Andrew wrote:You know what....I whole heartedly believe Steve could still do it if he wanted to. I believe he still has some pipes, even if they are a bt older these days.
Make some tempo/pitch changes and fans would be putty in his hands. It is possible - but does he have the desire/drive/confidence to do this?
As of right now - it seems not.
I definitely agree that he would have to make some tempo/pitch changes. I've never really understood the criticisms or obsessions about how Perry's voice changed, through his Journey career. I can't think of ANY singer whose voice hasn't changed, over the course of many years! While Perry's voice clearly changed, the first time I heard something off of TBF, I didn't need anyone to tell me it was Perry! I still knew it was the same guy! If you ever need a clear illustration of a singer's voice changing, listen to Elton John perform "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" on his album from 1972, and then listen to him perform the song today! It doesn't even sound like the same person performing the song, but his fans are still quite entertained by his performances! In fact, there isn't a song from his entire and vast catalog that sounds anything like the original, in terms of his voice!
I honestly think in Perry's case it's more than just his voice. I believe the guy still has a whole lot of hurt feelings between he and Neal, that I don't think he'll ever get over. I think every time Journey rolls in the "flavor of the week", it probably just pisses Perry off more, as he believes it's tarnishing what was a great legacy! I also have always believed that there is some wisdom to leaving a great body of work (as I believe he did), and not coming back many years later, and doing anything to tarnish that. Perry is widely regarded in music circles (and I'm not referring to Journey fans) as a VERY accomplished vocalist, and he probably just wants to live the rest of his life being known for the guy he was. I also suspect that financially, there is just no reason for him to tour. The only incentive he would ever have would be a sense of "closure" and to say the goodbye to the fans that he never had the opporunity to say goodbye to. Neither one of those angles seem terribly important to him, so I don't think we'll ever see him perform again. I would be personally STUNNED if he ever performed with Journey again, including taking the stage, if they were inducted into the Rock and Roll HOF! As I said, I think the guy has a lot of bad feelings, that haven't seemed to have diminished with the passage of time!
John from Boston