DSB w/ Deen live vocals

[Gideon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99SKIe8m ... re=related

^ Not sure if anyone's seen this, but he's performing with a local band. Pretty good.

[annie89509]

Boy, Deen has the SP inflections down pat....

[Archetype]

Neal is probably looking for homeless Ethiopian drummers right now for when Deen takes over the mic.

[Gideon]

Here are some better videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5csKHhsyjg

^ DSB

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySIVQ0hstXY

^ Stone In Love

[steveo777]

Is this his community service for beating up his girlfriend?

[slucero]

Neal is probably looking for homeless Ethiopian drummers right now for when Deen takes over the mic.

his name will have a click in it..

[tater1977]

Deen Castronovo with Stone In Love and Jeff Allen - Separate Ways (Live in the Bing Lounge)

http://youtu.be/JX_nz-egIsg


Deen playing in a tribute band.

[yulog]

Is this his community service for beating up his girlfriend?

[Navarro]

Nice of Deen to sing with these kids! I am sure it's an experience they will never forget. Big musical moments like this can change a young musician's life. Could be a turning point for them to really "get into it".

[ForceInfinity]

Say what you will about the crap that Deen did, but damn, that's not a bad take on DSB. His voice is definitely suited to the song, but doesn't quite have that umph, power, what have you that Steve or AP can put into it. It was an enjoyable listen.

[Rick]

Deen Castronovo with Stone In Love and Jeff Allen - Separate Ways (Live in the Bing Lounge)

http://youtu.be/JX_nz-egIsg


Deen playing in a tribute band.

That Asian dude's got a great voice. Hey, Journey!

[JRNYMAN]

There's no question in my mind that Deen could've easily taken over lead vox duties at any time along the way and pulled it off brilliantly. His Perry inflections and his delivery of the songs nearly always as recorded with rarely his own nuances interjected combined with his warm tone has made him very easy to listen to. But, as he said in the Generations interview, he's perfectly fine singing a few songs per night as long as his kit is between him and the audience. When he's in front of his kit, he loses all of his self confidence and is literally scared to death - to the point of getting the shakes.
Too bad really... his vox talents are not being used to their full potential. Don't get me wrong, he kills it every night on every song with his spot on harmonies but I honestly think not splitting the lead vox duties between he and Arnel is a mistake. And, I'll even go as far as to say that at this point in the game, as much as I love Perry's delivery of Mother Father from the Houston show, I've come to love Deen's version of it just as much if for no other reason the fact that in addition to the passion he puts into his vocal performance, he's also delivering a stellar drum performance simultaneously. Major props to Deen!
His performance of Faithfully is damn near perfection!

[Navarro]

There's no question in my mind that Deen could've easily taken over lead vox duties at any time along the way and pulled it off brilliantly. His Perry inflections and his delivery of the songs nearly always as recorded with rarely his own nuances interjected combined with his warm tone has made him very easy to listen to. But, as he said in the Generations interview, he's perfectly fine singing a few songs per night as long as his kit is between him and the audience. When he's in front of his kit, he loses all of his self confidence and is literally scared to death - to the point of getting the shakes.
Too bad really... his vox talents are not being used to their full potential. Don't get me wrong, he kills it every night on every song with his spot on harmonies but I honestly think not splitting the lead vox duties between he and Arnel is a mistake. And, I'll even go as far as to say that at this point in the game, as much as I love Perry's delivery of Mother Father from the Houston show, I've come to love Deen's version of it just as much if for no other reason the fact that in addition to the passion he puts into his vocal performance, he's also delivering a stellar drum performance simultaneously. Major props to Deen!
His performance of Faithfully is damn near perfection!

I like Deen's singing too. My only complaint about Mother, Father is he bails on the vocals at the very end, Jon plays the part on keyboard. Perry sang it. SP in his prime was/is untouchable. Deen does an excellent knock off of SP though.

[Gideon]

Deen's take on STR and Mother, Father is better than Perry's IMHO, who tainted both songs with unnecessary vocal histrionics and oversinging.

[Archetype]

I really want to hear Deen sing Still She Cries

[Navarro]

Deen's take on STR and Mother, Father is better than Perry's IMHO, who tainted both songs with unnecessary vocal histrionics and oversinging.

Boy, I couldn't disagree more. Mother, Father live in Houston, is the best vocal performance by any rock singer, IMO. Just incredible. Until Deen sings the end of Mother, Father instead of letting the keyboards take the part, he isn't in the same league as SP. His voice is too light and "breathy" and lacks the power. Deen is an imitator, Steve was an innovator of the highest caliber. All musicians are really just imitators or innovators though.

[Gideon]

Deen's take on STR and Mother, Father is better than Perry's IMHO, who tainted both songs with unnecessary vocal histrionics and oversinging.

Boy, I couldn't disagree more. Mother, Father live in Houston, is the best vocal performance by any rock singer, IMO. Just incredible. Until Deen sings the end of Mother, Father instead of letting the keyboards take the part, he isn't in the same league as SP. His voice is too light and "breathy" and lacks the power. Deen is an imitator, Steve was an innovator of the highest caliber. All musicians are really just imitators or innovators though.

I listened to it again and while I appreciate the pitch and range, I'm thrown by the way he pronounces certain words and enunciates certain phrases: "whoaa, lost his pride" was too shrill; "he drinks his life" was too slurred; "one photograph" was too low, he ducked the note. And that's pretty much one lyric.

Deen's version lacks the power Perry or Arnel bring to songs, but lacks the silly over-singing that those two guys often indulge in. Maybe it's the difference in production: Deen's version being from a modern time and Perry's version being from the early '80s. Maybe it's because Perry's vocal load was a hell of a lot more than Deen's ever had to deal with. I'm not sure exactly, but Deen's take sounds much more refined.

Thoughts? Or am I just crazy.

[JRNYMAN]

Deen's take on STR and Mother, Father is better than Perry's IMHO, who tainted both songs with unnecessary vocal histrionics and oversinging.

Boy, I couldn't disagree more. Mother, Father live in Houston, is the best vocal performance by any rock singer, IMO. Just incredible. Until Deen sings the end of Mother, Father instead of letting the keyboards take the part, he isn't in the same league as SP. His voice is too light and "breathy" and lacks the power. Deen is an imitator, Steve was an innovator of the highest caliber. All musicians are really just imitators or innovators though.

I listened to it again and while I appreciate the pitch and range, I'm thrown by the way he pronounces certain words and enunciates certain phrases: "whoaa, lost his pride" was too shrill; "he drinks his life" was too slurred; "one photograph" was too low, he ducked the note. And that's pretty much one lyric.

Deen's version lacks the power Perry or Arnel bring to songs, but lacks the silly over-singing that those two guys often indulge in. Maybe it's the difference in production: Deen's version being from a modern time and Perry's version being from the early '80s. Maybe it's because Perry's vocal load was a hell of a lot more than Deen's ever had to deal with. I'm not sure exactly, but Deen's take sounds much more refined.

Thoughts? Or am I just crazy.

Nope not crazy at all. And for as many differences as there are between Deen's delivery and Perry's, the interesting thing to consider is that from Deen's perspective, he's purposely and consciously "adhering to the way the song was originally recorded out of sheer respect to Steve and the fans." So what he's hearing in his head, and is the template for which he is reproducing the intonations, pronunciations, and nuances are different still from the way Perry actually sounded on the original studio version released on Escape.
Now, with that said, I personally think Deen's loyalty to Neal, today's version of Journey, the version of Journey he grew up listening to, and the fans has earned him the right to perhaps take a few subtle liberties in the way he delivers the songs. God knows he sings well enough and the fact that he's a full member of the band and has enough respect for the music that even if he does move left of center a little bit, he would never inject anything into any song, let alone Mother Father, that would cheapen or change the fans' appreciation of it.

Perry's pronunciation of certain words were one of his trademarks. "Cit-ay by the bay..." but he was consistent with the way he spoke a certain word - not this way one night and another way the next night.

Clearly, his Houston version of Mother Father is his live performance swan song and I wonder if it's the subtle imperfections BECAUSE it's a live performance that makes it, for some people, the preferred and superior version. Hell, the first time I saw them live and heard the intro to AYWI acapella and in perfect 4-part harmony and sounding as good as the studio version, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I mean how could they reproduce so clearly and so beautifully in a hostile outdoor setting something that they probably went with the 15th take on as the album version and were doing it in the pristine and controlled setting of a studio. The chorus and harmony parts of Mother Father are almost surreal when you hear this big, full, choral sound coming from only 4 (and in some parts of the song only 3 voices) one can't help but be a little bit awestruck at just how incredible they are or once were as a band. At the time Escape came out, Journey was THAT kind of a band and had earned lots and lots of respect for how musically good they were which includes a fair amount of wiggle room when it comes to how critical even the most discerning fans are when they hear the band play live. That's kind of where Mother Father is in the whole scheme of things. It's such a fantastic piece of music, performed by a phenomenal band, and delivered by arguably one of the world's best and most respected male vocalists in a sports arena no less, without the luxury of in-ear monitors, and yeah.... that live version is the cat's tits of live performances by Journey.

[Gideon]

Great post, JRNYMAN. I figured the archaic technology might have factored into some of it.

[Deb]

Boy, Deen has the SP inflections down pat....

Me likes his gritty tone...LOL, no really! Quite like him on songs like After The Fall.......... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1O9w8at ... re=related

[JRNYMAN]

Great post, JRNYMAN. I figured the archaic technology might have factored into some of it.

Oh yeah, and definitely that too. Thanks Gid!

[JRNYMAN]

Boy, Deen has the SP inflections down pat....

Me likes his gritty tone...LOL, no really! Quite like him on songs like After The Fall.......... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1O9w8at ... re=related

And not too shabby on Patiently/Where Were You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-KPy-Dm ... re=related

I really like Deen's version of Suzanne but I couldn't find it to paste the link.

[JRNYMAN]

Here's another clip of that same performance shot from a different angle with a mounted camera. A little bit better quality and wider visuals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExVnJLVg ... re=related

[Navarro]

Deen's take on STR and Mother, Father is better than Perry's IMHO, who tainted both songs with unnecessary vocal histrionics and oversinging.

Boy, I couldn't disagree more. Mother, Father live in Houston, is the best vocal performance by any rock singer, IMO. Just incredible. Until Deen sings the end of Mother, Father instead of letting the keyboards take the part, he isn't in the same league as SP. His voice is too light and "breathy" and lacks the power. Deen is an imitator, Steve was an innovator of the highest caliber. All musicians are really just imitators or innovators though.

I listened to it again and while I appreciate the pitch and range, I'm thrown by the way he pronounces certain words and enunciates certain phrases: "whoaa, lost his pride" was too shrill; "he drinks his life" was too slurred; "one photograph" was too low, he ducked the note. And that's pretty much one lyric.

Deen's version lacks the power Perry or Arnel bring to songs, but lacks the silly over-singing that those two guys often indulge in. Maybe it's the difference in production: Deen's version being from a modern time and Perry's version being from the early '80s. Maybe it's because Perry's vocal load was a hell of a lot more than Deen's ever had to deal with. I'm not sure exactly, but Deen's take sounds much more refined.

Thoughts? Or am I just crazy.

Lol, no, you're not crazy and the points you bring up are pretty accurate. The only disagreement is I don't think 81 SP really needed to dodge any high notes. By the ridiculously high range he sings at the end of Mother Father pretty much proves that he had complete command over his technique. I think the changes you mention we're Steve just going for it and changing the interpretation to suit his mood. All this said, Deen is a great singer and I think he fits the Journey sound and does more justice to the classics than the actual replacement singer. I would like to hear him more often sing without playing. The only real criticism(this is nitpicking), is he tends to sing too much in the groove/pocket. Ie. his phrasing is rhythmically too tight. This really picky and I'm sure most people don't notice it. It would be good to hear him sing out front and loosen up that phrasing sometimes. Deen is an amazing musician though.

[Red13JoePa]

Boy, Deen has the SP inflections down pat....

Maybe that's just the way Deen Castronovo sings, maybe they are his inflections.