Early Eclipse interview from Deen

[kgdjpubs]

the FACT is that if Journey is still active because of him. If the tour with Def Leppard had been canceled...the damage would be huge for the band. Jeff saved the band, period.

Not so sure I agree with this. It would have been a large monetary sum to cancel out of the contract, but in the grand scheme of things, it would have been a blip on the radar at best. It wouldn't be the first time a band has cancelled a tour due to a legitimate medical issue (aka singer with no voice), and tours are cancelled for various reasons all the time.

All the credit to JSS for stepping up to a very daunting task, and pretty much landing on his feet with very little warmup. To be perfectly blunt though, he saved Journey a fair amount of money by agreeing to sub. Nothing more, nothing less.

Maybe I was a little bit dramatic on my post, but IMO Journey was going downhill between 2002-2006. They released a controversial EP, a more controversial album (Generations), which was given by free for the concert goers , then a 30th Anniversary tour not so well recieved because the long set-list with obscure songs and the problems with Steve Augeri and his voice. All of these things happened in a sequence and, in my opinion, if they had missed the tour it would contribute to go down a bit more.

I'm not sure about going "downhill", although I do agree about a drop in popularity. From a fan perspective, they took a lot of gambles during that period. I think I preferred the gambles to the alternative of nothing new and simply playing the hits and just the hits night after night. Smart gambles from a financial standpoint? Probably not, but there was some very cool stuff in there also.

That's the real importance of JSS. He was on the fire and quickly took over the responsability and helped to make that tour be one of the most succesful tours at that time. It reopened doors for Journey, and that's why I believe that the band was unfair with Jeff...he helped to put Journey back on track, and after that they decided to move on with another singer.

...which is exactly what I said. JSS stepped up with basically no warmup and got the band through the tour. The thing is though that the Journey/DL tour was going to be successful regardless of who was singing for Journey, be it Augeri, JSS, Chalfant or whoever else they could have roped in once Augeri went down. It was also the first co-headlining tour for Def Leppard also if I remember correctly, when they were headlining by themselves a few years earlier. Combine the two fanbases, and it's no surprise that the tour was popular.

Did the tour help Journey? To some extent, yes. It certainly helped the financial side of things. The very quiet period after the tour with the changeover from JSS to Arnel probably killed any momentum that had been built however.

In the big picture however, JSS is simply a footnote in the history of the band. Great frontman, and he could basically handle the material. He also saved Journey a lot of money by bailing them out after a lamebrained decision of entering a major tour with a wounded singer. That's pretty much where his contribution ends however.

[SF-Dano]

Does anyone remember Robert Fleishman as a singer for Journey? Very, very few. Soto will be remembered/forgotten in the same way a few years from now. Neither appeared on a released Journey recording. The die-hards will remember and the casuals will not.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Does anyone remember Robert Fleishman as a singer for Journey? Very, very few. Soto will be remembered/forgotten in the same way a few years from now. Neither appeared on a released Journey recording. The die-hards will remember and the casuals will not.

EVERYONE after Perry is a footnote. Fleishman and Rolie get some historical cred for pre-dating Perry as singers, but that's about it. New Journey music, (be it Augeri, Arnel, or whoever), is strictly for die-hards.

[The_Noble_Cause]

I think they have pretty much tried to erase both Steve Augeri and Jeff Scott Soto.

Is it just me, or has alot of the Vegas 2001 footage been pulled off YouTube?

[Don]

I think they have pretty much tried to erase both Steve Augeri and Jeff Scott Soto.

Is it just me, or has alot of the Vegas 2001 footage been pulled off YouTube?

If that is the case it will be Sony's doing, not Nomota's. I believe Columbia is gradually having all of their videos aligned with VIVO to try and generate some type of income from having the material on line.

[Intell]

[quote="Tito"]I know we mess around here a lot about band members, etc. But, if there's one guy that is genuinely a nice guy, good person, who I believe, and truly trust, it's a Deen Castronovo. I believe him. I take his words to the bank. He loves everybody too. No agendas.


I second that motion!

[Don]

Once someone has been an addict and lived the life of constantly telling lies and what not to cover their addiction, anytime they say something even a bit questionable, it will always come under the microscope.
Controlling a substance addiction is one thing but eliminating all the bad traits brought on by it is another.
Once accustomed to it, lying can a hard habit to break.
I'm not singling out Deen here. For Perry, Schon, really hundreds of rockstars there have been times in their career where the big bad addiction monkey (even being long departed) has probably accounted for some of the unbelievable shit that has come out of their mouths on occasion. I'm sure Arnel has been there too, doesn't matter how much of a "good"person you want to be or are perceived to be.

[Intell]

Once someone has been an addict and lived the life of constantly telling lies and what not to cover their addiction, anytime they say something even a bit questionable, it will always come under the microscope.
Controlling a substance addiction is one thing but eliminating all the bad traits brought on by it is another.
Once accustomed to it, lying can a hard habit to break.
I'm not singling out Deen here. For Perry, Schon, really hundreds of rockstars there have been times in their career where the big bad addiction monkey (even being long departed) has probably accounted for some of the unbelievable shit that has come out of their mouths on occasion. I'm sure Arnel has been there too, doesn't matter how much of a "good"person you want to be or are perceived to be.

All of us are humans. All of us fallible. None are perfect. Perception can be powerful. We can only go by what we have heard and seen personally.

[Don]

Once someone has been an addict and lived the life of constantly telling lies and what not to cover their addiction, anytime they say something even a bit questionable, it will always come under the microscope.
Controlling a substance addiction is one thing but eliminating all the bad traits brought on by it is another.
Once accustomed to it, lying can a hard habit to break.
I'm not singling out Deen here. For Perry, Schon, really hundreds of rockstars there have been times in their career where the big bad addiction monkey (even being long departed) has probably accounted for some of the unbelievable shit that has come out of their mouths on occasion. I'm sure Arnel has been there too, doesn't matter how much of a "good"person you want to be or are perceived to be.

All of us are humans. All of us fallible. None are perfect. Perception can be powerful. We can only go by what we have heard and seen personally.

Of course. We can THINK that Perry, Schon, Cain or even me, SJ, etc. are the Devil while believing that Deen, Augeri, Arnel, Steve Smith and so on are great human beings but as we don't really know any of them beyond what we have read or put together from interviews and what not, we can't really be sure. Friends can enlighten us to a point s but they'll more than likely have a certain bias in the assessment so it's still quite fallible.

[S2M]

Once someone has been an addict and lived the life of constantly telling lies and what not to cover their addiction, anytime they say something even a bit questionable, it will always come under the microscope.
Controlling a substance addiction is one thing but eliminating all the bad traits brought on by it is another.
Once accustomed to it, lying can a hard habit to break.
I'm not singling out Deen here. For Perry, Schon, really hundreds of rockstars there have been times in their career where the big bad addiction monkey (even being long departed) has probably accounted for some of the unbelievable shit that has come out of their mouths on occasion. I'm sure Arnel has been there too, doesn't matter how much of a "good"person you want to be or are perceived to be.

All of us are humans. All of us fallible. None are perfect. Perception can be powerful. We can only go by what we have heard and seen personally.

Of course. We can THINK that Perry, Schon, Cain or even me, SJ, etc. are the Devil while believing that Deen, Augeri, Arnel, Steve Smith and so on are great human beings but as we don't really know any of them beyond what we have read or put together from interviews and what not, we can't really be sure. Friends can enlighten us to a point s but they'll more than likely have a certain bias in the assessment so it's still quite fallible.

I've heard you were a great guy....from friends.

[Don]

John Wayne Gacey was a pillar of the community. Ted Bundy was personable and intelligent, the type of guy that everyone likes to have at a party.
We just never know what REALLY lurks beneath, do we?

[donnaplease]

the FACT is that if Journey is still active because of him. If the tour with Def Leppard had been canceled...the damage would be huge for the band. Jeff saved the band, period.

Not so sure I agree with this. It would have been a large monetary sum to cancel out of the contract, but in the grand scheme of things, it would have been a blip on the radar at best. It wouldn't be the first time a band has cancelled a tour due to a legitimate medical issue (aka singer with no voice), and tours are cancelled for various reasons all the time.

All the credit to JSS for stepping up to a very daunting task, and pretty much landing on his feet with very little warmup. To be perfectly blunt though, he saved Journey a fair amount of money by agreeing to sub. Nothing more, nothing less.

Absolutely incorrect. Jeff was made a full time member of the band shortly after the tour, or at least close to that time.

Totally irrelevant to the bolded part in question. The point was that JSS's main contribution was saving the band a fair amount of money for not pulling out of the DL tour. What happened after the tour doesn't matter. No disrespect to him, but it's a joke to say he "saved the band".

Can we all agree that as history stands now, he saved the tour for them? In addition to the monetary ramifications, had the tour been cancelled, there might have been much more publicity surrounding the tapegate controversy, which would have been an even bigger black eye for the band. What happened after the tour DOES matter because once again the band is propagating a lie. You may not care about that, but there are many that do. He may have originally agreed to 'sub' but was eventually invited to join the band. THAT is a fact.

[Gideon]

Can we all agree that as history stands now, he saved the tour for them?

Definitely.

[Saint John]

Can we all agree that as history stands now, he saved the tour for them?

Yes and no. He was the one asked, but you make it sound as if he was the only one that could do it. I'm sure Chalfant, Hunsicker or someone else would have stepped in and done just fine had Soto said no.

[Gideon]

Can we all agree that as history stands now, he saved the tour for them?

Yes and no. He was the one asked, but you make it sound as if he was the only one that could do it. I'm sure Chalfant, Hunsicker or someone else would have stepped in and done just fine had Soto said no.

I love Arnel, but Chalfant is in a whole 'nother league for me.

[donnaplease]

Can we all agree that as history stands now, he saved the tour for them?

Yes and no. He was the one asked, but you make it sound as if he was the only one that could do it. I'm sure Chalfant, Hunsicker or someone else would have stepped in and done just fine had Soto said no.

But they didn't, he did, and that's why I said "as history stands now". I know it kills you, but it is what it is.

[RedWingFan]

Can we all agree that as history stands now, he saved the tour for them?

Yes and no. He was the one asked, but you make it sound as if he was the only one that could do it. I'm sure Chalfant, Hunsicker or someone else would have stepped in and done just fine had Soto said no.

I love Arnel, but Chalfant is in a whole 'nother league for me.

+1 Chalfant is a great songwriter too. Go to the 3:25 mark "If This Is Love"

[Gideon]

+1 Chalfant is a great songwriter too. Go to the 3:25 mark "If This Is Love"

This might be sacrilegious, but I actually might prefer Chalfant's voice to Perry himself.
As for songwriting, I know you're not a big Eclipse fan RW, but I'm glad they're taking a little departure from the straightforward formula.

[kgdjpubs]

Can we all agree that as history stands now, he saved the tour for them?

Yes and no. He was the one asked, but you make it sound as if he was the only one that could do it. I'm sure Chalfant, Hunsicker or someone else would have stepped in and done just fine had Soto said no.

I love Arnel, but Chalfant is in a whole 'nother league for me.

+1 Chalfant is a great songwriter too. Go to the 3:25 mark "If This Is Love"

Chalfant is VERY good. Running With the Wind was a very solid cd, but always thought his vocals on the Eye of the Storm album were the best he ever did.

[yandtguy]

Does anyone remember Robert Fleishman as a singer for Journey? Very, very few. Soto will be remembered/forgotten in the same way a few years from now. Neither appeared on a released Journey recording. The die-hards will remember and the casuals will not.

Fleishman remembers Journey every time he gets a check for helping to write "Wheel In The Sky." I'm sure Rolie still cashes his checks, too.

[yandtguy]

Can we all agree that as history stands now, he saved the tour for them?

Yes and no. He was the one asked, but you make it sound as if he was the only one that could do it. I'm sure Chalfant, Hunsicker or someone else would have stepped in and done just fine had Soto said no.

I love Arnel, but Chalfant is in a whole 'nother league for me.

Chalfant's voice is too thin. Don't get me wrong, I love that first Storm album, but Chalfant is too one dimensional in my opinion.

[Gideon]

Chalfant's voice is too thin.

Perry had the same problem until 1983.
From the songs I've heard from Chalfant, he's a master of utilizing his expansive range; he can hit astronomical high notes as well as tap into that gutteral lower register. He's like Perry ca. 1978 and 1986 rolled into one.

Don't get me wrong, I love that first Storm album, but Chalfant is too one dimensional in my opinion.

To each his own.

[Argus]

Can we all agree that as history stands now, he saved the tour for them?

Yes and no. He was the one asked, but you make it sound as if he was the only one that could do it. I'm sure Chalfant, Hunsicker or someone else would have stepped in and done just fine had Soto said no.

I beg to differ, JSS was the only one who was acceptable to the majority of the vocal internet fan base. Brilliant fit. Had UK appeal and EURO acceptance already, a bunch of Internet fans, a super stage presence and exudes sexy. Oh La La. Sure there was turmoil, sure there was division, but that tour worked. Band picked and water under the bridge.

[conversationpc]

Perry had the same problem until 1983.
From the songs I've heard from Chalfant, he's a master of utilizing his expansive range; he can hit astronomical high notes as well as tap into that gutteral lower register. He's like Perry ca. 1978 and 1986 rolled into one.

Not at all. Perry's voice was never thin from what I've heard. His voice was certain a bit HIGHER prior to '83 but it wasn't thin at all.

[Gideon]

Not at all. Perry's voice was never thin from what I've heard. His voice was certain a bit HIGHER prior to '83 but it wasn't thin at all.

Nah, Perry's full voice wasn't really tapped into until Frontiers. Listen to something like 'Lights' side-by-side with a song like 'Captured By the Moment' and you can hear that the former has much fatter, rounder notes.

This phenomenon was analyzed in the very well in the extensive article on Perry, "One in a Million."

On Raised on Radio and the ensuing tour, yet another sound had emerged – unarguably another step down from the high end early eighties histrionics, but now featuring a register with incredible vocal richness and a warmth not heard before. It had been hinted at on Street Talk, but with the ‘Radio’ songs having their fair share of soulfully structured pieces and displaying textures not produced before on a Journey album (although you can argue that this was more of ‘Perry Project’) the singer got a chance to explore those textures vocally.

[annie89509]

No offense to KC...many posters here put him on a par with SP... I just don't hear it. Sure, he had the vocal pipes in the Storm records, but (like someone said earlier), too one-dimensional for me.

[steveo777]

What people don't understand is the toll the Journey catalog will take on any singer's vocals over the course of a tour.
Could Kevin handle the tour Journey is currently on? I doubt it. The guy they've got barely can and he's younger.

[Gideon]

What people don't understand is the toll the Journey catalog will take on any singer's vocals over the course of a tour.
Could Kevin handle the tour Journey is currently on? I doubt it. The guy they've got barely can and he's younger.

Yeah, Kevin definitely couldn't handle it now. But I'm confident he could have when Journey originally intended to reform.

[Don]

I'm not a fan of Chalfant. Kevin (and Hugo) sound like watered down versions of Perry with just no heaviness in their voices at all.

Augeri wasn't blowing the doors off of anything himself but as I never felt that he sounded like Perry, I wasn't expecting him to anyway.

[Gideon]

I'm not a fan of Chalfant.

I'm surprised, actually. Don't you prefer Perry's voice during the pre-Cain years?