John's voice is not the same

[adrinux]

I watched a VHS of a petra show.
I saw "and heard" that John's voice is not the same.
He has been singing a little out of tune.

his voice has changed in every album.

Who might post his point of view about the John's voice.
How it is now and how it was before.

[Jonathan]

He's a fifty-something-year old dude. Maybe puberty is finally setting in, and he can't touch the G7 anymore?

[adrinux]

Yes, he is a little old.
now I am asking everyone to post their point of view about John's voice in every album.

(I can't write what I mean. My english is too poor yet, so if you can't understand me, you know why)

[Preacherman777]

Actually, I think he continues to perform at a remarkabley high level considering his age. I really don't see that great a difference between how he sings now and how he sang back in the 80's. Most singers lose a lot as they grow older. Consider Michael Sweet of Stryper. He once had one of the amazing voices in hard rock and metal, but he has since lost of lot of that range. Even Greg Volz who had one of the most amazing voices I've ever heard, doesn't seem to attempt the vocal gymnastics he once did. Age takes it's toll, but John seems to be holding up pretty darn well.

[Dan]

John's voice has never stopped changing since Head East days it has just got better.

Axl Rose on the other hand from G'N'R has lost part of his voice and he is in his mid 40's.

John was 43 when Wake up call came out.

[charl]

I also think John's voice has held up pretty well. The first time I heard Head East (not knowing it was them), I recognised his voice instantly, and was surprised at how little it had actually changed in the 20 year interim (this was the mid-90's). If anything I thought he had improved.

A changing voice is not necessarily a bad thing anyway. I have some old Tommy Dorsey records on which a very young Frank Sinatra is the vocalist (circa 1937). His voice is recognisable, but very different from the ratpack era in the early 60's. His voice improved immensly with age (though so did his ability-and there is more personality in the later recordings)-still it seemed to get a bit higher later on (I can sing with the later songs, but not the Dorsey stuff). So there ya get.


Think of it like a fine wine.

[petrafan]

of course his voice is not the same. but i still think he is doing much better than most lead singers out there, both christians or not. see Sammy Hagar, for example.

watch that concert at Alive 2000. ok i know it's been 5 years, but except for some very high notes that he cannot reach in perfect tune (which is pretty common on live shows and happens with all lead singers) he sings pretty well during all the concert, and not only in the beggining of it. i even think he sounds kind of "heavy-metal-ish" on this particular concert.

also, on the brazilian concert in 2004 i thought he would disappoint me (it would be my first Petra concert in 9 years) but he did it very well.
only noticeable thing is that some of the new songs (J&H and maybe another one) are sung live on 1/2 or maybe 1 tone lower on the scale.

[seichu kaisho]

I thought his voice sounded a bit strained on the Jekyll and Hyde album.

[brent]

I didn't. John needs to be singing up there, at the top of his range to sound good. He will admit that. That was his concern about singing on our CD, because we wrote for another singer, with drop D, drop C, double drop tuning, etc.

John's texture has changed. His range has changed little. We all drop a step or two as we age. But John still has a high note to be proud of.

As for the live comments. People should not pass judgement on what they do not understand. It is very difficult to sing in tune with In Ear Monitors (IEMs). It is like singing with your fingers stuck in your ears. Try it. Stick your fingers in your ears and begin singing with a song. Turn the song up louder if you need. By the songs end, the average human will be way off pitch.

Now, combine that with the fact that as the ear experiences loud Sound Pressure Levels (SPLs), it hears sharp. So to compensate, it is natural to sing flat.

Now, if you are a guy like John, who can sing at 90dB himself, in his own ear + the IEMs + the loud background noise + being winded on stage + humidity, rest, etc...you get it. It all adds up.

I have very raw tracks of John singing. I can say beyond a shadow of any doubt that I would put his tracks against anyone out there. He is strong and loud. Again, on stage is no place to judge a man's range. There are too many variables. You dis-sers do not know what you are talking about.

Respectfully.

Brent

[spottacus]

John can still rip and roar with the best rock singers on the planet. I've heard him live enough times to know that like anyone, he can have good nights and bad nights, or sing a bad song in the middle of a good performance, etc. As a band, Petra still has "it" and could continue to perform if they could sell records and get concert dates.

[epdc]

considering his age (AWWWWWWWWW I KNOW IT SOUNDS BAD HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH) i think he still sings GREAT

[seichu kaisho]

Don't get me wrong - I don't think John sounded bad on Jekyll and Hyde. But I think he sounded just slightly better on other albums.

[SamScales]

Brent,

You just about summed it up on John's vocals. I know he still has most all of his range and can wail some high notes still! It's been cool for me to see his voice texture change over the years....but there's not doubt about his awesome range!

Interesting what you mentioned about IEM's. I didn't know that all these factors can come into play for one not to sing on pitch. I have IEM's but use them rarely, partly because I dont' like the earpiece. And partly because it feels like 'the-finger-in-the-ear-effect'.

Now I'm curious to hear what you think of the Sure E-5's that I heard about. I did listen to them once at a Conference, but love to hear your opinion on this. I'm definitly not as trained as John and I'd prolly TOTALLY sing flat, HAHAHA

I agree, live shows are not easy at times. I've struggled at some venues and others I haven't. All depends.....

Thanks for your post.

[adrinux]

You would like to say that I exaggerated when I said that John's voice is getting out of tune. today I watched the VHS once more and I saw that He doesn't sing out of tune, just when he tries to reach so high tones. But who cares? It's John!!! His voice is wonderful, and he still can sing for 100 years.
Because even with that low quality sound equipment, he could sing well.

....what a pity that they are gonna retire

[GLF78]

My two cents worth - I have been listening to his music for 30 years. For the most part, he sounds very much the same. My kids hear some old HE stuff and remark that he sounds just like he does now.
He now has a little more rasp, which I think sounds great on the Jekyll and Hyde stuff. Range? Check out "On the EARTH as it is in Heaven" line in Perfect World. Pretty good. I've seen him live a number of times too, as recent as last year. I sort of expect that he may miss a high note or two, but doesn't.
I've also noticed when he sings the balads he can still sing with remarkable clarity in his voice.

He's the best rock singer on the planet, as far as I'm concerned.

Gary