New Neal Schon Interview

[RocknRoll]

This thing is really long, so I'm just posting the link.

It's a great interview and Neal is pretty frank about quite a few things. I enjoyed it.

http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/ ... ear-455206

[cinkidd]

Thanks. That was a great read. Firs time somebody did not ask about Perry, which I'm pretty sure he was grateful for. Liked how he was honest about things about himself and the recording process.

Rich the Pretty Guy

[Eric]

Sounds like to me the tension wasn't amongst the band members, really...but Schon and Shirley.

[Don]

Neal got his way and got his European style album. Not sure though if Wal-Mart will be buying the next one.

[brywool]

Cool to read about the fallout with Gibson. Wow. I was wondering why he got away from the Les Pauls again.

[Jana]

Interesting interview. I like it when it's not just a short interview, usual canned questions.

[Ehwmatt]

Cool to read about the fallout with Gibson. Wow. I was wondering why he got away from the Les Pauls again.

I so would love to have one of those Schon Les Pauls. Those had to be the coolest guitars I've ever seen.

[brywool]

Cool to read about the fallout with Gibson. Wow. I was wondering why he got away from the Les Pauls again.

I so would love to have one of those Schon Les Pauls. Those had to be the coolest guitars I've ever seen.

Yeah, the feedback switch was worth the price of admission. Very cool! Personally, I'm not much of a PRS guy- however, I've never played one so you know...

[Ehwmatt]

Cool to read about the fallout with Gibson. Wow. I was wondering why he got away from the Les Pauls again.

I so would love to have one of those Schon Les Pauls. Those had to be the coolest guitars I've ever seen.

Yeah, the feedback switch was worth the price of admission. Very cool! Personally, I'm not much of a PRS guy- however, I've never played one so you know...

I've never played one of the top of the line ones. But, i've played some $800-$1000 ones. They didn't wow me. I'm sure there are some nice PRS's out there.

But yeah, the sustainer, Floyd, and push-pull on a Les Paul style body just seemed like such a cool concept - get the all the cool effects and sounds of a 24-fret super strat but with the girth and balls of a Les Paul. Yes please!

[brywool]

Cool to read about the fallout with Gibson. Wow. I was wondering why he got away from the Les Pauls again.

I so would love to have one of those Schon Les Pauls. Those had to be the coolest guitars I've ever seen.

Yeah, the feedback switch was worth the price of admission. Very cool! Personally, I'm not much of a PRS guy- however, I've never played one so you know...

I've never played one of the top of the line ones. But, i've played some $800-$1000 ones. They didn't wow me. I'm sure there are some nice PRS's out there.

But yeah, the sustainer, Floyd, and push-pull on a Les Paul style body just seemed like such a cool concept - get the all the cool effects and sounds of a 24-fret super strat but with the girth and balls of a Les Paul. Yes please!

Every LesPaul needs to come with a Chiropractic plan... Heavy!

[Majestic]

Awesome. He is wrong about one thing though. There are no others better than him. I'm not talking about one technique or another that he can or can't do better than the next guy, just that I'd not rather to hear anyone else play more, so that makes him the best in my book.

[YoungJRNY]

Loving how blunt Neal was about HIS album and love the comments how he didn't want anyone to fuck with his thing he had going and that's that. Worked out for the better for these ears. Eclipse is one badass listening CD. I wish there will be more like this & the new harder-rocking sound.

[Jana]

Loving how blunt Neal was about HIS album and love the comments how he didn't want anyone to fuck with his thing he had going and that's that. Worked out for the better for these ears. Eclipse is one badass listening CD. I wish there will be more like this & the new harder-rocking sound.

What I liked about the interview was hearing how passionate they were about this album and really put a lot of time and effort into it and fought for things they believed in. Kind of rare for a fourth decade band. I guess that's what ticked Shirley off, they didn't go it his way all the way through. I always appreciate a band or artist that gives it their all and has a vision about the album. Sometimes it doesn't always work, i.e., Kelly Clarkson fighting the label and Clive Davis on one of her albums. I think Eclipse worked in a big way musically and a nice change. Some people say no hooks, but there's quite a few songs off here that just pop into my head as far as the chorus or the hook.

[Journey/Survivor]

I'd like to know who Neal thinks is a better guitarist than himself? I've yet to hear anyone better. And I've heard most of the big-name guitarists out there.

[Journey/Survivor]

Hey NEAL. If you read this...get those solo discs of yours out soon!

[S2M]

I'd like to know who Neal thinks is a better guitarist than himself? I've yet to hear anyone better. And I've heard most of the big-name guitarists out there.

And therein lies the problem. No offense, J/S, but it isn't always the big-name guitarists that are the best....tsk, tsk, tsk.

[Rockindeano]

Awesome. He is wrong about one thing though. There are no others better than him. I'm not talking about one technique or another that he can or can't do better than the next guy, just that I'd not rather to hear anyone else play more, so that makes him the best in my book.

You are joking right? Neal Schon, the best guitar player alive? Please tell me you are joking.

[portland]

Awesome. He is wrong about one thing though. There are no others better than him. I'm not talking about one technique or another that he can or can't do better than the next guy, just that I'd not rather to hear anyone else play more, so that makes him the best in my book.

You are joking right? Neal Schon, the best guitar player alive? Please tell me you are joking.

I guess it's a personal taste/ear thing....

[Gideon]

I guess it's a personal taste/ear thing....

Kinda like Perry being the best singer ever, right?

[Behshad]

Awesome. He is wrong about one thing though. There are no others better than him. I'm not talking about one technique or another that he can or can't do better than the next guy, just that I'd not rather to hear anyone else play more, so that makes him the best in my book.

You are joking right? Neal Schon, the best guitar player alive? Please tell me you are joking.

Sadly he's not joking.

[Behshad]

I guess it's a personal taste/ear thing....

Kinda like Perry being the best singer ever, right?

Not kinda

[Gideon]

Not kinda

Careful, you'll have both Perry's and Neal's cultists on your ass any second.

[Behshad]

Not kinda

Careful, you'll have both Perry's and Neal's cultists on your ass any second.

And what makes you think I couldn't handle 22 people ?!

[Gideon]

Not kinda

Careful, you'll have both Perry's and Neal's cultists on your ass any second.

And what makes you think I couldn't handle 22 people ?!

I don't know about Neal, but I can tell you with great certainty Perry's army numbers in the thousands.

[Arkansas]

So, I wonder if Kevin Shirley is looking at the album sales numbers and shaking his head in laughter.
NS got his way with this record. Would it have sold any better if Shirley did?
I wonder what conversations Shirley & Azoff have had in the past year.
Maybe the very reason that NS had to have his way, was exactly why it wasn't promoted.
????



later~

[Majestic]

Awesome. He is wrong about one thing though. There are no others better than him. I'm not talking about one technique or another that he can or can't do better than the next guy, just that I'd not rather to hear anyone else play more, so that makes him the best in my book.

You are joking right? Neal Schon, the best guitar player alive? Please tell me you are joking.

I said nobody is better because there is nobody I'd rather listen to playing a guitar than Neal. No joke.

[ForceInfinity]

Awesome. He is wrong about one thing though. There are no others better than him. I'm not talking about one technique or another that he can or can't do better than the next guy, just that I'd not rather to hear anyone else play more, so that makes him the best in my book.

You are joking right? Neal Schon, the best guitar player alive? Please tell me you are joking.

I said nobody is better because there is nobody I'd rather listen to playing a guitar than Neal. No joke.

John Petrucci

*drops 2 cents in the bucket*

[Majestic]

Awesome. He is wrong about one thing though. There are no others better than him. I'm not talking about one technique or another that he can or can't do better than the next guy, just that I'd not rather to hear anyone else play more, so that makes him the best in my book.

You are joking right? Neal Schon, the best guitar player alive? Please tell me you are joking.

I said nobody is better because there is nobody I'd rather listen to playing a guitar than Neal. No joke.

John Petrucci

*drops 2 cents in the bucket*

I kind of doubt I'd rather listen to him as I've never heard of him.

[fredinator]

Thanks for posting this RnR--thoroughly enjoyed it!! No bs, very charming--what a great, great musician. Love ya Neal!

[VirgilTheart]

Wow. Reading that interview made me really hate Kevin Shirley even more than I already did previously. So it sounds like we actually have Neal and Jonathan to thank for the kick-ass production on Eclipse.

Maybe on the next album, they can save themselves some money and just record and produce the album themselves and steer clear from Kevin from here on out. Sounds like they'd be saving some money AND improved production in general.

Also, reading the interview in conjunction with Jonathan's new interview, I'm really curious to see what direction they'll take with the next Journey album. Unlike most folks here (or at least so it seems), I don't think they'll go back to the old keyboards-driven sound. Sounds like both Neal and Jonathan want to move Journey forward, albeit in different manners (Neal wanting a harder rock album, Jonathan wanting more Zepplin-esque, mystical lyrics). Not to mention, Arnel's voice is just perfectly suited for hard rock music.