It Could Have Been You 2024 - Lukather and Perry

[kmjrr]

Perry in Rolling Stone:
In Perry’s mind, the finished version is vastly superior to the Journey original back in 1986. “It’s not an easy thing to do,” he says. “I was told a long time ago, if you can’t beat the original, don’t cover it. They not only beat it, they reimagined it.

[Journey/Survivor]

Perry in Rolling Stone:
In Perry’s mind, the finished version is vastly superior to the Journey original back in 1986. “It’s not an easy thing to do,” he says. “I was told a long time ago, if you can’t beat the original, don’t cover it. They not only beat it, they reimagined it.

Much like Herbie, Perry has a history of making ridiculous statements. He used to claim that Van Halen and AC/DC were always kicking Journey's butts every night in concert. The moral of the story is that Perry always tries to claim that everything else is better than Journey.


The Journey original is clearly better.

[UrbanCoyote]

I really dislike the mix. The guitars are way too loud.

[Art Vandelay]

Perry in Rolling Stone:
In Perry’s mind, the finished version is vastly superior to the Journey original back in 1986. “It’s not an easy thing to do,” he says. “I was told a long time ago, if you can’t beat the original, don’t cover it. They not only beat it, they reimagined it.

Much like Herbie, Perry has a history of making ridiculous statements. He used to claim that Van Halen and AC/DC were always kicking Journey's butts every night in concert. The moral of the story is that Perry always tries to claim that everything else is better than Journey.


The Journey original is clearly better.

I think those comments about AC/DC and Van Halen were about them being louder, more bombastic and in your face with the crowd while Journey was more structured musicianship. I don't think it applied that they were better. If anything it probably encouraged Journey to connect more with the audience.

[Pelata]

Perry in Rolling Stone:
In Perry’s mind, the finished version is vastly superior to the Journey original back in 1986. “It’s not an easy thing to do,” he says. “I was told a long time ago, if you can’t beat the original, don’t cover it. They not only beat it, they reimagined it.

Much like Herbie, Perry has a history of making ridiculous statements. He used to claim that Van Halen and AC/DC were always kicking Journey's butts every night in concert. The moral of the story is that Perry always tries to claim that everything else is better than Journey.


The Journey original is clearly better.

I think those comments about AC/DC and Van Halen were about them being louder, more bombastic and in your face with the crowd while Journey was more structured musicianship. I don't think it applied that they were better. If anything it probably encouraged Journey to connect more with the audience.

I'm sure there's the added "feigned humility" element as well.

[koberry]

I think it's great that someone wants to cover a Journey track and it has SPs backing and involvement. I didn't really love this track on RoR, but it was serviceable enough at the time. This is no worse. If this performance boosts interest in Journey as being still relevant in current music trends, then that's good enough. I've loved all incarnations of this band since the eponymous debut record and I think it's super fookin' awesome that there's still something 'new' and interesting to listen to and talk about more than 50 years later. What more can a fan ask for? What other bands have this legacy? You're talking Temptations, Diamond, Four Seasons and few others that are still on the road.

[Journey/Survivor]

I didn't really love this track on RoR, but it was serviceable enough at the time. This is no worse.

It has always been one of my favorites from the ROR album.

There are some things that I like about this cover version. But there are also its share of negatives. The production is bad on it in many ways among other things, IMO.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Like everybody else, I wish I could hear Steve more. Overall, I like this cover. Some of the negative reactions took me off guard.

[Arkansas]

Much like Herbie, Perry has a history of making ridiculous statements. He used to claim that Van Halen and AC/DC were always kicking Journey's butts every night in concert. The moral of the story is that Perry always tries to claim that everything else is better than Journey.

It's just professional courtesy (flattery) and a little bit of salesmanship. He's always very complimentary of others, whether its real or not. Just like the American Idol chick that did DSB a few yrs ago, he said something like "the most amazing version ever". Was it really? Probably not. And the other side of it is more clicks, more views, and more sales, not only for the new band or singer, but for the Journey catalog. To say that something new is the best ever is simply a win-win. And the same goes for the praise from Cain too. (Btw, Cain & Schon probably got an early copy of the new version. Or at least, daughter Madison leaked it to them.)

I too wish he had a bigger vocal, and maybe he was offered, but I'd bet it was his choice to stay in the background. (In that America song, Lullaby, from way back when, he was barely heard.) The conversation probably went, "No Trev, this is your record not mine."

Something else, physically @ 70-something, he most likely can't sustain a big vocal without studio magic. So staying low and back was easy to do.


later~

[Monker]

I always thought that ROR was too 80's pop, too generic drums and bass, too Street Talk, even too R&B in some ways...and not enough rock, not enough Neal, not enough previous Journey. "It Could have Been You" is a good song but it still suffers from those same things.

So, having an updated "modern rock" version of "It Could Have Been You" is a good thing. This is much more like I wish the original had been. It still has that funky R&B riff and vibe but it leans much more into rock...which is what this song and ROR as a whole needed, IMO. It's interesting reading Perry praise this song since he guided ROR in the electronic R&B pop direction that made up the original song. There are some minor choices I don't like...some parts sound choppy for some reason and the silent pause toward the end where they did "it could have been........you" sounds weird to me. But, over all, I like it.

Too bad Journey doesn't go back and "reimagine" and modernize some of their old non-hit songs. This is an example of a song that they could have improved on with a more modern sound. I would have rather heard Journey remake this than another band. But, whatever.

[FamilyMan]

Neal weighs in:

https://x.com/NealSchonMusic/status/1788107655627899014

[belar]

Overall very disappointing. I really can't hear Steve at all.

[ebake02]

Neal weighs in:

https://x.com/NealSchonMusic/status/1788107655627899014

I completely agree with him too.

[JourneyHard]

Neal weighs in:

https://x.com/NealSchonMusic/status/1788107655627899014

This proves what I always suspected. Neal listens to everything Perry does, and Perry listens to everything Neal does although Perry will deny it.

[jrnyman28]

Neal weighs in:

https://x.com/NealSchonMusic/status/1788107655627899014

What did he say? (I’m still blocked supposedly from when he was hacked)

[danielb]

Neal: "I was expecting to hear more of Steve mainly because of all the hype."

Indeed. As with any recent Steve collaborations, he can barely be heard. Trev hyped this to the moon and back so expectations were high.

[jrnyman28]

Neal: "I was expecting to hear more of Steve mainly because of all the hype."

Indeed. As with any recent Steve collaborations, he can barely be heard. Trev hyped this to the moon and back so expectations were high.

Thank you and agree!

[Aaron]

The dude is a problem and not a good person.

Curious what Trev's father-in-law thinks of all this

Answer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdhfvWhrCb0&t=429s

Please don't link to this utter racist, conspiracy driven fuckwit on this site. He knows nothing, says nothing, does nothing.

[Monker]

Neal: "I was expecting to hear more of Steve mainly because of all the hype."

Indeed. As with any recent Steve collaborations, he can barely be heard. Trev hyped this to the moon and back so expectations were high.

He can absolutely be heard in the Dolly cover of "Open Arms".

[Aaron]

Are sure, please prove it to us.

Neal: "I was expecting to hear more of Steve mainly because of all the hype."

Indeed. As with any recent Steve collaborations, he can barely be heard. Trev hyped this to the moon and back so expectations were high.

He can absolutely be heard in the Dolly cover of "Open Arms".

[Monker]

Here ya go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itL07zbZKh8

You can also read the comments in the Perry forum.

Are sure, please prove it to us.

Neal: "I was expecting to hear more of Steve mainly because of all the hype."

Indeed. As with any recent Steve collaborations, he can barely be heard. Trev hyped this to the moon and back so expectations were high.

He can absolutely be heard in the Dolly cover of "Open Arms".