Since we're talking Perry....

[brandonx76]

WHAT!! Ever happened to the Alien Project Demo's that has been floating around for years? I'm trying to figure out what year these were done, I know Perry was in a band before Journey, but the music on my horrendously bad quality bootlegs sounds friggin amazing, and later stage Perry (i.e. "Somebody Somewhere"), and then "Running for Love"

Could something like this be the next significant "Perry" release? There is definitely some good sh~t sitting in storage somewhere. I hope it's released someday....


-Brandonk

[SuiteMadameBlue]

Well I'm still learning the 411 on Journey and Steve Perry. This is what I found when I "googled". I'm sure most of you on here have read this already, this is for the "newbies" like me on here It looks like there were a bunch of songs from the demo. They probably are sitting in storage somewhere.

http://www.steveperryfanclub.homestead. ... raphy.html

Alien Project

In 1977, Steve and Craig Krampf were involved in putting a band together which they named Alien Project. Krampf says, " when the four of us played, it was magic. We were literally three hours old when Chrysalis wanted to sign us. We were 6 hours old when Chrysalis and Columbia wanted to sign us." This was on the strength of a demo tape, one song from which eventually surfaced on Steve's Greatest Hits + 5 collection, entitled "If You Need Me, Call Me". Other songs on this demo tape are known to be "Come On and Love Me", "Running for Love" and "Special Kind Of Love". This seemed to be the band which would give Steve his big break. Tragically, on the eve of signing a recording contract, Alien Project's bassist, Richard Michaels, lost his life in an automobile accident on 4th of July 1977. Richard's death hit Steve hard, and he felt he couldn't continue with Alien Project under the circumstances. Craig Krampf recalls, "in retrospect, he (Steve) was probably right. The band had magic. He said it would never be the same."

[brandonx76]

..but if that doesn't put the pro-verbial nail in the coffin...the bassist actually stands out on the demos I have, great playing, reminiscent of latter stage Valory playing...

I guarantee you this - only Steve Perry, the man himself, could put together a "rareities" collection that would live up to the expectation. If his voice is truly gone (highly doubtful.....just changed...), he has unfinished work on this planet.

-Brandonk

[The_Noble_Cause]

I guarantee you this - only Steve Perry, the man himself, could put together a "rareities" collection that would live up to the expectation.

He sure didn't deliver the goods when he last had the chance with GH + 5.
Why would this time be any different?

Also, while Perry is a HUGE star, his name alone is not enough for a music corporation to find, polish, promote and release any of his early obscure demos.

They'd sure be nice to hear though.

[Monker]

..but if that doesn't put the pro-verbial nail in the coffin...the bassist actually stands out on the demos I have, great playing, reminiscent of latter stage Valory playing...

I guarantee you this - only Steve Perry, the man himself, could put together a "rareities" collection that would live up to the expectation. If his voice is truly gone (highly doubtful.....just changed...), he has unfinished work on this planet.

-Brandonk

I'll leave it to Suite and others to Google, or whatever, to find the interview...But, I know Perry has been asked about this (around the time of GH+5) and his answer was a "I'll think about it..." or "maybe" type of answer.

It's obvious that he has access to the tapes since one Alien Project song is on GH+5. The only issue would be getting the other people on those recordings to allow it to happen, and for Perry to take the time to remaster them.

In other words, it means Perry has to do some work...and for Perry, "work" is a four letter word. I doubt it will happen.

They are interesting....especialy when they go into things that we know ended up on Journey songs like the "m...mm...mm, my, my, yeah" thing. But, they sound VERY dated and I doubt anybody but the few hundred die-hard fans on the internet will by them.

Also, instead of wasting effort on something like this, I'd like to see Journey release the ENTIRE Superjam, not just "Good Times". THAT is a rarity that Journey fans should go for.

But, of course it's full of cover songs...and nobody wants that any longer Oh, well, fans ten years ago would have drooled over it.

[Rockindeano]

I really believe it's Perry's voice that is the problem.

He has said, "There isn't a day that goes by, that I don't think about touring. It crosses my mind, I don't know how many times a day. In fact I am talking to people right now." -BTM (Paraphrased).

Look, clearly the voice changed. Just listen to Escape-to Frontiers-to TBF..huskier and throatier..not a big problem, but nonetheless, declining.

Bill Graham tribute. I can't get enough of this one. To hear him sing Faithfully and Lights was tough to hear..I felt embarrassed for him. For those of you who haven't heard it, there was no bass, no drums..really slow, really soft, really quiet, and tuned down for sure. I think they sound good for the event..a funeral type ,music event...Perry sounded awful...You could have had Bryan Adams sing those songs and it would have sounded much better.

I can only arrive at the conclusion that the voice is gone...what else could it possibly be?____________________________________________________________

Sidenote- I saw a clip on [url]www.Perryville.freeservers.com [/url] and the reporter was interviewing Neal and Steve, and if you watch, Neal says, "we are going to record our new album soon, and we hope to have Steve come out on join us sometime on this tour." (paraphrase) If you look at Steve, it looks like it is tough for him to hear that.. I really felt bad for him..if that was the case. You know, maybe thats why Steve can't come out to a concert..maybe(and it's sad), he can't sing at this level anylonger. I hope I am proved wrong. I really do.

[Jeremey]

deano,

keep in mind the bill graham tribute was in 1991 - several years before the FTLOSM tour, and the recording of Trial By Fire, which proved at least that steve perry could get himself back into touring and recording shape, if only for finite amounts of time.

perry sounded horrible on the bill graham tribute, but you have to look at it from a singer's perspective also. let's say steve perry was carl lewis. the fastest man in the world. for many people, that's a good analogy between steve perry's vocal abilities between the ages of 26-36.

now lets say carl took a couple years off. he got fat. he got slow. he didn't get to where us mere mortals would look at the guy and say "damn, carl lewis, how many pizzas did you inhale today?" but for a runner, the guy definitely wouldn't have been able to cut it.

then, one day carl gets a wild hair and decides to go make an appearance at a bruce jenner invitational jogathon. carl shows up in a velour leisure suit, and small children jeer at his lack of speed and agility. carl knew that he wouldn't be in shape to compete, but he knew that it was for a good cause and wanted to make an appearance nonetheless.

that jogathon would be the equivilant of perry's appearance at the bill graham tribute. granted, perry's appearance was sloppy and unprepared, but it wasn't indicative of his true abilities given the chance to prepare his body for competition again.

just a little analogy - not making excuses for the guy, but that appearance 14 years ago isn't a good basis for discussing his current vocal abilities...which are probably worse for the wear at 55 or whatever, but for different reasons alltogether.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Insightful post, Jeremy.

[Red13JoePa]

Perry's not up to snuff there but those recordings are great to have for what they are. A JRNY (albeit very temporary) reunion. Only wish we could have heard the rendition of DSB they apparently played as well.

[ohsherrie]

Thank you Jeremy. Of course the Bill Graham thing was rough. Even HH said Steve decided to do it at the last minute.

There's no reason for anyone to expect Steve's voice to sound the same as it did 30, 20, or even 10 yrs ago. There's also no reason to think he's lost his vocal ability. Of course he sings in a lower range than he did in the 70's, but saying he "can't" sing because of that is like saying a baratone can't sing as well as a tenor. Or an alto can't sing as well as a soprano. Most of the best singers are baratones and altos unless they're singing opera.

As for the songs from those old demos, Steve did an updated recording of If You Need Me Call Me for one of the concert EPs that were sold at the FTLOSM tour. It's in his lower range and sounds great. Even if the material as it was recorded then would be too dated to sell, some of the songs would probably hold up if the presentation was updated. In fact he said something to that effect in an interview(and no, I don't remember which one or where it can be found). He also said that some of the masters for the older material were really in bad shape.

There could be a miriad of reasons that he chooses not to record or perform that have nothing to do with ability. I have the ability to reengineer a manufacturing plant(and have been asked to by former coworkers to join various projects)but I choose not to do so. Just because a person can do something doesn't mean they want to. Of course making music is generally more fun that engineering, but there have apparently been more negatives than positives in it for Steve for the last few years.

[Monker]

There's no reason for anyone to expect Steve's voice to sound the same as it did 30, 20, or even 10 yrs ago.

Of course not...From Escape on his voice has lost clarity and range with every recording. During the ROR tour he dropped the keys WAY down...the same with FTLOSM. It has nothing to do with not being 'prepared' for the Bill Graham thing...his voice was ALREADY like that during the ROR tour.

There's also no reason to think he's lost his vocal ability. Of course he sings in a lower range than he did in the 70's, but saying he "can't" sing because of that is like saying a baratone can't sing as well as a tenor.

Anybody who can make a noise with their vocal cords can 'sing'. But, saying Perry has not lost some of his vocal ability is simply ignorant. He has lost a LOT of range and clarity. Those are facts.

Or an alto can't sing as well as a soprano.

No, but when somebody can sing both high tenor and low tenor after a time can ONLY sing low tenor, then that person has lost some ability.

As for the songs from those old demos, Steve did an updated recording of If You Need Me Call Me for one of the concert EPs that were sold at the FTLOSM tour. It's in his lower range and sounds great.

Yeah, it's OK...and should have been on FTLOSM, replacing any one of the boring ballads.

Even if the material as it was recorded then would be too dated to sell, some of the songs would probably hold up if the presentation was updated. In fact he said something to that effect in an interview(and no, I don't remember which one or where it can be found). He also said that some of the masters for the older material were really in bad shape.

You want him to RERECORD the demos? LOL...that's even MORE work. It will never happen.

There could be a miriad of reasons that he chooses not to record or perform that have nothing to do with ability.

He doesn't need a 'reason' to not want to do it. The guy is getting OLD. He doesn't want to do it, and doesn't HAVE to do it...So, why put ANY effort into something so unimportant to him?

[ohsherrie]

Monker,

Most of what you said is simply your opinion to which you certainly have a right, regardless of your propensity for stating your opnions in such a manner as to make the casual reader believe they are fact.

He doesn't need a 'reason' to not want to do it. The guy is getting OLD. He doesn't want to do it, and doesn't HAVE to do it...So, why put ANY effort into something so unimportant to him?

This is an undeniably true statement, but not necessarily intirely accurate. You don't know that it's not important to him on some level. You only know that it's apparently not as important to him as his reasons for the choices he has made regarding his music. There are "reasons" for all the choices that all of us make even if they aren't immediately obvious to others, or even sometimes to ourselves.

[jrnyman28]

Honest question: How many CDs do you think Perry would sell of unreleased/remixed/re-recorded material?

My best guess would be around 100,000. It of course would depend on promotion, record label support. But I think that is a pretty fair number.

[Playitloudforme]

Steve answered a similiar question in his Q&A that he did on Fan Asylum this past February.

"Have you ever considered remastering/ releasing the Alien Project demo? Hearing your pre-Journey work would be such a welcome treat!!


SP: Might be a good idea. Thanks."

short & sweet. This would require contacting the old members, coming up with agreements on royalties, going through them, remastering them, ad infinitum. Not a no, but not a committed yes either. Good question tho.

[Hippie]

There's no reason for anyone to expect Steve's voice to sound the same as it did 30, 20, or even 10 yrs ago. There's also no reason to think he's lost his vocal ability. Of course he sings in a lower range than he did in the 70's, but saying he "can't" sing because of that is like saying a baratone can't sing as well as a tenor. Or an alto can't sing as well as a soprano. Most of the best singers are baratones and altos unless they're singing opera.

I agree. If he wanted too, Perry could still do something.

Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson has certainly gone through vocal changes. He simply adapted the songs to suit his voice; more bluesy, softer, acoustic.
Is it the same as Tull in their hey day? No. Is it still good? You bet! Their 1999 CD (and Anderson's 2000 solo CD) got a very positive response.

And Perry's style preference has changed anyway; softer, more ballad oriented. I think his voice is more than up for the task of FTLOSM type songs. I prefer Journey to rock, but Perry as solo Lite Rock/Adult Contemporary act would suit me just fine too.

(Like Styx and DDY; no reason why both camps can't move on in different directions).

[ohsherrie]

Honest question: How many CDs do you think Perry would sell of unreleased/remixed/re-recorded material?

My best guess would be around 100,000. It of course would depend on promotion, record label support. But I think that is a pretty fair number.

I hate to admit this, but I agree with Monker on this, to an extent. I think the majority of his sales would be limited to his current fan base(many more than the few hundred that Monker projected though). I doubt that he'd bring in many new fans with it unless he had some other project going on that was generating some publicity for him. He probably wouldn't sell any more than he did with GH+5 at the most. Just because I wish he would do it doesn't mean I think it would be terribly profitable for him.

[Andrew]

My best guess would be around 100,000. It of course would depend on promotion, record label support. But I think that is a pretty fair number.

10,000 TOPS.
And that is no slight on Perry....this kind of release is very much a die hard only interest.

New material with a tour / hit single and label push would top 100K, but not unreleased/rare material.

[heardonthestreet]

Singer, songwriter for a hit single with Carlos Santana. A dream team.

[Andrew]

Would love to see/hear that too.

[Fernando Ramirez]

I for one would love to hear the songs he co-wrote with Nuno Bettencourt. That's my holy grail, as far as Perry is concerned.

[yak]

I for one would love to hear the songs he co-wrote with Nuno Bettencourt. That's my holy grail, as far as Perry is concerned.

Yeah me too, especially since Perry bragged about the time he and Nuno spent together, and the songs they wrote. How talented Nuno is, etc. You know the drill. It was all in a Journey Force newsletter feature about Perry. But I remember a while back hearing that Nuno doesn't talk to Perry any longer. Wonder why?

[Fernando Ramirez]

Yeah me too, especially since Perry bragged about the time he and Nuno spent together, and the songs they wrote. How talented Nuno is, etc. You know the drill. It was all in a Journey Force newsletter feature about Perry. But I remember a while back hearing that Nuno doesn't talk to Perry any longer. Wonder why?

I haven't heard anything about them not speaking to each other. The only reason I knew about the songs was because Nuno talked about them in guitar magazines back in the very early 90s. Both met because they found out they both had Portuguese blood in them... actually, I think Steve reached out to Nuno first. Nuno is a big Journey fan... at least he was back then, and in his youth. Maybe there was a dispute about the songs... in terms of songwriting, or royalties... or maybe Steve just didnt finish working on them. Who knows? Either way, those recordings would be cool to listen to.

[JohnH]

If I'm not mistaken, it seems like post Escape, almost all Perry recordings are totally drenched in reverb on his voice. Especially TBF. Seems to me this is to cover up the raspier voice.

John

[heardonthestreet]

I don't see it that way, John. As his voice matured, I noticed that he adapted a soulful quality that he could use to his advantage to express a greater emotion at will.
The evil sound he put into his voice in the line.........."Think about it." from YBW was raspy for effect and the ragged "Owwwwwww." on the last note of STH expressed agony.
I've found that he used his mature voice to it's very best advantage.

[NealIsGod]

I don't see it that way, John.

Of course you don't.

As his voice matured, I noticed that he adapted a soulful quality that he could use to his advantage to express a greater emotion at will.

Can you say "denial"?

The evil sound he put into his voice in the line.........."Think about it." from YBW was raspy for effect and the ragged "Owwwwwww." on the last note of STH expressed agony.
I've found that he used his mature voice to it's very best advantage.

Uh, yeah. Sure, that's it.

[heardonthestreet]

Geez, NIG. What a remedial post. It must be catchy,

[NealIsGod]

Geez, NIG. What a remedial post. It must be catchy,

Yeah, didn't want to waste too much time on that one.

[yak]

I've found that he used his mature voice to it's very best advantage.

So what's he using his "mature" (so that's what you call it) voice for NOW?

Your tediously protracted arguments are getting old.

[NealIsGod]

I've found that he used his mature voice to it's very best advantage.

So what's he using his "mature" (so that's what you call it) voice for NOW?

He's using it to root for the S.F. Giants.

[yak]

He's using it to root for the S.F. Giants.