Tinman wrote:carleiu wrote:Although, I've heard many people say over the years that his previous falsetto was harmful and likely painful to his vocal cords--as a person who can sing in a similar falsetto range myself, I can attest to the fact that it is not painful and is actually easier on the vocal cords than most forms of singing due to slower air flow through the vocal procedure. The gritty, grungy singing style would've definitely been more painful, though.
I wonder if he's uses cannabis. It would explain his tonal change. I know some folks say age doesn't effect vocal tone, and I don't understand that. I can pull up videos of pretty much anyone 20 years apart at any point in their life and their voice will sound different.
Whether or not he smokes weed (which I don't care if he does--I don't myself but I have no problem with it), I think that the timing of his change in singing style during the Bob Rock era, combined with his change in approach to how he wrote lyrics, indicated that he was attempting to write and sing like a more traditional rock singer. Gravity is a very straightforward "rock singer" approach to lyrics and singing, and while I think it's a great album, it was a very generic singing style.
Personally, I feel that the pressure Bob Rock put on Raine, combined with the self-conciousness that Raine acknowledged feeling about his previous approach to singing, indicates that it was an intentional change. I don't think it was a lazy approach to singing, but nevertheless an intentional approach that simply led to his singing style being much lazier, much less gritty/grungy, and that the neglect of failing to practice his previous style of singing led to him no longer being capable of producing the voice he once could. All singers evolve over time, for better or for worse. I can accept the difference in singing style, but I do wish he'd return to the previously irregular song structure and lyricism that was the identity of OLP in the first four albums, as it was a much more creative approach. Other bands, such as Silverchair, evolved their singing style, but continued to complicate their song structure in a way that was creatively fulfilling, as opposed to becoming more simplistic, which is my main criticism of OLP since Spiritual Machines. Hopefully, Spiritual Machines II will return to that level of complexity...<fingers crossed>