Should Journey Have Changed Their Name?

[Journey69]

Today they should be called Zookeeper feat. Journey.

Perry was the voice that brought them to fame and fortune, that is a FACT. Perry's voice was what brought the listener to the fold, that is a FACT. I believe it would have happened again with JSS. Now they are grasping at straws. That is a FACT.

What a fool! How many hits on the radio does JSS(baby jesus) have? 0! How many does Augeri have? At least 1 with Tall Stories.. How far did Soul SirkUs go with JSS? I like JSS,he wouldn't have brought Journey anymore success than Arnel..In fact,I think Arnel is going to help them more than JSS.. Not because of sheer talent,but because of his voice..They need a soaring tenor with power,JSS has the power..

[Journey69]

Retarded question and Vladan, take your dick out of your mouth when typing. I know it's Valentine's Day and all, and you are looking to get some, but check yourself.

Journey was Journey from 1973 until now. Oh, I am sorry, the REAL Journey is playing Charlotte this weekend Nevermind.

However, in all seriousness, Journey was a brand name, a piece of Americana, and it's sad that they have taken a classic and turned it into a fuckin Yugo. Perry helped create a beautiful machine. They should treat it with respect, and not piss in the gas tank.

On behalf of of Neal and Jon and a lot of the assface fans, I apologize to you Steve Perry.

[Journey69]

SP is not Journey, he is their former singer.

As well as their former and only relevance.

Did it ever occur to you Perry had the right timing? He came in when Rock was king, and got out before it went down the shitter.

Sherrie sometimes I would like to put your ass over my knee.

Deano,that is exactly what it was..Perry was used to seeing at least 3 hits and he got 1 in 96.. Seriously,I wish you would just bitch slap her/him!

[Journey69]

Here's the interesting thing about all you guys who are arguing about this topic:

Apparently, Neal and Jon feel Perry was Journey or:

1- They would have replaced him back in 1987 to ride the big cash cow they already created. Instead, they went and formed Bad English which briefly rode the hair band wave but ultimately went nowhere.

2- When they finally decided to replace Perry, they've consistently sought out someone who sounds as much like him as possible (Chalfant, Augeri, Jeremey and now Arnel). To drive that point home, they even fired a guy who was well received by fans and critics alike, simply because he didn't sound ENOUGH like Steve Perry for them.


Seems to me the band members themselves believe Perry was Journey and there has to be a reason for that.

How can such and idiot have such a good avatar?

[Tomulator]

Steve Perry was, is, and will ALWAYS BE an indespensible part of JOURNEY to the VAST MAJORITY of people.

That the band carries on using the "Journey" name is quite simply...a JOKE.

Give it up already.

Continue to play, whatever...just do it using another approach...it's not that hard you know!

Why should they change their name and who are this vast majority, us? Journey concert attendance has been fine since Perry quit yet again and Neal and co have the right to earn a living from an entity that they have put so much into - past and present.

Regardless of what on the surface apear to be questionable business practices the band has done many people a service by bringing artists such as Steve Augeri and JSS to a wider audience and possibly by association also the likes of Kevin Chalfant, Ramos and Hugo etc.
am sure Jeff's fanbase in particular is stronger than ever before and he certainly benefited from the way he acted after being ousted whilst the band, the main focus of everyones attention beforehand now has everything to prove. That band however IS Journey and probably always will be.

Support the music and not the politics.

Musicians should have some level of integrity, especially when you have reached "legendary" status...like Journey has.

Doing this "greatest hits" tour thingy just "cheapens" the whole thing. It's UNNECESSARY quite frankly.

If you took a national poll, I would imagine most people would agree with my statement about SP being indespensible. He's so engrained in the Journey legacy that it is just in poor taste to try and replace him.

Don't even try. Just move on...there are other avenues these incredible musicians can explore.

[Tomulator]

People want to hear to Journey songs, people pay to hear Journey songs.. so that what Schon etc did after Perry decided to piss about.

Whats the point in changing the name when people WANT to listen to Journey still, be it with Perry or not.

Arrival, Generations and Red 13 (sort of) all sounded like Journey to me.

Remember Me, To Be Alive Again, FITHL etc; what not Journey sounding about those songs? (apart from you dicks who will say "theres no Steve Perry)

Is NOTHING ever "sacred" anymore in this day and age????

Geez.

[STORY_TELLER]

Let me clarify something:

I'm not advocating that Journey should have changed their name. The whole point of them touring as a band called Journey is to earn a living. The kind of music these guys make is no longer the mainstream and touring is how they pay their bills. They have nothing else to fall back on, so I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to earn a living off what they jointly worked so hard to build up over the years. That's only fair.

At the same time, Perry deserves his fair share from the band touring songs he not only co-wrote, but developed into the hits we now know them to be. Song writers earn royalties off songs they did not even sing. This is no different.

I just want to point out something else:

Let's say when Perry joined the band, they changed their name from Journey to Mama's Sour Breast Milk. Would it then be okay to change the name after Perry was gone? Because the majority argument appears to be that there was a Journey before Perry so there should be a Journey after Perry.

Personally, I find this argument silly (yes, you ProgRocker53, I'm talking to you, lol...).

The Journey that existed before Perry, regardless of what you personally think of the music looking at it from a musician's perspective, was an irrelevant band. They were about to lose their record contract and that's not because they were an instrumental band. They brought in Robert Fleishman and were still going nowhere. When Perry came in, he changed their sound. Neal himself said: "This is the new Journey".

You guys wouldn't have a Journey to argue about had Perry not joined the band and I seriously doubt any of us would know of much less own copies of those early albums had he not.

[Red13JoePa]

The people who cream jeans in joy and write corny "THANK YOU STEVE!!!!" messages at The Perry Hotel.com when he posts annual self-congratulatory birthday messages and mustard preferences want Journey to change their name.

The other 10-20K who show to see the concerts to see Journey are glad they're seeing Journey.

[no1uknow]

Journey was only as good as they were because of Steve Perry. Any half decent musicians could have been hired to play for him. They are just a Journey tribute band now. Nuff said.

[mistiejourney]

The people who cream jeans in joy and write corny "THANK YOU STEVE!!!!" messages at The Perry Hotel.com when he posts annual self-congratulatory birthday messages and mustard preferences want Journey to change their name.

The other 10-20K who show to see the concerts to see Journey are glad they're seeing Journey.

JoePa, you do have a way with words!

[STORY_TELLER]

Journey was only as good as they were because of Steve Perry. Any half decent musicians could have been hired to play for him. They are just a Journey tribute band now. Nuff said.

Well, that's not true either. Perry's solo efforts don't rise to the quality of any Journey album. The collaboration of Perry, Neal and Jon is what made Journey great and all three of them produce less impressive material when they work with other musicians. They had a tremendous and unique chemistry together and that kind of chemistry isn't so easy to find or reproduce.

[Tomulator]

Journey was only as good as they were because of Steve Perry. Any half decent musicians could have been hired to play for him. They are just a Journey tribute band now. Nuff said.

True Dat.

[BobbyinTN]

Oh fuck you people!!!

(LOL) It's my 200th post, so I had to make it a good one.

I don't think Steve Perry alone is any more Journey than Neil Schon is. Together they were Journey, as they were with Steve Augeri and JSS and are now with Arnel.

You can't recapture the past. Today and the future is all there is and we just have to get used to it. If you don't like them any longer, stop listening. As for me, I'm gonna listen to the new stuff. If I don't like it, much like RED 13 and GENERATIONS, I'll ignore it and wait for something better.

Until then, I'm gonna enjoy what they made together and not bitch about something I can't control.

[Greg]

Was this ever done before in the history of rock?Did any of the famous bands changed their name after the lead singer was replaced?
I can't remember any legendary band doing that.

Of course,Perry was the trademark voice of the band,but not the name of the band,so Journey remains Journey - a rock band that went through personnel changes.

The exceptions would be Bon Jovi,Van Halen,Daughtry,Winger or any other band named after a member.

Maybe not a legendary band, but Creed changed their name to Alter Bridge after Scott Stapp left the band. Creed was rather popular.

[fightingilliniJRNY]

Journey was only as good as they were because of Steve Perry. Any half decent musicians could have been hired to play for him. They are just a Journey tribute band now. Nuff said.

Very articulate, well thought-out post. You're going to have a long life here.

That "Journey is a tribute band argument now" is a fucking joke.

[no1uknow]

Your mama! Neal can't sing like Steve Perry and neither can any of the others. Of course we can't control other people. That goes without saying. Duh If you listen to the radio or Journey's greatest hits all you're going to hear is Steve Perry. As it should be. If you want to meet up with cool people and hear the tribute band then you go to the shows. It's all good. Rock on with your bad self.

[Rockindeano]

Your mama! Neal can't sing like Steve Perry and neither can any of the others. Of course we can't control other people. That goes without saying. Duh If you listen to the radio or Journey's greatest hits all you're going to hear is Steve Perry. As it should be. If you want to meet up with cool people and hear the tribute band then you go to the shows. It's all good. Rock on with your bad self.

Yeah, we don't know you? oh ok

Go fuck yourself.

[STORY_TELLER]

Your mama! Neal can't sing like Steve Perry and neither can any of the others. Of course we can't control other people. That goes without saying. Duh If you listen to the radio or Journey's greatest hits all you're going to hear is Steve Perry. As it should be. If you want to meet up with cool people and hear the tribute band then you go to the shows. It's all good. Rock on with your bad self.

AR-?

[finalfight]

Was this ever done before in the history of rock?Did any of the famous bands changed their name after the lead singer was replaced?
I can't remember any legendary band doing that.

Of course,Perry was the trademark voice of the band,but not the name of the band,so Journey remains Journey - a rock band that went through personnel changes.

The exceptions would be Bon Jovi,Van Halen,Daughtry,Winger or any other band named after a member.

Maybe not a legendary band, but Creed changed their name to Alter Bridge after Scott Stapp left the band. Creed was rather popular.

Thats because Stapp went completely off the rails (on stage breakdowns, a sex tape, assault etc) and the band wanted to distance themselves from his embarrassing antics.

[no1uknow]

Watch it Bambam, I mean Deano. I wouldn't want you to blow an engine.

[finalfight]

Your mama! Neal can't sing like Steve Perry and neither can any of the others.

Actually Deen does a pretty good Perry.

[jrnyman28]

Rainbow
Deep Purple
Genesis
Quiet Riot
Bad Company
Iced Earth
Motley Crue

All BANDS that kept their name after replacing their frontman/singer/image of the band.

[finalfight]

Rainbow
Deep Purple
Genesis
Quiet Riot
Bad Company
Iced Earth
Motley Crue

All BANDS that kept their name after replacing their frontman/singer/image of the band.

Don't forget Judas Priest, Skid Row and Iron Maiden.

[finalfight]

and Boston with Fran Cosmo on lead...

[Red13JoePa]

Pink Flloyd for Godsakes.

[finalfight]

Pink Flloyd for Godsakes.

Of course, the Floyd! Oh and another little known band called Genesis who went through three lead singers Gabriel, Collins and Wilson before Collins recently returned to the fold.

How about Marillion? A complete change of musical direction followed a lead singer change much as it did with Genesis.

[STORY_TELLER]

Your mama! Neal can't sing like Steve Perry and neither can any of the others.

Actually Deen does a pretty good Perry.

So does Jeremy when he sings songs originate by Perry. But neither Jeremy, Deen, Augeri or Chalfant can originate songs of Perry's caliber and that's the difference. Time will tell what Arnel can or can't do.

[finalfight]

Your mama! Neal can't sing like Steve Perry and neither can any of the others.

Actually Deen does a pretty good Perry.

So does Jeremy when he sings songs originate by Perry. But neither Jeremy, Deen, Augeri or Chalfant can originate songs of Perry's caliber and that's the difference. Time will tell what Arnel can or can't do.

I would argue that Chalfant can and has albeit without the same level of commercial success. The dude's still out there writing and performing though.

Jeremey is apparantly working on new material and if it's the same caliber as the three original songs that he already has online I for one look forward to hearing it.

[Saint John]

If Steve Perry was responsible for the bulk of Journey's success as many contend, then were these droves of fans when FTLOSM landed like Chris Farley doing a belly flop into a 2 foot swimming pool? This argument is absurd. Journey has always been an ever changing array of talent. Perry was obviously the brightest star, but Schon has proven to be the most consistent, most durable and most importantly the fucking most reliable. However, Perry was also an anchor form 1984 to 1998. His systematic destruction of the band through bad decision making, indecisiveness, deception, and an out of control ego negatively affected the band for a decade and a half. Schon wasn't responsible for even a square root of that amount. Advantage Schon.

[Voyager]

Need we say anymore - as I strongly believe this case has been closed since 1996, and here is the proof. Anything before and after Steve Perry is literately and completely irrelevant to the music industry and society as well.

Exactly. The name may have remained "Journey", but the hits stopped when Steve Perry left. That says it all.