i think when it comes to vocalists, there are alot of them who pass out of the normal fields of the spectrum
lets take like james labrie and matt barlow for example.
james labrie, i wouldnt call his voice real unique, but it is a little different, its definitely more distinguishable than many other vocalists. Barlows is more unique but about the same level of distinguishablity.
while many people think that labrie and barlow excel in the vocal department, other people, fans of the same vein of music of both of these guys, often cringe at the sound of their voices. barlow and labrie take quite a bit of heat from some other fans. it seems that when you have a good singer, to someone else, even if they are a fan of the same genre, what you hear as being good, the other person will hear it as a negative impact on their voice. while i might listen to barlow and labrie and say, i dont see how you couldnt like these guys, other people might say how CAN you like these guys, but yet i might share interest with tons of other singers/groups with that person. seems that vocalists that are out of the norm a bit, are hit or miss, they might hit with more people than they miss with but id classify them as hit or miss.
while i cant really pinpoint what it is about the astral doors guy, his voice sounds god awful to me, and obviously hes great, otherwise all of you other guys wouldnt have said he was. i dont really see how you like him but most of you have at least a semi-respectable opinion, so obviously he isnt god awful, hes just on the wrong side of the fence for me.
