MR

Before handing the house over to the new owners, I felt I had unfinished business. A vineyard on our hillside where pinot noir needed harvesting and Neal Schon wanted to come over to my studio to finish up some guitar parts for the new upcoming Journey album. I also downloaded my analog tapes onto digital formats that required baking tapes for sometimes as long as eight hours. It was strange being in the studio alone without Doc--my beloved tech who died last year of liver cancer. Doc Shaffer worked tirelessly for seventeen years not only for me but for Journey on countless projects. Before I went on the road we shared a bittersweet visit. I spent an afternoon with him at the hospital two days before he passed.

The Nashville move was tedious and it took several Mayflower truckloads to transport the layers of belongings and keepsakes we had accumulated over the years as a family to Tennessee. The part I procrastinated on and dreaded the most-- tearing the 1500 square foot recording studio apart I built back in 1991. It took weeks to sort through --but with the help of some friends and Brent Jeffers, my keyboard tech, I was successful in vacating Wildhorse Studio--a space that helped me create over nine CD’s and countless Journey projects—including writing material for the new album to be released next year, which Neal and I started-- back in late January this year.

Fittingly, Neal Schon came over to my studio in October to play some guitar on the new Journey album (due out next April) before I had the place taken apart. Pictured is the two of us on the last day of the recording session. As we hugged that afternoon, I got caught up in emotion recalling the memorable musical events that had taken place there. Not only did we crank out Neal’s Beyond the Thunder, and Soul Sirkus there—I recorded and mixed 8 solo albums—spanning genres from pop to jazz to new age. Elvin Bishop, Greg Allman, and yes-- even Steve Perry-- all sang there. This was the space that Neal and I put Journey back together in 1997. A clubhouse that we could create in Wildhorse proved to be a needed tool for us to continue to hone our sound.

In June, with Kevin Shirley at the helm as producer, the recording for the new Journey album began at Fantasy Studios over in Berkeley, where we did Escape and Frontiers. We laid down the basic tracks that Neal and I had created during the early part of 2010. It was inspiring being back in the studio we had so much success in the 80’s. Not much had changed except that the old console had been replaced by a newer SSL. The tracking went quickly as Neal and I brought in several new songs we demoed on the weekends at Wildhorse to add to the mix. The staff was friendly and helpful during the time we were there and I even got to see some Giants games right over the Bay Bridge at AT+T Park. A concept album--the new release is a departure from what we have done in the past. It has a hard-hitting rock edge with soul-searching lyrics. Arnel soars along with some of Neal’s best playing -- the band is solid as ever. I look forward to next spring when we will release it—probably at Walmart.

From Cain's latest update:
http://www.jonathancain.com/

Sad to hear Doc passed.

Blah blah blah...oh, and no mention of Pineda writing a single verse. I thought he was going to bring something to the table?

Rockindeano wrote:Blah blah blah...oh, and no mention of Pineda writing a single verse. I thought he was going to bring something to the table?

Exactly! what a joke, he was right, they should have left it alone, too many ex wives to take care of i guess...

Ray

Wal- Mart again? I guess Neal's new found love of iPods and iTunes was just a fad. Doesn't sound like a package deal this time so no double counting to platinum.

Rockindeano wrote:Blah blah blah...oh, and no mention of Pineda writing a single verse. I thought he was going to bring something to the table?

I think it has already been confirmed that Pineda has done a couple of songs to be fair

I say "ride the wave" yet eventually it will come to the shore!

At least they're still working...still creating. I'll support them as long as they make new music.

Great picture ... they both look really good!!
Awesome studio!!

Jesus some of you posters just bitch way too much. For Christ's sake, its Journey. They have been around for nearly forty years, and are still making music. You wouldn't be on this board if you have never been a fan. I honestly believe by reading a lot of your posts that every member of the band past and present could be on the next album, call it escape part two, and tour every city in the free world.... twice, have it chart longer than greatest hits did, and you would STILL find a reason to bitch! At the end of the day, the bashing and ridicule is just sad and pathetic. Show a little respect to these legendary musicians already.

Schon Rules All wrote:Jesus some of you posters just bitch way too much. For Christ's sake, its Journey. They have been around for nearly forty years, and are still making music. You wouldn't be on this board if you have never been a fan. I honestly believe by reading a lot of your posts that every member of the band past and present could be on the next album, call it escape part two, and tour every city in the free world.... twice, have it chart longer than greatest hits did, and you would STILL find a reason to bitch! At the end of the day, the bashing and ridicule is just sad and pathetic. Show a little respect to these legendary musicians already.

Nope, I already have a problem w/that ...sorry!!

Schon Rules All wrote:Jesus some of you posters just bitch way too much. For Christ's sake, its Journey. They have been around for nearly forty years, and are still making music. You wouldn't be on this board if you have never been a fan. I honestly believe by reading a lot of your posts that every member of the band past and present could be on the next album, call it escape part two, and tour every city in the free world.... twice, have it chart longer than greatest hits did, and you would STILL find a reason to bitch! At the end of the day, the bashing and ridicule is just sad and pathetic. Show a little respect to these legendary musicians already.

And all this is a new development? It's been like this for half the lifetime of the board. Just like the Styx forum, just like the Survivor forum and so on. The only 'FAN' forum is the JSS one.
Just filter what you don't like. The Journey bashing is nothing like it was a few years ago. To get yourself riled over the tame stuff that is said now is what's really ridiculous.

What a novel concept ... keeping your fans in the loop and being able to commit, complete and tour behind a new album. Looking forward to this. I'm stoked that this is probably gonna be another Walmart release. I dig that place. This will only be my 3rd CD purchase in the last 15 years (TBF, Revelation and the new Journey album).

Probably a second day Pirate Bay download for me, depending on your reviews.

Don wrote:Probably a second day Pirate Bay download for me, depending on your reviews.

Save yourself the time, Goldberg, I'll buy you one.

I will say that "concept" album has me a bit nervous. At this stage, I'd rather they attempt to knock out an album in the spirit of Frontiers/Escape. Still, I'll wait to hear the album before I cast any judgment...

Schon Rules All wrote:Jesus some of you posters just bitch way too much. For Christ's sake, its Journey. They have been around for nearly forty years, and are still making music. You wouldn't be on this board if you have never been a fan. I honestly believe by reading a lot of your posts that every member of the band past and present could be on the next album, call it escape part two, and tour every city in the free world.... twice, have it chart longer than greatest hits did, and you would STILL find a reason to bitch! At the end of the day, the bashing and ridicule is just sad and pathetic. Show a little respect to these legendary musicians already.

YUP.

Cain didn't mention Arnel writing, but that's been mentioned elsewhere. He also didn't mention Valory or Castronovo. So what? He also didn't mention the economy. Better get on him for that too. There were only a few paragraphs there and it didn't really need to be a detailed, track by track tome.

Seemed a pretty positive communication and certainly had a lot more information on music than others ever seem to be able to muster.
I don't get the negativity at all. If you don't like the band, why post? Not that everything has to be all rosey and pro-Journey, but still, I don't really see a lot in that post to complain about...

The thing I'd worry about is the WalMart deal... or rather the "Probably" comment. That tells me that they don't have a deal in place. THAT is not good news.

Saint John wrote:

Don wrote:Probably a second day Pirate Bay download for me, depending on your reviews.

Save yourself the time, Goldberg, I'll buy you one.

If there is any Tibetan chanting or attempts at Japanese haiku, save yourself the postage.

Don wrote:

Saint John wrote:

Don wrote:Probably a second day Pirate Bay download for me, depending on your reviews.

Save yourself the time, Goldberg, I'll buy you one.

If there is any Tibetan chanting or attempts at Japanese haiku, save yourself the postage.

Aside from those great ideas you mentioned, I'm hoping there's a Tagalog remake of Still They Ride on there. You know, if we keep coming up with these killer ideas, we might get an honorary Platinum album like Jeremey did.

Saint John wrote:

Don wrote:

Saint John wrote:

Don wrote:Probably a second day Pirate Bay download for me, depending on your reviews.

Save yourself the time, Goldberg, I'll buy you one.

If there is any Tibetan chanting or attempts at Japanese haiku, save yourself the postage.

Aside from those great ideas you mentioned, I'm hoping there's a Tagalog remake of Still They Ride on there. You know, if we keep coming up with these killer ideas, we might get an honorary Platinum album like Jeremey did.

I've got 3,500 songs in tagalog on my hard drive. I play that shit sometiomes to annoy my wife, who I have successfully whitewashed against any Filipino artists or music that's come out after 1992.

The Black Eyed Peas have included tagalog music on their last two releases so it's not exactly a new idea. Neal's comment make it sound like this album will be totally original and groundbreaking so I think the OPM remakes are a no go.

timstar78 wrote:I will say that "concept" album has me a bit nervous. At this stage, I'd rather they attempt to knock out an album in the spirit of Frontiers/Escape. Still, I'll wait to hear the album before I cast any judgment...

I think that was the thought behind Revelation. Whether they succeeded or not, that is up to the listner.

Pretty indepth update from Cain (note - what's posted in the thread is only an excerpt).

brywool wrote:

Schon Rules All wrote:Jesus some of you posters just bitch way too much. For Christ's sake, its Journey. They have been around for nearly forty years, and are still making music. You wouldn't be on this board if you have never been a fan. I honestly believe by reading a lot of your posts that every member of the band past and present could be on the next album, call it escape part two, and tour every city in the free world.... twice, have it chart longer than greatest hits did, and you would STILL find a reason to bitch! At the end of the day, the bashing and ridicule is just sad and pathetic. Show a little respect to these legendary musicians already.

YUP.

Cain didn't mention Arnel writing, but that's been mentioned elsewhere. He also didn't mention Valory or Castronovo. So what? He also didn't mention the economy. Better get on him for that too. There were only a few paragraphs there and it didn't really need to be a detailed, track by track tome.

Seemed a pretty positive communication and certainly had a lot more information on music than others ever seem to be able to muster.
I don't get the negativity at all. If you don't like the band, why post? Not that everything has to be all rosey and pro-Journey, but still, I don't really see a lot in that post to complain about...

The thing I'd worry about is the WalMart deal... or rather the "Probably" comment. That tells me that they don't have a deal in place. THAT is not good news.

Neal and Jon should say at the end of every interview:

Arnel has writing credits, but they are only on two ballads because he's asian and only knows how to sing ballads because of his phony karaoke status. Steve Perry is the greatest and the very reason we still live and breath today and yes he was successful in becoming our pimp after a deal we made 13 years ago that we are still so bitter about and yes, Neal has 24 wives and still has to pay each and every one of them and finally, yes, I do look like a queer when I wear cowboy boots and bring out the harmonica on stage. We will never reach the same peak we did in the 80's and everything we made after 1996 has been garbage and unworthy of praise. You shouldn't even download that shit it's such a disgrace to the legacy.

I think that covers it all, what else is there to complain about....hmm...

Pineda said he’s contributing two tracks, both ballads—“She’s A Mystery,” co-written with his brother Eric, and “To Whom It May Concern,” a collaboration with Schon.

So, now that we verified that tidbit, we can say that everything stated in the post above me concerning the band is correct.

Ligzig wrote:

brywool wrote:

Schon Rules All wrote:Jesus some of you posters just bitch way too much. For Christ's sake, its Journey. They have been around for nearly forty years, and are still making music. You wouldn't be on this board if you have never been a fan. I honestly believe by reading a lot of your posts that every member of the band past and present could be on the next album, call it escape part two, and tour every city in the free world.... twice, have it chart longer than greatest hits did, and you would STILL find a reason to bitch! At the end of the day, the bashing and ridicule is just sad and pathetic. Show a little respect to these legendary musicians already.

YUP.

Cain didn't mention Arnel writing, but that's been mentioned elsewhere. He also didn't mention Valory or Castronovo. So what? He also didn't mention the economy. Better get on him for that too. There were only a few paragraphs there and it didn't really need to be a detailed, track by track tome.

Seemed a pretty positive communication and certainly had a lot more information on music than others ever seem to be able to muster.
I don't get the negativity at all. If you don't like the band, why post? Not that everything has to be all rosey and pro-Journey, but still, I don't really see a lot in that post to complain about...

The thing I'd worry about is the WalMart deal... or rather the "Probably" comment. That tells me that they don't have a deal in place. THAT is not good news.

Neal and Jon should say at the end of every interview:

Arnel has writing credits, but they are only on two ballads because he's asian and only knows how to sing ballads because of his phony karaoke status. Steve Perry is the greatest and the very reason we still live and breath today and yes he was successful in becoming our pimp after a deal we made 13 years ago that we are still so bitter about and yes, Neal has 24 wives and still has to pay each and every one of them and finally, yes, I do look like a queer when I wear cowboy boots and bring out the harmonica on stage. We will never reach the same peak we did in the 80's and everything we made after 1996 has been garbage and unworthy of praise. You shouldn't even download that shit it's such a disgrace to the legacy.

I think that covers it all, what else is there to complain about....hmm...

Everything after 1996 is garbage and unworthy of praise. You're funny.

The_Noble_Cause wrote:Pretty indepth update from Cain (note - what's posted in the thread is only an excerpt).

Thanks for the head's up. Some cool stuff over on his site. New grand piano? Looking forward to hearing it.

Jana wrote:Everything after 1996 is garbage and unworthy of praise.

I'm glad we can agree.

I hope his new Grand Piano sounds better than the Toys R' Us model he used on the re-records.

Saint John wrote:

stevew2 wrote:

Don wrote:Pineda said he’s contributing two tracks, both ballads—“She’s A Mystery,” co-written with his brother Eric, and “To Whom It May Concern,” a collaboration with Schon.

So, now that we verified that tidbit, we can say that everything stated in the post above me concerning the band is correct.

She s a mystery, must be about Friga

You never cease to amaze me, dude. Nice work.

He's definitely and inspiration. I can come out in the T-formation and when Steve's done with his audible, it ends up as a double reverse with a flea flicker tacked on at the end. Varstiy player all the way.

Saint John wrote:

stevew2 wrote:

Don wrote:Pineda said he’s contributing two tracks, both ballads—“She’s A Mystery,” co-written with his brother Eric, and “To Whom It May Concern,” a collaboration with Schon.

So, now that we verified that tidbit, we can say that everything stated in the post above me concerning the band is correct.

She s a mystery, must be about Friga

You never cease to amaze me, dude. Nice work.

Its in my blood. Poor Friga lost his winery, He ll have to start buying Yellow Tail from Andrew

Ligzig wrote:

Jana wrote:Everything after 1996 is garbage and unworthy of praise.

I'm glad we can agree.

I hope his new Grand Piano sounds better than the Toys R' Us model he used on the re-records.

I can agree with that. The fisher price instruments need to be put away.