Bruce's voice

chaosapiant

chaosapiant

Ancient Marinade
I've recently gotten my wife into Maiden, and she adores them.  One thing she does keep saying is that she prefers Bruce's voice on the later albums.  Now, I hadn't really paid so much attention to it before, but she's right.  I find that with the later stuff and Flight 666 and what not, he seems to have a much stronger, more powerful voice, and even has most if not all of the same high range he did in 83'.  Just curious what other people think of Bruce's vocal progression.
 
I agree with your wife, mostly because I generally prefer older voices to younger ones. I'm not saying I don't like Bruce on the older albums (there's absolutely nothing wrong with them), but the recent ones have something more mature and hence more powerful to them. I've actually noticed similar things with other singers like Freddie Mercury or Ronnie James Dio.
 
I agree, he has got better with age. I also think his passion behind the vocals has progressively got better as well. I opened a topic about this a few years back where I stated something along the lines of him acting out the words to really make you feel he believes (lyrically) what he sings - and that side of him has got better.
 
The other thing I've noticed, on their latest album "A Matter of Life and Death" his voice is reaching notes he hasn't reached in ages, and he does it constantly and without "straining."  One of the reasons I love that album so much is his ridiculous sense of voice control.
 
I think his age has a lot to do with reduction of other factors - drinking to excess, partying all night, and smoking certain illicit substances too much. Less tour dates probably helps too. Basically, Bruce likely takes much better care of his voice now than he did 25 years ago.
 
chaosapiant said:
The other thing I've noticed, on their latest album "A Matter of Life and Death" his voice is reaching notes he hasn't reached in ages, and he does it constantly and without "straining."  One of the reasons I love that album so much is his ridiculous sense of voice control.
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Do you and your wife also compare Bruce's live performances (young and old?)

On Rock in Rio he is superb but 3 years later on Death on the Road live CD (or DVD) we're hearing a good example of a strained Bruce. His performance on Flight 666 is "in between".

Check out Bruce performing on the Beast on the Road tour, e.g. the Hamersmith gig. Excellent stuff, very powerful.
 
Forostar said:
Do you and your wife also compare Bruce's live performances (young and old?)

On Rock in Rio he is superb but 3 years later on Death on the Road live CD (or DVD) we're hearing a good example of a strained Bruce. His performance on Flight 666 is "in between".

Check out Bruce performing on the Beast on the Road tour, e.g. the Hamersmith gig. Excellent stuff, very powerful.
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Actually, I have to respectfully disagree.  His voice starts out a lot rougher on Death on the Road, sort of like the Donnington set, but towards the middle and end his voice seems clearer to me that Rio, though Rio is more consistent from beginning to end.  Flight 666 I think is just great all the way through, and it's 16 concerts instead of one.  I do agree that on DOTR it sounds like Bruce just got out of bed.
 
On Rio I really think he gave his best vocal performance ever, much clearer than on later concerts. Flawless.
Ah well, people have different ears, different interpretations.  :)
 
True, though i'm sure we can both agree that regardless, Bruce is an excellent and consistent performer.  As I get older and listen to more music (i'm 30 now) I realize that there is more to Bruce's voice than just range.  Power, passion, control, emotion, etc are all big parts of it.  He sings each song like it's his last.
 
Bruce has gotten so much better and he is one of the reasons I still play AMOLAD. I agree with Perun you can notice similar progressions with other artist who take their singing seriously. I am yet to review my recent cd purchases and I will mention it again, but even "younger" artists can improve dramatically. Simone Simons of Epica for example, from the phantom agony to design your universe there is vast improvement and she's always been a good singer.
 
I read it somewhere on the web that he thinks he is a better singer since his departure from Maiden. Maybe he took some singing lessons ?   i think it's plausible.

I found it: :

You left the band in 1993. Is it something you regret?

A: "Hindsight is a wonderful thing. When I left I had no intention of coming back but in the intervening period, I ended up becoming a much better singer than I was before, certainly live. And coming back into the band I had a hell of lot more energy than in the two or years before I left and I stayed with it. I also came back with a determination that I'm never going to walk on stage again doing something I don't want to do as it's soul destroying and eats you up."
 
I'm probably alone in this, but Dickinson sounds like he has a slight cold during a couple of songs on Brave New World (Dream Of Mirrors, for example).
 
Forostar said:
On Rock in Rio he is superb but 3 years later on Death on the Road live CD (or DVD) we're hearing a good example of a strained Bruce. His performance on Flight 666 is "in between".
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True, but Bruce was sick during that gig. I think it was a cold.
 
I've always thought that on 'No Prayer', 'Fear of the Dark' and Tattoed Millionaire that it seemed like he was yelling sometimes, cutting off words (almost talking instead of singing).  And I feel that the first two mentioned above were my least favorite IM albums with Bruce at the helm.  When he came back with 'Brave', 'Dance' and 'Live and Death' he was "singing" again. 

It seems like it worked the other way with Metallica, where James H. used to be less of a singer and was better then and now he's trying to hard to sing and I haven't listened to them since the Black album when it all started falling apart.

T'boo Ted
 
Rotam said:
I read it somewhere on the web that he thinks he is a better singer since his departure from Maiden. Maybe he took some singing lessons ?   i think it's plausible.

I found it: :

You left the band in 1993. Is it something you regret?

A: "Hindsight is a wonderful thing. When I left I had no intention of coming back but in the intervening period, I ended up becoming a much better singer than I was before, certainly live. And coming back into the band I had a hell of lot more energy than in the two or years before I left and I stayed with it. I also came back with a determination that I'm never going to walk on stage again doing something I don't want to do as it's soul destroying and eats you up."
Click to expand...

This makes sence. I felt his voice was at a low point on Fear Of The Dark. But once I heard Balls To Picasso, it was like a different siger, and it was then that I realized exactly how much he meant to Iron Maiden.
 
Forostar said:
Alright, well, at least someone (chaospiant) likes vocals of a sick Bruce.   :D
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I think under the circumstances, he did very well.

I mean, he didn't have to rerecord the vocals like Rob did for Unleashed in the East (I have heard snippets from the untouched recording - Audience though - He could barely even talk! Bad case of flu)!
 
I'll take sick Bruce over any other singer any day.  The only two vocalists who I like "nearly" as much are Garm from Ulver and Mike Patton.  I'm not into most other power metal type vocalists.  I find a lot of their voices to thin and whiney, even though they have good range.  And no one has the power of Bruce.
 
That's a coincidence, chaosapiant! This week my wife interviewd Garm for one of her upcoming books.
 
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