MR

Neal Schon is Ready-to-Go

Russell Hall 02.03.2013


Neal Schon’s last solo album, The Calling, was released last fall to rave reviews. The veteran Journey guitarist now says he’s got another album ready for release – and this one has vocals. “I’m getting the artwork together so that it will be ready for whenever I decide to put it out,” he tells M Music & Musicians, in a just-published interview. “Journey drummer Deen Castronovo is on drums, and [Thin Lizzy member] Marco Mendoza is on bass. It’s more of a power trio album, but musically it’s still all over the map, kind of like The Calling is. The material definitely is not all in one niche. Each of us – Marco, Deen and I – sings lead vocals. There are also two instrumentals. One is a dedication to Carlos Santana. I did a tribute to Santana on The Calling as well, but this one is more upbeat, and pretty jamming.”

Schon is currently on tour with Journey, but he said it’s unlikely a new Journey will be coming soon. “I think it’s likely the next thing the band will do is work on a song or two for movies, rather than working on a full album,” he revealed. “It just seems hard for anyone to get a new full album out there, in the face of downloading and everything else. Doing a little at time seems the better route for us to go right now.”
http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/N ... -2013.aspx

This is the shortest period of rest between tours that has occurred during Arnel's tenor. It seems they will continue to accelerate the touring since they aren't concerned about studio time. With Eclipse and Neal's other two projects, Schon has to be near fulfilling his creative output for the foreseeable future.
You reap what you sow and if Pineda starts flaming out I don't see how anyone would feel sorry for these guys. They've been down this road before with the constant touring, they know the ramifications. It's strictly a cash grab now.

The download argument is stale. Adele just sold her 10 millionth copy of 21. Even old man Lionel Richie is nearing double platinum on his last release.

With other media, Iron Maiden has received their 3rd different Platinum DVD award within the last five years. Fans will buy the product if they like it. Apparently, not enough people liked Eclipse.

Jon needs to take the keys away from Neal if he keeps driving the bus...
Put him back on his Harley..
Wonder what kind of trax AP's going to have on his solo CD that he's
been working on..

tater1977 wrote:Jon needs to take the keys away from Neal if he keeps driving the bus...
Put him back on his Harley..
Wonder what kind of trax AP's going to have on his solo CD that he's
been working on..

Nothing that you'd be interested in, believe me.

Don wrote:

tater1977 wrote:Jon needs to take the keys away from Neal if he keeps driving the bus...
Put him back on his Harley..
Wonder what kind of trax AP's going to have on his solo CD that he's
been working on..

Nothing that you'd be interested in, believe me.

LOL probably not...but curious ya know...

tater1977 wrote:

Don wrote:

tater1977 wrote:Jon needs to take the keys away from Neal if he keeps driving the bus...
Put him back on his Harley..
Wonder what kind of trax AP's going to have on his solo CD that he's
been working on..

Nothing that you'd be interested in, believe me.

LOL probably not...but curious ya know...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH658Oz6-zg

Don wrote:

tater1977 wrote:

Don wrote:

tater1977 wrote:Jon needs to take the keys away from Neal if he keeps driving the bus...
Put him back on his Harley..
Wonder what kind of trax AP's going to have on his solo CD that he's
been working on..

Nothing that you'd be interested in, believe me.

LOL probably not...but curious ya know...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH658Oz6-zg

Not a bad lil tune...his voice seems more suited to that type of music..
Hopefully he will have a voice left after they get done with him..

tater1977 wrote:

Don wrote:

tater1977 wrote:

Don wrote:

tater1977 wrote:Jon needs to take the keys away from Neal if he keeps driving the bus...
Put him back on his Harley..
Wonder what kind of trax AP's going to have on his solo CD that he's
been working on..

Nothing that you'd be interested in, believe me.

LOL probably not...but curious ya know...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH658Oz6-zg

Not a bad lil tune...his voice seems more suited to that type of music..
Hopefully he will have a voice left after they get done with him..

You'll have to import that (or peruse the closest Asian fishmart) because it sure ain't gonna be officially released here.

Don wrote:

tater1977 wrote:

Don wrote:

tater1977 wrote:

Don wrote:

tater1977 wrote:Jon needs to take the keys away from Neal if he keeps driving the bus...
Put him back on his Harley..
Wonder what kind of trax AP's going to have on his solo CD that he's
been working on..

Nothing that you'd be interested in, believe me.

LOL probably not...but curious ya know...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH658Oz6-zg

Not a bad lil tune...his voice seems more suited to that type of music..
Hopefully he will have a voice left after they get done with him..

You'll have to import that (or peruse the closest Asian fishmart) because it sure ain't gonna be officially released here.

Don wrote:

tater1977 wrote:

Don wrote:

tater1977 wrote:Jon needs to take the keys away from Neal if he keeps driving the bus...
Put him back on his Harley..
Wonder what kind of trax AP's going to have on his solo CD that he's
been working on..

Nothing that you'd be interested in, believe me.

LOL probably not...but curious ya know...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH658Oz6-zg

I really liked this one from several years back. It's got some decent guitar work in it and AP really sounds good. From his solo album when he had blond hair.
It's Over http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baV8J8JrYxU

All I can say is I will not buy another Journey album, until it actually sounds like classic Journey. The Eclipse album was not a Journey sounding album and to me all it sounded like was a solo Neal Schon album.

Like many people have said on here b4, if they go back to what they are good at, and get back to the Journey sound, I will consider buying. If they put out another Eclipse again, no thanks.

Perhaps if the current version of the band released some actual good music instead of the filler they've released on their last 2 albums they would sell more. I mean Revelation sold on the back of a great package that included their GH's re-recorded and a live concert. I highly doubt they even come close to touching the numbers that album sold if it didn't have the GH's re-recorded.

Neal's right that releasing singles is the way to go in today's market. But you've GOT to support new material. And when you release a single you better play it. Otherwise it will disappear... Trickle 10-12 tracks over the next year to year and a half. Put PLAY them. Do videos for YouTube. Market them. Sell them. Whatever. Something will stick, something might breakthrough, something could actually hit.

On the eve of the new Journey tour, Neal is releasing a single off of The Calling for rock radio. With Schon's other solo album ready to drop at anytime, it seems obvious that Journey is becoming more and more of a PR vehicle simply for the benefit of Neal.

And looking at the facebook and youtube postings from the CMT show, people STILL don't really know who the hell the new Asian guy is.

Don wrote:On the eve of the new Journey tour, Neal is releasing a single off of The Calling for rock radio. With Schon's other solo album ready to drop at anytime, it seems obvious that Journey is becoming more and more of a PR vehicle simply for the benefit of Neal.

And looking at the facebook and youtube postings from the CMT show, people STILL don't really know who the hell the new Asian guy is.

There's a new guy in the band? An Asian.... really? Hmm.....

jrnyman28 wrote:Neal's right that releasing singles is the way to go in today's market. But you've GOT to support new material. And when you release a single you better play it. Otherwise it will disappear... Trickle 10-12 tracks over the next year to year and a half. Put PLAY them. Do videos for YouTube. Market them. Sell them. Whatever. Something will stick, something might breakthrough, something could actually hit.

Rush already did this with two songs performed well in advance of the new album. The fans slobbered.

I think the singles for movies is the best way to go in terms of new music. If Journey could partner with guys like Jack blades again, they could write some cool tunes for movies. I don't think Journey fans are ever going to truly be happy about new Journey albums anymore unless Perry is singing.

Yoda wrote:I think the singles for movies is the best way to go in terms of new music. If Journey could partner with guys like Jack blades again, they could write some cool tunes for movies. I don't think Journey fans are ever going to truly be happy about new Journey albums anymore unless Perry is singing.

That may be true, but they do include, lately anyway, songs they hope some producer will put in a movie. "Anything Is Possible" comes to mind. Van Halen did the same thing with songs like "Right Now".

JRNYMAN wrote:

Don wrote:On the eve of the new Journey tour, Neal is releasing a single off of The Calling for rock radio. With Schon's other solo album ready to drop at anytime, it seems obvious that Journey is becoming more and more of a PR vehicle simply for the benefit of Neal.

And looking at the facebook and youtube postings from the CMT show, people STILL don't really know who the hell the new Asian guy is.

There's a new guy in the band? An Asian.... really? Hmm.....

Pretty uncalled for shit, really. When Journey tours anywhere other than red neck USA the reviews don't normally contain those kinds of comments. I guess my ire lies within the fact that Pineda faces a battle that begins way before he ever sings a note here in this country. It's not right. Some fucking limey can come over here and invade the country, make women scream and cream, yet nobody has a problem with it. AP should have been given the same carpet that the Beatles got. They were foreigners too, albeit, they didn't look like they came from a country that was recently nuked.

steveo777 wrote:

JRNYMAN wrote:

Don wrote:On the eve of the new Journey tour, Neal is releasing a single off of The Calling for rock radio. With Schon's other solo album ready to drop at anytime, it seems obvious that Journey is becoming more and more of a PR vehicle simply for the benefit of Neal.

And looking at the facebook and youtube postings from the CMT show, people STILL don't really know who the hell the new Asian guy is.

There's a new guy in the band? An Asian.... really? Hmm.....

Pretty uncalled for shit, really. When Journey tours anywhere other than red neck USA the reviews don't normally contain those kinds of comments. I guess my ire lies within the fact that Pineda faces a battle that begins way before he ever sings a note here in this country. It's not right. Some fucking limey can come over here and invade the country, make women scream and cream, yet nobody has a problem with it. AP should have been given the same carpet that the Beatles got. They were foreigners too, albeit, they didn't look like they came from a country that was recently nuked.

Neither does Arnel.

Rick wrote:

Yoda wrote:I think the singles for movies is the best way to go in terms of new music. If Journey could partner with guys like Jack blades again, they could write some cool tunes for movies. I don't think Journey fans are ever going to truly be happy about new Journey albums anymore unless Perry is singing.

That may be true, but they do include, lately anyway, songs they hope some producer will put in a movie. "Anything Is Possible" comes to mind. Van Halen did the same thing with songs like "Right Now".

Yeah, but back then Van Halen was still widely successful, and continued that success long after "Right Now". Journey hasn't, truly, been commercially successful since Steve Perry was in the band. I understand and recognize the "success" with Revelation, but let's face it, out of the 50+ songs that were "newly" written for albums since 2001, I have only heard two of those songs played on the air. One of the songs I heard twice, and that was it. So, basically 2, maybe 3 songs out of 50+ that get some type of recognition is just not good numbers to me, so the approach of writing a full album is a failed approach at this point.

I also have a feeling Neal and Jon are just getting a bit tired of having to write so many songs when they might get ONE song recognized. It's so much easier to concentrate on one great song, and get that song on the soundtrack of some blockbuster movie. Even if that song was "Anything Is Possible", I DON'T think that song would cause Eclipse a resurgence in sales. More than likely, that one track would be downloaded from iTunes, or the movie soundtrack itself would be what is purchased.

So, I hope Journey does decide to do the one single approach, because they can put all of their eggs in one basket, and write one brilliant song, instead of having to spread their time and efforts out among 12 songs for an album. Kind of like this, I'd rather them write the next "Don't Stop Believing" or "Separate Ways" rather than the next "Raised on Radio" album.