Joe's Voice is Not "Shot"

[Voyager]

I've heard a lot of bands that have a "shot" lead vocalist, but after tonight I do not consider Def Leppard one of them.

David Lee Roth's voice is shot.

Brian Johnson's voice is shot.

Steve Augeri's voice is shot.

Joe Elliott's voice is obviously strained by age and use, but it is not "shot".

I saw Def Leppard in concert in Moline, Illinois tonight, and it was a FANTASTIC performance. Joe's vocals were at least 90% "on". What his vocals lacked, his entertaining, energetic, charismatic stage performance more than made up for. Sure, maybe tonight was an exceptionally good night. I was actually expecting Joe's vocals to be shot, but I was pleasantly surprised that they weren't. In addition, the backup vocals were very full and tight, and the harmonies were right in key.

I saw Def Leppard a few years ago outdoors at the State Fair in Springfield, Illinois, and I wasn't very impressed (the sound system was horrible). So going into the show tonight I wasn't expecting much. I was actually going to see how JSS sounds in Journey. I cannot tell you how blown away I was by Def Leppard's amazing performance! Every person in the entire floor section remained on their feet dancing and singing through the entire show. When it was over, the guys in the band were taking bows and you could tell they didn't want to leave. There was such a magic in the air, it was incredible! As my wife and I were heading to our vehicle, people were yelling and shouting "Def Leppard kicks ass" and going on about how great the concert was.

Based on what I saw and heard tonight, Def Leppard is far from a "washed up 80's band". Many of their shows are selling out, unlike most of the newer rock bands that have come out in the past 15 years. The crowd at tonight's show was a broad mix of people ages 12 - 60 (mainly female). I can't tell you how many scantilly dressed young women (teens and 20's) were there - you would have thought Nick Lachey and Justin Timberlake were performing. All the guys in Def Leppard looked extremely healthy and fit for their age (except for Joe starting to sport a little middle-aged gut). It was obvious that the hot ladies in the audience came to see Def Leppard as opposed to Journey. If the guys in Def Leppard are getting ready to retire, you could have fooled me. They were in excellent form tonight, and the crowd was loving every moment of it.

I'm sure some of you have heard Joe on bad nights (as every vocalist has), and maybe tonight was a really good night for him. If any of you get a chance to see Def Leppard in the next few weeks, I'd like to hear your opinion on Joe's vocals. I hope you get to hear him on a good night like I did.

[KCfla]

I've heard a lot of bands that have a "shot" lead vocalist, but after tonight I do not consider Def Leppard one of them.

David Lee Roth's voice is shot.

Brian Johnson's voice is shot.

Steve Augeri's voice is shot.

Joe Elliott's voice is obviously strained by age and use, but it is not "shot".

I saw Def Leppard in concert in Moline, Illinois tonight, and it was a FANTASTIC performance. Joe's vocals were at least 90% "on". What his vocals lacked, his entertaining, energetic, charismatic stage performance more than made up for. Sure, maybe tonight was an exceptionally good night. I was actually expecting Joe's vocals to be shot, but I was pleasantly surprised that they weren't. In addition, the backup vocals were very full and tight, and the harmonies were right in key.

I saw Def Leppard a few years ago outdoors at the State Fair in Springfield, Illinois, and I wasn't very impressed (the sound system was horrible). So going into the show tonight I wasn't expecting much. I was actually going to see how JSS sounds in Journey. I cannot tell you how blown away I was by Def Leppard's amazing performance! Every person in the entire floor section remained on their feet dancing and singing through the entire show. When it was over, the guys in the band were taking bows and you could tell they didn't want to leave. There was such a magic in the air, it was incredible! As my wife and I were heading to our vehicle, people were yelling and shouting "Def Leppard kicks ass" and going on about how great the concert was.

Based on what I saw and heard tonight, Def Leppard is far from a "washed up 80's band". Many of their shows are selling out, unlike most of the newer rock bands that have come out in the past 15 years. The crowd at tonight's show was a broad mix of people ages 12 - 60 (mainly female). I can't tell you how many scantilly dressed young women (teens and 20's) were there - you would have thought Nick Lachey and Justin Timberlake were performing. All the guys in Def Leppard looked extremely healthy and fit for their age (except for Joe starting to sport a little middle-aged gut). It was obvious that the hot ladies in the audience came to see Def Leppard as opposed to Journey. If the guys in Def Leppard are getting ready to retire, you could have fooled me. They were in excellent form tonight, and the crowd was loving every moment of it.

I'm sure some of you have heard Joe on bad nights (as every vocalist has), and maybe tonight was a really good night for him. If any of you get a chance to see Def Leppard in the next few weeks, I'd like to hear your opinion on Joe's vocals. I hope you get to hear him on a good night like I did.

I've never thought the guy's voice was "shot". I've see SOOO many shows through the years, and though he hasn't got the "punch" he had back in the Pyro/Hysteria days, he still can sing rings around alot of the singers his age.
Yes, he has bad nights. I don't know of any singer that doesn't. But he's not as bad as some people on these forums would lead you to believe.

I've seen 5 shows in the last 3 years, and only once did I hear him have a bad night. And he was battling a sinus infection at the time- so there was good reason for it! And even on that night, I felt that his voice was good ( say 70%) but he could not hold the notes as well as normal. Hell, 90+ degrees and a sinus infection- I wouldn't be able to breath at all, let alone sing and run around the stage as he does!!!

Thanks for your post though Voyager. It's nice to hear something positive from a "non-DL" fan here. It's becoming rare as hen's teeth

[DerriD]

When I saw the Lep's in July, I posted that I was happy to report that Joe sounded better than I was expecting. Yes he's lost some range, but I agree still a great frontman. The reason I had gone to the concert with such low expectations was that the previous times I had seen him on TV, Video Game Awards and VH1 Rock Honors, he sound AWFUL. I'm not sure if you've seen those performances, but they'll make you cringe. So perhaps the people that think Joe's voice is shot think so because they have not seen them live, but only have the most recent TV appearances on which to base their opinions.

[Voyager]

When I saw the Lep's in July, I posted that I was happy to report that Joe sounded better than I was expecting. Yes he's lost some range, but I agree still a great frontman. The reason I had gone to the concert with such low expectations was that the previous times I had seen him on TV, Video Game Awards and VH1 Rock Honors, he sound AWFUL. I'm not sure if you've seen those performances, but they'll make you cringe. So perhaps the people that think Joe's voice is shot think so because they have not seen them live, but only have the most recent TV appearances on which to base their opinions.

Good point. I'm sure that if I listened to a CD recording of the live show that I saw, I would have heard more flaws with Joe's vocals. But when you are in a live setting, you get caught up with the magic of the moment and probably don't hear as many flaws. Plus, the sound crew can do a good job of covering up the lacking high range with effects and EQs.

[Saint John]

I too, was at the concert in Moline and Joe sounded great. I was really surprised at how good they sounded. 3 hours of great music by both bands. WELL worth the money.

[KCfla]

When I saw the Lep's in July, I posted that I was happy to report that Joe sounded better than I was expecting. Yes he's lost some range, but I agree still a great frontman. The reason I had gone to the concert with such low expectations was that the previous times I had seen him on TV, Video Game Awards and VH1 Rock Honors, he sound AWFUL. I'm not sure if you've seen those performances, but they'll make you cringe. So perhaps the people that think Joe's voice is shot think so because they have not seen them live, but only have the most recent TV appearances on which to base their opinions.

I agree about the TV appearances. They don't show Joe's vocals in the best light. But having said that, alot of them are filmed earlier in the day. And Joe has said that his voice/energy levels are not as good then. He's a night-owl, after all these years ( they don't even go into the studio to start working until 2 pm in the afternoon, according to him!)

As for the VH1 honors thing- it was before the tour started, and he hadn't gotten his voice in "concert" form yet. But yes, were I not a dedicated fan- I wouldn't know these things. And probably assume the worst.

I still appreciate the fact that you "non-die-hards" are coming here with some good words for a change! Around here ( especially in the last year or so ) to be a DL fan on this forum you sort-of feel like this:




So thanks from all of "us" to those of you willing to give the guys a fair shake!

Peace, KC

[RockInDetroit]

Voyager, I am with you. But you gotta realize that this not not a true Def Leppard Fan board. This board is more of a Def leppard basher boad. I for one and with you. I think he sound just fine.

[joelkolsrud]

I was at the Moline show as well. For the record, bashing has never been my style. It serves no purpose, irregardless of the opinions involved.

However, I will say this.....and I've read a lot of reviews.....but he sounded horrible. He was unable to carry a tune and was pretty much saved by the soundboard.

Now, before anyone jumps my gun here.....I wasn't the only one at the show who noticed or thought that. I ran into several friends after the show.....who were sitting elsewhere in the building.....and the first thing they said was how he "lost his voice after the third song" or words to that effect.

I also overheard people talking about it when leaving the building.

Still, I had a great time seeing both Def Leppard and Journey. It was a fun show and despite the rumors of lipping, whether Joe Elliott was "on" or "off"or whatever.....it's irrelevant.

It was FUN.....and that's all that matters to me. And that's all that needs to matter to anyone. I'd still go see them again.

[Enigma869]

When I saw the Lep's in July, I posted that I was happy to report that Joe sounded better than I was expecting. Yes he's lost some range, but I agree still a great frontman. The reason I had gone to the concert with such low expectations was that the previous times I had seen him on TV, Video Game Awards and VH1 Rock Honors, he sound AWFUL. I'm not sure if you've seen those performances, but they'll make you cringe. So perhaps the people that think Joe's voice is shot think so because they have not seen them live, but only have the most recent TV appearances on which to base their opinions.

I thought Joe's first performance on the Rock Honors show was horrid. That said, as he warmed up, he certainly sounded nowhere near as rough. I never thought Elliot was a great singer (ala Perry), but certainly always thought he was a hell of a lot better than many gave him credit for being. I'll take Elliot over David Lee Roth, ANY DAY (and for the record, I'm speaking of both singers in their prime)!

John from Boston

[80srockerchik]

joe's voice is freakin awesome! saw them @ the nashville show last tour (no dates here this tour *tear* ) and it was flawless!! everything i excpected and more!

[MRMUSIC413]

He's always had a great voice on record, but could NEVER maintain it live - period.
Bad nights usually outnumbered the good ones pretty heavily since the late 80's.

(A friend of mine teched for the band on and off for about 8 years, and JE's vocals
were always an "issue".... and PC & VC would routinely save his ass live with big backing vocals...)

He'd always go out the first week of a tour and and after a few days he'd sound like he'd
been thorugh a war. He started with bad vocal habits when he was younger and never corrected them
to maintain his voice.

Listen to him on the VH1 "Storytellers" from a few years back... (people were freaking out over that...)

[Socratic Methodist]

Sorry....seen Def Lep 47 times since '84. His voice is shot. Get real peeps. This isn't 1989.

[Defshep]

Listen to him on the VH1 "Storytellers" from a few years back... (people were freaking out over that...)

Actually, Joe's Storytellers performance was better than I thought it would be. He struggles with range, but that comes with age. I think most fans accept that he just doesn't sound 100 percent during live shows anymore.

It's still amazing to listen to live performances from '83. He sang/screamed his ass off. That's probably why his voice has lost so much of it's power.

[Defshep]

It's interesting that that particular episode of Storytellers was never shown much, or ever released on DVD.

[NealIsGod]

His voice is a shadow of what it once was. But at least he is still out there.

[Red13JoePa]

Yep. Who cares?

[Ehwmatt]

It's not "shot" but he doesn't hide his decline as well as some other guys. I saw Leppard in Akron on July 13th and I had a blast - but it's totally obvious Joe's voice is getting to be on its last legs before he's hit 50. Leppard hasn't played any of their songs in the studio keys for a while, but Joe still struggles - if you have to downtune, fine... but at least be able to do the songs justice in the lower key. Don Henley is a great example of this - check out his Inside Job DVD. It's also obvious that they turn Joe down during any tough parts and add a bunch of echo/delay and all that to his vocals during tough parts. All that aside, they still sound great - outstanding harmonies help cover Joe's weaknesses and the music itself is played so well, largely due to VC and PC's great guitar chops. Joe's voice doesn't take away from my concert experience at all, it just concerns me that he may not have too many years left on it, and he's still relatively younger than a lot of his peers from the 80s, including Tommy Shaw who's out there with Styx right now sounding as good as ever and hitting every high note. I just hope to see them in the years to come - right now that's a question mark in my eyes, with how Joe's sounding now.

[7 Wishes]

Don Henley is NOT an example of this. Dead wrong. He nails EVERYTHING in concert, and he is flawless. Give it a rest already.

[Little Lenny]

At the end of the day, I suppose how you sing . You know, your technique, some people sing from the throat and some from the stomach, the one's who sing from the throat seem to lose the ability to sing quicker than those that sing from the stomach. I suppose Joe is one of the latter, I ahve never been lucky enough to see Def leppard Live, but my partner Shaggy and my sis Andie have loads of times and they think he is great My other sis can remember them when they were just getting a name in the UK, and she's been a fan ever since.

From what I'm reading I can tell people are still blown away by Joe's performance, and that can only be a good thing

[Ehwmatt]

Don Henley is NOT an example of this. Dead wrong. He nails EVERYTHING in concert, and he is flawless. Give it a rest already.

Read my post again... I said if you have to downtune/move stuff down a bit to do the original melody justice, then fine... but you better nail it. Henley does do this... he plays most, if not all of the old stuff on that DVD a half step down from their original keys and he indeed nails them. I don't feel like checking my Farewell Melbourne DVD to see if the Eagles play Don-sung stuff the same way, but I know for Inside Job all of it is that way. Hell, I can't blame the guy for not being able to sing songs like Boys of Summer and Heart of the Matter in the same key anymore...

Joe still struggles even when most of the songs are being played down half a step. Ultimate point is, I don't mind if they have to move it down... it's just sad when you are waiting for the familiar melodies and "wow" high notes to come and the singer takes "liberties" with the melody to avoid going there. Someone like Henley has the right idea, moving it down half a step to maintain the integrity of the song. Changing a melody live for freshness's sake can be great, ala Bill Champlin, but not when it sounds like crap and is primarily geared towards hiding the singer's inability to hit the notes (just listen to any Goo Goo Dolls live recording... Rzenik doesn't even try and touch the high notes from the studio songs, and most of the parts aren't even that high).

[Pelata]

Joe is definitely "feeling his age" vocally. His high range, the range that stacked all those massive harmonies, the range that gave us that killer scream at the end of "Photograph", is pretty much gone.

However, when he sings in lower keys/octaves he sounds great! Someone referenced the VH1 Rock Honors...while he struggled hard on "Rock Of Ages", he sounded great on "20th Century Boy"...different key, different approach. He has sounded great on 'Yeah!', 'X' & 'Euphoria' because, aside from 'Promises', he stayed in his lower, more comfortable range...these days, at his age and after 25+ years of live shows, this is where he sounds at his best...

[MichaelB1975]

Joe has been one of the premier vocalists in rock for a long time. Whatever he has left at his age is still much better than most.

[80'smetalnut]

I was listening to a bootleg from the Slang tour and he was sounding pretty rough but who knows it could have been late in the tour or just a bad night. I have not heard anything of him recently though. I may check out the new tour because I like all 3 bands. The last concert I went to was the VH tour and Roth's voice was anything but shot. They sounded better than when I saw them in '84

[Barbara]

These negative remarks are not fair, imo. I can go out for one night, drink some whiskey, go to a concert and come home without a voice...for several days...or weeks... And that's just what?... 30 years of concerts, NOT every night, smoking, drinking,... for real!! He could sound a LOT worse!! He sounds good, as is. Just MHO. Take it or leave it.

[Defshep]

The main problem is that Joe is a smoker. He has had vocal problems since the Hysteria tour, and they have gotten worse. I love Def leppard, they are my favorite band. However, I am not a blind follower that can't see their flaws. I wish Joe would quit his habit. I get tired of listening to bootlegs or seeing them live in mixed company, and hearing from friends that Elliots vocals suck. He never has been a "singers singer". He does have more control of his voice than ever before. There's just not much there to work with anymore.

[cudaclan]

Sav comments...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=FyU4wDlx8 ... re=related

[texafana]

"I was actually expecting Joe's vocals to be shot, but I was pleasantly surprised that they weren't. In addition, the backup vocals were very full and tight, and the harmonies were right in key."

Cmon peeps...they've been using taped, digital, whatever, backup vox for ages. Joe's voice live, especially in a big concert setting is always full of fx to help thicken it. Live on TV, it's VERY hard to mix all that pre-recorded, enhanced fx stuff into the mix, so you hear his dry voice better. Unless they just go all out and lip sync to a recorded track ala Dancing with the Stars bs.

Joe has never been a singer's singer, his voice with DL is more like a guitar. It's an attitude more than anything. And with that, he can still bring it enough to make it a good show.

[Kenny]

Saw 'em last night. Joe can still sing, but he has NO power left in that voice. None. 'Photograph' was a fucking shambles and to be fair to Joe they should drop it from the set list.

There are lots of tricks going on with echo and sustain and to be honest a lot of the high/sustained notes were started by Joe but extended (and finished) by technology.....its a little sad and one wonders how long he can continue to pull it off.

The band were great though, and most of the songs were ok vocally - obviously the new stuff - 3 in all - 'Nine Lives', 'C'mon, C'mon' and 'Bad Actress' he could do, but really he has no volume any more.

[JRNYLIVE]

It doesn't help that they have toured for the last 4 Years, and will tour next summer again.

But at this point they are still putting on Great show and releasing good albums.


so who really cares, they deliver every show....

[Kenny]

It doesn't help that they have toured for the last 4 Years, and will tour next summer again.

But at this point they are still putting on Great show and releasing good albums.


so who really cares, they deliver every show....

Yep, no argument there....some of their songs are the soundtrack to my life!