The storyline is based on a real life scare that Earl experienced while on tour. Layne and Eli went through Queen's catalog to find the right songs for the story line. Here's a brief explanation: Earl is playing himself and is on the edge of death. The guy with him that puts the gold coin is Earl's real life husband. Layne - Guardian is either from Nordic or Greek Mythology. Or a combination of both. Either way his job is basically to prevent Earl from going back. J None - Anubis, Egyptian Mythology who weighs your heart to determine if you're going to the afterlife or have your soul devoured. Eli - Yama Nirvana from Hindu Mythology, he guides the soul to their afterlife. Sorry I don't know a whole lot about him from Mythology. Geoff - Baron from Haitian Voodoo Mythology who decides if you are even allowed to die, becauseif he refuses to dig your grave you can't die. He's also known as a healer and can heal any human illness. Yes, your right their is contention between Geoff/Baron and the rest because when J None/Anubis weights Earl's heart the scales are even which indicates the person (Earl) still has a choice and has to choose if he wants to continue living or is willing to die. The other three just want to do their jobs and escort Earl to the underworld. Geoff/Baron wants to actually give him a chance, going so far as to protect him from Layne's/Guardian's Sword (During Under Pressure) and preventing Eli/Yama from being able to use his mase. In the end Earl decides to fight back and choose life banishing the first thee quickly and giving Geoff/Baron a slight node of understanding with a see ya later look. In the final scenes he wakes to the delight of his husband and the gold coin is gone. Payment to Geoff/Baron because he never does anything for free. Thanks for your reaction (sorry for the long comments) Now you need to watch Voiceplay's Trapped by Billie Eilish in 3 Minutes and Panic at the Disc in 4 Minutes (parts 1&2). This is the unofficial conclusion of the full story.

@MelodieRose727

10 күн бұрын

Amazing! Thank you! ❤

@janetdw

10 күн бұрын

Excellent summation!!

@elvwood

9 күн бұрын

Brilliantly summarised, thank you - and I concur with reacting to the Eilish/Panic! run.

@aura81295

9 күн бұрын

Love mythology. What an excellent way to combine them into a modern day story. Thank you for spelling it all out.

@Klownmusicreacts

7 күн бұрын

Thank you so much for this❤️ i appreciate this so much, love the stories behind everything😁

I love hearing from someone who realises just how talented Layne is. Thank you! He often gets missed.

FYI to a livestream comment, Earl's last video with VP was Just Sing, not this.

The magic of VoicePlay....tackling Queen and adding an interpretive storyline on top of stunning vocals.

When they were touring before covid, Earl had a burst appendix and it was a close call. VoicePlay created an incredible world using Queen songs, the lords of the underworld and Earl's own brush with death. I understand that Trapped (Billie Eilish) and Panic Part 1 and 2 are the lead in to Queen here. Earl was one of the originals when he, Layne and Geoff were back in school during the mid-90s. They formed a group called 4:2:Five when they went from 4 people to 5 and eventually named it VoicePlay. Earl left for personal reasons after 20 some odd years of doing this. The fellow at the beginning and end is his spouse. I love the creativity they used to do this mini-movie. J None left the group less than a year later after the US Navy recruited him for his vocal talent. He has been there now for 3 of the 5 yrs. He comes back when he can. The first video was just after bootcamp and is Friends on the Other Side - you will enjoy it. Cesar was brought on with both baritone and tenor credentials, plus he provides a lot of sass. See his audition with VoicePlay doing We're Good (Dua LIpa).

Earl has a very special voice indeed. Still miss him in Voiceplay, but at the same time LOVE Cesar's sassy energy, which has enabled Voiceplay to achieve even greater heights.

I don't know if anyone else mentioned this, but Geoff can also beatbox a little bit, so it's possible he did a few filler notes for Layne. Supposedly, he taught Layne when the original beatboxer (Scott Porter in the Halo cover) went to pursue acting; Layne took off from there. But you can hear Geoff beat boxing solo when Layne sings in Ding Dong (a Halloween jam for me) and another older song, I think it was Voiceplay's cover of Death of a Bachelor. A very talented group of gentlemen. Can't wait for more breakdowns from you. 😊

@thisismetoday7423

10 күн бұрын

Where did you get info that Geoff is beatboxing in Hide and Seek? Layne is almost always double tracked when he takes solo and Geoff is also singing during Laynes solos 🤔

@TheImerei

10 күн бұрын

@thisismetoday7423 It's the beginning when the Hat Box Ghost (Layne) is singing. The beatbox is fairly basic by Voiceplay's incredible standards, but it immediately stops when Geoff starts singing. I don't think people notice because the section is so "minor" compared to the rest of the song.

@thisismetoday7423

10 күн бұрын

@@TheImerei Do you know this for a fact or are you assuming? Why would they have Geoff beatbox for a few seconds? It doesn’t make sense when Layne is double tracked all the time. And Layne also does simple beatboxing all the time when it’s called for.

@shirleykarr560

9 күн бұрын

The guys were performing professionally while they were still in high school. I think Geoff taught beatboxing basics to Layne long before Scott Porter left the group, like in high school or college. There's a clip of Geoff in a red t-shirt doing a beatboxing solo on what looks like the steps of a school. Too grainy to tell if it's high school or college but he's baby- faced. 😊 All the guys now in VP can sing tenor, baritone, bass, and beatbox ... to varying degrees. There are old clips of them as Disney performers (train conductors) where Layne sings bass and beatboxes. In Death of a Bachelor, Geoff does bass and beatboxing and I think some of the bari/tenor fills. In VP's Greatest Showman medley, at one point ALL of them are doing vocal percussion, even Rachel.

@thisismetoday7423

9 күн бұрын

@@shirleykarr560 They are not doing vocal percussion in The Greatest Showman. If you pay close attention they are all just making different noises that anyone can make. That is not vocal percussion or beat boxing.

Anubis is the Egyptian God of Judgment - when you die, he weighs your heart against a feather. A light heart that balances with the feather indicates that you have lived a good life, free of the weight of sin. A heart that is heavier than the feather indicates that you have much to atone for. Your afterlife depends on the outcome.

This wasn't Earl's farewell song. He didn't leave until 2020 for undisclosed personal reasons. This was, I think, the year before that when he had a health scare. VoicePlay is strong with the story telling aspect in their videos. I'm really enjoying watching you enjoy them! ❤

Earl had a scare due to appendicitis. The set up for this video was inspired by that.

I see this as Earl at death's door and the various gods of the underworld waiting to take him in. J None takes his heart to measure it against a feather (comes out even meaning this life wasn't bad). It's Geoff who make the final decision and the others challenge him over that, especially Eli. I think noticing the coin around his neck reminded Earl of his husband which gave him the incisive to rebel and fight back from death. He opens his eyes to find himself back in the hospital bed and Nick happy and relieved he will live. Thing is until the comments here I never noticed that the coin was gone from around his neck. Yep, that was payment for letting him come back to the living. Side note: Nick also make a brief appearance in Boy Bands in 5 Minutes ("You should see the size of his wallet.") along with Kathy Castellucci and Eli and Layne's wives.

Not Vikings. Gods of the underworld, (shown at the start) fighting over Earl's soul. Baron however has the abiity to take or give life back, which is why he is on the other side. In the end Earl recovers, fights back, and the gods are beaten. Yes that's Layne doing the vocal percussion. Earl had a health scare when they were tour, appendicitis, so they made this video telling a story , using snippets of Queen songs to illustrate it. There is often so much going on that you need to really pay attention or watch many times. I cant agree that Earl is choosing, he clearly wants to live, t hat's is his real life partner at the end, and whose pendant Earl was showing us during the video. It 't ws the various gods hoping to get his soul but he fights back. In the pushing down bit Baron (Geoff) is defending him - his staff is below the other weapons, shielding him. They were not saying goodbye, this was five years ago, before Earl decided to leave. They were still touring at this time. Don't believe all the comments you see. Not everyone knows the real story.

So much to choose from Queen for life in general...

Voiceplay's vocal track is always pre-recorded these days, so you are probably hearing multiple layers from Layne and probably at least one extra layer from the others to get the fuller sound. They rarely perform live these days. Layne, Geoff, and Eli are all married with children - life on the road has lost it's appeal. They have done live performances since the pandemic. After they did their version of We Don't Talk About Bruno, Disney invited them to sing it at a large corporate event. Performing live and giving the audience the same experience took a boat load of work. They also performed in concert with Chicago last November.

I would love to see you react to their version of Dream On because Layne does a sound effect that makes him sound like Predator and I want to know how he did it.

Great reaction! Yes this one is deep and so much going on- you will want to watch this one again a few times. The storyline is based on an actual real life medical incident that happened to Earl. Yes he is in the hospital stuck between life and death surrounded by afterworld figures that all want to take him and are fighting over him. If you go back and pause at the very beginning, you will see which character each Voice Play member is representing here. Watch for some better explanations in the comments from other Voice Players that can detail the story and backgrounds of these afterlife figures better than I can. Shortly after Earl's medical crisis and this video, Earl left Voice Play for personal reasons. The man you see in the beginning and end at Earl's bedside is his real life husband.

I love the transitions between the PF, K, and spit snares at the different songs to change the feeling

@scottrogers7242

8 күн бұрын

Absolute band geek.

@lukedagnall5191

8 күн бұрын

@@scottrogers7242 not a clue what you mean here pal

Hello! Good-bye! I enjoy your enthusiasm for my favorite a capella groups!!

Great reaction! You're so excellent at making me appreciate the beat boxing more. Thanks!

You should react to the dragon born comes 😊 they are all so good

Nice reaction 😁👏🏻 I have to watch their videos at least 5 times in a row the first time to catch 50% of it and to concentrate on each member at the time 😂 Otherwise my brain feels like going into overload 🤪🙈 Love the interaction between Eli and Geoff in this one, makes me smile everytime 😂 When Geoff goes down after the gorgeous higher "run" in the beginning, Eli and J.None are singing "and he could go on and on and on..." and making the hand gestures, that get's me every single time, first time I was literally on the floor 😂😂😂

Yes, the second time you started to understand the story they were telling. And yes, we will always have a "Wikipedia" in the comments 😅 I love it because I also discover things I hadn't noticed yet.

Ghostriders is yet to come…can‘t wait !

Oh, and as for why Earl was in the hospital bed...there's a theory I'll tell you about, once you watch their "Trapped: Billie Eilish in 3 Minutes" and "Panic At The Disco parts 1 & 2." 💙

Nice reaction! But be wary when you close your eyes with a Voiceplay video. If you do, rewind. You missed the explanation of characters, which makes the video make more sense. So I suggest watching it through, and then doing the breakdown. Just a suggestion though, it's your reaction and your channel. Edit: Oh good, you noticed the second time around! I didn't say this to be a B-word, I just don't want you to miss any of the greatness. Also, Earl's last video was "Just Sing," not this. 💙

@shelleeroe

10 күн бұрын

Ah oops that was my bad. I told him that.

@DravenGal

10 күн бұрын

@@shelleeroe Oh! I didn't notice the name. I only remember it's that one because it said how long Earl was with the group, right before he left it. Almost ironic. I didn't know about his health issue, I remember bring worried because we got no explanation and it was amidst the whole Covid thing. I hope it wasn't serious.💙

@shelleeroe

8 күн бұрын

@@DravenGal No worries. I learned something new so thank you for setting the record straight.

First... great choice 🎼

Earl was in the hospital.....video shows his battle, hovering between life and death. Geoff is the gatekeeper to the land of the 'dead'....allowing entry, or not. Layne, J. None, and Eli represent different 'Gods' of the Underworld, who are only too happy to usher Earl to the land of the dead....set to the Queen music, that best describes the storyline....Layne IS great,isn't he?.....>^^

Try boy bands in 5 minutes❤❤❤❤❤ -Voiceplay ❤❤❤

Hello, Bye-bye. lol

Oof, yeah, never shut your eyes for long when you're watching one of their videos. You missed some really critical details. The story here is left somewhat up to interpretation and there's no clear consensus as to who's on which side. Baron (Geoff) being tagged "Dark Angel" and his 'paid my dues/no crime/bad mistakes' bit, as well as Eli throwing 'how long can you stand the heat?' at him leads me to view him as a somewhat Luciferian figure. But I can't quite decide whether I think he's trying to protect Earl from the others, or to lure him away for nefarious reasons when it's the other three who have benign intentions. At the end it doesn't matter of course, because Earl tells them _all_ to get stuffed and goes back to his life.

Sadly, Earl is no longer with them...