Killswitch Engage: Leach or Jones?

[Silly Willy Nilly Vanilly in the Milly]

The title naturally asks the question itself...
Who did better as the lead singer of Killswitch Engage, Jesse Leach or Howard Jones, and why?
I will post my own answer later, but for now, I want to hear the OP's thoughts.

 

[Alex]

The title naturally asks the question itself...
Who did better as the lead singer of Killswitch Engage, Jesse Leach or Howard Jones, and why?
I will post my own answer later, but for now, I want to hear the OP's thoughts.

You are the OP derp.

Honestly I'm going with Howard Jones, mainly because all the Killswitch songs I like he's singing them. I tried listening to Jesse Leach's songs that he did on the first two Killswitch albums and I just wasn't a fan. Screamo vocals don't really do it for me when they are the majority of the singing style on a song, I don't mind a bit, but if the majority of the song is nothing but screamo it turns me off.

Howard Jones could actually sing (he did a really good version of Holy Diver which shows how well he can actually sing) and I never got that from Leach.

However I have heard Leach has improved as a vocalist, as his work withTimes Of Grace is apparently very good. I also listened to him singing My Curse and a few other Jones era songs, while he's not as good as Jones on those songs, he did a good job.

So I'm going with Jones and its not even close

 

[Danger Burger]

Leach all the way!

Havent enjoyed the band since he left. Just not a jones fan at all. Pretty happy when i found out Leach was back.

Leach was never the most professional vocalist in asense (part of why he blew his voice out origionally) but the guy has raw talent and a fuckload of emotion in his vocals, first son i heard by them was 'last seranade' and both his heavy and clean vocals still blow me away on that track. Alive or just breathing is an album showcasing a good band at their best, and i havent found the others to be to the same great standard with Jones.

Jones is good, he can hit the notes and yell to his hearts content, i'm just not a fan of his voice, its too smooth (normally something id like). Its probly just that i got into Killswitch at the age when everything was great, and when jones left i was growing out of that kind of music... Still excited to hear what leach can bring to the band though, and i'm a sucker for original line ups!

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Leach far and away. He was the heart and soul of that group.

Jones I've always felt was one of the most overrated "voices" in metal. Nothing he ever did impressed me very much, aside from maybe a cover or two here or there. I wasn't a fan of Blood Has Been Shed, and I was an anti-fan of KSE when Jones was picked up. I gave up on them after Alive or Just Breathing, which IMO was the best record the band ever produced.

For Leach fans, though, be sure to also check out Times of Grace. The Hymn of a Broken Man is one of the best collections of songs he's ever recorded.

 

[Silly Willy Nilly Vanilly in the Milly]

You are the OP derp.

My apologies; I figured is this context, one could conclude OP here meant "Other Posters," not "Original Posters."
Anyway, I do agree with you in that I can't really tolerate screamo for most/all of a song.
On the other hand, I agree with Mack and that original lineups are typically the best.
In the end, though, I have to pick Jones, as he was the reason I fell in love with KsE in the beginning.
Nothing against Leach; I love him. And for those who aren't aware, he and Adam have a cover band, Times of Grace. I recommend KsE fans check it out; the music is great.
Dang it, Damn Real, just noticed you said that already. Beaten to the trough.

 

[donnawhite]

Leach for no doubt.
The group is famous because of mostly his hard work and popularity graph is raising day by day due to him. It is my opinion. Anyway i am streaming Glee at this time

 

[Lancer]

It's really hard to choose between the two, as I think each have done a masterful job fronting the band. But I have to give the slightest edge to Howard Jones. His songs seem more imbued with passion and feeling. It seems that in his screaming, he is channeling every ounce of raw emotion into it. The same thing can be said about his melodic singing. I find myself listening more to the Jones albums (This Fire Burns is my all time favorite track) than the Leach ones.

Their last album was a little too emotional for my taste, but a good album nonetheless. I'm sad to see Jones go, but at the same time it's good to see Jesse return and the band can essentially get back to their roots, similar to when Marcos returned to P.O.D. although I was still a big fan of Jason Truby.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

The difference between Leach and Jones is striking, but more importantly, the difference between Leach-era KSE and Jones-era KSE is even more striking because the loss of Leach turned what was a very promising melodic metal band into a Howard Jones-inspired melodic metalcore band (which also explains their meteoric rise, post-Leach).

For me, the musical quality with Leach were much deeper and less gimmicky (something I feel 98% of metalcore hinges on).

 

[Alex]

The difference between Leach and Jones is striking, but more importantly, the difference between Leach-era KSE and Jones-era KSE is even more striking because the loss of Leach turned what was a very promising melodic metal band into a Howard Jones-inspired melodic metalcore band (which also explains their meteoric rise, post-Leach).

For me, the musical quality with Leach were much deeper and less gimmicky (something I feel 98% of metalcore hinges on).

I'm going to have to listen to that Alive Or Just Breathing album to see what you're getting at. The thing about Leach to me is that his vocals seemed shit and thats where Jones differed. He could do the screamo thing but he could also sing really well which is what I thinked hooked me in, heck This Fire Burns was the first Killswitch song I heard and I loved how he went from screamo to melodic.

 

[Alex]

So I yeah I got Alive Or Just Breathing and its really really good. I wouldn't say IDR's completely right on his comparison's on Leach and Jones but I'll chime in again.

I'll draw comparison's to Pantera for this.

I'll say Jesse Leach is a lot like Phil Anselmo Vulgar Display Of Power and after. Puts a lot more emotion into the performance and you feel more of a emotional connection. Jones is more Cowboys From Hell era Anselmo. Technically a superior vocalist, but you don't feel as much of an emotional connection.

That being said I dig both of them and am looking forward to the new album.

 

[Nickelback_rules]

Jones, because he has that Nickelback, Shinedown type thing going on. I really dig it, Jones is talented as. Leach is good though.

 

[6timehitta]

Am I going to be the only one missing Howard Jones? Jones carried KSE during a big period for them. I for one do think Leach is a fantasic vocalist, and the main reason KSE is where they are at now, but to me Jones is a "one of a kind" metal singer and I will be following his next career move to see where he ends up.

 

[Straight-Edge]

I only got into Killswitch a few years ago on a friends recommendation, and I prefer Jones. He had the balance of screamo & actual singing, which is great for me because I can't handle 3-4 minutes of it. End of Heartache is, IMO, the best album Killswitch have ever produced.

Leach just isn't my cup of tea. Alive or Just Breathing was decent, but other than My Last Serenade and The Element of One, I just couldn't understand him most of the time.

 

[braveh]

I like This fire burns and My curse. Just like In flames they have a couple of good songs. I like Take this life and Leeches. Very similar to me.

 

[This Is My Name Thank You]

I enjoyed Jones on one album. I liked Leech on one album. Funny right? I am just waiting to see where the new album goes with Leech back as the front man for the band. They seemed to have better chemistry than with Jones as vocals. Jones made the band melodic metalcore and it was enjoyable. Only thing with me is that Jones' voice just became annoying after a while.

Leech's voice is a lot better than the first album he did with them. His work with Seemless, Empire Shall Fall and times of Grace, shows his vocal range. Granted he did have throat surgery from improper screaming, he still has good vocals.

I liked Leech's worked and I liked Jones' work. I just give the edge to Leech. He has grown as a vocalist and the chemistry with the band is still going to be there. Hopefully this album is as good as the first.

 

[tomthebodz]

Jesse Leach. Alive or Just Breathing is a fantastic album and easily their best in my opinion.
I think that he's got better screamed vocals than Howard did.

End of Heartache is also a great album, but the rest of the stuff with Howard got progressively worse and to me it seemed that they were putting an album out for the sake of it.