This wasn't lipped

[stevew2]

I know and I totally get what you are saying. I remember watching a Beach Boys concert 25+ years ago and they were ALL lipping and it was so obvious and I remember thinking, well, now that is really odd. I think everyone knew it too especially those that watched it on TV. Anyway, weird but not earth shattering and they went on from there with a new song (Cocamo?) and it never impeded them. I still love them and don't think ill of them, plus I think they are in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, aren't they? I may be wrong about that but I think they are. I just can't imagine that Neal was ever comfortable with any kind of lipping but I really think it was an emergency and they resorted to that to make it through the tour. I don't think we will ever know now because I don't think Neal will ever willingly bring it up again after he was so torn to pieces during the thing. I know I wouldn't.

While I would LOVE to agree with you, it was not a last-minute emergency... the band did it for a few years, not just for that tour. I applaud Steve's contribution to the band, and I really enjoyed Arrival. It was a great album, and because of him I finally got to see Journey in concert for the first time. We probably wouldn't even be talking about Journey right now if it weren't for him.

As I said though... they did it for years. They just never got "caught" until that last tour. They should have scaled back the tour dates and given Steve the time he needed to rest those vocals. That, or they should have replaced him about 4 years ago.

Either way, we had great music with Steve A., and now we have great music from Arnel. Seems like a win-win to me!

Good post Sarge ,funkin rodger and out