, I think Abominog rocks, too. Peter Goalby sang on that.)
NO
+NeillOilraags
ReplyDeleteI am really loving your feedback! I've waited SO long for someone to actually do much in the way of discussing this stuff! THANX!
Yes, I remember Gillen. I actually liked him better than Coverdale. Coverdale lost it for me a bit back in the day when Glenn Hughes smoked him on "Burn". I am a huge Glenn Hughes fan, so you will prolly see a post about him eventually too!
Martin, I agree has come more into his own of late, and I've heard LaTorre has been KILLING on tour! I haven't had a chance to listen to Tate yet.
Lawton is great, but I still miss Byron. I think that may be my whole issue.
I think it is my first impressions that are marred because of nostalgia for the original. This is ESPECIALLY true with Dio! I will never stop missing him!
I will have to check out Lucifer's Friend. Sounds intriguing!
Thanx again for the excellent feedback and discussion! It is so hard to get people to speak their minds here. I think that may be another reason I write rants like this one occasionally. Subconsciously, I am trying to incite them to debate!
Hi, Laurie,
ReplyDeleteYou have a great blog rolling along here. I concur, the most you'll get from a lot of people is a terse one-liner punctuated "Yeahhh!" Haha!
Check out the very last Lucifer's Friend album that John Lawton sang on, called Mind Exploding. That was right before Firefly.
I heart the Glennster, too. He's always been much more interesting than D.C. Glenn was supposed to be Purple's frontman, and then Richie brought in Dave. I don't know why. I guess he thought Glenn was too funky for comfort?
A band I've never really explored, that I heard on SiriusXM around forty minutes ago, is Diamondhead. Metallica covered "It's Electric," and I like their rendition, but now that I've heard the original I have to hear more. I believe Diamondhead had a short existence. I assume you're more familiar with them!
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Glenn is pretty funky, but that is one thing I love about him! I thought the "Seven Star" stuff with Sabbath was way ahead of it's time. There was some kind of time warp stuff going on there! It just felt so good. but got no notice!
DeleteDiamondhead also did the original of "Am I Evil". I think you'd REALLY like them!
A lot of the originals to stuff Metallica covered is far better...like "Crash Course in Brain Surgery", originally by Budgie.
YEAHHH! HAHA! ;)