Marzdog wrote:Tex, I respectfully disagree with you and here is why. VH did it right with Hagar, and they were able to go in a slightly different direction with Hagar, crossing over into Top40 land and still maintaining their "Classic Rock" status, which still won over a large portion of the fan base that was there when DLR was on vox. Sure, there was divide amongst the fan base, much like what you find here with Journey, but, one cannot deny the success VH had with Hagar. Journey wasn't able to achieve that with Augeri. IMHO, JSS coming into the fold gave Journey the different dynamic that I felt (not that I am anyone special) would take them "beyond the clones."
I'm not against change, but I am against change at a certain age in the band's history. VH was young enough in the history of the band to give the new direction time to perculate. And with all due respect to JSS, Sammy Hagar was a much more popular vocalist at the time of the lead vocal switch for Van Halen. There was immediate name recognition with SH when he joined VH. The "fan split" you mention was easier to overcome for VH because Sammy brought alot of fans over from his base that helped fill in the gap for those DLR fans that jumped ship. All VH&SH needed to do was write some good music, the fans were already there waiting for the new material. And luckily for them, they did.
Marzdog wrote:JSS was able to sing the older catalog/dirty dozen, albeit not like Perry did, but, he did provide a rougher edge to those songs. The "new frontier" of Journey, with JSS on lead vox, I believe, would have taken them the route of what many call VanHagar, and more towards what Neal ALWAYS has wanted to do, which was take Journey away from the ballads and more to the rock side. JSS' song "Believe In Me" more than adequately shows where this whole thing could've gone, while still "retaining" Journey's sound.."
Agreed, JSS would have taken Journey to a more rockin direction, which......isn't Journey. At least it's not the Journey the majority of fans ultimately want to hear. If that was the case, Soul Sirkus would have become a huge mega popular band. Let's face it, for those of you that wanted a more rockin Journey, Soul Sirkus was it! JSS & Neal had their chance to do everything you (and alot of others in this forum) are stating, they wanted to do. They had an incredible line up of musicians, talent, etc. So why didn't Soul Sirkus become the major act it should have been? Seriously, some of the songs kicked ass, I don't understand how this project was so much under the radar!
Marzdog wrote:Anyways, we all have our own opinions on this, many heated, many civil. I will give Arnel a shot. I'm not entirely sold, but, he did get better as the night went on at Vina. Unfortunately, I feel that Journey has painted themselves into a corner with Arnel. With him, they basically will never be able to escape the "Perry sound" that brought the HUGE success to Journey. By doing this, Journey as a business is saying that THEY weren't relevant before Perry and are "quietly" attributing their success to him. JSS' vocal style would have taken them into a different direction in concert, allowing them to possibly cut down the "dirty dozen" in order for newer music to take its place, the way VH eventually did with Hagar. I wish them all of the best. Truth be told, Journey's WORST CD, whichever CD each of us feels that is, is far better than a good amount of the music that is out or has come out in the past 10 years, and for that, we should all be proud!
My personal opinion is, I don't want to hear a "more rockin Journey". Separate Ways, Keep On Runnin, Edge Of The Blade is about as hard as I want "Journey" to be. To me Journey is all about the flowing melodic vocals, the lush harmonies, guitar leads that sing, keys that fill up all the ambient holes in the music, etc. I've heard Jeff sing "Wings Of Freedom", I've seen JSS in concert where I was 10ft away from him when he was singing "Send Her My Love". His voice just doesn't say "Journey". The first time I heard Arnel sing Send Her My Love with Journey, it just sounded more like Journey again. Now could Arnel sing "Eyes Of Love" or "Stand Up And Shout"? Maybe, but he couldn't hold a candle to JSS on those songs.
If this was 10 years ago or longer, JSS with Journey would have more time for the "fan split" to rebound. But at their ripe old age, the Journey camp made the right decision to keep things more legacy oriented. The way I look at it, if this is Journey's last big hoorah before they finally announce "I'm done", if Steve P wasn't willing to get off his lazy ass and perform with the band one more time (and prove to the nay sayers he still has "the voice"), then they needed someone who could sing the classics AND possibly some new material close to the legacy sound, and I think they have that with Arnel. It truly would not surprise me at all if Journey finally announces their intent to call it quits after their next studio release and tour.
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:55 am
So much for friendship...
