John West on his audition for Journey

[Arkansas]

John West's vocal style kind of reminds me of a cross between Joe Lynn Turner and Don Dokken. Royal Hunt sounds very MALMSTEENish...

Yeah, and throw in a little Klaus Meine too.
I would have loved to see this incarnation of Journey. Maybe we'll get a taste of it with JSS.

Btw, I've never heard of Royal Hunt. These guys are great. And this clip probably isn't near as good as they really are.
Kind of a Dokken meets Queensryche meets Saga. Wow.


later~

[conversationpc]

Btw, I've never heard of Royal Hunt. These guys are great. And this clip probably isn't near as good as they really are. Kind of a Dokken meets Queensryche meets Saga. Wow.

Do yourself a favor and check out their album "Paradox" from 1997. The singer back then was D.C. Cooper and he's an even better singer than West, in my opinion.

Here's some youtube clips from that era of the band. The first is a studio version and the others are from a live show in Japan...

Message to God

Legion of the Damned [Live]

Age Gone Wild [Live]

[NealIsGod]

John West's vocal style kind of reminds me of a cross between Joe Lynn Turner and Don Dokken. Royal Hunt sounds very MALMSTEENish...

Yeah, and throw in a little Klaus Meine too.
I would have loved to see this incarnation of Journey. Maybe we'll get a taste of it with JSS.

Btw, I've never heard of Royal Hunt. These guys are great. And this clip probably isn't near as good as they really are.
Kind of a Dokken meets Queensryche meets Saga. Wow.

Yeah, I dug that clip, too. May have to get that DVD.

[SteveForever]

john west!!
http://www.royalhunt.com/files/Royal%20 ... ive_Up.wmv

i love it , sounds like jeff,, if this doesnt make you want to pick
up a sword and slay a dragon NOTHING will!! right on!!

Just had a listen and LOOK at this since I wasn't able to last night, I cannot believe this was an opportunity missed. As a woman and a major consumer, I have to say...this would have been a great choice.

[Red13JoePa]

Steve A was very good for the band for a number of tours. i don't really want this as another thread for debating those virtues.

I think he might've recorded a few albums that graded out reasonably high here, too.

[journeyinto2001]

His voice reminds me more of Don Dokken. Neal and Jonathan thought that Augeri's voice would work itself out with practice, training, etc. While he had some really good nights, most of the time it was a struggle for him. JSS was the best choice this time....

[maverick218]

john west!!
http://www.royalhunt.com/files/Royal%20 ... ive_Up.wmv

i love it , sounds like jeff,, if this doesnt make you want to pick
up a sword and slay a dragon NOTHING will!! right on!!

I think I am going to find a dragon right now!

[Behshad]

His voice reminds me more of Don Dokken. Neal and Jonathan thought that Augeri's voice would work itself out with practice, training, etc. While he had some really good nights, most of the time it was a struggle for him. JSS was the best choice this time....

Yup, its alot closer to Dokkens voice than Joey Tempest.(Which I think wouldve been another great candidate !)

[maverick218]

John West's vocal style kind of reminds me of a cross between Joe Lynn Turner and Don Dokken. Royal Hunt sounds very MALMSTEENish...

Yeah, and throw in a little Klaus Meine too.
I would have loved to see this incarnation of Journey. Maybe we'll get a taste of it with JSS.

Btw, I've never heard of Royal Hunt. These guys are great. And this clip probably isn't near as good as they really are.
Kind of a Dokken meets Queensryche meets Saga. Wow.


later~

Yeah, I was thinking Malmsteen and maybe some Rainbow. Really cool stuff.

[maverick218]

From what I read again in this article, it seems like Jon got what he wanted (Augeri), not Neal( West) !

Suprised that Neal gave in- maybe he was more concerned with loosing Jon if he had really pushed for West-

[conversationpc]

His voice reminds me more of Don Dokken. Neal and Jonathan thought that Augeri's voice would work itself out with practice, training, etc. While he had some really good nights, most of the time it was a struggle for him. JSS was the best choice this time....

Yup, its alot closer to Dokkens voice than Joey Tempest.(Which I think wouldve been another great candidate !)

The comment comparing the singer to Tempest was not of John West but former Royal Hunt singer, D.C. Cooper. Cooper's voice is much stronger, though.

[NealIsGod]

From what I read again in this article, it seems like Jon got what he wanted (Augeri), not Neal( West) !

Suprised that Neal gave in- maybe he was more concerned with loosing Jon if he had really pushed for West-

Fuck that. Just give Gregg a call.

[conversationpc]

John West's vocal style kind of reminds me of a cross between Joe Lynn Turner and Don Dokken. Royal Hunt sounds very MALMSTEENish...

Yeah, and throw in a little Klaus Meine too.
I would have loved to see this incarnation of Journey. Maybe we'll get a taste of it with JSS.

Btw, I've never heard of Royal Hunt. These guys are great. And this clip probably isn't near as good as they really are.
Kind of a Dokken meets Queensryche meets Saga. Wow.


later~

Yeah, I was thinking Malmsteen and maybe some Rainbow. Really cool stuff.

The mastermind behind Royal Hunt is keyboardist/composer Andre Andersen. The guy is a monster player and writes most of the music for the band.

[Behshad]

John West's vocal style kind of reminds me of a cross between Joe Lynn Turner and Don Dokken. Royal Hunt sounds very MALMSTEENish...

Yeah, and throw in a little Klaus Meine too.
I would have loved to see this incarnation of Journey. Maybe we'll get a taste of it with JSS.

Btw, I've never heard of Royal Hunt. These guys are great. And this clip probably isn't near as good as they really are.
Kind of a Dokken meets Queensryche meets Saga. Wow.


later~

Yeah, I was thinking Malmsteen and maybe some Rainbow. Really cool stuff.

The mastermind behind Royal Hunt is keyboardist/composer Andre Andersen. The guy is a monster player and writes most of the music for the band.

They do remind me of a mixture of Malmsteen+DreamTheater+Evergrey
Speaking of which, if you want to see an amazing DVD, check out Evergrey's "A Night To Remember". One of the best music DVD's I own when it comes to not only performance but the sound and pic quality.

[Red13JoePa]

From what I read again in this article, it seems like Jon got what he wanted (Augeri), not Neal( West) !

Suprised that Neal gave in- maybe he was more concerned with loosing Jon if he had really pushed for West-

Fuck that. Just give Gregg a call.

Speaking of which, I just watched the period interviews on the Escape concert dvd and contrary to all the info we have, the band was speaking as if Rolie was fired at that time. Weird.

[Clasicrockldy]

From what I read again in this article, it seems like Jon got what he wanted (Augeri), not Neal( West) !

Suprised that Neal gave in- maybe he was more concerned with loosing Jon if he had really pushed for West-

I can just see it in my mind's eye..........

Neal: You got to pick the last time ! Now it is my turn !

[Abitaman]

I tell ya, there is one thing I liked about this little interview...
It shed some light on something I've suspected for a long time.

Most people, especially the big Augeri fans that are angry right now,
always seem to blame Neal for every band decision if it is what they consider
a bad one. I don't think most peopple realize how much 'say-so' or
'power' Cain has in these decsion processes.

I guarantee you, if Jeff wouldn't have came in and nailed the summer gig
and if Jon wasn't impressed, one of 3 things would be going on:

1. The band would be waiting on Augeri and would give it another go
with him.

2. The band would be in hardcore negotions trying to get Perry back
in the fold for another go-around.

Or third, they would be going on a long and probably permanent
hiatus until option 2 finally kicked in.

Now, this is in no way a slam on Cain.
He's been a crucial and essential part of this puzzle for 26-27 years
and has earned the right to have alot of say.
But folks need to quit swinging on Neal's Nutz and realize that
the Frig is calling alot of the shots too.

I'm big Augeri fan, after reading your comments I can not find why am I suppose to be mad!?!-ERIC

Not sure if I understand your response...

Are you agreeing with me or disagreeing???
Just curious.
As to the "big Augeri fans that are angry right now", that was
mainly in reference to most of the posters at BT right now.

Just saying I'm an Augeri fan and I am not mad about what happened, and don't blame anyone but the WHOLE band.-ERIC

[Jeremey]

Speaking of which, I just watched the period interviews on the Escape concert dvd and contrary to all the info we have, the band was speaking as if Rolie was fired at that time. Weird.

Yeah, I think I remember the comments Perry made being something like "we had taken that sound as far as we could at that time," or something to that effect. Sure it was Perry's spin at the time, as a result of butting heads with Rolie for the previous couple of years.

[Red13JoePa]

Speaking of which, I just watched the period interviews on the Escape concert dvd and contrary to all the info we have, the band was speaking as if Rolie was fired at that time. Weird.

Yeah, I think I remember the comments Perry made being something like "we had taken that sound as far as we could at that time," or something to that effect. Sure it was Perry's spin at the time, as a result of butting heads with Rolie for the previous couple of years.

Yea but even Neal's interviews backed it up, even saying at one point of Cain's advent : "Not that Greg wasn't sufficient, but..."

Perry was putting the MAJOR spin on, though.

[brywool]

I actually remember reading about this issue when he was brought in.
It wasn't "vocal trouble" in the sense that his voice was damaged.
It was the fact that he had been out of the biz for awhile and
his voice was "out of shape". He needed to get back into an exercise regimen
and get it back in shape to perform. That's all.

BINGO. Any singer that had been off the road and was going to get back on it would have to do what Augeri did (get the voice back in shape)

[Behshad]

I actually remember reading about this issue when he was brought in.
It wasn't "vocal trouble" in the sense that his voice was damaged.
It was the fact that he had been out of the biz for awhile and
his voice was "out of shape". He needed to get back into an exercise regimen
and get it back in shape to perform. That's all.

BINGO. Any singer that had been off the road and was going to get back on it would have to do what Augeri did (get the voice back in shape)

back ON TAPE you mean ?

[Jeremey]

I actually remember reading about this issue when he was brought in.
It wasn't "vocal trouble" in the sense that his voice was damaged.
It was the fact that he had been out of the biz for awhile and
his voice was "out of shape". He needed to get back into an exercise regimen
and get it back in shape to perform. That's all.

BINGO. Any singer that had been off the road and was going to get back on it would have to do what Augeri did (get the voice back in shape)

I thought it was odd at the time that the band went with a 40 year old singer who hadn't sang in 6-odd years or so. At the time I think I may have mentioned that on a few sites and got the old "Augeri is the new singer of Journey - GET OVER IT" beat-down.

[belar]

So Augeri was having vocal problems in 98, and Neal & Jon BOTH KNEW THAT and hired HIM ANYWAY!!

Lori

I hadn't heard that before. That's really wild. Well, I liked most of Augeri's stuff with Journey, but if he was already having problems, wow...

[Abitaman]

The problem was he hadn't sang in a few years, so he was out of shape. Not that he copuldn't sing or the problems he had at the en, but you and half the board want to read something else in to it

[Andrew]

The problem was he hadn't sang in a few years, so he was out of shape. Not that he copuldn't sing or the problems he had at the en, but you and half the board want to read something else in to it

Correct.

[Jeremey]

The problem was he hadn't sang in a few years, so he was out of shape. Not that he copuldn't sing or the problems he had at the en, but you and half the board want to read something else in to it

The point behind what I said and felt at the time wasn't that "Why did they get a guy who couldn't sing," or that he had the chronic problems he does now way back in 1998 - Only that with guys like John West around, what was so powerful and compelling that they went with Augeri, even if he wasn't at 100%.

[Carlitto H@kk]

The problem was he hadn't sang in a few years, so he was out of shape. Not that he copuldn't sing or the problems he had at the en, but you and half the board want to read something else in to it

The point behind what I said and felt at the time wasn't that "Why did they get a guy who couldn't sing," or that he had the chronic problems he does now way back in 1998 - Only that with guys like John West around, what was so powerful and compelling that they went with Augeri, even if he wasn't at 100%.

Well, if Drew ever gets the opportunity to interview Cain again, that could make for an interesting subject.
Personally, regardless of the shape he was in from not performing for awhile, I think the band was counting on him being able to get back to his TS-form. And hey, from 98 to about 2003-ish, Augeri did do a pretty great job out there.
I don't care wht anybody else thinks. Arrival is a damn, fine album.

[Andrew]

I think this has been covered in my past interviews - the guys found Augeri to be a super nice guy - his voice fitted the sound and style they desired and it did work out for the guys.

He's definitely had some throat/voice issues along the way, but that's a tough catalogue to sing night after night. For anyone....precisely why JSS doesn't drink while on tour now.

[ohsherrie]

Only that with guys like John West around, what was so powerful and compelling that they went with Augeri, even if he wasn't at 100%.

I've been wondering the same thing Jeremey. It could be that it has something to do with the differences between what Jon and Neal were looking for in a singer and wanting for the future of the band. The fact that Jon was allowed to make the decision might be the key to the answer. Maybe Jon was more focused on the ballads and midtempo songs that he likes to write as well as the ones that make up most of the DD, and Neal was thinking more about rocking harder in the future. For some reason that we'll never know Jon won out.

[stevew2]

The problem was he hadn't sang in a few years, so he was out of shape. Not that he copuldn't sing or the problems he had at the en, but you and half the board want to read something else in to it

The point behind what I said and felt at the time wasn't that "Why did they get a guy who couldn't sing," or that he had the chronic problems he does now way back in 1998 - Only that with guys like John West around, what was so powerful and compelling that they went with Augeri, even if he wasn't at 100%.

Well, if Drew ever gets the opportunity to interview Cain again, that could make for an interesting subject.
Personally, regardless of the shape he was in from not performing for awhile, I think the band was counting on him being able to get back to his TS-form. And hey, from 98 to about 2003-ish, Augeri did do a pretty great job out there.
I don't care wht anybody else thinks. Arrival is a damn, fine album.

I agree with you.2002 and 2003 were his best years.I think he did some good stuff,and the crowd dug him {at the concerts i went to}.He did Journey good till his voice started going. I cant down him for that.