OK, JLB is not the best vocalist in the entire universe, but I think you guys are being a bit too harsh on him, and I think the reason is cause he happens to be in a band where all the band members except him are absolutely top at their instruments, every one of them in the top 10 worldwide at least.
Of course, it's all subjective, and I think JLB is a good vocalist, he has technique, and he is constantly improving (get some bootlegs and hear the steadily improving vocals from 1995 to 2003). I really like his voice on the DT studio albums and on his side projects (JLB solo, Frameshift, Leonardo), but I definitely agree he is a lot worse in concert. He can be downright terrible sometimes, but a few precious times he is as good, if not better, than on the studio albums.
Awake is an amazing album, I used to be madly in love with it, almost as much as with SFAM, but as with most albums i was ever in love with, I played it so much that I got burned out on it. I hate it when that happens cause I have to take about 6 months of not listening to that album to be able to listen to it again without getting bored within 10 seconds cause I know it so well. This sadly has happened to me with every DT album so far except Train of Thought.
Train of Thought is amazing. Incredible. I love it. I think it's DT's best work. There are only a couple of moments in the entire album that I don't care for, some mindless shredding in a couple of songs and some dragging in the beginning of ITNOG, but otherwise it's bloody amazing. It goes from almost mainstream metal (As I Am) to an insane thrasher a-la Glass Prison (This Dying Soul) to catchy "pop" metal (Endless Sacrifice) to classic DT brilliance (the rest). I'm glad I'm not tired of the album yet, but I've only had it for a few months and I don't listen to it all that often to delay getting tired of it.
Regarding Nightingale, I think they are a great band but their albums are a bit short, especially The Closing Chronicles (around 41 mins), and I know I get annoyed when an album is under about 55 - 60 minutes cause I feel I'm getting ripped off when I pay the same for an 80 minute album (most prog albums are this long). This doesn't mean that musically it's not good, actually all Nightingale albums are excellent, and The Closing Chronicles has the best songs on it. I dunno, if I were you I might wait around for Nightingale to release some sort of a boxset with the entire Breathing Shadow series. Oh, keep in mind that The Closing Chronicles is Part 2 of the story, but it doesn't really matter cause it's not like you're getting anything spoiled, I don't follow the story all that much anyway.
Beer DOES rule.
