MR

Another thread had a reply post featuring a tweet response from Deen when asked, "Journey in 2018"? No Journey.

I shouldn't be surprised, but I'd be lying if I didn't have hopes for an announcement of his return. Of course speculation follows of what the band's next move is. Reading through Deen's twitter page it appears things are moving forward again with Revolution Saints.

I think at this point, the gig is Steve Smith's as long as he still wants to do it and Deen's involved in other things right now.

Steve Smith signed on for 2 years with Journey, hence the question to Deen regarding 2018.

from http://brockton.wickedlocal.com/news/20 ... ll-of-fame

Smith only reunited to perform with Journey last year, touring with the band for the first time since 1984. Journey will be back on the road starting next month, with a concert at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut set for June 16, and another at the DCU Center in Worcester on June 19. Smith said the tour, scheduled to run through the end of July, may be the last time he performs with the beloved rock band.

“I signed on for two years,” said Smith, who is 62. “To me, it’s not that sustainable as a lifelong type of lifestyle. That’s why I haven’t chosen to do it for over 30 years.”

Is it just me, but maybe after this year they take a long break?
With a very limited Escape/Frontiers dates, its the same old Greatest Hits.
And even if they do put out a couple songs, I am sure they will be dropped quickly from the setlist.

Let Arnel go home and be with his family for a couple years. Let him do solo stuff in Manila.
Let Schon pump out new CD's, hell even one with Perry
Let Smith go back to his "sustained liefstyle" of fronting a jazz band a doing a few dates a year
Let Cain go to back his Megachurch ministry bilking poor people out their life savings
And let Ross go...hmm

ok maybe they need to tour for Ross.

I miss having a loud drummer.

Jazz is cool but I don't like Steve's jazz stylings in Journey.

Maybe he's hitting all the beats but it doesn't sound bombastic enough.

I'd prefer Deen at this point.

Sacrilegious I know.

StoneCold wrote:I miss having a loud drummer.

Jazz is cool but I don't like Steve's jazz stylings in Journey.

Maybe he's hitting all the beats but it doesn't sound bombastic enough.

I'd prefer Deen at this point.

Sacrilegious I know.

There is a special hell for people that say such things.

IMO Deen is the better drummer to have on an "Eclipse" type of album. But Steve is the better drummer to have on an "Escape" style album.

Journey/Survivor wrote:IMO Deen is the better drummer to have on an "Eclipse" type of album. But Steve is the better drummer to have on an "Escape" style album.

What's the difference? If Steve Perry sang on Eclipse, and it was released in 1986, it would have been a huge hit probably on the same level as Escape.

JourneyHard wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:IMO Deen is the better drummer to have on an "Eclipse" type of album. But Steve is the better drummer to have on an "Escape" style album.

What's the difference? If Steve Perry sang on Eclipse, and it was released in 1986, it would have been a huge hit probably on the same level as Escape.

"Eclipse" was a more straight ahead hard driving album, and Deen excels at that type of music.

"Escape" is a more well rounded type of album with more contrast in stiles, Smith is the better drummer for doing a range of songs from "Mother Father" to "Open Arms" to "Still They Ride."

Memorex wrote:

StoneCold wrote:I miss having a loud drummer.

Jazz is cool but I don't like Steve's jazz stylings in Journey.

Maybe he's hitting all the beats but it doesn't sound bombastic enough.

I'd prefer Deen at this point.

Sacrilegious I know.

There is a special hell for people that say such things.

Agreed!!!

Steve Perry would have never, EVER sung on an album like Eclipse. Because he would know that would never be a hit. Ever.

JourneyHard wrote:What's the difference? If Steve Perry sang on Eclipse, and it was released in 1986, it would have been a huge hit probably on the same level as Escape.

I've forgotten a lot of Journey history.

What was Perry's reason for booting Smith from RoR? I know he did a few tracks before leaving.

Smith's drumming on TBF is some of my favorite along with Frontiers.

JourneyHard wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:IMO Deen is the better drummer to have on an "Eclipse" type of album. But Steve is the better drummer to have on an "Escape" style album.

What's the difference? If Steve Perry sang on Eclipse, and it was released in 1986, it would have been a huge hit probably on the same level as Escape.

Eclipse would be a shit album in any era.

scarab wrote:Is it just me, but maybe after this year they take a long break?
With a very limited Escape/Frontiers dates, its the same old Greatest Hits.
And even if they do put out a couple songs, I am sure they will be dropped quickly from the setlist.

Let Arnel go home and be with his family for a couple years. Let him do solo stuff in Manila.
Let Schon pump out new CD's, hell even one with Perry
Let Smith go back to his "sustained liefstyle" of fronting a jazz band a doing a few dates a year
Let Cain go to back his Megachurch ministry bilking poor people out their life savings
And let Ross go...hmm

ok maybe they need to tour for Ross.

Who knows? We know Cain is going to tour behind his bible thumper music. Perfect opportunity for Rolie to come back. Cya Cain!

StoneCold wrote:I've forgotten a lot of Journey history.

What was Perry's reason for booting Smith from RoR? I know he did a few tracks before leaving.

Smith's drumming on TBF is some of my favorite along with Frontiers.

According to a ROR era video interview that all 3 (Jon, Steve and Neal) participated in, NEAL said "we"! And while Steve has taken the blame (a little too willingly really), none of it was conclusively proven to be Steve's decision...even though he had a LOT to say about the direction of the album.
Here is the video, part 1-3. Hope it uploads.
Part 2: https://youtu.be/EBH1poE-2fA
Part 3: https://youtu.be/0d7e7Jw48j4
Part 1: https://youtu.be/4QFTQPKDZ3Q

The_Noble_Cause wrote:

scarab wrote:Is it just me, but maybe after this year they take a long break?
With a very limited Escape/Frontiers dates, its the same old Greatest Hits.
And even if they do put out a couple songs, I am sure they will be dropped quickly from the setlist.

Let Arnel go home and be with his family for a couple years. Let him do solo stuff in Manila.
Let Schon pump out new CD's, hell even one with Perry
Let Smith go back to his "sustained liefstyle" of fronting a jazz band a doing a few dates a year
Let Cain go to back his Megachurch ministry bilking poor people out their life savings
And let Ross go...hmm

ok maybe they need to tour for Ross.

Who knows? We know Cain is going to tour behind his bible thumper music. Perfect opportunity for Rolie to come back. Cya Cain!

I was always a fan of the Rolie era, and would love to see that.
Funny thing about Smith is that his jazz lifestyle is probably just as, if not much more hectic that the Journey lifestyle. He travels further distances for longer periods of time (depending on who he's playing with). Him and his band are pretty much their own crew, driving together in an oversized van, from gig to gig, often loading and setting up on their own. I'm sure that playing his preferred style of music in a more intimate setting is more appealing to him, but his schedule is definitely not lighter nor less grueling than a Journey tour.

Greg is such a pro. Although I don't think he'd want to leg out the schedule Neal wants to do, being the reason he left, they could really do well on a smaller circuit doing the really old stuff, or reviving some of the Perry/Rolie stuff with Arnel doing the SP parts. I've love to see that. I watched him with the Ringo Starr Band thing on AXS the other night, he was awesome. Still hammering the old Hammond and his voice sounded great on Oye Como Va.

RedWingFan wrote:

JourneyHard wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:IMO Deen is the better drummer to have on an "Eclipse" type of album. But Steve is the better drummer to have on an "Escape" style album.

What's the difference? If Steve Perry sang on Eclipse, and it was released in 1986, it would have been a huge hit probably on the same level as Escape.

Eclipse would be a shit album in any era.

Eclipse is a great album, and I hope that they stick with that style if they record another album.

I do think that Eclipse would have been a hit album in the 1980's, although not as much as Escape was. I think that as an overall album, Eclipse could have done better in the 1980's than Raised On Radio did. Hard Rock was more popular in the 1980's than Motown music was.

StoneCold wrote:I've forgotten a lot of Journey history.

What was Perry's reason for booting Smith from RoR? I know he did a few tracks before leaving.

Smith's drumming on TBF is some of my favorite along with Frontiers.

During the writing of ROR, Perry/Cain/Schon wrote the songs using computers and drum machines in place of Ross and Smith. In the past they had always been part of the writing process, so it was a big change. When it came time to rehearse the songs for recording, Smith and Valory could not reproduce the computer and drum machine sounds in the way Perry wanted. So, they were fired.

bellairepark73 wrote:

StoneCold wrote:I've forgotten a lot of Journey history.

What was Perry's reason for booting Smith from RoR? I know he did a few tracks before leaving.

Smith's drumming on TBF is some of my favorite along with Frontiers.

According to a ROR era video interview that all 3 (Jon, Steve and Neal) participated in, NEAL said "we"! And while Steve has taken the blame (a little too willingly really), none of it was conclusively proven to be Steve's decision...even though he had a LOT to say about the direction of the album.
Here is the video, part 1-3. Hope it uploads.
Part 2: https://youtu.be/EBH1poE-2fA
Part 3: https://youtu.be/0d7e7Jw48j4
Part 1: https://youtu.be/4QFTQPKDZ3Q

In the extended BTM, Kevin Elson essentially said Steve Perry was in charge and he got what he wanted.

And, that, IMO, is the bottom line. Perry had ALL the power at that time. The responsibility begins and ends with him, regardless what anybody else said. If you can't take responsibility for such things, don't demand so much power.

Go back and watch the BTM. Perry says a few times, the music was dictating that to me, and, man, I just had to have it. IMO, that is why Smith and Valory were fired.

MysteryMountain wrote:Greg is such a pro. Although I don't think he'd want to leg out the schedule Neal wants to do, being the reason he left, they could really do well on a smaller circuit doing the really old stuff, or reviving some of the Perry/Rolie stuff with Arnel doing the SP parts. I've love to see that. I watched him with the Ringo Starr Band thing on AXS the other night, he was awesome. Still hammering the old Hammond and his voice sounded great on Oye Como Va.

Gregg toured a lot with his band. He may do a tour with Journey, if things made sense.

I'd say in 2018, bring Gregg and Aynsley back THAT would be interesting.

Monker wrote:

MysteryMountain wrote:Greg is such a pro. Although I don't think he'd want to leg out the schedule Neal wants to do, being the reason he left, they could really do well on a smaller circuit doing the really old stuff, or reviving some of the Perry/Rolie stuff with Arnel doing the SP parts. I've love to see that. I watched him with the Ringo Starr Band thing on AXS the other night, he was awesome. Still hammering the old Hammond and his voice sounded great on Oye Como Va.

Gregg toured a lot with his band. He may do a tour with Journey, if things made sense.

I'd say in 2018, bring Gregg and Aynsley back THAT would be interesting.

It's got my vote!

Even if they didn't call it Journey, I would love to see Neal and Gregg work on a new album with Steve Smith on drums, or even Aynsley on drums if he is still physically able to play at the level that he did in his Journey days in the mid 70's.

Oh, and by the way, I'm referring to them doing a Fusion album like mid 70's Journey was.

I'm fine with Deen not coming back, I'm not sure jumping back into that endless touring schedule would be good for his well being.

Picture in some alternative universe, Journey released the following in 1986 with Perry on lead vocals:

Eclipse (1986)
1. Be Good To Yourself
2. Edge of The Moment
3. Chain Of Love
4. Tantra
5. Anything is Possible
6. Resonate
7. She's a Mystery
8. Human Feel
9. Ritual
10. Someone
11. Why Can't This Night Go On Forever?

This would be awesome!
And no cracks about Journey only playing Be Good To Yourself from this album in concerts for decades after Perry leaves band.

Deen laying down a drum track -

Revolution Saints FB

April 20

Here we are at Ivorytears Music Works Recording Studio in Italy tracking drums for our second album due out in the fall on Frontiers Music srl. Great vibe, great songs and great sounds.

https://www.facebook.com/RevolutionSaints/?fref=nf

Monker wrote:

StoneCold wrote:I've forgotten a lot of Journey history.

What was Perry's reason for booting Smith from RoR? I know he did a few tracks before leaving.

Smith's drumming on TBF is some of my favorite along with Frontiers.

During the writing of ROR, Perry/Cain/Schon wrote the songs using computers and drum machines in place of Ross and Smith. In the past they had always been part of the writing process, so it was a big change. When it came time to rehearse the songs for recording, Smith and Valory could not reproduce the computer and drum machine sounds in the way Perry wanted. So, they were fired.

That was one floated rumor. Another was that Ross was in rehab. Let's be honest - the drums and bass lines on ROR would have been pretty easy for Smitty and Bass to play live. As with anything, there are two sides to every story and then there's the truth. Someone should ask Herbie.

The_Noble_Cause wrote:

Monker wrote:

StoneCold wrote:I've forgotten a lot of Journey history.

What was Perry's reason for booting Smith from RoR? I know he did a few tracks before leaving.

Smith's drumming on TBF is some of my favorite along with Frontiers.

During the writing of ROR, Perry/Cain/Schon wrote the songs using computers and drum machines in place of Ross and Smith. In the past they had always been part of the writing process, so it was a big change. When it came time to rehearse the songs for recording, Smith and Valory could not reproduce the computer and drum machine sounds in the way Perry wanted. So, they were fired.

That was one floated rumor. Another was that Ross was in rehab. Let's be honest - the drums and bass lines on ROR would have been pretty easy for Smitty and Bass to play live. As with anything, there are two sides to every story and then there's the truth. Someone should ask Herbie.

I've heard the rehab rumor myself a few times, something like Ross had a nasty cocaine habit or something along those lines.

I remember reading that Steve Perry wanted Steve Smith to play like a drum machine on ROR, and Smith didn't want to play such a boring style, so Perry wanted him out.

RedWingFan wrote:

JourneyHard wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:IMO Deen is the better drummer to have on an "Eclipse" type of album. But Steve is the better drummer to have on an "Escape" style album.

What's the difference? If Steve Perry sang on Eclipse, and it was released in 1986, it would have been a huge hit probably on the same level as Escape.

Eclipse would be a shit album in any era.

^^^^This^^^g