Favorite/Best Neal Solo

[JRNYMAN]

Title says it all. I could have made this a poll but listing every song in the catalog would be a bit ridiculous. Instead, just list your fav solo(s) by Neal: Any project solo or otherwise.
I'm on the fence between Who's Cryin' Now, Mother Father and Topaz.

Side Note: Anybody listen to this particular Shoutcast Internet radio station?

Raven Radio Journey 24/7
http://www.shoutcast.com/shoutcast_popu ... ney%2024/7

Their playlist is about the most diverse and inclusive of any I've found. In fact, more than once I've had to come back over to the screen to see if the station had changed on me because I didn't recognize the song that was playing!

[Don]

"When the Love Has Gone" from Dream After Dream.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0mquoVwQAA

[wednesday's child]

I'll probably get dissed for this, but WCN.

[SF-Dano]

Too many to call just one a favorite. A few that came quickly to mind at the moment are:

HSAS - He Will Understand (raw, live, and fast)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alW30KSrrJ8

Journey - Little Girl (melodic, emotion filled, and the tone...oh my!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JYSw0PWyLk

Sammy Hagar - Lover or Money (Neal guests and delivers a rocking off the cuff solo).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvtj8cE-01E

Schon & Hammer - Untold Passion (Instrumental that has it all from A to Z) (Note:dead air after about 6:50 mark)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIcdiNxC5KU

[cudaclan]

Pre-Perry years

Topaz
Mystery Mountain
To Play Some Music
Kohoutek

[Arkansas]

I'll probably get dissed for this, but WCN.

No diss here. That solo/outro was/is easily the best & freshest play NS has ever done. He takes lead of the lyrical emotion, takes it out in the middle of nowhere, resolves it, brings it back...and then takes it off again. It's just so emotional...the tones, the angles, etc. I mean, you hear every bit of emotion & passion right there through his fingertips. And, you just want it to go on and on. I'm darned near 50 yrs old now, and I still remember it all just like I was a young kid then.

I think there's a Perry quote somewhere, that he fought to get even more of Schon's solo on the single or some extended version. Don't remember exactly.


later~

[Don]

I'll probably get dissed for this, but WCN.

No diss here. That solo/outro was/is easily the best & freshest play NS has ever done. He takes lead of the lyrical emotion, takes it out in the middle of nowhere, resolves it, brings it back...and then takes it off again. It's just so emotional...the tones, the angles, etc. I mean, you hear every bit of emotion & passion right there through his fingertips. And, you just want it to go on and on. I'm darned near 50 yrs old now, and I still remember it all just like I was a young kid then.

I think there's a Perry quote somewhere, that he fought to get even more of Schon's solo on the single or some extended version. Don't remember exactly.


later~

Yeah, the word was that Sony wanted to edit the single and cut the outro and that Perry fought tooth and Nail to keep it in. Ironically, Schon said the reason he did the long solo like that was because he initially didn't like the song and figured the other guys wouldn't care for his noodling so they might drop the track.
WCN became their first top five hit and second highest charter ever next to Open Arms. I would say WCN probably had the most airplay of any Journey song up until 2007. A/C radio just loved it.

[JRNYMAN]

I'll probably get dissed for this, but WCN.

No diss here. That solo/outro was/is easily the best & freshest play NS has ever done. He takes lead of the lyrical emotion, takes it out in the middle of nowhere, resolves it, brings it back...and then takes it off again. It's just so emotional...the tones, the angles, etc. I mean, you hear every bit of emotion & passion right there through his fingertips. And, you just want it to go on and on. I'm darned near 50 yrs old now, and I still remember it all just like I was a young kid then.

I think there's a Perry quote somewhere, that he fought to get even more of Schon's solo on the single or some extended version. Don't remember exactly.


later~

Couldn't have said it better myself. The quote you're referring to is from the interview Perry did with Rolling Stone (I think...) right before the release of the Houston DVD/CD. I've got the audio from it somewhere. I'll paw through my stuff and see if I can find it.

[JRNYMAN]

I would say WCN probably had the most airplay of any Journey song up until 2007. A/C radio just loved it.

Hmm.... I dunno about that one... my guess would be Faithfully or OA but like I said, that's just a guess.

[JRNYMAN]

The quote you're referring to is from the interview Perry did with Rolling Stone (I think...) right before the release of the Houston DVD/CD. I've got the audio from it somewhere. I'll paw through my stuff and see if I can find it.

Complete fail on my part with that statement. (Too many interviews over the years to keep them straight...) Here's the quote you referred to in its entirety from the Mitch Lafon interview which was posted right here on MR.

Perry talking "... I'll tell you a quick story – 'Who's Crying Now' that song was intentionally recorded and arranged so that the solo (back then songs had solos) was at the end. The song goes out on a solo and that song is long. The record label came to us and said 'as soon as the solo starts you'll have to fade it or radio won't play it.' I said ' well, radio can fade out and go onto the news. I don't care, but we're not going to cut the solo.' They insisted that if it said it was four minutes fifty seconds or whatever radio won't even add it to their playlist. So, I told them to put whatever on it... three minutes whatever, but I'm not fading the solo and they were adamant about it and said we were killing the song. It's not going to be a hit because you won't fade it, so just fade it. It's no big deal. I said 'look – Neal played the most beautiful solo on this thing. It's simple, heartfelt and feels timeless; the melodics are timeless and I do not want to kill that solo. So, fought for it, the song becomes a hit and the stations never pulled out of the solo. When it goes to that melody (sings melody) – it's timeless and it's not the melody that's in the song. It's another melody; so is that so wrong? No! So, I'm glad we fought for it against all odds. Plus, Neal would have been really crushed... he would have been destroyed.”

[Arkansas]

I would say WCN probably had the most airplay of any Journey song up until 2007. A/C radio just loved it.

Hmm.... I dunno about that one... my guess would be Faithfully or OA but like I said, that's just a guess.

Hhm, F & OA are great 'sappy' songs...sappy = girl songs. WCN is more of a guy song, in that it hits the crucial point of relationship perception from the guy angle. I mean, the brash tough side of the typical love-and-war man would never make it public, but silently to himself, the relationship bleeds, and he feels lost. He breaks down to himself, and feels all the emotion that the lyrics of this song portray.

And what makes this such a great song, is that the lyrics are just the layer that state what the music is already saying. The minor key and phrasing of the piano, the echoing of the guitar, the loneliness when the bass hits those higher notes that just hang out there...all the while stepping down to rock bottom, echo'd by the drums. Jeez...lou-eeze, that's exactly what a guy feels when he's in a "I love you more, where are we now?" relationship. I mean, we don't know what the girl feels, but a guy is lost...just out there somewhere.

And then the guitar rips in. We get taken on this ride of tone, of emotion, of varying angles. It's like the water & wind have control, and we're just at their will. Then we get reigned in, only to get taken back out with the next wave. And as we think there's some insight, we get comfortable in the melancholy...wrapped in the emotion, and just want to ride the waves forever. Keep that guitar lead going and going...like riding the melancholy waves.

Wow! Can't hardly believe I just wrote all that...but I think it's fairly accurate.


later~

[majik]

These two need a special mention.

Of a Lifetime : The lead intro that lets you know something amazing is coming followed by the big lead break in the middle then the outro that screams and wails and that wah-wah.......

Walking away from the edge :When Augeri sings "walking away from the edge" Neal's guitar sings falling of the edge and just floating oozes emotion.

[JRNYMAN]

I would say WCN probably had the most airplay of any Journey song up until 2007. A/C radio just loved it.

Hmm.... I dunno about that one... my guess would be Faithfully or OA but like I said, that's just a guess.

Hhm, F & OA are great 'sappy' songs...sappy = girl songs. WCN is more of a guy song, in that it hits the crucial point of relationship perception from the guy angle. I mean, the brash tough side of the typical love-and-war man would never make it public, but silently to himself, the relationship bleeds, and he feels lost. He breaks down to himself, and feels all the emotion that the lyrics of this song portray.

And what makes this such a great song, is that the lyrics are just the layer that state what the music is already saying. The minor key and phrasing of the piano, the echoing of the guitar, the loneliness when the bass hits those higher notes that just hang out there...all the while stepping down to rock bottom, echo'd by the drums. Jeez...lou-eeze, that's exactly what a guy feels when he's in a "I love you more, where are we now?" relationship. I mean, we don't know what the girl feels, but a guy is lost...just out there somewhere.

And then the guitar rips in. We get taken on this ride of tone, of emotion, of varying angles. It's like the water & wind have control, and we're just at their will. Then we get reigned in, only to get taken back out with the next wave. And as we think there's some insight, we get comfortable in the melancholy...wrapped in the emotion, and just want to ride the waves forever. Keep that guitar lead going and going...like riding the melancholy waves.

Wow! Can't hardly believe I just wrote all that...but I think it's fairly accurate.


later~

I'll have what he's having... and make it a double!!

Dude... that was absolutely prophetic! I had to actually cue up the song and listen to it while reading your post - twice! I had never, ever thought about WCN in that particular way. For me it was a bit simpler... After the lyrics end and the solo starts I always had this feeling of the lives of the two subjects eternally hanging in the balance never finding peace and forever regretting the "what if's"

And to clarify: I was suggesting that Faithfully and OA might have gotten more airplay than WCN. I wasn't comparing the songs to any degree. If I was, there'd be no competition whatsoever! WCN has in spades everything the other two songs will never have. And for exactly what that is, I'll refer you to your post above!

Excellent analogy of WCN! You took it to a higher level for me. You gave it a soul not unlike what Dark Side of the Moon has in many respects. Nicely done!

[Brigadier]

Actually, my favorites are

Into Your Arms
With a Tear
I Do It For You

[KenTheDude]

Just The Same Way is my favorite. Just listened to Can't Tame The Lion recently and had forgotten how good that ending solo is.

[ebake02]

She's a Mystery

[Infinity Vocalist 2010]

The Lights solo really does it for me song wise.

For purely instrumental guitar solos, I`d have to say Sky Light.

Honourable mention to his version of my national anthem played on the Canadian dates. Respect.

[collingwood]

I think his best solo was in Positive Touch

[PianoMan1986]

Just a variety off the top of my head, no particular order.

Message of Love is a favorite
http://youtu.be/xT-xNlzsJ9U

Into Your Arms for it's overall guitar work, melodic sense, and singing qualities
http://youtu.be/oidGBiWZ2kY

Line of Fire -- wish they'd bring this back into their show
http://youtu.be/kSQYXKwcVtk

Edge of the Blade -- another one I'd like to see brought back
http://youtu.be/Zpa2ZSgGd6M

Where Did I Lose Your Love
http://youtu.be/w7TndB52znM

Still They Ride
http://youtu.be/FWMU2JSOhmg

[San Diego Gary]

Line of Fire!

[JRNYMAN]

Just a variety off the top of my head, no particular order.

Into Your Arms for it's overall guitar work, melodic sense, and singing qualities
http://youtu.be/oidGBiWZ2kY

This one reminds me so much of Satriani's Flying in a Blue Dream. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SINl5JY7LhI The overall sound of the guitar via the effects he used as well as the melody at times sound like either song could have been written by the other one although the songs themselves are very different.