CBS' Rock Star: Journey, in 2007

[NYer]

I agree that the skills in these 'talent' shows are generally wretched... but my reason for the suggestion is 'youth'.

Youth, both in prospective singers so their younger voices could better handle the Perry scales repeatedly on the road, and to introduce the band to the younger crowd. Not that the youngins would adopt JRNY into their Ipod playlists, but there'd be some immediate sales from any subsequent release. Much like INXS sold 300k copies of 'Switch' after the show's finale.

Really - the only reason is it'd be fun to watch some of these crappy upstarts who think they can sing, crack on the Perry high notes.

[styxfanNH]

The problem of them touring under a different name is with the name recognition. People our age know the name Journey, not necessarily the members names. It would be virtually impossible for them to get the same crowds under a different name, especially at this stage of their careers and the lack of prominence of this style of rock in todays radio/airplay market.

If they are going to give the fans a steady diet of Journey songs, they might as well just call themselves Journey. Sure they are going to aggravate the hardcore fans, however, that is not who they are really catering to now.

The same can be said for any band of their era.

[Marabelle]

i love the "youth" suggestion however it would make these guys look like senior citizens...so someone probably around the age of jss. he's youthful.
he's cute and he sings well.

[ohsherrie]

Maybe next year will see JRNY instead of JOURNEY. Would that be enough of a change to allow a different sound of the classic songs?

Yes, but unless they produce a great new CD that garners a lot of interest they probably won't sell the tickets that the Journey name does.

I think they need a PR machine that will sell JSS and a new sound to go along with the name alteration. Then let Jeff be Jeff and do the classics that he's comfortable with in his own way. I don't understand why people want a group named Journey with a singer that only imitates Perry. They can't get on the radio or get any real recognition for their efforts because locking themselves into the Perry-Journey sound makes people in the industry want PERRY rather than an imitation. It's time to shuffle the cards and deal themselves a new game.

[yak]

No kidding! I can't believe those are the "best" singers out there! Not sure if you know who Chris Daughtry is, but he is the rocker who came in 4th on American Idol last season. He has a phenomenal powerhouse voice and was rejected from Rock Star INXS. Who the heck is screening these people!

Absolutely know who Chris Daughtry is! He has everything going for him. He should have won Idol, but is likely happy he didn't, because he'd be singing for Ford commercials. He has reportedly inked a deal with Clive Davis, I believe it was, to front his very own rock band! He should have an album out at the end of the year.

[A Fire Inside]

The problem of them touring under a different name is with the name recognition. People our age know the name Journey, not necessarily the members names. It would be virtually impossible for them to get the same crowds under a different name, especially at this stage of their careers and the lack of prominence of this style of rock in todays radio/airplay market.

If they are going to give the fans a steady diet of Journey songs, they might as well just call themselves Journey. Sure they are going to aggravate the hardcore fans, however, that is not who they are really catering to now.

I think they should go with "Journey featuring JSS" like Queen does with Paul. It tells the fan that they will hear Journey songs, but maybe not the same voice, you know?

[NealIsGod]

The problem of them touring under a different name is with the name recognition. People our age know the name Journey, not necessarily the members names. It would be virtually impossible for them to get the same crowds under a different name, especially at this stage of their careers and the lack of prominence of this style of rock in todays radio/airplay market.

If they are going to give the fans a steady diet of Journey songs, they might as well just call themselves Journey. Sure they are going to aggravate the hardcore fans, however, that is not who they are really catering to now.

I think they should go with "Journey featuring JSS" like Queen does with Paul. It tells the fan that they will hear Journey songs, but maybe not the same voice, you know?

I dunno. They already had Augeri for 8 years or so. Would be strange to take that approach now. But I see what you mean.

[A Fire Inside]

I dunno. They already had Augeri for 8 years or so. Would be strange to take that approach now. But I see what you mean.

True, but it would help them step away from the Perry shadow even though they tried to deal with it for 8 years...

[Paul_UK]

The problem of them touring under a different name is with the name recognition. People our age know the name Journey, not necessarily the members names. It would be virtually impossible for them to get the same crowds under a different name, especially at this stage of their careers and the lack of prominence of this style of rock in todays radio/airplay market.

If they are going to give the fans a steady diet of Journey songs, they might as well just call themselves Journey. Sure they are going to aggravate the hardcore fans, however, that is not who they are really catering to now.

I think they should go with "Journey featuring JSS" like Queen does with Paul. It tells the fan that they will hear Journey songs, but maybe not the same voice, you know?

I dunno. They already had Augeri for 8 years or so. Would be strange to take that approach now. But I see what you mean.

Funny you say that actually as the first Journey recording with Steve A was "Remember Me" on the Armageddon soundtrack and was indeed billed as "Journey featurng Steve Augeri"!!!

[Todd H]

They should do two things...

1. Tune down half a step to make the Perry stuff a bit easier.
2. Record an album with Soto singing in his natural range and sprinkle those songs liberally throughout the set so that he doesn't have to sing one Perry song after another.

[jrnyman28]

They should do two things...

1. Tune down half a step to make the Perry stuff a bit easier.
2. Record an album with Soto singing in his natural range and sprinkle those songs liberally throughout the set so that he doesn't have to sing one Perry song after another.

So why wouldn't they do that for Steve, yet do it now with JSS?

[Todd H]

They should do two things...

1. Tune down half a step to make the Perry stuff a bit easier.
2. Record an album with Soto singing in his natural range and sprinkle those songs liberally throughout the set so that he doesn't have to sing one Perry song after another.

So why wouldn't they do that for Steve, yet do it now with JSS?

Good question. They should have been doing a lot more stuff from Arrival, Red 13, and Generations the last few years. Sure the fans won't recognize a lot of those songs, but at least it would have given Augeri a little bit of a break.

[Paul_UK]

They should do two things...

1. Tune down half a step to make the Perry stuff a bit easier.
2. Record an album with Soto singing in his natural range and sprinkle those songs liberally throughout the set so that he doesn't have to sing one Perry song after another.

So why wouldn't they do that for Steve, yet do it now with JSS?

Good question. They should have been doing a lot more stuff from Arrival, Red 13, and Generations the last few years. Sure the fans won't recognize a lot of those songs, but at least it would have given Augeri a little bit of a break.

....and many of the songs from "Arrival" and "Generations" are every bit as good as earlier Journey material IMHO, certainly worthy of their place in the setlist.

[Todd H]

....and many of the songs from "Arrival" and "Generations" are every bit as good as earlier Journey material IMHO, certainly worthy of their place in the setlist.

I agree. Journey needs to move away from being strictly a "Greatest Hits Nostalgia Band."

[jrnyman28]

....and many of the songs from "Arrival" and "Generations" are every bit as good as earlier Journey material IMHO, certainly worthy of their place in the setlist.

I agree. Journey needs to move away from being strictly a "Greatest Hits Nostalgia Band."

Been sayin' that for the last 5 years!!

[Saint John]

....and many of the songs from "Arrival" and "Generations" are every bit as good as earlier Journey material IMHO, certainly worthy of their place in the setlist.

I agree. Journey needs to move away from being strictly a "Greatest Hits Nostalgia Band."

Been sayin' that for the last 5 years!!

Ticket sales would dive. The new music hasn't been promoted or accepted. I've gone to 20-30 shows over the last 8 years and Arrival, Red 13 and Generations got NO response. The first few chords usually started a mass exodus to the bathroom or beer line. Higher place usually got about 20% of the crowd to sing along. The band KNOWS those songs do not want to be heard. "The Dirty Dozen" is what has allowed this band to continue. Deviation from those songs would be disastrous and they know that.

[whocares]

I have no problem with them deviating from the D. D. I'm tired as a fan who's spent tons of money on the band, of hearing pretty much just those, it's why I no longer attend their concerts. They're on the radio everyday.

[jrnyman28]

....and many of the songs from "Arrival" and "Generations" are every bit as good as earlier Journey material IMHO, certainly worthy of their place in the setlist.

I agree. Journey needs to move away from being strictly a "Greatest Hits Nostalgia Band."

Been sayin' that for the last 5 years!!

Ticket sales would dive. The new music hasn't been promoted or accepted. I've gone 20-30 shows over the last 8 years and Arrival, Red 13 and Generations got NO response. The first few chords usually sarted a mass exodus to the bathroom or beer line. Higher place usually got about 20% of the crowd to sing along. The band KNOWS those songs do not want to be heard. "The Dirty Dozen" is what has allowed this band to continue. Deviation from those songs would be disastrous and they know that.

Well, if they stuck to it, the audience would become familiar with it...it DID work for Higher Place.
2nd, even in the bathroom or the beer line, you still HEAR the music.
3rd, there was a time when concert tours were specifically to promote and showcase a new album.
4th, if the band continually did this, then they would be "known for playing new stuff".

It is kinda like the Smoking Bans going on. Bars and resturaunts think that the smokers who leave will be replaced by non-smokers who did not visit before. Journey might have lost a little of their fan base (they did ANYWAY by changing singers), but the audiences could have still grown with them over the past 8 years. Some of their fans are going to fewer shows now BECAUSE it is a sterile setlist. So it is still a give-and-take.

[whocares]

...
3rd, there was a time when concert tours were specifically to promote and showcase a new album.

Ahhhh, those were the days.

[styxfanNH]

....and many of the songs from "Arrival" and "Generations" are every bit as good as earlier Journey material IMHO, certainly worthy of their place in the setlist.

I agree. Journey needs to move away from being strictly a "Greatest Hits Nostalgia Band."

Been sayin' that for the last 5 years!!

Ticket sales would dive. The new music hasn't been promoted or accepted. I've gone 20-30 shows over the last 8 years and Arrival, Red 13 and Generations got NO response. The first few chords usually sarted a mass exodus to the bathroom or beer line. Higher place usually got about 20% of the crowd to sing along. The band KNOWS those songs do not want to be heard. "The Dirty Dozen" is what has allowed this band to continue. Deviation from those songs would be disastrous and they know that.

Well, if they stuck to it, the audience would become familiar with it...it DID work for Higher Place.
2nd, even in the bathroom or the beer line, you still HEAR the music.
3rd, there was a time when concert tours were specifically to promote and showcase a new album.
4th, if the band continually did this, then they would be "known for playing new stuff".

It is kinda like the Smoking Bans going on. Bars and resturaunts think that the smokers who leave will be replaced by non-smokers who did not visit before. Journey might have lost a little of their fan base (they did ANYWAY by changing singers), but the audiences could have still grown with them over the past 8 years. Some of their fans are going to fewer shows now BECAUSE it is a sterile setlist. So it is still a give-and-take.

Even with the issues that Styx has have=ing removed most of Dennis' songs from their show, when they put out an album they still add 3 or 4 songs from it into the set. They also add some of the songs into the pre-concert music that won't get played live but give it some exposure. You have to find a way to introduce the new material stuff to the "fans", that said - giving your music away like Journey did to me seems to cheapen the perceived quality of it.

If they feel they have to stay with the dirty dozen, then the lest they can do is play around with the other 6 or 7 songs in the set. But, alas most bands of their genration have the same problems.