I'm sorry if the "425 fanboys over Dream Theater" act is getting old, but I was wondering what particularly about James LaBrie's voice is found annoying by some people. I mean, I get the people who say they like the music of Rush but they are annoyed by Geddy Lee's vocals. I understand that because Geddy uses a very non-traditional and unusual vocal style.
I have to say that I don't quite understand the people who reject James LaBrie as a good singer. I realize that I am in a vast minority in saying that he is one of my favorite vocalists, but I'm not sure what it is about his voice that makes it so that he is not tolerable at worst. LaBrie has range, fairly good technique, and is a very emotive singer (which is why I don't understand the accusations of DT being cold; James' voice drips emotion on songs like A Change of Seasons). DT's vocal melodies are some of the few that I find particularly pleasing as melodies themselves (meaning: without regard for things like emotion or tone of the singer's voice), though James has only written a few of them (unless I am mistaken, in DT the lyricist generally submits vocal melodies with the exception of Myung, whose few lyrics have melodies probably written by Petrucci. This means that LaBrie has only written a handful of vocal melodies, one of the best among them being "Caught In a Web"), along with those of Dio and the occasional line from another band (some of Rush's, a few of Maiden's, some of Blaze's).
Obviously I recognize that not everyone has to share my opinion, but I would like to have a greater understanding of specific attributes of James LaBrie's vocals that people dislike.