Steve Perry's "changing voice" after Escape

[TRAGChick]

OK..I'm tired; have no idea where this thread is.

BUT:

You can't say that his "high voice" is destroyed post Escape / Frontiers.

Exhibit A: 1984: POST "Frontiers" "Strung Out":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNc0HHXZOi0

[steveo777]

Yet another post in the wrong forum. Steve solo material. Sounds pretty good though.

[Art Vandelay]

Love the song and the video, but it's not really a fair comparison.

Escape and Frontiers took the band on a grueling tour, when he had to sing 2+hours night after night.

This song and video were both probably recorded within a day each. Of course he's gonna sound on top of his game here!

[Deb]

Love the song and the video, but it's not really a fair comparison.

Escape and Frontiers took the band on a grueling tour, when he had to sing 2+hours night after night.

This song and video were both probably recorded within a day each. Of course he's gonna sound on top of his game here!

Me too. Also, I Believe ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaZpXzUSl0U Looooooooove the R&B delivery on both those songs, easily my 2 favorites from Street Talk!

[SF-Dano]

I can't think of any Steve Perry solo song that sounds more completely like a Journey song than Strung Out. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on the listener I would suppose.

[NoMoreTails]

I can't think of any Steve Perry solo song that sounds more completely like a Journey song than Strung Out. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on the listener I would suppose.

Yes...but bad Journey song.

[Michigan Girl]

I can't think of any Steve Perry solo song that sounds more completely like a Journey song than Strung Out. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on the listener I would suppose.

It's a curious and ironic thing, IMO ... it makes me think of Neal saying
basically the same thing about ST/OS?!? whatever he was referring to
in the BTM segment. But now when some say this new LP does not sound
like Journey, it seems to cause an uproar amongst many of you
people, what do you want from them, you people will never
be happy, yes they sound like Journey, they're Journey ...not
referring to you necessarily, SF ...I haven't listened to the new stuff
so I have no opinion, but wth?!?! Make up your minds, you people who
gripe about it, do they have a particular JOURNEY sound or
not ...

[Michigan Girl]

I can't think of any Steve Perry solo song that sounds more completely like a Journey song than Strung Out. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on the listener I would suppose.

Yes...but bad Journey song.

Kinda like that last release ...booooring
forgettable ...and sometimes just blech

[TRAGChick]

Hell...if you listen close enough to "Once You Love Somebody" from ROR, his higher-register Backing Vox are RIGHT THERE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKy2nuJEmUo

Once you love somebody
(Once you looooove)

There's no turning back
(Turning baaaack)

etc.

[scarab]

You Better Wait is classic Journey
As is Lost Angels,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFoCrDdjFSo


Would have been a huge Journey song with Schon and Cain.

[kgdjpubs]

You Better Wait is classic Journey
As is Lost Angels,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFoCrDdjFSo


Would have been a huge Journey song with Schon and Cain.

I think You Better Wait is a classic melodic rock song with Perry on vocals. Don't hear too much "Journey" in it. Same with 90% of Street Talk for that matter. Lost Angels is basically the same thing, but I never thought it was all that to begin with. Always sounded forced to me.

[Glenn]

OK song...Awful video

I love that band member at the 2 minute mark who stops playing and takes a "hey look at me, I'm smoking" drag off his cig.

[SF-Dano]

OK song...Awful video

I love that band member at the 2 minute mark who stops playing and takes a "hey look at me, I'm smoking" drag off his cig.

Isn't that a young Dewey Cox

[Liquid_Drummer]

I can't think of any Steve Perry solo song that sounds more completely like a Journey song than Strung Out. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on the listener I would suppose.

Have to disagree. I like the song but as a musician myself Neal and Jon just do not write songs with that kind of super pop vibe. Musically, it shares more in common with some Loverboy tunes from a chord structure standpoint just with Perry at the helm. That relentless keyboard sound.. Dink - dink - dink - dink on the 1 and 3 of every verse section that matches the lilt of the song. So non Journey. Steve Smith would have added his unique feel as well that changes everything. LIsten to the songs he recorded for ROR. Only 2 and the BEST 2 IMHO.

Steve had moments after Frontiers was recorded where his Escape era voice returned on the Frontiers tour. This to me shows this is how he wanted to sound and all that sutff about wanting to sing lower just to "explore" is a bunch of B.S. The entire change can be tracked my listening to the boots of late 82 where he sings SW 1st time live at day on the green (on youtube) minus rasp with more of a direct Escape sounding NON AIRY vocal. This was only a short time before Frontiers was recorded. By the time Frontiers was tracked something happened and speaking from a physical standpoint it was almost overnight. It was not intentional. More air was passing over his cords because they stopped closing properly most likely from inflammation. He should not have sung like that. If you listen to some boots of the Frontiers tour you hear his voice back in Escape era form to about mid 83. Then the rasp returns, songs got faster (less time singing). From there it just kept morphing never to be what it was. He just sang too damn much. Frontiers and Beyond (the video) shows to me what looks like Steve is freaking ripped on coke or something because his eyes just are not right at all and he never moves that jerky. His singing is awful in places on that IMHO and as Herbie said, that show was really the end as we knew it. I dont know by what devices it happened but I believe to this day Steve ruined his own voice and beats himself and his cats up daily for it !

[kgdjpubs]

I can't think of any Steve Perry solo song that sounds more completely like a Journey song than Strung Out. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on the listener I would suppose.

Have to disagree. I like the song but as a musician myself Neal and Jon just do not write songs with that kind of super pop vibe. Musically, it shares more in common with some Loverboy tunes from a chord structure standpoint just with Perry at the helm. That relentless keyboard sound.. Dink - dink - dink - dink on the 1 and 3 of every verse section that matches the lilt of the song. So non Journey. Steve Smith would have added his unique feel as well that changes everything. LIsten to the songs he recorded for ROR. Only 2 and the BEST 2 IMHO.

I never heard much Journey either. I hear Perry doing melodic rock, but not Journey.

Steve had moments after Frontiers was recorded where his Escape era voice returned on the Frontiers tour. This to me shows this is how he wanted to sound and all that sutff about wanting to sing lower just to "explore" is a bunch of B.S. The entire change can be tracked my listening to the boots of late 82 where he sings SW 1st time live at day on the green (on youtube) minus rasp with more of a direct Escape sounding NON AIRY vocal. This was only a short time before Frontiers was recorded. By the time Frontiers was tracked something happened and speaking from a physical standpoint it was almost overnight. It was not intentional. More air was passing over his cords because they stopped closing properly most likely from inflammation. He should not have sung like that. If you listen to some boots of the Frontiers tour you hear his voice back in Escape era form to about mid 83. Then the rasp returns, songs got faster (less time singing). From there it just kept morphing never to be what it was. He just sang too damn much. Frontiers and Beyond (the video) shows to me what looks like Steve is freaking ripped on coke or something. His singins is awful on that IMHO and has Herbie said, that show was really the end as we knew it.

I think the changes are both intentional AND unintentional. Part of it was, I think, exactly what you described. The other part was very much intentional, as his singing style overwent a massive overhaul between Escape and Street Talk, specifically his phrasing. You can hear a massive difference between Street Talk/ROR and Escape....but there was more than just an intentional change.

[Saint John]

LD, please post the video of Sir Criesalot ripped if you have it. I need a good laugh tonight. What Frontiers And Beyond song was it on?

[S2M]

LD, please post the video of Sir Criesalot ripped if you have it. I need a good laugh tonight. What Frontiers And Beyond song was it on?

6:46
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4iYY4IOer8&feature=related

[Liquid_Drummer]

LD, please post the video of Sir Criesalot ripped if you have it. I need a good laugh tonight. What Frontiers And Beyond song was it on?

It was SW. He almost talks some of the song and he was jacked up big time on something.. I know you had some opinions about what happened with the overnight rasp thing. Whats your take on it.

[Don]

OK song...Awful video

I love that band member at the 2 minute mark who stops playing and takes a "hey look at me, I'm smoking" drag off his cig.

If you're going to smoke, you need to be cool like Barry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEzMU49E ... re=related

[Liquid_Drummer]

There is another thing to note about Steve's voice which is most obvious on the Against the Wall and FTLOSM, TBF. When you do hear Steve hitting high notes notice how often it is on the same kind of syllables. He could not sing in his upper register on any just vowel or phrase as he had in the past when his voice was amazingly elastic and nimble. TBF shows this in spades. I have to give him credit where it is due. He worked around his faltering voice better than any one else I have heard that has vox issues. He rephrased things to make it work. I dont like when he goes to far with it and says " Worlds apart hearts broken in toe, two, two. The first Toe (haha) being the highest note of that part shows where he twist the words so that he can hit the needed note. SAd part is that he still had to do this even one half step down. I cant think of a bigger degradation in a singers voice considering the time that passed vs the continuous decline. I understand range goes with age unless your Paul McCartney still singing Helter Skelter at 67 in the same pitch and sounding almost the same. Paul always took great care of himself too.

Mickey Thomas still singing Jane from Jefferson Starship in 2010 nearly as good as the album. I wish that Steve had been so lucky. Fact is, if he could be singing Journey he would be. The ONLY reason he isnt doing it is because he cant. There is damage there folks. Its in his laugh and speaking voice. The cords are uneven and not closing correctly. He may as well have smoked all his life from the damage he obviously has.

NOW that does not mean that he could not sing with what he has left and still not have us all loving it. Again, the man knows how to work what he has. Very smart singer. One of the smartest really when it comes to making it work in less that favorable situation.

[Don]

I was just listening to TBF through headphones and the production is so well done, it's like you can actually feel Perry's pain as he croaks out the words to certain songs. I think that is what people are getting at when they talk of hearing emotion in a singer's voice.
While Eclipse sounded great during my short time listening to it, a lot of those nuances are hidden by the wall of sound technique where you get barraged by everything x 2. There aren't too many of those moments where you can hear the intake of breath or the crack of the voice.
I don't know if that's in part to Perry possibly helping Shirley during the production of TBF, or more of Kevin trying to make Eclipse sound harder by taking some of the brightness out of it and dulling it up a little bit to give it a darker vibe.

[Liquid_Drummer]

I was just listening to TBF through headphones and the production is so well done, it's like you can actually feel Perry's pain as he croaks out the words to certain songs. I think that is what people are getting at when they talk of hearing emotion in a singer's voice. While Eclipse sounded great during my short time listening to it, a lot of those nuances are hidden by the wall of sound technique where you get barraged by everything x 2. There aren't too many of those moments where you can hear the intake of breath or the crack of the voice. I don't know if that's in part to Perry possibly helping Shirley during the production of TBF, or more of Kevin trying to make Eclipse sound harder by taking some of the brightness out of it and dulling it up a little bit to give it a darker vibe.

You have heard the new CD ? HOw ?

[Don]

I was just listening to TBF through headphones and the production is so well done, it's like you can actually feel Perry's pain as he croaks out the words to certain songs. I think that is what people are getting at when they talk of hearing emotion in a singer's voice. While Eclipse sounded great during my short time listening to it, a lot of those nuances are hidden by the wall of sound technique where you get barraged by everything x 2. There aren't too many of those moments where you can hear the intake of breath or the crack of the voice. I don't know if that's in part to Perry possibly helping Shirley during the production of TBF, or more of Kevin trying to make Eclipse sound harder by taking some of the brightness out of it and dulling it up a little bit to give it a darker vibe.

You have heard the new CD ? HOw ?

Check your PM (and no, there isn't any piracy involved here )

[Liquid_Drummer]

I was just listening to TBF through headphones and the production is so well done, it's like you can actually feel Perry's pain as he croaks out the words to certain songs. I think that is what people are getting at when they talk of hearing emotion in a singer's voice. While Eclipse sounded great during my short time listening to it, a lot of those nuances are hidden by the wall of sound technique where you get barraged by everything x 2. There aren't too many of those moments where you can hear the intake of breath or the crack of the voice. I don't know if that's in part to Perry possibly helping Shirley during the production of TBF, or more of Kevin trying to make Eclipse sound harder by taking some of the brightness out of it and dulling it up a little bit to give it a darker vibe.

You have heard the new CD ? HOw ?

Check your PM (and no, there isn't any piracy involved here )

If it leaked Andrew would be able to delete the threads about it fast enough. Doubt it will. I have a pretty high end audio system and nice speakers. Leaks are ALWAYS mp3 and I HATE mp3's. When you get some good audio gear and do an A/B cd vs mp3 it is no contest. No where close. I cant even stand to listen to mp3's for most music because once you know what to listen for (this is revealed by top shelf speakers) you hear it in every mp3 !

[ForceInfinity]

There is another thing to note about Steve's voice which is most obvious on the Against the Wall and FTLOSM, TBF. When you do hear Steve hitting high notes notice how often it is on the same kind of syllables. He could not sing in his upper register on any just vowel or phrase as he had in the past when his voice was amazingly elastic and nimble. TBF shows this in spades. I have to give him credit where it is due. He worked around his faltering voice better than any one else I have heard that has vox issues. He rephrased things to make it work. I dont like when he goes to far with it and says " Worlds apart hearts broken in toe, two, two. The first Toe (haha) being the highest note of that part shows where he twist the words so that he can hit the needed note. SAd part is that he still had to do this even one half step down. I cant think of a bigger degradation in a singers voice considering the time that passed vs the continuous decline. I understand range goes with age unless your Paul McCartney still singing Helter Skelter at 67 in the same pitch and sounding almost the same. Paul always took great care of himself too.

Mickey Thomas still singing Jane from Jefferson Starship in 2010 nearly as good as the album. I wish that Steve had been so lucky. Fact is, if he could be singing Journey he would be. The ONLY reason he isnt doing it is because he cant. There is damage there folks. Its in his laugh and speaking voice. The cords are uneven and not closing correctly. He may as well have smoked all his life from the damage he obviously has.

NOW that does not mean that he could not sing with what he has left and still not have us all loving it. Again, the man knows how to work what he has. Very smart singer. One of the smartest really when it comes to making it work in less that favorable situation.

Actually I think one of the more jarring degredations I've may've heard in a singer's voice besides Steve Perry is maybe Geoff Tate where it just seemed that his voice dropped off on its high end between Mindcrime and Empire. Kind of like Perry, Tate seems to be maximizing the range he does have, but he has nowhere near the high end that he used to

[DracIsBack]

He may as well have smoked all his life from the damage he obviously has.

I'm still of the belief that those songs are punishing and I hope Arnel doesn't suffer the same fate as his predecessors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7pdgctX2l0

Unfortunately, Journey doesn't really have a way to 'share the load'. I guess Dean could do some more tunes.

NOW that does not mean that he could not sing with what he has left

Agree. There's a difference between "can't sing Journey hits in their original key" and "not being able to sing at all". Perry is probably still a wayyy above average singer.

[Escape Artist]

One of the guys at the end looks like "The most interesting Man in the World." - Stay thirsty my Journey friends...

[Saint John]

LD, please post the video of Sir Criesalot ripped if you have it. I need a good laugh tonight. What Frontiers And Beyond song was it on?

It was SW. He almost talks some of the song and he was jacked up big time on something.. I know you had some opinions about what happened with the overnight rasp thing. Whats your take on it.

I think it was a combination of a lot of things. First and foremost, I think he was over-prescribed steroids. From my reading and research, the first thing I noted about overusing steroids were 3 things ... and Nostrildamus exhibits/exhibited all 4: Hoarseness, loss of high notes, hyper activity (especially ROR) and permanent damage. Add to that stress (his mother's illness), alcohol and touring, and you end up with a singer that's done. Steroids will get you through a show, shows or tour ... but there's a price sometimes, and I think he paid the ultimate one.

Journey's management is accountable to some degree for this damage and so is Nostrildamus. I would hold management far more culpable had he never toured solo, but the tour dates without Journey show the same reckless abandon. I just don't get why he needed to do so many shows in so little time. But I'll be kind and still put this 50% on management and 50% on Nostrildamus, since it was simply too late by FTLOSM.

[journey361]

I have to disagree really with all of you. I believe it's just a simple explenation and one thats really never been touched that i know of. I think it's Perry's one-of-a-kind type of voice thats done him in. Too many older singers hit notes and maybe don't sound young, but can in basketball terms (take it to the paint) even at their age. I think in Perry's case his voice was so different in so many ways it was a short-term ability (at his peak) to sustain all the early tricks of the trade. He is down right impossible to sing like for all of us. I can turn my radio to song after song and somewhat sing in key or hit notes from time to time during the songs. In Perry's case, Nope, to hard to sound like him. His voice kind of was his downfall.