it's the singer not the song - (for Matthew and others)

Here's what Matthew said, "You say this Sherrie but Cain IS one of the most successful song-writers in the history of American rock music. This scenario where JSS blinds Cain with his song-writing brilliance seems a little far-fetched to me."
Here's what I've said, "Enter JC. With him JOURNEY lost fans but gained some, too. Considering the successes of the next 3 albums with him (E5C4P3, Frontiers, and ROR) and E5C4P3 being their first and only #1 album - you could argue that JC was THE reason for the music that's now commonly understood by fans and the music world as their "legacy sound". Success tends to change minds and history. By this time the fucking of RF, GR, and the fans was a faded memory."
What neither of us have said is:
It's the singer not the song (with apologies to Survivor).
This is SO TRUE in the case of JC. Prior to The Babies he wrote a bunch of songs that did nothing. With Jon Waite, his songs had a voice. With SP his songs had a voice. With SA and DC his songs had a voice despite the lack of any commercial success. To be honest if I had to listen to JC sing all of Arrival, Red 13, and Generations I'd be driven insane. As much as I like some of the lyrical ideas of the song Generations JC's vocals are absolute torture. Also, much like my posts the song rambles on far too long. UGH - and the "Na-na's" ...God... what was he trying to do? It just comes across as a lame LTS revisited. I didn't want to mention All That Really Matters from Time3 but what the heck. I still can't figure out why they put that stain of a song on what otherwise is a brilliant collection.
Ultimately, JC's solo stuff is marginal - HE CAN'T SING TO SAVE HIS LIFE. Please tell me what JC has done ON HIS OWN that has had ANY impact? He's no Billy Joel. He's no Elton John. Nothing that he writes/sings/produces on his own does anything because his stuff NEEDS A VOICE.
It's so very CLEAR that JC's success has ALWAYS been due to the singers singing his songs and NOT his songs alone.
Here's what I've said, "Enter JC. With him JOURNEY lost fans but gained some, too. Considering the successes of the next 3 albums with him (E5C4P3, Frontiers, and ROR) and E5C4P3 being their first and only #1 album - you could argue that JC was THE reason for the music that's now commonly understood by fans and the music world as their "legacy sound". Success tends to change minds and history. By this time the fucking of RF, GR, and the fans was a faded memory."
What neither of us have said is:
It's the singer not the song (with apologies to Survivor).
This is SO TRUE in the case of JC. Prior to The Babies he wrote a bunch of songs that did nothing. With Jon Waite, his songs had a voice. With SP his songs had a voice. With SA and DC his songs had a voice despite the lack of any commercial success. To be honest if I had to listen to JC sing all of Arrival, Red 13, and Generations I'd be driven insane. As much as I like some of the lyrical ideas of the song Generations JC's vocals are absolute torture. Also, much like my posts the song rambles on far too long. UGH - and the "Na-na's" ...God... what was he trying to do? It just comes across as a lame LTS revisited. I didn't want to mention All That Really Matters from Time3 but what the heck. I still can't figure out why they put that stain of a song on what otherwise is a brilliant collection.
Ultimately, JC's solo stuff is marginal - HE CAN'T SING TO SAVE HIS LIFE. Please tell me what JC has done ON HIS OWN that has had ANY impact? He's no Billy Joel. He's no Elton John. Nothing that he writes/sings/produces on his own does anything because his stuff NEEDS A VOICE.
It's so very CLEAR that JC's success has ALWAYS been due to the singers singing his songs and NOT his songs alone.