Mandi wrote:While I agree with those of you who have stated that if Steve Augeri cannot sing any more, then he shouldn't be in the band. Obviously a frontman with no voice is useless to them.
However, I do not feel that Steve Augeri was useless to Journey in the eight years the was with them. He gave Neal and JC what they wanted, someone who was willing to sing Steve Perry's songs, someone who was willing to stand in the mighty shadow of Steve Perry and sing the songs he gave to the world, and be the frontman of the band Steve Perry once led. Not an easy thing to do, especially since SA was a huge fan of Mr. Perry's. He knew he would be setting himself up for comparisons and critiques, but he took the job anyway. He knew he was leaving a stable job with a pension and benefits(YES, it was the GAP, but it paid the bills, so laugh all you want) that he needed to support his family, but he did it any way.
He went into the studio with the band and recorded one of the best Journey albums ever (Arrival). He allowed the band to make a ton of money by touring for eight years. Sure, the Steve Augeri era music didn't put Journey back on the charts, but at this time in music, no one short of Mr. Perry himself could do that. Journey is quite frankly, past their prime when it comes to radio air play. Maybe JSS will change that, but maybe no one can change that. Maybe their time is just past.
Steve Augeri gave Journey eight years of his life, and he gave them happily because he lived out a dream. Now, his voice may be ruined for the rest of his life and all people can do is bash and make jokes about him. He brought Journey a ton of new fans. He brought Journey some much needed class, too. People began to see what a great person SA is, and his reputation for caring about the fans spread to the rest of the band. They ALL benefited from having SA in the band.
And when he couldn't sing anymore, they ALL knew it, and they ALL agreed to using tapes so they could keep on touring. And now the shit has hit the fan (no pun intended) and they ALL blame Steve Augeri.
I hope he does get millions out of them, although I doubt that will be the case. He is real person with a real family and very real bills to pay and a real life to live. He deserves to be compensated for not being able to continue. People will always blame him for the tapegate scandal, and now they will all blame him for the hold-up to "big News". The blame for all of this should fall on all five shoulders, not just one.
I don't mean to sound like an attorney and I certainly don't want to come in here and preach to all of you who know much more about Journey and music than I do. I just feel that there is nothing to be gained from belittling this man any more. If he is hesitating to signing anything that will effect the rest of his life, so what? Would any one here do anything less than that if it was YOUR life??
Cut him a little slack. He is gone from Journey. Jeff is the new lead singer, and Journey's future looks very bright again. Remember when we all said that eight years ago?
Mandi
Agreed totally, Mandi. It just bewilders me that eight years are being swept under the rug like nothing ever happened. I understand that emotions run high on the tape thing, but my God, to listen to most on these boards, you would think that these people have been protesting against the band for the better part of a decade! Let's face it, people: I'm willing to bet most of you would be giving JSS as much of a hard time as Augeri got if he had immediately succeeded Perry. Regardless of how it ended (and remember, that we still haven't heard all sides of the story) Augeri stepped into one of the most unenviable positions in rock and roll, succeeding a legendary vocalist with amazing talent and a fervent fanbase. Yes, his tenure may have ended badly, but he did a damn fine job for many years. Perhaps many of you might like to go back and re-read your posts from the Augeri-era to remind your selves how much you enjoyed the shows and the CD's. It seems that many will bash anything Augeri-related, when at the time you were singing his praises (no pun intended).
Even though I can't understand it. 
As for what the two men have done outside Journey I think others have pretty much covered that. Jeff's credentials far outweigh Augeri's.
