Hey Don....I do have to agree with you on his vocals but in a wierd way (which is the appropriate word when speaking of King Diamond) his vocals just work for me on his KD Cds. The main reason I believe he's highly accepted in the metal community is his bandmates. Andy LaRoque can shred on his guitar! Pete Blakk, Mickey Dee all great musicians. The style on his CDs from Fatal Portrait -The Eye ERA are all pretty solid. Tight dare I say 'Melodic' hard rock. He surrounds himself with great musicians and then comes up with his strange persona and just melds them together. Yes obviously he's not everyone's cup of tea.(pun intended for KD fans) but if you can look past his vocals they do grow on you. No not like a wart but it just works. His last few CDs have actually been greatly disappointing. He needs to get it together of I think even his die-hard fans with find something else. I really miss Mickey Dee in the band. Anyway just my 2 cents. ~~ Now Don, should we talk about Tommy Shaw's 'Ambition' CD again?...Nah......haha