~ TheD. ~
Steam-Prog Contraptor
Well, I don't worry about the 70 thing, as it's never going to happen, BUT I have noticed that creativity from metal bands does fade as they get older....I see it time and time again from countless bands. I just accept it as the norm these days.
Actually, I don't hear the exact Tate Clone that some other people hear. I think Todd has a distinctive voice, and Tate's voice was more higher pitched, and he sang in a higher octave than Todd does.
Listen to a song on Rage, Warning and Empire and then listen to Todd and you can DEFINITELY tell the difference. Even so, I'm one that loves that style of singing, and I welcome more of it! Tate had a distinctive voice that no singer has or will ever be able to emulate. That's not a knock on Todd. I think Todd is making an effort not to sound "exactly" like Tate.
I just want a great singer with a great voice and that's what Todd brings. Even if he does sound like Tate, it doesn't matter because Tate doesn't sing like that anymore and of course many of us hunger for that style of singing...So someone has to pick up the Tab.
Again, we can't judge anything by 1 song.....When Mindcrime came out, the first sing I heard from it was "The Needle Lies" and I hated it...I kept saying, "worst song ever!" "plain and boring", but I love Operation Mindcrime as a whole. Although I still don't care for The Needle Lies.
I wholeheartedly concur, it reminds me of the Journey or Accept situation where you have a singer that can be a dead ringer for the original in a live setting but, of course, there is a difference. He covers the stuff we loved from the heyday damn good and on the new stuff, I would not even think he was aping Tate in his prime except for some of the inflections and dramatic annunciations... he admits to Tate being one his idols... it is only natural. He fits in damn good, hell better than Tim Owens fit into Priest IMO.
I actually hope he does bring out more distinctive aspects. Someone told me once, I think it was Brian Slagel from Metal Blade when he listened to our original singer.. who totally TRIED to ape Geoff. He said... There already is a Queensryche. Then I had Mike Gray who really in his own bands sounds a lot like Steve Perry meets Vince Neil, but when he was put into a musical landscape that is dramatic and calling for a certain theatrical delivery.. and musically demanding the vocalist do half-steps and certain scale notes... wham, you get nailed with being a Tate knock off, and then the whole band gets the Queensryche-alike treatment even if the music is very different.
Because Tater was first, really, to have the full range, and Dickinson was more Ian Gillian-ish and animal, not as how do you say... well, pretentious would be what a lot of people would call it. I think, it's just using emotional and technical range that only has been heard in Opera., not Rock... so, some people think of it as snooty or dramatic.
So, even Ray Alder got compared to Tate when he first came out especially on Parallels. It is always labeling, so I will credit Taterhole who secretly modeled himself after the first two Queen albums but said he didnt care for metal and his favorite band was the Cocteau Twins. Or else it would be Geddy Lee comparisons! (No offense to Geddy... he is not a baritone too..)
Always really pissed me off that Tate would not do The Three Tremors project with Dickinson and Halford!
Sorry, I never really will ever like that guy after the rude arrogant treatment to not just myself but other fans... at many shows we traveled great distances to see and paid for VIP. Then I heard from Scurlock or some insider he and his wife had a ten year retirement plan, didn't really associate with the band mates... they were going through the motions and hoping to cash in on Mindcrime II and do maybe another record or three then, he and Susan were going to spend the rest of their lives sailing the world on some boat he has been restoring. Then it all made sense. I usually don't disparage people... or try not to.. but Fuck that guy, he IS pretentious! And it gives ProgPower Metal a band rep, to be associated with an elitist prick. His new album is a horrible struggle to try to force musicians out of their element to recreate a QR type sound, it grabs you for a sec then you realize he is singing as he always did.. in character and not from his vulnerable and open heart, it is a theatrical facade that does not work anymore. EPIC FAIL.
I will buy Condition Hüman and support the guys, I feel like you have to hand it to people who overcame their oppressors and things holding them back and are out there working so hard and being so grateful to be free and get the chance to come alive again, Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson were in indentured servitude... now, they are vibrant and on fire! Kudos to them.