Intrigued? OK, let me go on…

I was listening on YouTube some Dream Theater songs; I am not a big fan or something, but I do like some melodies very much, like for ex. Another day, or Through her eyes or The spirit carries on. I think that all these can be considered ballads, so I guess I like Dream Theater ballads, even I am not sure that when you speak about a progressive rock band you can definitely say that this is a ballad and that one is not because of changing the rhythm when you least expect it (not the case here but still). But that’s not the point of this post.

The point is that reading a few of the comments made on YT, I was surprised in an unpleasant way by how easy people judge artists.

James LaBrie is not good, man!The band would sound way better without LaBrie in it! James LaBrie can not sing!

Ohh!!Really?!! How is that? Now think about the fact that these guys built a whole career behind them, together, putting one brick at a time, playing and most of all THINKING every damn note together, each of them bringing his contribution to the whole, to the band. The band would not sound the same without any of these guys.

I am not defending LaBrie (because it is not the case), even if personally I like the way he sings. If it would be my call, I would lower his vocal line with about 1 tone, but this is just my personal opinion. I think that he likes to push his voice to the limits of his vocal range , giving him that particular tone.

I told you I am not a big fan of Dream Theater, but I do have a great respect for them because they know music, they’ve studied music, I think they should be treated with respect by everybody considering the way they’ve built a career in music, by studying hard, learning music theory and rehearsing to the level where each of them is a master of his instrument. And next time you hear any guitar hero saying that he does not really know scales or chords, well, remember the guys in Dream Theater…

It is very easy to jump to conclusions and judge one artist or an other. He’s no good, man! He can not play!

Now ask yourself how many hours did that artist study for being in that place where frustrated people be able to judge him and tell him he’s no good and the band would sound better without him.

I personally consider that the band Dream Theater is great because of it’s members and because each artist knows why the others play a particular note, each artist in this band understands and loves the complexity of their music.

IMO there is no better lead singer than LaBrie for Dream Theater , because he UNDERSTANDS their music better than any other singer. I don’t think that Dickinson or Michael Kiske or any other famous singer would sing better Dream Theater songs than James LaBrie.

For all the bullies out there, did you ever try to perform on the other side of the stage you usually find yourself when going to a concert? So, think about it next time when you’ll jump to judging someone for not conforming to your questionable standards, OK?

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Without assuming the paternity of these lines (I found them on the internet at one point, I just don’t remember where) here’s the…

Funny Top 10 List For A Successful Power Metal Band

1. In a power metal world, everything steel is good, and anything good must be compared to steel.
2. You are allowed to be blonde.
3. Pick a theme and stick to it. Manowar are warriors of true metal, and they don’t get to sing about anything else. Rhapsody has their Algalord chronicles. Hammerfall has their steel, hammers, and templar. Running Wild has pirates. Blind Guardian has Tolkein. None of them are allowed to sing about anything else.
4. If at all possible, be Michael Kiske. If this is not possible, pretend to be Michael Kiske.
5. Your album cover should include at least one of the following: fire, steel, weird glowing magical items, irregularly muscular men, fists thrust into the air, weaponry, magic creatures (preferably dragons), or bright beams of light around somebody/something.
6. 16th notes are the only notes. Unless you’re singing, in which case you are not permitted to hold a note for any less than 2 bars. By the way, you need at least two guitar players. How else are you going to have dueling guitar solos?
7. If you can’t be Michael Kiske, you can at least be Timo Tolkki. Actually, don’t be Timo Tolkki.
8. Wizards! You need wizards!
9. Wear armor if at all possible. Hammerfall can give you an idea of the variety of acceptable armors, ranging from leather to ring-mail.
10. Never leave Europe.For purposes of the above, Japan may be counted as part of Europe. Oh, and South America was colonized by Europeans, so it can count too.

Just as a note to those of you already angry at me for publishing this list: guys, please keep in mind I am a fan of power metal. I lived on Helloween rhythms, I love Michael Kiske’s voice and used to fall asleep with Eric Adams (Manowar) screaming into my ears. When being 17 years old I remember I fell asleep and the phone started to ring and I remember thinking (in between sleeping and waking up) what’s that sound that I have never managed to hear before…

It was my phone ringing and my mother screaming at me to turn the stereo down…

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I am sure that a lot of you (rock fans) admire voices such Bruce Dickinson (Of Iron Maiden, of course), Michael Kiske (ex Helloween, “the silver throat” as some used to call him - by the way, I am a big fan of you, man!!) and others with similar abilities. I know I do. I love this kind of voices. What I didn’t know is that you can actually study this kind of vocal technique and that the way they sing is not just pure talent or God given voice but also studied technique. Here in Romania, I am not aware of someone teaching this kind of things. Of course we have all kind of music schools and a lot of great vocal trainers, but, damn, I don’t think we have something similar to this.

Here’s a movie of a guy singing a Queensryche’s song. He is a student of this private rock class. Of course, lead singers like Dickinson or Kiske are not born every day, but admit it, he’s there!

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For today’s post I will go a bit back in time, before joining a real rock band. I was about 18-19 at that time I think. I was playing the guitar with a very good friend of mine, Mihai, who plays in the same band with me even today. So I was doing the solo guitar while he was doing the rhythm and also singing, but we decided to find a lead singer that do only the voice part. So we got together and tried to agree on what we will be looking for. Because we both loved the same music, it came naturally. We put up an announcement and it sounded like this:

“Rock band is looking for lead singer able to sing Manowar, Helloween and Iron Maiden. Call – number here”

Well, as you see, we didn’t ask for much, we just wanted a lead singer able to sing like Eric Adams, Michael Kiske and Bruce Dickinson at the same time. Well, how hard could it be to find such a lead singer? Did I mention we were about 18-19 years old?
Well, keep that in mind, please.

Tune up your electric guitars; we are going for the kill!

So we started to print these flyers with the announcement and glue them to anything we could find in our city. For a few days, nothing happened. But one day, the phone rang. A guy told me that he phoned for the open position in the band, as a lead singer. Well, what do you know?!!! We have a candidate. So, on the phone, I started to ask him a few things, you know, have you seen what we ask for, can you sing Manowar and Helloween? Yes, no problem, he says. Well, what do you know, he sings Manowar and Helloween. And can you also sing Iron Maiden? Of course, I can, I can sing anything, I can sing Elvis, I can sing…and he named a few bands that were strangers to my ears. Well, what do you know, he plays all those things. Let’s meet the man!

So we agreed on a meeting the same day. I met my friend and we both went to meet this wonder singer that God sent to us in only a few days.

To not give room for mistakes, let me draw the whole picture: we were 2 18-19 years old, long hair high school dudes in worn out jeans that were looking like the clothes of the homeless guy you see on dark streets, ear rings, with heavy metal in our brains and of course, we had guitars with us. Acoustic guitars that is, since we wanted to hear the clean voice.

So, we were waiting for a guy close to us, with same heavy metal culture, crazy for electric guitars and screaming voices, our lead singer!

And there he was, in all his beauty! A 45-50 years old dark skinned guy (gypsy that is), with a crazy colored shirt! I felt earth should open and eat me right that very moment. I was looking at my friend; he was looking at me and both to this guy before us.

…it’s you? Yes, it’s me. And you said you can sing Helloween?! Helloween, how you call it, Elvis, anything, I can sing anything, anywhere, at weddings, parties…
Well, that was it. Thank you! You know, we are looking for a lead singer that sings heavy metal, at about 18-19 years old…

Well, I don’t know if the man knew what heavy metal is, but he really understood what I meant, it was clear that he was also confused to see us and we were not quite what he was expecting, so he was probably happy to leave also.

After this, Mihai’s mother told us that she saw us with that man, she was passing by and she was a bit scared, what do with do with that man?! She knew him from the neighborhood…Of course, anything but playing hard rock!

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