Amazing

[FamilyMan]

You know it says alot when Ann Wilson on there last tour with Journey in an article said how the concert experience would be totally complete if Steve Perry was along for the ride.

And she says that not having ever toured with Perry. From what has been said by band members and especially Herbie, He's the worst person to tour with. So irritable and whiny and complains, complains, complains. Knowing what we do about his prima dona mindset I really don't think I'd want to have to deal with him 24/7 for 6, 8, 10 months.

People said the same thing about Pat Benatar but i didn't hear any complaints from Journey's last tour. Never read anything from Greg Kihn, Loverboy, Glass Tiger or any band Journey toured with about any of the Journey band members being assholes or prima donnas. Probably because there was nothing to complain about. Different buses, different rooms, different everything except the same stage.
As for Herbie, we've heard from the other band members how Perry was the only one with the balls to go up against him when HH tried to get a larger percentage of the band's gross profits.
Is it any wonder then that El Blimpo has an axe to grind?

Nice dig from someone whose own band doesn't bear any resemblance to it's original lineup.

[jestor92]

I really think that Journey's biggest mistake was going with a vocalist that tried sounding like Perry in the first place. As soon as Augeri was hired you knew the band didn't really care about make quality new music and were more interested in touring behind the classics. If they were really interested in continuing on as a band that could make quality music they would've had some balls and hired a vocalist who could write and really excite the crowds. They did that after they finally put Augeri down and then they lost their balls and left him go as well.

[kgdjpubs]

I really think that Journey's biggest mistake was going with a vocalist that tried sounding like Perry in the first place. As soon as Augeri was hired you knew the band didn't really care about make quality new music and were more interested in touring behind the classics. If they were really interested in continuing on as a band that could make quality music they would've had some balls and hired a vocalist who could write and really excite the crowds. They did that after they finally put Augeri down and then they lost their balls and left him go as well.

no, the biggest mistake was the Trial By Fire reunion with Perry. Go away for 10 years to reunite with Perry, THEN pick up a new singer. TBF cemented Perry's place as the lead singer of Journey. Either way though, Journey had to hire someone who could cover the catalog. The chances of doing anything with ANY other singer than Perry--unless maybe you hired someone who was already a name--was basically nil. btw, JSS doesn't count. I'm talking a singer that most people would know on the street like maybe a Marc Anthony or similar. Nothing against the talent of JSS, but he's unknown. Journey simply waited too long and the music industry changed and they were stuck with the hits.

[The_Noble_Cause]

I think Jestor and Kgdj are both right. The TBF reunion solidified the fact that Perry was Journey and Journey was Perry. If the band wanted to be ballsy and pull a Sammy Hagar, than they shoulda went with Michael Bolton around the time of The Hunger album (produced by Cain/Schon) and tried to strike while the genre was still somewhat relevant. Augeri, given his Tall Stories work, was a good choice. Just a shame he couldn't hold up live.

[Memorex]

The new singer didn't have to cover the catalog if the choice was to change direction completely. It wasn't like Van Halen was doing that many old songs - and Sammy could cover those all day long if he wanted. And so guess what happened - they became even more relevant.

My personal opinion was that Journey should have hung it up. But - if they weren't going to, then they should have never done the tribute-band thing. Hagar replacing Roth was cool because Sammy had a vocal talent that surpassed Dave (in my opinion) and brought a personality that could go toe to toe with Dave's. But you don't replace Steve Perry with a guy working at the gap and with a third of the vocal talent and expect people to view you as relevant. People were NEVER going to say Augeri was in the top 5 vocalists of all time and they won't say that about Arnel either.

For the direction Neal and Jon chose, they did their job. They built up a fan base of people that want to go see them perform Stone In Love and Don't Stop Believin'. But I sure do get annoyed when Neal complains that no one takes the new stuff seriously. He caused that problem with his replacements. And he flushed the one true shot he had to get it back (with Jeff) down the toilet.

[kgdjpubs]

The new singer didn't have to cover the catalog if the choice was to change direction completely. It wasn't like Van Halen was doing that many old songs - and Sammy could cover those all day long if he wanted. And so guess what happened - they became even more relevant.

I think that could have worked.....in 1989. After a 10 year absence with the music industry changing, and Trial By Fire, you might as well start again with a new band name. All you would get with a total direction change is alienating the Perry fans without picking up very many of the new ones.

My personal opinion was that Journey should have hung it up. But - if they weren't going to, then they should have never done the tribute-band thing. Hagar replacing Roth was cool because Sammy had a vocal talent that surpassed Dave (in my opinion) and brought a personality that could go toe to toe with Dave's. But you don't replace Steve Perry with a guy working at the gap and with a third of the vocal talent and expect people to view you as relevant. People were NEVER going to say Augeri was in the top 5 vocalists of all time and they won't say that about Arnel either.

The question stands somewhat as to who do you pick? I honestly don't think the audiences care about the background of the singer. All they care about is can they sing the songs, and the stage presence. It's safe to say that Augeri wasn't Perry (and was never going to be), but you've got a fairly limited amount of singers to choose from.

For the direction Neal and Jon chose, they did their job. They built up a fan base of people that want to go see them perform Stone In Love and Don't Stop Believin'. But I sure do get annoyed when Neal complains that no one takes the new stuff seriously. He caused that problem with his replacements. And he flushed the one true shot he had to get it back (with Jeff) down the toilet.

I don't think JSS was going to get it back either....not in 2007, at least. 1990, maybe, but that ship had sailed long ago.

[Marzdog]

they all look like they dont want to be there except for Deen.
There for the check.

This is a decade old problem. Nothing has changed.

HOOOH! I hope that's not true! He's an opener for Journey no matter the singer.

I'll take up Dean's (Rockindeano) position on this since he is no longer here to do it (RIP).

Not on Journey's best day, today, or in the past 15 years, is Bryan Adams an opener for Journey!

BAs body of work and sales KILLS Journey; period.

[jestor92]

The new singer didn't have to cover the catalog if the choice was to change direction completely. It wasn't like Van Halen was doing that many old songs - and Sammy could cover those all day long if he wanted. And so guess what happened - they became even more relevant.

I think that could have worked.....in 1989. After a 10 year absence with the music industry changing, and Trial By Fire, you might as well start again with a new band name. All you would get with a total direction change is alienating the Perry fans without picking up very many of the new ones.

My personal opinion was that Journey should have hung it up. But - if they weren't going to, then they should have never done the tribute-band thing. Hagar replacing Roth was cool because Sammy had a vocal talent that surpassed Dave (in my opinion) and brought a personality that could go toe to toe with Dave's. But you don't replace Steve Perry with a guy working at the gap and with a third of the vocal talent and expect people to view you as relevant. People were NEVER going to say Augeri was in the top 5 vocalists of all time and they won't say that about Arnel either.

The question stands somewhat as to who do you pick? I honestly don't think the audiences care about the background of the singer. All they care about is can they sing the songs, and the stage presence. It's safe to say that Augeri wasn't Perry (and was never going to be), but you've got a fairly limited amount of singers to choose from.

For the direction Neal and Jon chose, they did their job. They built up a fan base of people that want to go see them perform Stone In Love and Don't Stop Believin'. But I sure do get annoyed when Neal complains that no one takes the new stuff seriously. He caused that problem with his replacements. And he flushed the one true shot he had to get it back (with Jeff) down the toilet.

I don't think JSS was going to get it back either....not in 2007, at least. 1990, maybe, but that ship had sailed long ago.

Saying JSS wasn't going to help get Journey their success back in 2007 is probably true, but it could also be a false statement. Let's be truthful. Revelation mostly sucks as an album. It's a paint by numbers tribute to what Journey sounded like. It just so happened to be packaged with re-recording of the GH setlist on a 2nd cd.

Let's say hypothetically that JSS would've stayed with Journey and they went back into the studio and kicked out the best Journey album since Frontiers or Escape. Package that with the re-recorded GH album and you've got the band trucking on momentum with songs people possibly would want to here along with the Dirty Dozen. Now when they would've released the follow up JSS Journey album the band still has a solid following coming off a great album and sales for the follow up would've been a lot better and people would've been more open to the more harder rocking direction that the band goes into.

Instead of the above scenario that could've played out with JSS we received the shitty Revelation and the slightly better, but still underwhelming Eclipse. Also the band has lost all momentum that they gained when DSB blew up from out of nowhere because the releases since DSB blew up haven't been any good at all.

[kgdjpubs]

I don't think JSS was going to get it back either....not in 2007, at least. 1990, maybe, but that ship had sailed long ago.

Saying JSS wasn't going to help get Journey their success back in 2007 is probably true, but it could also be a false statement. Let's be truthful. Revelation mostly sucks as an album. It's a paint by numbers tribute to what Journey sounded like. It just so happened to be packaged with re-recording of the GH setlist on a 2nd cd.

Let's say hypothetically that JSS would've stayed with Journey and they went back into the studio and kicked out the best Journey album since Frontiers or Escape. Package that with the re-recorded GH album and you've got the band trucking on momentum with songs people possibly would want to here along with the Dirty Dozen. Now when they would've released the follow up JSS Journey album the band still has a solid following coming off a great album and sales for the follow up would've been a lot better and people would've been more open to the more harder rocking direction that the band goes into.

Instead of the above scenario that could've played out with JSS we received the shitty Revelation and the slightly better, but still underwhelming Eclipse. Also the band has lost all momentum that they gained when DSB blew up from out of nowhere because the releases since DSB blew up haven't been any good at all.

I honestly think they could have released Escape 2 with JSS and had basically the same reaction as Revelation, although the Arnel story (and Filipino fanbase) accounted for some percentage of sales that JSS would not have given them.

Now, if they had released a typical Journey album as opposed to going experimental with Eclipse, they would have been better off to capitalize on the momentum, but I don't think who ended up singing would have mattered one iota (other than maybe JSS convincing them NOT to go experimental). Even releasing Revelation 2 would have been an improvement saleswise. They simply missed the ball. Regardless, you are still faced with the general disinterest of labels and radio in a Perry-less Journey as far as new material goes.

Just to be clear....I think a JSS/Journey album would have been better than the Arnel albums. That said, I don't think it would have mattered much in the long run. It's still Journey without Perry 20 years too late for most people to care.