Classic Rock Magazine and tape-gate!

[conversationpc]

Morons!! Please read...

Dude, get some new material and quit posting the same thing in multiple threads.

[joybringer1]

Here's what Dave Ling had to say about Journey in his online diary - haven't seen Classic Rock yet.

Tuesday 6th June
Bits of my anatomy must still be plastered all over the walls of the Manchester Apollo. Last night I saw one of the very best concerts of my entire life - a headline show from Journey. Two hours and ten minutes long, it was as close to emotion-charged melodic rock perfection as you're likely to get. Check out this unbelievable set-list: 'Separate Ways', 'Only The Young', 'Faith In The Heartland' (from the latest album 'Generations'), Guitar solo/'Stone In Love', 'Wheel In The Sky', 'Where Were You?', 'Lights', 'Still They Ride', 'Feelin' That Way', 'Anytime That You Want Me', 'Chain Reaction', 'Edge Of The Blade', 'Who's Crying Now?', 'Mother/Father', Keyboard solo/'Open Arms', 'Escape', 'Keep On Running', 'Out Of Harm's Way' (another new track), 'Faithfully', 'Don't Stop Believing', 'Anyway You Want It' and 'Be Good To Yourself', then encores of 'Dead Or Alive' and (gasp!... new underwear please...) 'Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin''. Afterwards I was lucky enough to go backstage and say hi to frontman Steve Augeri, guitarist Neal Schon and charmingly eccentric bassist Ross Valory, all of whom looked a little stunned by such a rapturous reception. They revealed that Journey will be coming back to Europe (and indeed Britain) next spring for some bigger-sized shows. Augeri also confided that the second, previously unreleased, album from his former band Tall Stories is finally due to hit the racks shortly.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


Saturday 17th June
Still ploughing through the mountain of emails that arrived while I was offline. One of the most interesting and indeed disturbing is from a fella called Dean (thanks also to Mel Dalley, who forwarded the same link). It is being alleged that the reason for Steve Augeri's awesome vocal performance on Journey's European tour is that he was lipsynching all along. It's being claimed that the band used recordings from a Las Vegas DVD 2001 show to fatten out the sound, not to mention patch over throat problems Augeri experienced on the group's US dates. If there's any truth to these rumours, I am aghast. From my spot less than 20 feet from the stage at Manchester Apollo there was no sign of any cheating. And yet somebody named Svante Pettersson who worked for Swedish radio at this year's Sweden Rock Festival insists that "Augeri could not sing at all", his voice "constantly out of tune when he tried to reach the high parts" when heard from a truck recording the show, while out front "the vocals sounded terrific". There are also soundclips of the same song recorded in different venues in which Augeri's vocals are identical, yet the music sounds different. This would mean that the band have been pulling the wool over our eyes for years. Frankly, I find it all difficult to take seriously. But I'm in agreement with Dean, who insists Journey should own up to what they're doing should the allegations have foundation, and that some sort of official response has become a matter of importance.

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Thursday 6th July
Well, the shit's finally hit the fan in the Journey lip-synching controversy. Steve Augeri has been sent home from the band's US tour with Def Leppard, Jeff Scott Soto (a formidable individual who sang with Neal Schon's Soul SirkUS project) agreeing to fill in. A statement from the band says: "Steve's been suffering with an acute throat condition since before we kicked off the tour with Def Leppard", something that anyone in the crowd at their show in North Carolina would surely verify. Perhaps knowing they'd be under intense scrutiny, there was no sign of any augmentation (or should that be 'augeri-mentation'?) of their live sound. A man with a huge voice of his own, drummer Deen Castronovo bravely grabbed hold of the situation, coming to the front of the stage to help out whilst a roadie sat in on his kit. As a fan later wrote: "It was immediately clear [from the show's start] that something was wrong. Augeri showed up in Raleigh - his voice did not", though to be fair the same individual also pointed out: "I'll take this over a pre-recorded experience any day." It'll be interesting to see how quickly Augeri returns to Journey - if at all. To be honest, I can't help but feel I've been hoodwinked. How on God's green earth could somebody deliver a superhuman performance the like of which I witnessed at Manchester Apollo on June 5, then be removed from a tour one month later? As much as I want the 'cheating' allegations to be unfounded, I'm just not buying into the band's smokescreen. Sorry.

[cetera]

Sounds like he used to be a piss-head as a younger man so wouldn't surprise me if he hadn't reviewed from the bar back then. Not anymore though.

Sorry to disappoint you.... but 90% of the time he still appears to do so...

[gr8dane]

Think they are bent out of shape about this, there will a much bigger news article coming next month, that will dwarf this one, so get ready.

Aren't these magazines extremely late on the subject? The band already took the offending singer out of the running...

Classic Rock comes out once a month.By the that time they have pretty much already planned next issue.In 'That ' next issue they may have time to put in a snippet,for then to write a bigger piece by the 3rd one in line,hence the time issue.They certainly can't keep pace with the internet.
Does this make sense??

[whocares]

Think they are bent out of shape about this, there will a much bigger news article coming next month, that will dwarf this one, so get ready.

Aren't these magazines extremely late on the subject? The band already took the offending singer out of the running...

Classic Rock comes out once a month.By the that time they have pretty much already planned next issue.In 'That ' next issue they may have time to put in a snippet,for then to write a bigger piece by the 3rd one in line,hence the time issue.They certainly can't keep pace with the internet.
Does this make sense??

yes, but most people aren't familiar with the Physical printing business enough to understand that there are deadlines that are far in advance of a publication. What happens today, some people may not know about for months, if they are readers of that magazine.

[cetera]

Those who care already know..... and those who don't won't care anyway....

If anything, people will be slightly more interested in the fact that JSS is singing for Journey.... and that's all...

[whocares]

I agree Cetera... It IS old news, but can't do anything about it with Magazines, ya know? The news now is that JSS is out front, and That will go over well with People in Europe who follow him.

[cetera]

I agree Cetera... It IS old news, but can't do anything about it with Magazines, ya know? The news now is that JSS is out front, and That will go over well with People in Europe who follow him.

Agreed, and tape-gate is dead in the water now....

[Lula]

I agree Cetera... It IS old news, but can't do anything about it with Magazines, ya know? The news now is that JSS is out front, and That will go over well with People in Europe who follow him.

Agreed, and tape-gate is dead in the water now....

True that print media is behind the news of the day.
Stating "tape-gate" is dead in the water is silly if you are still talking about it .

[bionic]

Though i have not seen it yet it seems they are running the article regarding tapes etc and now Jeff singing for them. I read this on BT were a lot of people are very upset and cancelling subscriptions etc? Has anyone seen this article yet? Cant be that bad can it?

Well finally read it today,old news we new about a month ago,unfortunatley for anyone who did not know its big news now haha

[fred_journeyman]

Agreed, and tape-gate is dead in the water now....

Nah, the media will grab onto this like leeches onto your leg...that is until something better comes along.

[NealIsGod]

Agreed, and tape-gate is dead in the water now....

Nah, the media will grab onto this like leeches onto your leg...that is until something better comes along.

The lady who called 911 to get a date is more interesting to the general public than tapegate.

[cetera]

Agreed, and tape-gate is dead in the water now....

Nah, the media will grab onto this like leeches onto your leg...that is until something better comes along.

The lady who called 911 to get a date is more interesting to the general public than tapegate.

Exactly..... it is old news because:

a) it is months old now (on the Net)
b) as soon as it went to print there were/are other more interesting/worthy stories
c) noone really cares, apart from those on here who already know....

As I said.... dead in the water.... and swimming with the fishies....

[cetera]

Though i have not seen it yet it seems they are running the article regarding tapes etc and now Jeff singing for them. I read this on BT were a lot of people are very upset and cancelling subscriptions etc? Has anyone seen this article yet? Cant be that bad can it?

Well finally read it today,old news we new about a month ago,unfortunatley for anyone who did not know its big news now haha

And those who didn't know.... don't care anyway!

[joybringer1]

[

And those who didn't know.... don't care anyway!

A lead singer using tapes is quite a scandal in the rock genre (thank God - and long may it remain so) so not so sure about that. By the way, cetera, the piece wasn't written by Dave Ling - forget the guy's name (I only read it in Smiths!!) but it deffo wasn't him.

[cetera]

[

And those who didn't know.... don't care anyway!

A lead singer using tapes is quite a scandal in the rock genre (thank God - and long may it remain so) so not so sure about that. By the way, cetera, the piece wasn't written by Dave Ling - forget the guy's name (I only read it in Smiths!!) but it deffo wasn't him.

I still say you're overestimating the average rock fan.

As for the 'piece'.... it was a hastily pasted together news article quoting net sources but said it is just rumours.

The fire will barely be smouldering, let alone burning, after that!

[heardonthestreet]

Journey has gotten, is getting and will no doubt get more, free publicity out of this and it won't cost them a dime.

They know that most fans don't care and are glad to see their favorite band get some attention, good or otherwise. It's a band, not Sunday school. Their Mantra is "Fall in pile of sh*t and come out smelling like a rose."

[WalrusOct9]

I'm glad they did the right thing and got a new singer and are actually live again (except for those pesky backing vocals, of course ) but it still bugs me a bit that they're going to get away with it in the end, even though they engaged in the practice for at least a year. Sending SA home was a big step but they still owe a lot of people an explanation.

[Barb]

Maybe the casual fan won't care, but as a diehard fan, I can tell you that it embarasses the hell out of me to have Journey getting this kind of "publicity".

Journey has gotten, is getting and will not doubt get more, free publicity out of this and it won't cost them a dime.

They know that most fans don't care and are glad to see their favorite band get some attention, good or otherwise. It's a band, not Sunday school. Their Mantra is "Fall in pile of sh*t and come out smelling like a rose."

[heardonthestreet]

Like I said before, "Life handed them lemons and they made lemonade."

[joybringer1]

I still say you're overestimating the average rock fan.

No, I know you're right. But the average, casual rock fan doesn't tend to buy a specialist rock magazine. Anyone sufficiently into music to buy a music magazine WILL care about a scandal such as this. Industry professionals will also care, including promoters and record companies. (Would they still have got this tour, for instance?) I think how much this will ultimately damage them still remains to be seen.

[Matthew]

Journey has gotten, is getting and will not doubt get more, free publicity out of this and it won't cost them a dime.

If the free publicity was so welcome, why did they ditch Augeri?

[fred_journeyman]

If the free publicity was so welcome, why did they ditch Augeri?

That could have been a knee-jerk reaction, to try and put a cap on any damages. It's obvious that something is wrong with Augeri's voice at this point. They tried to continue as long as they could, but then that stuff hit the fan and they were left with no choice.

The more I consider this, the more I wonder if Augeri will be back eventually. I still cannot imagine JSS haning on for good. He's very talented, but he's got his own direction to fly in. I'm not sure Journey will be his permanent gig.

As for Augeri, he may well be back, but unless his voice gets fixed permanently, he will probably go through the same thing again. The guys just tour too much.

[heardonthestreet]

Journey has gotten, is getting and will not doubt get more, free publicity out of this and it won't cost them a dime.

If the free publicity was so welcome, why did they ditch Augeri?

.........................................

Most natural chain of event in the overall scheme of things.

[bionic]

Though i have not seen it yet it seems they are running the article regarding tapes etc and now Jeff singing for them. I read this on BT were a lot of people are very upset and cancelling subscriptions etc? Has anyone seen this article yet? Cant be that bad can it?

Well finally read it today,old news we new about a month ago,unfortunatley for anyone who did not know its big news now haha

And those who didn't know.... don't care anyway!

Yes and no, a few friends have emailed me upon buying Classic Rock and one is a massive Journey fan who was shocked,he then mentioned it to his mate who could not belive it! On this site we are bored of it and its old news,but Classic Rock is a big selling mag that caters to the old school rock school.A lot of the people who read it dont really go to message boards like this so its news and it isn't dead in the water if you have not been aware of it.Imagine if you had returned from a 6 week holiday and picked up Classic Rock and read it that would be news big time! Much has been mentioned about how many people really know and how many care? Enough to have Journey go live and lose there singer!! Never underestimate the power of the word.It seems there may be a bigger story in next months issue? dont know what so i dont belive its dead in the water, only to us guys on here.

[bionic]

Maybe the casual fan won't care, but as a diehard fan, I can tell you that it embarasses the hell out of me to have Journey getting this kind of "publicity".

Journey has gotten, is getting and will not doubt get more, free publicity out of this and it won't cost them a dime.

They know that most fans don't care and are glad to see their favorite band get some attention, good or otherwise. It's a band, not Sunday school. Their Mantra is "Fall in pile of sh*t and come out smelling like a rose."

This is exactly how i feel,unfortunatley this is not our little secret anymore

[Matthew]

Journey has gotten, is getting and will not doubt get more, free publicity out of this and it won't cost them a dime.

If the free publicity was so welcome, why did they ditch Augeri?

.........................................

Most natural chain of event in the overall scheme of things.

Yes - I agree. But surely it only became the next, 'natural' event because of the bad publicity?

[Matthew]

If the free publicity was so welcome, why did they ditch Augeri?

The more I consider this, the more I wonder if Augeri will be back eventually. I still cannot imagine JSS haning on for good. He's very talented, but he's got his own direction to fly in.

Maybe - but his own direction hasn't brought him the success he deserves. Wasn't the new Talisman album going to be called "BitterAngryResentful" due to the career frustrations JSS and the other main guy were experiencing recently?

Also - JSS was quick to postpone the Talisman tour...which suggests that fronting Journey is a dream come true...or at the very least it's the best opportunity he's had in many years. I'd be surprised if he leaves Journey in a hurry.

Here he is - on tour with two legendary bands - singing to 15,000/20,000 people a night. Why go back to playing club gigs in Germany and Greece?

[heardonthestreet]

Journey has gotten, is getting and will not doubt get more, free publicity out of this and it won't cost them a dime.

If the free publicity was so welcome, why did they ditch Augeri?

.........................................

Most natural chain of event in the overall scheme of things.

.................................................


































Yes - I agree. But surely it only became the next, 'natural' event because of the bad publicity?

............................................

Just maybe the key word is scheme

[fred_journeyman]

Here he is - on tour with two legendary bands - singing to 15,000/20,000 people a night. Why go back to playing club gigs in Germany and Greece?

After this gig with Journey, he probably won't have to. He would have been stupid to turn this gig down, but that doesn't mean that he wants to do it permanently. Playing with Journey night after night has certainly put him in the spotlight and he'll be able to take that with him wherever he goes.