I’m sorry, but I’m not into the “Emperor’s new clothes” syndrome.  lol  I’m not going to betray my own sense of hearing to defer to someone who has “credentials”.  As for “credentials”, I have formal training as a pianist and academic training in music, so I’m not impressed by “credentials”, especially from a rabid fan.  Historically, I’ve witnessed the senses of rabid fans distorted by their enthusiasm for the object of their fandom, so much so that they are unable to be objective regardless of their level of expertise or “credentials”.  Frankly, I don’t expect nor should anyone betray their own sense of hearing just because anyone who has alleged “credentials” has a different opinion.  Music is for personal enjoyment, so regardless of what anyone says or thinks, if someone enjoys an artist’s music/performances, then that’s cool.  IMO, the mistake that stans make is that they feel that everyone needs to love their particular artist, and if not, give a litany of specific reasons why they don’t.  Music enjoyment for me doesn’t work that way, nor do I think that anyone needs to justify their likes and dislikes.  It’s really not a big deal at all and I wish that stans would just chill (but that’s not what stans do!  ;)  )

“I find it ironic how no one here questions Brian May’s judgment on Adam
Lambert but many aren’t willing to take Rob Halford’s opinion of James
seriously. Yeah there’s some objectivity right there, LOL!”

It depends on the context regarding these endorsements.  It’s perfectly reasonable, fine and cool for anyone to not like either Adam or James (or anyone else for that matter) regardless of what any celebrity/professional/person with “credentials” says.  I’m a casual Adam fan, and there’s some of his music that I don’t like and I don’t have to justify why I don’t like it.  Music tastes are personal and individual.  All I can say is that Brian May’s opinion Adam hasn’t changed since the AI finale regarding his ability to sing music by Queen, which was why he invited Adam to sing with them at the EMAs, a tremendous honor. At this point, I don’t know if Brian likes Adam’s recorded music, but that’s not important in the context of Brian May’s endorsement.  From what I’ve read about Rob Halford, he was very supportive of James on Idol and appreciated James’ attempts to expose heavy metal music to the large Idol audience.  A big part of his appreciation was Judas Priest being invited to perform on Idol.  Halford’s more recent comments are still supportive, but I haven’t read anything about his opinion of James current recorded music (will he receive a copy before it’s released?), but he referred to the “buzz” on it and seemed to be looking forward to it.  Some of his recent comments (in context) suggested to me that he had an expectation that James’ CD would be a heavy metal album, but that’s just my take.  I would be interested in what Rob Halford has to say specifically about James’ CD and the singles that he has released.

ETA: If anyone changes their opinion of an artist based on a celebrity endorsement, then that’s their prerogative. I don’t understand it, but that’s just me. I’m not going to start liking a singer just because they received endorsements from professionals/celebrities. In the end, opinions about any of the arts can be variable and that includes celebrity endorsements.

“I don’t care for Paul MacDonald’s tone, I hate the sound of his voice
but you don’t see me claiming that he can’t sing or that he’s “pitchy”.”

So?  That’s your opinion based on your own, individual musical sensibilities and criteria for liking/disliking music.  Other people are entitled to have a different opinion.  NBD. For me, Paul’s voice was so croaky and whispery most of the time that it was hard to tell anything about his singing beyond that. lol

“And
again the metalheads on Blabbermouth don’t like the music James has
released so far but you don’t see them making statements that he “can’t
sing on pitch”, they all agree that he has incredible chops and that
he’s good enough to front Velvet Revolver.”

So?  Again, they are entitled to their opinions.  For me, James is frequently pitchy and vocally inconsistent, and that prevents me from enjoying his performances.  So far, I like 1 of the 3 songs that he has released (no pitch issues on recorded songs, obviously), but not enough to buy it.  As for the rest of the album, I hope that they have a listening party so I can see if there are any songs that I like.

“So this belief that “I don’t like this person’s voice, therefore I say they can’t sing” sounds like utter BS to me.”

If you are referring to my opinion, then you are misunderstanding me.  I have never held that opinion of James, but others are entitled to have that opinion even if I disagree.

Its a good “rock” song for an Idol. I actually enjoyed this a bit. HTH should’ve been his first single. But this is no “metal”, don’t kid yourself.

This song reminds me of Audioslave a bit. Which is a great compliment since I love Audioslave!!! But it’s no Iron Maden standards!

Regardless of what I think… I hope he can do better live with this tune.

PS: I don’t think James will be releasing a metal album like he said he would. So far I heard pop, pop-rock and this rock tune. No metal at all. Is he a sold out artist? Can we agree now that James should start being more carefull with his prejudgments/preconcepts from now on?

;)

Just wanted to second what you said… my brother has heard “Stand Up” on Octane a few times.

What a pity I’m trying by all means see the behind scenes video of James, but get a message saying: sorry this video is not visible in your country. I do not understand why there should be a way for everyone to see, James has fans in many countries hope someone intelligent video upload on you tube for all to enjoy with.

Good Song. love the beat, want to hear the rest of this album.

That being said, guitar solo is AWESOME!