I totally concur with you about the importance of a legend having a distinctive voice and being able to deliver heartfelt ballads as well as belt out rockers. IMHO, Hilli is quite capable of the latter, but I'd agree that his voice isn't particularly distinctive.

Regarding Lablanc and Ward, all I can say is (and I don't say this to anyone very often)....you're wrong. Dead wrong. Both have very distinctive, instantly recognizable voices and are not likely to be mistaken for anyone else. I've tried on both counts to think of singers to compare their voices to, and come up short (I get a small tad of Robin Zander once in a while from Lablanc). And for me, one of the biggest appeals of each one is his ability to deliver on both ballads and rockers. In fact, I hadn't even realized that Ward had the ability to inject a little rasp into his voice until the last Khymera album.

Dennis Ward is a very talented musician, but he's an even more talented vocalist. I'm not even aware of all of the albums he's played on, but I can say with total confidence that he's likely a better singer than anyone he's worked with. (And yes, I am aware of the fact that he may have worked with Steve Walsh before Walsh left Khymera. And I'm aware of his work with Joe Lynn Turner, Michael Kiske, and David Readman.) All of this IMHO, of course.

I have to say though, that I cannot fathom how anyone can hear Ward's vocals on the Khymera albums and not elevate him to essentially the same status as the legends. Think of everything a legendary MHR vocalist needs to possess, and Ward has it all...in spades.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2021 07:41AM by Don.