with Rascal Flatts

[Lora]

His phrasing and timing stand out as objectively horrible to me on most live performances. To me, Arnel has NO clue when to sing certain parts and how long to draw certain words/phrases/notes out.

This is exactly the problem I have with Arnel (and his diction issues) and why I don't enjoy listening to him.

Regarding last night's performance - I wasn't expecting much with that combination of artists. Just doesn't work for me especially with the way the song was cut up. It seemed like the audience was really into the song, though which is cool.

[tater1977]

CMT Awards 2012: Michaele Salahi and Neal Schon walk the red carpet

http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2012/06/c ... um=twitter


Erstwhile White House State Dinner crasher and "Real Housewives of D.C." star Michaele Salahi was on hand Wednesday (June 6) for the CMT Awards in Nashville with boyfriend Neal Schon.

Schon is the bassist for Journey, one of the evening's featured bands. He and Salahi began dating in September 2011. The world found out, along with Michaele's husband Tareq Salahi, when the couple -- who had dated years before -- basically ran away together just 10 days after running into each other at a Virginia concert.

"I'm very happy, very happy after waiting for her for 15 years," Schon told The Daily Beast at the time. "Now I want to get beyond all this media hype that Tareq has put out there. It's really quite embarrassing."

In April, a judge dismissed a $50 million lawsuit brought against the couple by Tareq Salahi, who alleged he was embarrassed in the process of Michaele's transition from one relationship to the other.

[slucero]

... hope they sanitized that carpet afterwards...

[tater1977]

Schon is the bassist for Journey,:

Trying to figure out what he did with Ross?

[jrny84]

His phrasing and timing stand out as objectively horrible to me on most live performances. To me, Arnel has NO clue when to sing certain parts and how long to draw certain words/phrases/notes out.

This is exactly the problem I have with Arnel (and his diction issues) and why I don't enjoy listening to him.

Regarding last night's performance - I wasn't expecting much with that combination of artists. Just doesn't work for me especially with the way the song was cut up. It seemed like the audience was really into the song, though which is cool.

I agee with you guys 100%. I want to really like the new journey with arnel, but when I hear him try to sing with his accent and diction combined with extremely poor timing...it really ruins the journey experience for me. Steve Perry really set the bar high and when he sings the songs I am truly amazed at the shear vocal talent, phrasing, timing, diction, and pronounciation in his performances. Just listen to Arnel sing "Why Cant This Night Go On Forever", and then list to Perry...its untouchable.

[AR]

... hope they sanitized that carpet afterwards...

[steveo777]

You guys were a little hard on the beave last night.

It's one fucking song, not a whole concert or a season of concerts. My wife and I watched it and we were entertained and it looks like the crowd was too. Whatever you look for, whether it be shit or gold, you will find it. Sometimes it's in the attitude of the beholder and my earliest lesson about this was when, as a kid, I decided that our family vacation was going to suck. We set up camp and the rest of the family had a great time while I sulked about how bad this vacation would be. From all reminiscing about the trip, years later, at family reunions, it appears that I was the only one who had predetermined that the trip was going to suck......therefore it did.

[Don]

It's got to be a drag sometimes. Three singers and four or five dozen newer songs later, you keep having to sing the same damn tune from 1981 over and over again whenever you get to be on TV.

[AR]

I actually watched it. Awkward.

I really fucking hate what pretends to be country music these days. If anywhere in the arena I would have thrown a beer bottle at the lead singer from Rascal FAT.

This worked better because this country star was a fan of who he was performing with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEllt2aUriQ

[Aaron]

Dude, do you think that AP growning up homeless and not having English as his native language makes his vocal talents better today than someone else’s? I think Arnel is a good singer, no doubt. I would suggest that we judge a singer's talent on vocal capability. Suggesting AP's difficult upbringing early in life makes him a better vocal talent is ridiculous.

I don't expect anyone to match 1978 - 81.

But I DO expect a lead singer with some sort of talent.

Take this kid, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0HGri7RmN4

He has more talent in his finger than Arnel has.

And this guy, Marc Martel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dREKkAk628I

Arnel can't touch those two in the vocal arena. At All.

Jeff Scott Soto blew Arnel away with the Journey material. I have no "agenda". Arnel is just a hack vocalist and has never impressed me at all.

There are talented vocalists out there. TONS of them. Arenel isn't one of them.

Continue your love fest for Arnel. It doesn't bother me at all. The dude simply can't sing well.

Arnel may not be the GOD of vocalists, but the the dude was homeless at one point of his life, lived in a 3rd world country where English wasn't even his first language. Going from singing in bars, scavenging up .50 cents a night to singing in front of thousands, night in & night out in a foreign country with a MEGA-ROCK LEGEND band like Journey is not made for a "hack vocalist." Sorry, but your "agenda" screams it all when you say Arnel has never impressed you at all and that he "simply" can't sing well.

You don't have to like the guy, but to say Arnel can't sing well is nothing short of blasphemes and he is WELL AWARE of people like you. And for the record, Soto never came remotely close to blowing Arnel away with Journey material. The band didn't even sound like Journey with him at the helm. Arnel is a great direction for the band and does his job well, deal with it. That or stay in 1981 and continue to find the better singers out there than Arnel Pineda. You say it's a love fest when it's clearly a form of trolling HATE for Arnel than anything else. Admit it, you hated the performance before it even began

[YoungJRNY]

I keep waiting to hear an Arnel fronted song on the radio

I've heard "After All These Years" being played on the radio more than a handful of times, as well as "Where Did I Lose Your Love" which I was shocked because it was the first time I heard Journey in the type of retail environment I was in.

[YoungJRNY]

Dude, do you think that AP growning up homeless and not having English as his native language makes his vocal talents better today than someone else’s? I think Arnel is a good singer, no doubt. I would suggest that we judge a singer's talent on vocal capability. Suggesting AP's difficult upbringing early in life makes him a better vocal talent is ridiculous.

I don't expect anyone to match 1978 - 81.

But I DO expect a lead singer with some sort of talent.

Take this kid, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0HGri7RmN4

He has more talent in his finger than Arnel has.

And this guy, Marc Martel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dREKkAk628I

Arnel can't touch those two in the vocal arena. At All.

Jeff Scott Soto blew Arnel away with the Journey material. I have no "agenda". Arnel is just a hack vocalist and has never impressed me at all.

There are talented vocalists out there. TONS of them. Arenel isn't one of them.

Continue your love fest for Arnel. It doesn't bother me at all. The dude simply can't sing well.

Arnel may not be the GOD of vocalists, but the the dude was homeless at one point of his life, lived in a 3rd world country where English wasn't even his first language. Going from singing in bars, scavenging up .50 cents a night to singing in front of thousands, night in & night out in a foreign country with a MEGA-ROCK LEGEND band like Journey is not made for a "hack vocalist." Sorry, but your "agenda" screams it all when you say Arnel has never impressed you at all and that he "simply" can't sing well.

You don't have to like the guy, but to say Arnel can't sing well is nothing short of blasphemes and he is WELL AWARE of people like you. And for the record, Soto never came remotely close to blowing Arnel away with Journey material. The band didn't even sound like Journey with him at the helm. Arnel is a great direction for the band and does his job well, deal with it. That or stay in 1981 and continue to find the better singers out there than Arnel Pineda. You say it's a love fest when it's clearly a form of trolling HATE for Arnel than anything else. Admit it, you hated the performance before it even began

Actually dude, I'm saying his upbringing makes his vocal capabilities singing English songs that much harder, not better. The dude is Filipino but yet, people have a problem with his diction? Well, no shit, his first language is FAR from English but can go out and do Journey justice. He's been working his balls off to sing the diction better, and for the most part, he has compared to once he first started fronting the band. I have no problem with his diction whatsoever. I really do think Arnel can sing his ass off.

[AR]

Dude, do you think that AP growning up homeless and not having English as his native language makes his vocal talents better today than someone else’s? I think Arnel is a good singer, no doubt. I would suggest that we judge a singer's talent on vocal capability. Suggesting AP's difficult upbringing early in life makes him a better vocal talent is ridiculous.

I don't expect anyone to match 1978 - 81.

But I DO expect a lead singer with some sort of talent.

Take this kid, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0HGri7RmN4

He has more talent in his finger than Arnel has.

And this guy, Marc Martel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dREKkAk628I

Arnel can't touch those two in the vocal arena. At All.

Jeff Scott Soto blew Arnel away with the Journey material. I have no "agenda". Arnel is just a hack vocalist and has never impressed me at all.

There are talented vocalists out there. TONS of them. Arenel isn't one of them.

Continue your love fest for Arnel. It doesn't bother me at all. The dude simply can't sing well.

Arnel may not be the GOD of vocalists, but the the dude was homeless at one point of his life, lived in a 3rd world country where English wasn't even his first language. Going from singing in bars, scavenging up .50 cents a night to singing in front of thousands, night in & night out in a foreign country with a MEGA-ROCK LEGEND band like Journey is not made for a "hack vocalist." Sorry, but your "agenda" screams it all when you say Arnel has never impressed you at all and that he "simply" can't sing well.

You don't have to like the guy, but to say Arnel can't sing well is nothing short of blasphemes and he is WELL AWARE of people like you. And for the record, Soto never came remotely close to blowing Arnel away with Journey material. The band didn't even sound like Journey with him at the helm. Arnel is a great direction for the band and does his job well, deal with it. That or stay in 1981 and continue to find the better singers out there than Arnel Pineda. You say it's a love fest when it's clearly a form of trolling HATE for Arnel than anything else. Admit it, you hated the performance before it even began

Actually dude, I'm saying his upbringing makes his vocal capabilities singing English songs that much harder, not better. The dude is Filipino but yet, people have a problem with his diction? Well, no shit, his first language is FAR from English but can go out and do Journey justice. He's been working his balls off to sing the diction better, and for the most part, he has compared to once he first started fronting the band. I have no problem with his diction whatsoever. I really do think Arnel can sing his ass off.

I've even said he's improved greatly since he started with Schon & Co.

[jestor92]

The only time I've heard an Arnel song on the radio has been on the softer pop hits station and that was only about 5-6 times. They shelved it quickly. Even our hometown station Rock 107 didn't play any of the Arnel songs as far as I know and they played the lead single to Styx Cyclorama when it came out.

[donnaplease]

Actually dude, I'm saying his upbringing makes his vocal capabilities singing English songs that much harder, not better. The dude is Filipino but yet, people have a problem with his diction? Well, no shit, his first language is FAR from English but can go out and do Journey justice. He's been working his balls off to sing the diction better, and for the most part, he has compared to once he first started fronting the band. I have no problem with his diction whatsoever. I really do think Arnel can sing his ass off.

That's just it, he's not doing Journey justice. His enunciation/diction in this performance was not good. Plus, I think he forgot a few words. It was an electrifying performance because of the collaboration and simply the popularity of the song, but Arnel's performance was lacking. I bet the people would've been on their feet for the Glee cast singing it with RF too. For people who would rather have this Journey than no Journey, I guess it's acceptable. I won't pay money to go see it, though. I can spend much less money and go see Frontiers - something that sounds much more like the original. It's easier to replicate a guitar/band sound than it is to replicate a vocalist like Espee.

Anybody else chuckle thinking about the review Deano would give of this performance???

[YoungJRNY]

Actually dude, I'm saying his upbringing makes his vocal capabilities singing English songs that much harder, not better. The dude is Filipino but yet, people have a problem with his diction? Well, no shit, his first language is FAR from English but can go out and do Journey justice. He's been working his balls off to sing the diction better, and for the most part, he has compared to once he first started fronting the band. I have no problem with his diction whatsoever. I really do think Arnel can sing his ass off.

That's just it, he's not doing Journey justice. His enunciation/diction in this performance was not good. Plus, I think he forgot a few words. It was an electrifying performance because of the collaboration and simply the popularity of the song, but Arnel's performance was lacking. I bet the people would've been on their feet for the Glee cast singing it with RF too. For people who would rather have this Journey than no Journey, I guess it's acceptable. I won't pay money to go see it, though. I can spend much less money and go see Frontiers - something that sounds much more like the original. It's easier to replicate a guitar/band sound than it is to replicate a vocalist like Espee.

Anybody else chuckle thinking about the review Deano would give of this performance???

He didn't forget any words, the song was heavily edited for time constraints to end the show. I mean, the damn credits were listing for Christ sake, haha. The network was pretty much saying "okay, you got 1 minute tops, GO." I honestly don't think this performance was bad whatsoever, this version of DSB sounded the same coming from Arnel's performance than it did when they were getting off the chart reviews his first couple years in the band itself. Ohwell, can't please everybody OR anybody. This is a proven instance of it. That's the Journey fanbase's problem, they always want and need to compare the lead singers performance to something or someone. They won't allow the lead singer to be his own entity and blame the front-man for not living up to their expectations. All I know is, my country buddies, who are hardcore country, let me talk them into buying 2-led Arnel albums because they enjoyed that moment so much and dug Arnel.

[AR]

I have to admit - WHAM! looked and sounded less gay than Rascal Flatts... They sounded more country, too. Their crap is just nasally pop..

[Deb]

I have to admit - WHAM! looked and sounded less gay than Rascal Flatts... They sounded more country, too. Their crap is just nasally pop..

LOL, well that is one thing I can agree with ya on. I think they are ok, but I've never gotten the hype over RF. But then the lead singer dude's voice doesn't do a thing for me and as ya know that's a deal breaker for me. And agree on the nasal comment.

[Eric]

I keep waiting to hear an Arnel fronted song on the radio

I've heard "After All These Years" being played on the radio more than a handful of times, as well as "Where Did I Lose Your Love" which I was shocked because it was the first time I heard Journey in the type of retail environment I was in.

Yep...."Where Did I Lose Your Love" was on that Sirius/XM channel's Blend's regular rotation for awhile. Weird that they didn't play that live during that time. Always seems to be a disconnect in communication between management and the band...at least to me looking at this kind of thing. Same with Anything is Possible last summer. You see it popping up on the charts without even being released and think its a huge opportunity but nobody does anything with it internally?

[Eric]

You guys were a little hard on the beave last night.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!

[Eric]

It seemed like the audience was really into the song, though which is cool.

Maybe I focus too much on this..but I guess since I never got to see Journey with Perry and was ridiculed so much in the 90's for liking Journey and melodic rock that a night like this is SO gratifying to me. I feel like screaming SEE! People LOVE Journey...its positive, fun music and it makes people happy!

[RedWingFan]

This is melodicrock.com, the CENTER of the world's greatest music ears Journey's young audience has been bigger than EVER over last few years. This will do nothing but solidify that even further. I was listening to Journey relentlessly when I was 17 years of age, way before the craze of "GLEE" emerged. My friends had no idea who Journey even was. Those SAME friends in the present day work the SHIT out of tunes like DSB and attend Journey concerts yearly with their groups of buddies that range from 19-24 years of age.

"Journey's young audience has been bigger than EVER over the last few years."?

I guess that explains why back in the 80's Journey always played sheds on a triple bill and now they're playing stadiums. Good call!

[Deb]

He didn't forget any words, the song was heavily edited for time constraints to end the show. I mean, the damn credits were listing for Christ sake, haha. The network was pretty much saying "okay, you got 1 minute tops, GO." I honestly don't think this performance was bad whatsoever, this version of DSB sounded the same coming from Arnel's performance than it did when they were getting off the chart reviews his first couple years in the band itself. Ohwell, can't please everybody OR anybody. This is a proven instance of it. That's the Journey fanbase's problem, they always want and need to compare the lead singers performance to something or someone. They won't allow the lead singer to be his own entity and blame the front-man for not living up to their expectations. All I know is, my country buddies, who are hardcore country, let me talk them into buying 2-led Arnel albums because they enjoyed that moment so much and dug Arnel.

Not just a Journey fanbase problem, any band that has changed singers will have the comparisons. And when you have a band that exchanges their singer out to the extend Journey has, well it's just a given there is going to be more to talk about than most bands. Funny, I don't recall ever hearing that comment 'they won't allow the lead singer to be his own entity' when Jeff was fronting the band. Things that make you go, hmmmmm.

IMO the fan base is split in two.........ones that wanted more of a karoke of Perry vocally to sing those songs and then there is the ones that wanted change. LOL and there are the ones that just don't care anymore. Have to say, I DO like Arnel's tone, but I definitely agree with Matt, right from day one it isn't his diction that bothered me that much it's his delivery. He will extend a word too long or chop it too short and it just doesn't work for me. That would probably be my only crticism of him. And believe me, delivery is a deal breaker for me.

For me, that's why Jeff worked and Arnel doesn't. But it's not just Journey, I have the same opinion when it comes to Foreigner and Boston.......Kelly works and Home Depot guy doesn't. Just my opinion of course.......

[Eric]

This is melodicrock.com, the CENTER of the world's greatest music ears Journey's young audience has been bigger than EVER over last few years. This will do nothing but solidify that even further. I was listening to Journey relentlessly when I was 17 years of age, way before the craze of "GLEE" emerged. My friends had no idea who Journey even was. Those SAME friends in the present day work the SHIT out of tunes like DSB and attend Journey concerts yearly with their groups of buddies that range from 19-24 years of age.

"Journey's young audience has been bigger than EVER over the last few years."?

I guess that explains why back in the 80's Journey always played sheds on a triple bill and now they're playing stadiums. Good call!

1. Nobody says or thinks Journey is as big now as their height 81-83....more similar to 73-80, 86.

2. Very few bands or artists play stadiums anymore. A hypothetical Journey reunited with Perry wouldn't either.

3. Playing in front of 70-85% capacity in sheds on a triple bill is still relatively good. Look at tour numbers of other bands. Having said that, they can half fill sheds on their own or fill theatres on their own and they should do that and play longer sets. Of course, if they do that critics like you will make fun of that, too, and say they are playing tiny places without Perry.

[Deb]

This is melodicrock.com, the CENTER of the world's greatest music ears Journey's young audience has been bigger than EVER over last few years. This will do nothing but solidify that even further. I was listening to Journey relentlessly when I was 17 years of age, way before the craze of "GLEE" emerged. My friends had no idea who Journey even was. Those SAME friends in the present day work the SHIT out of tunes like DSB and attend Journey concerts yearly with their groups of buddies that range from 19-24 years of age.

"Journey's young audience has been bigger than EVER over the last few years."?

I guess that explains why back in the 80's Journey always played sheds on a triple bill and now they're playing stadiums. Good call!

1. Nobody says or thinks Journey is as big now as their height 81-83....more similar to 73-80, 86.

2. Very few bands or artists play stadiums anymore. A hypothetical Journey reunited with Perry wouldn't either.

3. Playing in front of 70-85% capacity in sheds on a triple bill is still relatively good. Look at tour numbers of other bands. Having said that, they can half fill sheds on their own or fill theatres on their own and they should do that and play longer sets. Of course, if they do that critics like you will make fun of that, too, and say they are playing tiny places without Perry.

That is one comment that will never ever be uttered by me. I muuuuuuuch prefer to see any of my favorite bands in a smaller venue, on their own......you get longer setlists and many more gems from their catalogues popping up on setlists and usually just an all around better more intimate enviroment. I respect the hell out of what Mr. Big did on their US tour last year. Extremely grateful they didn't package up as they easily could have too.

[The Sushi Hunter]

Anyone can learn to play an instrument.

Oh yeah? Then why the hell couldn't I play as good as Eddie Van Halen did in the late 70's early 80's?

The old "How do I get to Carnegie Hall? - Practice, my boy, practice".

Well I could sit down to a piano and play the hell out of it (classical and pop) with hardly no practice at all.

Nice ! That is so cool.

My big problem was any instrument that I played, I could only play if I was completely comfortable with the atmosphere around me and not nervous in any way, shape or form. For this reason I was never able to play an instrument in front of large crowds without messing up. It's wierd I just freeze up cause I get scared. However, singing was never like that for me. I could be scared out of my mind from a large crowd, yet my ability to sing was never effected from it at all. This is the reason I gave up playing the instruments in a live setting and just shifted my focus.

[The Sushi Hunter]

His phrasing and timing stand out as objectively horrible to me on most live performances. To me, Arnel has NO clue when to sing certain parts and how long to draw certain words/phrases/notes out.

This is exactly the problem I have with Arnel (and his diction issues) and why I don't enjoy listening to him.

Regarding last night's performance - I wasn't expecting much with that combination of artists. Just doesn't work for me especially with the way the song was cut up. It seemed like the audience was really into the song, though which is cool.

I agee with you guys 100%. I want to really like the new journey with arnel, but when I hear him try to sing with his accent and diction combined with extremely poor timing...it really ruins the journey experience for me. Steve Perry really set the bar high and when he sings the songs I am truly amazed at the shear vocal talent, phrasing, timing, diction, and pronounciation in his performances. Just listen to Arnel sing "Why Cant This Night Go On Forever", and then list to Perry...its untouchable.

I don't notice any such accent or diction. Maybe because I'm so used to it since I've been around it for so many years, living in Japan and the Philippines more than half of my entire life collectively.

[Aaron]

Fair enough. I had issues with AP's diction early on. He has improved significantly since he joined the band. I would have liked to see him improve at a faster rate early on. The two things that keep AP in great catagory for me is his lack of emotion (or dynamics) and his over use of vibrato. AP sounds like he runs in chest voice most of the time. This reduces the dynamics in his voice which reduces the emotion conveyed IMO. He sounds like he's yelling a lot. He also uses vibrato extensively. Again this is a personal prefference thing but I don't care for it's over use. It's like Zakk Wylde on guitar using pinch harmonics. He uses pinch harmonics enough you can if it's him playing 2 bars into a song. Some people like it, some don't. I fall in the latter catagory.

Dude, do you think that AP growning up homeless and not having English as his native language makes his vocal talents better today than someone else’s? I think Arnel is a good singer, no doubt. I would suggest that we judge a singer's talent on vocal capability. Suggesting AP's difficult upbringing early in life makes him a better vocal talent is ridiculous.

I don't expect anyone to match 1978 - 81.

But I DO expect a lead singer with some sort of talent.

Take this kid, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0HGri7RmN4

He has more talent in his finger than Arnel has.

And this guy, Marc Martel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dREKkAk628I

Arnel can't touch those two in the vocal arena. At All.

Jeff Scott Soto blew Arnel away with the Journey material. I have no "agenda". Arnel is just a hack vocalist and has never impressed me at all.

There are talented vocalists out there. TONS of them. Arenel isn't one of them.

Continue your love fest for Arnel. It doesn't bother me at all. The dude simply can't sing well.

Arnel may not be the GOD of vocalists, but the the dude was homeless at one point of his life, lived in a 3rd world country where English wasn't even his first language. Going from singing in bars, scavenging up .50 cents a night to singing in front of thousands, night in & night out in a foreign country with a MEGA-ROCK LEGEND band like Journey is not made for a "hack vocalist." Sorry, but your "agenda" screams it all when you say Arnel has never impressed you at all and that he "simply" can't sing well.

You don't have to like the guy, but to say Arnel can't sing well is nothing short of blasphemes and he is WELL AWARE of people like you. And for the record, Soto never came remotely close to blowing Arnel away with Journey material. The band didn't even sound like Journey with him at the helm. Arnel is a great direction for the band and does his job well, deal with it. That or stay in 1981 and continue to find the better singers out there than Arnel Pineda. You say it's a love fest when it's clearly a form of trolling HATE for Arnel than anything else. Admit it, you hated the performance before it even began

Actually dude, I'm saying his upbringing makes his vocal capabilities singing English songs that much harder, not better. The dude is Filipino but yet, people have a problem with his diction? Well, no shit, his first language is FAR from English but can go out and do Journey justice. He's been working his balls off to sing the diction better, and for the most part, he has compared to once he first started fronting the band. I have no problem with his diction whatsoever. I really do think Arnel can sing his ass off.

[The Sushi Hunter]

The other possibility is that your getting used to AP's diction, making it less noticable as time goes by. As I've said before, I don't notice any diction from him and this could possibly be because I'm used to it now because of my exposure to living in the Philippines and Japan for most of my life collectively. I never notice any diction issues when listening to Arnel singing.

Fair enough. I had issues with AP's diction early on. He has improved significantly since he joined the band. I would have liked to see him improve at a faster rate early on. The two things that keep AP in great catagory for me is his lack of emotion (or dynamics) and his over use of vibrato. AP sounds like he runs in chest voice most of the time. This reduces the dynamics in his voice which reduces the emotion conveyed IMO. He sounds like he's yelling a lot. He also uses vibrato extensively. Again this is a personal prefference thing but I don't care for it's over use. It's like Zakk Wylde on guitar using pinch harmonics. He uses pinch harmonics enough you can if it's him playing 2 bars into a song. Some people like it, some don't. I fall in the latter catagory.

Dude, do you think that AP growning up homeless and not having English as his native language makes his vocal talents better today than someone else’s? I think Arnel is a good singer, no doubt. I would suggest that we judge a singer's talent on vocal capability. Suggesting AP's difficult upbringing early in life makes him a better vocal talent is ridiculous.

I don't expect anyone to match 1978 - 81.

But I DO expect a lead singer with some sort of talent.

Take this kid, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0HGri7RmN4

He has more talent in his finger than Arnel has.

And this guy, Marc Martel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dREKkAk628I

Arnel can't touch those two in the vocal arena. At All.

Jeff Scott Soto blew Arnel away with the Journey material. I have no "agenda". Arnel is just a hack vocalist and has never impressed me at all.

There are talented vocalists out there. TONS of them. Arenel isn't one of them.

Continue your love fest for Arnel. It doesn't bother me at all. The dude simply can't sing well.

Arnel may not be the GOD of vocalists, but the the dude was homeless at one point of his life, lived in a 3rd world country where English wasn't even his first language. Going from singing in bars, scavenging up .50 cents a night to singing in front of thousands, night in & night out in a foreign country with a MEGA-ROCK LEGEND band like Journey is not made for a "hack vocalist." Sorry, but your "agenda" screams it all when you say Arnel has never impressed you at all and that he "simply" can't sing well.

You don't have to like the guy, but to say Arnel can't sing well is nothing short of blasphemes and he is WELL AWARE of people like you. And for the record, Soto never came remotely close to blowing Arnel away with Journey material. The band didn't even sound like Journey with him at the helm. Arnel is a great direction for the band and does his job well, deal with it. That or stay in 1981 and continue to find the better singers out there than Arnel Pineda. You say it's a love fest when it's clearly a form of trolling HATE for Arnel than anything else. Admit it, you hated the performance before it even began

Actually dude, I'm saying his upbringing makes his vocal capabilities singing English songs that much harder, not better. The dude is Filipino but yet, people have a problem with his diction? Well, no shit, his first language is FAR from English but can go out and do Journey justice. He's been working his balls off to sing the diction better, and for the most part, he has compared to once he first started fronting the band. I have no problem with his diction whatsoever. I really do think Arnel can sing his ass off.

[STORY_TELLER]

I just saw the video, and I think we're all being a little hard on Arnel here. He was clearly nervous about the national coverage and he was trying too hard. It came out in the performance a bit, but so what? He sounded better on DSB than the Rascal Flats singer (IMO).

DSB has taken on it's own life. It's not about the band anymore, or the singer, it's about the anthem.

Is it the same as if Perry was on the stage? No. Never will be. But that's also never going to happen. The Schon/Perry chemistry can't be duplicated anymore than Page/Plant.

But Arnel does the GH tour very well. He's the right man for the job, he's got the pipes for it, and I can't think of a more deserving human being.

As Journey fans we should look at this with the bigger picture in mind:
The rest of the world is catching up to what we've felt for decades -- that Journey made some damn good music in their heyday and all these years later, they're being appreciated by a new generation. That's something all the originating band members should be proud of. The rest doesn't really matter, does it?

Now then -- when is the Neal/Smitty disc supposed to drop?