I agree with you guys, people seem to forget Rob is coming up 60 years old and has THRASHED his voice like no other singer for most of his life. He will never sound like he did at 25 years old, it's a fact of life. I have enjoyed the youtube vids of this tour so far, and take Robs singing as it is. I don't think he has ever been able to sing Painkiller 'perfectly', so to speak, how could ANYONE replicate their studio sound on a song like that, much less 20 years after it was recorded! I don't understand when people bitch about his voice cos like I said, he is nearly 60 years old FFS!! To me for someone his age and considering what he has done with his voice for so many years, he still sounds great, just not what he was which is UNDERSTANDABLE and NORMAL I think. He will ALWAY be the Metal God anyway!
You're absolutely right, brother. He is far and above ANYONE in his genre AND age bracket..and that INCLUDES Coverdale and Plant!!!!! I saw Whitesnake twice in '09 and, while Coverdale remains one of my favorite vocalists, he was struggling by the time they got here to Vegas. He kept ducking into a little "tent' on stage left and drinking what looked like a bottle of something. I believe he had to cancel the shows right after that night.
Halford stands alone. No doubt. One of the ICONS of music, not just Metal. As we have all acknowledged, the wear and tear on his voice is evident and expected. He is not a young man and he has really worked his voice beyond anything a "normal" singer could ever do. Sometimes I have difficulty remembering that. I hear him do certain songs and a part of me is disappointed because he cannot do what he did back when I first saw him in 1979. Even in the 80's and early 90's. There are so many fans that simply will not concede that he is not the singer he was. They insist that he "still hits all the notes" and that is just not so.
At the end of the day, Rob Halford is the greatest. I say that and I mean it. There will be other opinions and I respect the right of anyone to have one but, for me, Rob is the End All. The best.
metallo wrote:
I agree with you and Budred, but in my opinion a singer like Rob Halford after 40 years singing heavy metal at maximum level demonstrates something incredible on having still this powerful voice. Then, of course, is clear that being over 60 is something different form being 25, but thinking to other great singers, more famous worlwide that Rob Halford, such as Robert Plant, Ian Gillan and many more (David Coverdale ????), no one was at this high level after 50, Halford has gone over them.
On last june 22nd, before Priest played Whitesnake. All of us know how is powerful the voice of Coverdale, but at last, after three songs he was completely out and thanks to long guitar solo and then drum solo he was able to finish after one hour.
Halford was on the stage for about two hour singing songs from Rocka Rolla to Nostardamus and always at the top, for a 60 years old fuckin' metal god.
Deep Freeze wrote:
Well said, Bud. You know, Rob is still THE Metal God. Always will be. He is also very human. He has put that wonderful instrument of his through hell for over 30 years. There is just NO way that ANYONE could come out of that unscathed.
Watching Rob and the Priest live is an awesome experience. They are icons. Veterans. They bring it every night. They are the best. There are some songs that Rob sings that still make the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up! He knows what he is doing. I figure they keep Painkiller in the set because it is just so darn popular. They play it and people go nuts. Always.
I have seen him do the song live twice since he returned to Priest and his vocal is as you said, all over the place. He makes the song come alive no matter what but, vocally, it is a far cry from 1991. That is a fact. Of course, I feel the same way about the end of Victim of Changes, too. They do that one MUCH better than PK but it is still far from the way he did it in the 70's and 80's... just as one would expect. A 60+ year old man is going to have a different voice than he did at 25. Especially after decades of HEAVY use! One "Aging Rocker's" opinion, of course.
Budred wrote:
I'm keeping my criticism to a minimum because all I'm seeing is youtube videos and I know it will sound
much better live but I agree with Freeze. If you just focus on the vocals you'll hear that Rob's all over the place
on this one and some parts just sound bad. He can still sing. I saw him twice last year and he sounded pretty good..
Maybe they should just put this one to bed. (It's overdone anyway.)
