MR

With each passing day, we get a little closer to Journey's next album. That said, what sort of direction would you want them to take? The traditional route.....5-6 rockers, 2-3 ballads and 3 mid tempo songs? Something softer? Something harder? Something a bit more contemporary sounding? Guest vocalist?
Me, I'd like to see a return to huge, catchy choruses. "Sing-a-long songs," if you will. Maybe a song or two co-written by Shaw and/or Blades. Also, I'd like to see a song where they really experiment with a heavier, darker side. Other than that, I like the Escape and Frontiers ratio of rockers to mid tempo to ballads. Any thoughts?

PS Other than a guest vocalist, the only member of Journey I'd like to sing lead is Jeff.....no one else.

saint John wrote:PS Other than a guest vocalist, the only member of Journey I'd like to sing lead is Jeff.....no one else.

you've been scolded for your previous comments?

I'd be happy with an Asia type feel, next time round - some big Athemic songs with just one ballad, throw in a couple of experimental tracks and that'll keep me happy.
Guest artist................Brian May springs to mind

saint John wrote:With each passing day, we get a little closer to Journey's next album. That said, what sort of direction would you want them to take? The traditional route.....5-6 rockers, 2-3 ballads and 3 mid tempo songs? Something softer? Something harder? Something a bit more contemporary sounding? Guest vocalist?
Me, I'd like to see a return to huge, catchy choruses. "Sing-a-long songs," if you will. Maybe a song or two co-written by Shaw and/or Blades. Also, I'd like to see a song where they really experiment with a heavier, darker side. Other than that, I like the Escape and Frontiers ratio of rockers to mid tempo to ballads. Any thoughts?

PS Other than a guest vocalist, the only member of Journey I'd like to sing lead is Jeff.....no one else.

I'd certainly like to see a return to some tunes with the huge choruses but I'd also love to hear something along the lines of "Livin' to Do". As far as ballads go, I could do with one or two and a bunch of rockers along with one or two mid-tempo numbers. I'd also like to hear maybe one track with Deen singing the leads.

I'd like to hear an accoustic with JSS and Neal playing, nothing electric.

steveforever wrote:I'd like to hear an accoustic with JSS and Neal playing, nothing electric.

Thats a great idea - me too

steveforever wrote:I'd like to hear an accoustic with JSS and Neal playing, nothing electric.

That could be a really fine moment on the new album.A clean guitar tone and a soulful vocal delivery...I can hear it.
Similar to Extreme's "More Than Words"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt7L4X4li_k


Other than that,a couple mid-tempos,a good power-ballad and the rest ...just burn the house down with some great catchy rockers!

conversationpc wrote:

saint John wrote:With each passing day, we get a little closer to Journey's next album. That said, what sort of direction would you want them to take? The traditional route.....5-6 rockers, 2-3 ballads and 3 mid tempo songs? Something softer? Something harder? Something a bit more contemporary sounding? Guest vocalist?
Me, I'd like to see a return to huge, catchy choruses. "Sing-a-long songs," if you will. Maybe a song or two co-written by Shaw and/or Blades. Also, I'd like to see a song where they really experiment with a heavier, darker side. Other than that, I like the Escape and Frontiers ratio of rockers to mid tempo to ballads. Any thoughts?

PS Other than a guest vocalist, the only member of Journey I'd like to sing lead is Jeff.....no one else.

I'd certainly like to see a return to some tunes with the huge choruses but I'd also love to hear something along the lines of "Livin' to Do". As far as ballads go, I could do with one or two and a bunch of rockers along with one or two mid-tempo numbers. I'd also like to hear maybe one track with Deen singing the leads.

I would also like to hear Deen sing on one or two.

Shania wrote:

steveforever wrote:I'd like to hear an accoustic with JSS and Neal playing, nothing electric.

That could be a really fine moment on the new album.A clean guitar tone and a soulful vocal delivery...I can hear it.
Similar to Extreme's "More Than Words"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt7L4X4li_k


Other than that,a couple mid-tempos,a good power-ballad and the rest ...just burn the house down with some great catchy rockers!

Good luck trying to unplug Neal's guitar. As for "More Than Words".......YUCK.

I'd like to see Jonathan Cain return to form in a big way.

conversationpc wrote:

saint John wrote:With each passing day, we get a little closer to Journey's next album. That said, what sort of direction would you want them to take? The traditional route.....5-6 rockers, 2-3 ballads and 3 mid tempo songs? Something softer? Something harder? Something a bit more contemporary sounding? Guest vocalist?
Me, I'd like to see a return to huge, catchy choruses. "Sing-a-long songs," if you will. Maybe a song or two co-written by Shaw and/or Blades. Also, I'd like to see a song where they really experiment with a heavier, darker side. Other than that, I like the Escape and Frontiers ratio of rockers to mid tempo to ballads. Any thoughts?

PS Other than a guest vocalist, the only member of Journey I'd like to sing lead is Jeff.....no one else.

I'd certainly like to see a return to some tunes with the huge choruses but I'd also love to hear something along the lines of "Livin' to Do". As far as ballads go, I could do with one or two and a bunch of rockers along with one or two mid-tempo numbers. I'd also like to hear maybe one track with Deen singing the leads.

Sounds good to me , Dave, but my thoughts would be at least two ballads for Deen.

saint John wrote:

Shania wrote:

steveforever wrote:I'd like to hear an accoustic with JSS and Neal playing, nothing electric.

That could be a really fine moment on the new album.A clean guitar tone and a soulful vocal delivery...I can hear it.
Similar to Extreme's "More Than Words"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt7L4X4li_k


Other than that,a couple mid-tempos,a good power-ballad and the rest ...just burn the house down with some great catchy rockers!

Good luck trying to unplug Neal's guitar. As for "More Than Words".......YUCK.

Yeah, if they do something acoustic, I'd prefer something more along the lines of "Hole Hearted". That song cooks!

saint John wrote:

Shania wrote:

steveforever wrote:I'd like to hear an accoustic with JSS and Neal playing, nothing electric.

That could be a really fine moment on the new album.A clean guitar tone and a soulful vocal delivery...I can hear it.
Similar to Extreme's "More Than Words"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt7L4X4li_k


Other than that,a couple mid-tempos,a good power-ballad and the rest ...just burn the house down with some great catchy rockers!

Good luck trying to unplug Neal's guitar. As for "More Than Words".......YUCK.

Shut up,SJ.We want to hear the new voice.

Shania wrote:

saint John wrote:

Shania wrote:

steveforever wrote:I'd like to hear an accoustic with JSS and Neal playing, nothing electric.

That could be a really fine moment on the new album.A clean guitar tone and a soulful vocal delivery...I can hear it.
Similar to Extreme's "More Than Words"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt7L4X4li_k


Other than that,a couple mid-tempos,a good power-ballad and the rest ...just burn the house down with some great catchy rockers!

Good luck trying to unplug Neal's guitar. As for "More Than Words".......YUCK.

Shut up,SJ.We want to hear the new voice.

Gonna have to be on the huge choruses, cause the acoustic dream AINT happenin'.

conversationpc wrote:Yeah, if they do something acoustic, I'd prefer something more along the lines of "Hole Hearted". That song cooks!

God,I LOVE that song!
Ok,forget "More Than Words",then!

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

I'd like to have the traditional, Escape/Frontiers mix of rockers, ballads, and mid-tempo, at least one song with Deen on lead, and nothing that sounds like Soul Sirkus. I like Soul Sirkus, but that's not Journey - keep them separate.

belar wrote:I'd like to have the traditional, Escape/Frontiers mix of rockers, ballads, and mid-tempo, at least one song with Deen on lead, and nothing that sounds like Soul Sirkus. I like Soul Sirkus, but that's not Journey - keep them separate.

You just summed up what I was thinking.

Why does everyone want Deen to sing? I think he has a decent/good voice, but nothing special. He has very little power in his delivery. Jeff is the lead singer.....period. I would expect that, at MOST, Deen will get some background work. Nothing more.

saint John wrote:Why does everyone want Deen to sing?

Because he is very good.However,I have to agree that on the new album Jeff needs to be the only lead voice.He has way too much potential and must take the full spotlight.

saint John wrote:Why does everyone want Deen to sing? I think he has a decent/good voice, but nothing special. He has very little power in his delivery. Jeff is the lead singer.....period. I would expect that, at MOST, Deen will get some background work. Nothing more.

I like his voice. It's the same thing when it was Perry/Rolie sharing duties on some songs. Yeah, Perry was the lead singer and I wanted to hear him on most of the lead but I also enjoyed Rolie's voice because it was different.

saint John wrote:Why does everyone want Deen to sing? I think he has a decent/good voice, but nothing special. He has very little power in his delivery. Jeff is the lead singer.....period. I would expect that, at MOST, Deen will get some background work. Nothing more.

How can you say that after hearing boots of MF, OA and Faithfully? I almost couldn't hear the band over the sound of all the jaws dropping last time I saw them.

More rhythm guitar from Cain, and when he's not playing guitar, he's playing an organ!

Lush, full harmonies!

Progressive-tinged rock epics!

I say that most of the songs should be pretty rockin'. I also want maybe 2 of the fun "sing-along" songs. I really like Jon's stamp (writing) on those kinds of songs. He just has a way of making those songs soar. Kind of hard to describe, but hopefully you get what I mean. I love the ballads too, but I don't want more than 2 of them. I think Journey needs to break away from the ballad reputation.

steveforever wrote:I'd like to hear an accoustic with JSS and Neal playing, nothing electric.

wow!!!!! great idea. not one for radio play tho'. maybe as a bonus track?

keep the Journey formula. Jon is a master at that power ballad stuff--get them back on the radio with a weddingish love song like Open Arms and then a rock anthem like DSB. throw in some hard stuff to satisfy us metal heads and you KNOW Jeff is a master at that.

no guests- there is anyone out there who can beat this lineup so why bother. IMHO

my only suggestion is HURRY UP!

NealIsGod wrote:

saint John wrote:Why does everyone want Deen to sing? I think he has a decent/good voice, but nothing special. He has very little power in his delivery. Jeff is the lead singer.....period. I would expect that, at MOST, Deen will get some background work. Nothing more.

How can you say that after hearing boots of MF, OA and Faithfully? I almost couldn't hear the band over the sound of all the jaws dropping last time I saw them.

The boots were good, nothing more. He just doesn't have any power behind his voice. It's almost like you wanna yell "Sing louder!" Maybe he made YOUR jaw drop, but he didn't make mine. Personally, The Party's Over is the best song I've heard him sing. Still didn't make my jaw drop though.

saint John wrote:He just doesn't have any power behind his voice.

SJ, I have to disagree. Granted he doesn't have the power Perry had, but he does have it. It's there, I just don't think he'd bring it out to its full potential being he's the drummer and that's what he's more comfortable doing.

I wouldn't have a problem with a song by Dean and/or a duet between him and Jeff, but I really think it would be better to focus on the differences that Jeff's vocals can bring to the sound. People seem to think Deen sounds a lot like Perry and I think that might be inviting comparisons that they really need to stay away from. JMO

saint John wrote: The traditional route.....5-6 rockers, 2-3 ballads and 3 mid tempo songs?

That sounds good. LOL, if we are throwing out our wish lists for the new cd........I'd love to hear a mix of Classic Journey, Jeff's solo and a pinch of Soul Sirkus thrown in there. Would like to hear Deen sing one along the lines of 'A Better Life' maybe. LOL, wouldn't mind hearing another 'James Brown' type bonus song again too. But then again, I just got finished watching that new clip on JSS site of Stevie Wonder's 'I Wish'. Just hope Jeff doesn't lose any of that edgy, funky groove on the new stuff, that quality makes him stand apart from your normal joe frontman.

Deen has a voice for Journey. His two tracks are my favorite off of Generations, so I wouldn't mind him having one or two songs on the new album, but yes, Jeff is the lead singer and should sing the rest of the songs. No songs by Neal or Ross. I also agree that the new record should be more like Escape - Frontiers. Actually, I don't believe they can ever top Escape, but definitely another Frontiers album would be nice. Mostly Journey type of rockers, with no more than two ballads. One of those being an acoustic song would be actually nice.

ohsherrie wrote:I wouldn't have a problem with a song by Dean and/or a duet between him and Jeff, but I really think it would be better to focus on the differences that Jeff's vocals can bring to the sound. People seem to think Deen sounds a lot like Perry and I think that might be inviting comparisons that they really need to stay away from. JMO

I think a duet would have to be Jeff and Jon. Deen is a better backing vocalist. He's perfect for Journey in that he plays the drums with respect to the catalog and he's got a great voice for harmonies. I'd love to see a duet though.

But to stick to topic. I want rockers.