Album Sales Overall Shrink - Back Catalogs Doing Better

[tj]

This article is poorly written, IMO, but points out how back catalog sales are doing comparatively better. Somewhere, the idea for new music from Journey fits into this business model. I just am not sure where. Obviously, they aren't either or don't see it at all.

http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/7 ... people-are

[JourneyHard]

What it means is Journey needs to do a new CD that sounds exactly like older albums, and stop messing around. They keep telling us they want to do new material because they already have the old songs, but then they tell us they must keep the Legacy Sound. It sounds like they are going in circles here.

The time has come to just cut a CD that sounds exactly like a mixture of Escape, Frontiers and Infinity, Probably Journey's three best albums. This means getting Gregg Rolie on board for some duets. This means doing a few ballads, but most of the album needs to rock in the classic sound. This is what the fans want.

Fans don't want any new experiments. They want songs like sound like the old catalog. If Journey does this, they will make the fans happy and sell some albums because casual fans might think these songs were from thirty years ago. And even if it doesn't sell, it would make people happy. Isn't it time to make some people happy?

[Eric]

What it means is Journey needs to do a new CD that sounds exactly like older albums, and stop messing around. They keep telling us they want to do new material because they already have the old songs, but then they tell us they must keep the Legacy Sound. It sounds like they are going in circles here.

The time has come to just cut a CD that sounds exactly like a mixture of Escape, Frontiers and Infinity, Probably Journey's three best albums. This means getting Gregg Rolie on board for some duets. This means doing a few ballads, but most of the album needs to rock in the classic sound. This is what the fans want.

Fans don't want any new experiments. They want songs like sound like the old catalog. If Journey does this, they will make the fans happy and sell some albums because casual fans might think these songs were from thirty years ago. And even if it doesn't sell, it would make people happy. Isn't it time to make some people happy?

What is the point of creating more ballads...there is no room in a rock-n-roll setlist for anymore ballads past Open Arms and Faithfully.

[FamilyMan]

At Billy Joel's concert this past weekend, he told the crowd at the beginning of the show: "Just so you know: I don't have any new shit to play for you." (The crowd roared with its praise). He then said, "There's nothing worse for me than to go to a concert and hear the band say 'we are going to play our new album.'" (More applause).

[Eric]

At Billy Joel's concert this past weekend, he told the crowd at the beginning of the show: "Just so you know: I don't have any new shit to play for you." (The crowd roared with its praise). He then said, "There's nothing worse for me than to go to a concert and hear the band say 'we are going to play our new album.'" (More applause).

Juke box on stage. Yawn.

[STORY_TELLER]

What it means is Journey needs to do a new CD that sounds exactly like older albums, and stop messing around. They keep telling us they want to do new material because they already have the old songs, but then they tell us they must keep the Legacy Sound. It sounds like they are going in circles here.

The time has come to just cut a CD that sounds exactly like a mixture of Escape, Frontiers and Infinity, Probably Journey's three best albums. This means getting Gregg Rolie on board for some duets. This means doing a few ballads, but most of the album needs to rock in the classic sound. This is what the fans want.

Fans don't want any new experiments. They want songs like sound like the old catalog. If Journey does this, they will make the fans happy and sell some albums because casual fans might think these songs were from thirty years ago. And even if it doesn't sell, it would make people happy. Isn't it time to make some people happy?

I personally want to see Neal and Jon make a new album with Smitty in the mix. I'm first in line to buy it -- but -- respectfully, that's not what the casual fan who goes to see them in concert wants. Case in point:

I recently went to the Dave Mason/Doobies/Journey concert in Irvine. My sister and my wife came along. Both are fans of Journey, but not to the same degree as myself (or anyone on this board for that matter). They are a perfect representation of the "casual fans" we discuss here. People who know Journey's Perry era chart toppers, will even know the words to a verse or two and sing along when they hear it on the radio.

We're walking to our seats and my sister turns to me and asks: "Are they going to play any new music?"

I start answering her with a discussion about the controversy surrounding that. How die hard fans want to hear deep cuts off the albums and new music, but --

Before I can even bring up the other side of it, she interrupts me saying: "Oh I don't want to hear new music. I want to hear the songs I know."

Boom. End of discussion.

Now you know why Jon isn't jazzed about working on new stuff. And I don't think it's as simple as it just being about the costs involved in recording. That is part of it of course, but the other part is also the reward factor, and that's not just about money. All artists want to experience some measure of appreciation or some kind of positive reaction to the work they produce. It's like a drug. Applause hits all the reward centers of the brain and makes your endorphins skyrocket. Best drug on the planet.

I think if Jon saw one of their new tunes getting the kind of energetic response to one of the dirty dozen, he'd be all about recording.

Unfortunately, when Journey plays new music live they see scores of people heading for the restrooms or to get a beer. That's their reality. It's not about the three or four of us in the stands with a smile on our faces. It's about the fifty other guys who are walking out until they hear something familiar to them.

That's a DOWNER when you're up there playing your ass off. It's a depressant.

I absolutely applaud Neal's push to make new stuff. Artists should continue to create. That's what artists do.
I absolutely understand the opposing argument. I'm pretty sure Jon is the one putting up the speed bumps on recording new songs.

The truth is, I think they're both right.

[tj]

I think that part of the answer to new music is to have a dialog with the fans at the concert. Tell them about why you wrote the new song and what it means. Not just, "we're gonna play a new song for ya", and then playing it and moving on. Let them know, we have played 15 of our hits, so indulge us for 4 minutes while we share a song that Neal wrote about...

For these older bands, keeping the connection to the fans is critical. Just coming out on stage, playing the tunes, and then closing it down is poor business IMO. People want to invest emotionally in the musicians as well as the music.

We have grown up with their music. The cliche', "soundtrack of our lives", is appropriate for so many fans. Talk to them. Tell them a story about that time on the road when... Make them feel like that they are a part of something special at tonight's show where they are going to hear something no other show is going to hear. That has to come from the band speaking to the fans, because the songs are the same show after show after show, year after year.

[FamilyMan]

It's funny when you think about Steve Perry's classic line from the Houston Summit "MTV" Concert. "Here's some new Escape music for ya...!" And on came the opening piano strands of "Don't Stop Believin." All those hits were once played live for the first time to an audience of adoring Journey fans. Is it our age (I'm in my 40's) that dictates this disdain for new music? Is it because we no longer have that experience of bringing home an album you saved your pennies for -- peeling off the shrink-wrap with all the anticipation of sexual foreplay - and then spending hours if not days getting to know that record like a new friend?

[steveo777]

It's funny when you think about Steve Perry's classic line from the Houston Summit "MTV" Concert. "Here's some new Escape music for ya...!" And on came the opening piano strands of "Don't Stop Believin." All those hits were once played live for the first time to an audience of adoring Journey fans. Is it our age (I'm in my 40's) that dictates this disdain for new music? Is it because we no longer have that experience of bringing home an album you saved your pennies for -- peeling off the shrink-wrap with all the anticipation of sexual foreplay - and then spending hours if not days getting to know that record like a new friend?

You just described exactly how I used to feel, when I'd get off the bus from the ride downtown to Tower records and go inside and peel open my new album, back in the day.

[STORY_TELLER]

It's funny when you think about Steve Perry's classic line from the Houston Summit "MTV" Concert. "Here's some new Escape music for ya...!" And on came the opening piano strands of "Don't Stop Believin." All those hits were once played live for the first time to an audience of adoring Journey fans. Is it our age (I'm in my 40's) that dictates this disdain for new music? Is it because we no longer have that experience of bringing home an album you saved your pennies for -- peeling off the shrink-wrap with all the anticipation of sexual foreplay - and then spending hours if not days getting to know that record like a new friend?

I always thought the audience at the Houston show was already aware of the songs from radio play, and that most had already purchased the album. Their applause level indicated familiarity to me, and I'm pretty sure those songs were already hits when that concert was being recorded.

To your second point, I think some of it is our age (also in my 40's). We create emotional attachments to creative works in our younger years, and music tends to act like an emotional time machine. It takes you back to a more innocent time in your life, and in some cases, it can even get you to relive the memory (albeit briefly). I've also found, that if you listen to those same songs TOO much in the present tense, it can replace that feeling and memory with what's going on in your life today, lol... so be CAREFUL. Music is strong Juju Mon! lol...

Side note:
The Irvine show was great. I was really impressed with Dave Mason. Hard to believe the man is 70 years old and playing the axe better than most younger players. His musicianship was worlds stronger than the Doobies (IMO). I was much more engaged with his set than the Doobies myself. Good on Neal for bringing him out. He really did the man a solid.

Journey, however -- wow. Just WOW. The instrumentals were tremendous. Good choice of including the extra keyboard/backup singer, he really filled the vocal void. And I was happy to see they didn't have him featured prominently on the stage, nor did they give him a solo song to sing. Good move IMO. Instrumentally, Journey FINALLY sounded like the Journey I knew. That was also an unexpected problem for me, because it made me miss Perry all the more. With Smitty back in the mix, the instrumentals REALLY sounded the way they were supposed to. All of the player's musical chemistry is definitely intact. Their sound just "clicked" for me. Oddly enough, to me, that made Arnel feel more out of place than ever. His vocals, while absolutely solid, felt like a place holder for the real deal. It's nothing Arnel was doing wrong. He sang great. The songs sounded the way they were supposed to sound. Arnel is simply not Steve Perry, and I don't mean that just in the physical sense. When Perry sang, he changed the molecules in the air. He was fucking magical and that band had a really unique chemistry with him that I have yet to see duplicated.

Now, don't get me wrong. That's not a cry for, hey go get Perry back damnit. I know it's not up to Neal or anyone other than Perry. If he wanted to be in the band he would be. It's his choice. It's just a lamenting the loss of what is missing and what can't be recreated with anyone else.

Anyway, I hope Neal gets Jon to do one more album with Smitty in the mix, and I hope Jon digs deep on it. AND FOR THE LOVE OF G-D, NO MORE SPIRITUAL ROCK RECORDS! (yes, the pun was intended)

[JourneyHard]

What it means is Journey needs to do a new CD that sounds exactly like older albums, and stop messing around. They keep telling us they want to do new material because they already have the old songs, but then they tell us they must keep the Legacy Sound. It sounds like they are going in circles here.

The time has come to just cut a CD that sounds exactly like a mixture of Escape, Frontiers and Infinity, Probably Journey's three best albums. This means getting Gregg Rolie on board for some duets. This means doing a few ballads, but most of the album needs to rock in the classic sound. This is what the fans want.

Fans don't want any new experiments. They want songs like sound like the old catalog. If Journey does this, they will make the fans happy and sell some albums because casual fans might think these songs were from thirty years ago. And even if it doesn't sell, it would make people happy. Isn't it time to make some people happy?

What is the point of creating more ballads...there is no room in a rock-n-roll setlist for anymore ballads past Open Arms and Faithfully.

I meant doing a few ballads on the new album, but not a whole album of ballads. I didn't mean to play them in concert. The album should be for the fans. Most of it will never be played in concert, but it is good to have it out there. Most of the album should rock. I want Steve Smith on the new album and even make room for Gregg Rolie.