If you are Arnel...

[tj]

If you are Arnel and having seen what the catalog over several years did to Augeri's voice, you have heard the rumors for years of what it did to Perry's voice, and you are in your 40s with 8 years in on the job, are you concerned that soon your voice is going to give out and you are ruined for life?

Or do you think you understand better how to take care of your voice and are not concerned?

Or do you think that you could never have imagined having this amazing job, you are set financially for life, and if your voice goes out you won't care because of what you have accomplished?

How much does the band understand the pressure and do you speak up if you are concerned?

It's got to be a lot of pressure to know that the band relies on him (as it did Perry and Augeri) so much.

[perryfan61]

I think that after so much time on the road, away from his young family, he is probably starting to hope it will end soon, before his voice gives out.
I don't think he would ever walk away on his own, because he is so grateful for the chance he has been given, to set his family up in a financially secure manner.
Singing those songs is really a younger man's game, as I'm sure he knows. He's held out incredibly well, by focusing on looking after his voice.

[steveo777]

I don't know what he's worth, but after 8 years, I'd be surprised if it was less than 7-8 million. By Philippine standards, on their monetary exchange rate, he'd be set for life and be able to live very well. His kids will never have to worry about the cost of getting a good education. He'd still work, for causes he loves, like his foundation. I imagine he'd continue to put on charity concerts.

[The_Noble_Cause]

In 2008, when Arnel was fresh, he could sing almost anything. HUGE range. Journey's catalogue is a buzz-saw to the vocal chords. No doubt.

[FamilyMan]

I saw Arnel recently and asked him if he'd thought about moving his family here to the U.S. to make the whole thing easier on him. He said no. Made it very clear Manila remains his home. I think Arnel is pretty savvy and knows this is all finite. He's under no illusions. There were nights when I witnessed pure fear in Augeri's eyes, but I never get that sense when I see Arnel perform. I think when you've literally lived on the street, pressure takes on a different meaning.

[The_Noble_Cause]

There were nights when I witnessed pure fear in Augeri's eyes, but I never get that sense when I see Arnel perform.

Augeri was a consummate pro and a a superior frontman to Arnel. No idea what you are trying to say.

[FamilyMan]

There were nights when I witnessed pure fear in Augeri's eyes, but I never get that sense when I see Arnel perform.

Augeri was a consummate pro and a a superior frontman to Arnel. No idea what you are trying to say.

Agreed, he was a pro. And in many ways, I preferred his voice to Arnel's on the catalog. But there were times I thought the shoes he was asked to fill seemed a little loo large. And in the later years, when he was struggling vocally, even he seemed to realize he shouldn't have been out there.

[tj]

There were nights when I witnessed pure fear in Augeri's eyes, but I never get that sense when I see Arnel perform.

Augeri was a consummate pro and a a superior frontman to Arnel. No idea what you are trying to say.

Agreed, he was a pro. And in many ways, I preferred his voice to Arnel's on the catalog. But there were times I thought the shoes he was asked to fill seemed a little loo large. And in the later years, when he was struggling vocally, even he seemed to realize he shouldn't have been out there.

I see this in some of the videos. Early on, the inevitable comparisons to Perry before Augeri had a track record with the band. Then, as his voice began to have difficulties, if not fear at least concern that he might not be able to hit some of the high or long notes. I love the guy, appreciate what he did in helping bring back my favorite band and am glad to see that he is able to perform again.

[Pacfanweb]

In 2008, when Arnel was fresh, he could sing almost anything. HUGE range. Journey's catalogue is a buzz-saw to the vocal chords. No doubt.

So is Father Time.

Arnel's voice would be changing and diminishing whether he was singing in Journey or not. He's going to be 49 this year. I'd say he's holding up quite well.

Perry's voice didn't start going down primarily because of singing the Journey catalog. The inactivity between tours did that, plus simply aging. When he was young he sang that stuff every night with no problem. You get older, things change. Your voice is one of those things. Use it or lose it.

[The_Noble_Cause]

So is Father Time.

Arnel's voice would be changing and diminishing whether he was singing in Journey or not. He's going to be 49 this year. I'd say he's holding up quite well.

Perry's voice didn't start going down primarily because of singing the Journey catalog. The inactivity between tours did that, plus simply aging. When he was young he sang that stuff every night with no problem. You get older, things change. Your voice is one of those things. Use it or lose it.

You seem pretty much in denial about the extraordinary challenge of Journeys catalog. Also, in those younger days, Perry was not singing greatest hits from various different eras. SA and Arnel have to sing Infinity stuff, Departure stuff, Escape stuff, ROR stuff..... it's murder. Does not matter how talented you are. Singing that material multiple times a week will take a serious toll.

[Pacfanweb]

So is Father Time.

Arnel's voice would be changing and diminishing whether he was singing in Journey or not. He's going to be 49 this year. I'd say he's holding up quite well.

Perry's voice didn't start going down primarily because of singing the Journey catalog. The inactivity between tours did that, plus simply aging. When he was young he sang that stuff every night with no problem. You get older, things change. Your voice is one of those things. Use it or lose it.

You seem pretty much in denial about the extraordinary challenge of Journeys catalog. Also, in those younger days, Perry was not singing greatest hits from various different eras. SA and Arnel have to sing Infinity stuff, Departure stuff, Escape stuff, ROR stuff..... it's murder. Does not matter how talented you are. Singing that material multiple times a week will take a serious toll.

The earlier stuff IS the killer stuff. That's what Perry was singing. It's not as hard to sing Send Her My Love or Girl Can't Help It or When You Love A Woman as it is to sing Stone in Love.

Here's a typical setlist from 1983:
Chain Reaction
Wheel in the Sky
Send Her My Love
Still They Ride
Open Arms
Rubicon
Escape
After The Fall
Faithfully
Who's Crying Now
DSB
Stone in Love
Keep on Runnin'
Lights
Any Way You Want It
Separate Ways

Neither Arnel nor Augeri have done a setlist anymore challenging than that. You forget...when those albums were new, they did some deeper cuts, and some of those deeper cuts were REALLY challenging.
Like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHuNsJ3EauE

[The_Noble_Cause]

The earlier stuff IS the killer stuff. That's what Perry was singing. It's not as hard to sing Send Her My Love or Girl Can't Help It or When You Love A Woman as it is to sing Stone in Love.

Here's a typical setlist from 1983:
Chain Reaction
Wheel in the Sky
Send Her My Love
Still They Ride
Open Arms
Rubicon
Escape
After The Fall
Faithfully
Who's Crying Now
DSB
Stone in Love
Keep on Runnin'
Lights
Any Way You Want It
Separate Ways

Neither Arnel nor Augeri have done a setlist anymore challenging than that. You forget...when those albums were new, they did some deeper cuts, and some of those deeper cuts were REALLY challenging.
Like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHuNsJ3EauE

I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to say. Perry sang the early stuff when he was younger and that material was very much in his range. SA and AP sing stuff from all different eras: Infinity tunes like Lights to Frontiers stuff like Separate Ways to BGTY from ROR. Go listen to Captured. Perry doesn't have to kill himself trying to cover any of that material, because those records were recorded by him and sung by him fairly recently. ROR Perry and Infinity Perry are noticeably different and to try to replicate that (by AP or whoever) is going to grind down your chords. Perry evolved his approach to those songs over time to compensate for any diminishing range. By his own admission, around the Frontiers era, Perry wanted to take a break. One more Journey album later and he was effectively toast. So I don't think a Frontiers ers set list proves anything.

[tj]

The earlier stuff IS the killer stuff. That's what Perry was singing. It's not as hard to sing Send Her My Love or Girl Can't Help It or When You Love A Woman as it is to sing Stone in Love.

Here's a typical setlist from 1983:
Chain Reaction
Wheel in the Sky
Send Her My Love
Still They Ride
Open Arms
Rubicon
Escape
After The Fall
Faithfully
Who's Crying Now
DSB
Stone in Love
Keep on Runnin'
Lights
Any Way You Want It
Separate Ways

Neither Arnel nor Augeri have done a setlist anymore challenging than that. You forget...when those albums were new, they did some deeper cuts, and some of those deeper cuts were REALLY challenging.
Like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHuNsJ3EauE

I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to say. Perry sang the early stuff when he was younger and that material was very much in his range. SA and AP sing stuff from all different eras: Infinity tunes like Lights to Frontiers stuff like Separate Ways to BGTY from ROR. Go listen to Captured. Perry doesn't have to kill himself trying to cover any of that material, because those records were recorded by him and sung by him fairly recently. ROR Perry and Infinity Perry are noticeably different and to try to replicate that (by AP or whoever) is going to grind down your chords. Perry evolved his approach to those songs over time to compensate for any diminishing range. By his own admission, around the Frontiers era, Perry wanted to take a break. One more Journey album later and he was effectively toast. So I don't think a Frontiers ers set list proves anything.

I agree that ROR Perry and Infinity Perry are noticeably different. TBF Perry even much more so from ROR Perry, IMO. I think that for Perry, it was a combination of age and usage. Probably the same for Arnel and SA. And those two guys got started on the catalog much later in life than Perry did.

Looking at the list above, I think it is probably harder on the vocal chords to sing the Escape songs more than any of the others collectively. It would be interesting to see Jeremy or someone who has sung this catalog make a song by song listing of what really creates trouble long term for your voice. Even then, I expect that the age of the singer would still be of importance in the discussion.

[Art Vandelay]

I agree with The Noble Cause. You have to keep in mind that Perry did't just sing the Journey catalog, he created the damn thing vocally. The bar was set and raised based on his capabilities and limits at the time each album was recorded. His vocals set the blueprint that all of the following singers had to follow.

With that said, if you give a listen to one of the rare 1986 performances of Patiently, he still has the younger Perry sound while singing it the way it was intended to be sung. Towards the end of the song, he deflects back to the over-emphasizing, almost screaming performance that he relied on during the ROR phase. Grant it, the over-emphasized passion really got people up and going during the live performances. He just sucked everyone into his stage presence. Although I do like his vocal styles on the later albums, I prefer the earlier days in regards to the live performances, when he had more control over his voice. As far as live vocals go, some of the 1979/1980 performances are untouchable by anyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHCroaOuR2o

[tj]

I agree with The Noble Cause. You have to keep in mind that Perry did't just sing the Journey catalog, he created the damn thing vocally. The bar was set and raised based on his capabilities and limits at the time each album was recorded. His vocals set the blueprint that all of the following singers had to follow.

With that said, if you give a listen to one of the rare 1986 performances of Patiently, he still has the younger Perry sound while singing it the way it was intended to be sung. Towards the end of the song, he deflects back to the over-emphasizing, almost screaming performance that he relied on during the ROR phase. Grant it, the over-emphasized passion really got people up and going during the live performances. He just sucked everyone into his stage presence. Although I do like his vocal styles on the later albums, I prefer the earlier days in regards to the live performances, when he had more control over his voice. As far as live vocals go, some of the 1979/1980 performances are untouchable by anyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHCroaOuR2o

At about the :40 mark, where he holds the phrase but goes up and down over several notes he starts to lose me. It is perhaps an attempt to add emotion into the song, but it doesn't seem to fit at this point. Just hold the damn note (or perhaps he couldn't, so the gyrations are needed).

Maybe it bothers me because so much of today's music (most of which I don't listen to, but occasionally get stuck with the kids in the car) has female performers doing much the same thing ad nauseum. They all have to showcase their awesome technique. Mostly, it just grates. Whitney Houston started the trend with I Will Always Love You when she sang IIIIEEEEIIIIEEEEIIIEEIII will always love you... Sounded like she was starting up a round of Old MacDonald. IEIEIOOOO...

I probably didn't notice or even would have enjoyed that technique 30 years ago, because it was Perry. But today, I just shut it off.

[Art Vandelay]

I agree with The Noble Cause. You have to keep in mind that Perry did't just sing the Journey catalog, he created the damn thing vocally. The bar was set and raised based on his capabilities and limits at the time each album was recorded. His vocals set the blueprint that all of the following singers had to follow.

With that said, if you give a listen to one of the rare 1986 performances of Patiently, he still has the younger Perry sound while singing it the way it was intended to be sung. Towards the end of the song, he deflects back to the over-emphasizing, almost screaming performance that he relied on during the ROR phase. Grant it, the over-emphasized passion really got people up and going during the live performances. He just sucked everyone into his stage presence. Although I do like his vocal styles on the later albums, I prefer the earlier days in regards to the live performances, when he had more control over his voice. As far as live vocals go, some of the 1979/1980 performances are untouchable by anyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHCroaOuR2o

At about the :40 mark, where he holds the phrase but goes up and down over several notes he starts to lose me. It is perhaps an attempt to add emotion into the song, but it doesn't seem to fit at this point. Just hold the damn note (or perhaps he couldn't, so the gyrations are needed).

Maybe it bothers me because so much of today's music (most of which I don't listen to, but occasionally get stuck with the kids in the car) has female performers doing much the same thing ad nauseum. They all have to showcase their awesome technique. Mostly, it just grates. Whitney Houston started the trend with I Will Always Love You when she sang IIIIEEEEIIIIEEEEIIIEEIII will always love you... Sounded like she was starting up a round of Old MacDonald. IEIEIOOOO...

I probably didn't notice or even would have enjoyed that technique 30 years ago, because it was Perry. But today, I just shut it off.

Exactly!!

[perryfan61]

I agree with The Noble Cause. You have to keep in mind that Perry did't just sing the Journey catalog, he created the damn thing vocally. The bar was set and raised based on his capabilities and limits at the time each album was recorded. His vocals set the blueprint that all of the following singers had to follow.

With that said, if you give a listen to one of the rare 1986 performances of Patiently, he still has the younger Perry sound while singing it the way it was intended to be sung. Towards the end of the song, he deflects back to the over-emphasizing, almost screaming performance that he relied on during the ROR phase. Grant it, the over-emphasized passion really got people up and going during the live performances. He just sucked everyone into his stage presence. Although I do like his vocal styles on the later albums, I prefer the earlier days in regards to the live performances, when he had more control over his voice. As far as live vocals go, some of the 1979/1980 performances are untouchable by anyone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHCroaOuR2o

At about the :40 mark, where he holds the phrase but goes up and down over several notes he starts to lose me. It is perhaps an attempt to add emotion into the song, but it doesn't seem to fit at this point. Just hold the damn note (or perhaps he couldn't, so the gyrations are needed)

Maybe it bothers me because so much of today's music (most of which I don't listen to, but occasionally get stuck with the kids in the car) has female performers doing much the same thing ad nauseum. They all have to showcase their awesome technique. Mostly, it just grates. Whitney Houston started the trend with I Will Always Love You when she sang IIIIEEEEIIIIEEEEIIIEEIII will always love you... Sounded like she was starting up a round of Old MacDonald. IEIEIOOOO...

I probably didn't notice or even would have enjoyed that technique 30 years ago, because it was Perry. But today, I just shut it off.

Exactly!!

Personally, I can't stand this technique. I just want to scream "SHUT UP ALREADY!!" When SP did something like it, it didn't seem forced, just his way of singing.

[yulog]

I don't know what he's worth, but after 8 years, I'd be surprised if it was less than 7-8 million. By Philippine standards, on their monetary exchange rate, he'd be set for life and be able to live very well. His kids will never have to worry about the cost of getting a good education. He'd still work, for causes he loves, like his foundation. I imagine he'd continue to put on charity concerts.

According to most info he is worth 15 million.

[yulog]

I thought the whole thing with Pineda was they dropped the key to save his chords..they didn't do that for Augeri and that's why his voice fell apart at the end

[The_Noble_Cause]

I thought the whole thing with Pineda was they dropped the key to save his chords..they didn't do that for Augeri and that's why his voice fell apart at the end

JSS said they tried detuning the songs for him (JSS) and it was easier for him singing them the original way. I imagine the band tried many things to help Augeri. If they were willing to detune for Perry, JSS, and AP I can't imagine them not trying it for Steve A.

[lparn]

From what I have read about him and in the everyman's journey film Arnel has been performing since a young age. I think he understands and knows what to do to save and care for his voice. He was awesome at Mohegan Sun in April. I admire how he can mold his voice around whatever he's singing.
It's really too bad what happened to Steve augeri and his voice.saw him 2 years ago and was after 2 previous shows in a row. He was really struggling.
I admire Arnel for his devotion to his family and giving back.

[JBlake]

Well, if I was Arnel, I would be more in tune with making sure I took care of my instrument/money maker - voice. No drinking, smoking, etc. and no talking or drinking cold liquids for at least one hour after doing a performance.

Does Perry drink Alcohol? If so, that could be a factor in regards to the "rumors" of what became of his voice.

Also consider that very very very few singers are able to sing the way they did when they were younger, especially once they get into their 60's and 70's, big time! But that holds true for everything. If not, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice would still be working their magic out on the field. Terry Bradshaw would still be out on the field throwing missiles or his helmet when things didn't go according to the POD. Or how about Sugar Ray Lenard, he'd be out fighting Pacquiao. Everything goes with age... everything. Maybe not completely gone but to some extent at least some if not most.

[Eric]

Well, if I was Arnel, I would be more in tune with making sure I took care of my instrument/money maker - voice. No drinking, smoking, etc. and no talking or drinking cold liquids for at least one hour after doing a performance.

Does Perry drink Alcohol? If so, that could be a factor in regards to the "rumors" of what became of his voice.

Also consider that very very very few singers are able to sing the way they did when they were younger, especially once they get into their 60's and 70's, big time! But that holds true for everything. If not, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice would still be working their magic out on the field. Terry Bradshaw would still be out on the field throwing missiles or his helmet when things didn't go according to the POD. Or how about Sugar Ray Lenard, he'd be out fighting Pacquiao. Everything goes with age... everything. Maybe not completely gone but to some extent at least some if not most.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59-SL40iBN4