Rip Rokken wrote:strangegrey wrote:Heard this on Hair Nation last weekend....
well, I guess Don is looking to repeat the same mistakes Journey has made....he's already quite adept at firing band members.....so why not a set of retreads too!?!
Don won't put out a substandard product -- he'll find a way to kick A, one way or another.
That's not the issue. I haven't really said that the Journey retreads were a bad idea because they sound bad (even though they have a 'demo' quality to them)....The retreads are a bad idea because of various other factors....
But let me address that....while I have no doubt that the current incarnation of Dokken could do the songs justice, since their new guitarist is a damn fine guitarist....Don's voice is NOT what it was in the 80s. That's a fact, Rip. I like Lightning Strikes Again and it's one of my favorite Dokken albums...but that's because I didn't hear Don sing these songs back in 1984, when his voice didn't sound like a throw rug flapping in the wind. As soon as this band retreads these songs, Don's voice wear will become very identifiable.
Rip Rokken wrote:As for Journey, I don't see how doing the Wal Mart deal was a mistake in any way. Whether or not people like the idea of the re-records, they were part of the arrangement and the band has been riding on a high ever since the Revelation package came out (plus the boost from The Sopranos of course).
Don't tell me that Journey couldn't have negotiated the retreads out of the agreement, had they NOT wanted to record them. The whole "walmart wanted them" is an excuse to get the retreads recorded and released in the stores.....Neal has been wanting to erase Perry from the band as much as possible and the discussions about rerecording the music has been floating around the band since long before Augeri was ousted from the band....
So really, the band wanted it...walmart wanting them is rather inconsequential to this. The fact that they can say walmart wanted it as part of the deal, is simply a way to shift the blame/focus on Big, Bad, Wally....so they can save face with fans that don't approve.
Regardless, I defy anyone to point to the retreads as a reason why Revelation sold 750k units. I view it as a mistake....because I don't think that redoing 25 year old music that has been iconic for several generations does anything other than water down the originals. Granted, I will admit that it hasn't had the negative affect I thought it would. In reality, the retreads have become inconsequential. I get the distinct impression that people buy Rev, they rip the first CD into their computer, put the CD in the car changer....and toss the DVD and the retreads disc into the drawer where it never sees the light of day again. People have zero interest in them....perhaps some have a morbid curiosity to hear what Arnel could do....but in the end, they're largely overwhelmed...
The *only* way the retreads make a statement, was if Arnel sang these songs way better than Perry.....and not the comparison that the anti-perry folk around here like to us, which is comparing today's arnel with today's perry (assuming they've heard perry sing recently
)....but the more difficult comparison of comparing Arnel today to Perry in his prime. Sorry, the Arnel of today isn't fit to wipe the sweat off of the balls of the Steve Perry from the early 80s....and that's the comparison these retreads force, by nature of them. And that's why it's a failure/throwaway.
Trust me, it'd be news if Arnel could outpipe Perry from his prime. Then people would be buying this disc for the retreads and going apeshit over it....but that's not the case. It's inconsequential to 99% of the people that have purchased Rev in this country...
So in the end, we have a disc of new material getting counted twice because it comes with another disc that holds as much value to people as a promotional AOL CD.
Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:28 pm
Rhiannon, what do you call that neutral zone between the cajones and the aft refuse port?
