Neal interview Fireworks mag

[junky]

http://www.rathole.com/fireworks/27/3.asp

Journey
Phil Ashcroft
For the last few years Journey have been touring the USA with singer Steve Augeri taking the place of the great Steve Perry, and outside of their fanatical supporters hadn't really been noticed by the rest of the world – or so the band thought! A short exploratory tour of Europe in 2006 changed all that, and the band were shocked to find they still had fans outside of their comfort zone. A mere eight months down the line and we're on the verge of another, more extensive tour, and with singer Augeri having to bail out mid-way through a joint tour of the US with Def Leppard due to vocal problems, Neal Schon called his Soul SirkUS bandmate Jeff Scott Soto, who stepped in and saved the day. With Soto now confirmed as their new singer permanently, a decidedly upbeat Neal Schon was on the phone from an Francisco to update the situation – although maybe my timing wasn't the best?

"I just got out of the dentist's office, if I'm talking funny it'll be because my mouth is numb," says the guitarist apologetically.

You're coming back to Europe again in a couple of weeks, were you surprised with the reaction you got last year?

"Yeah absolutely, we were very surprised."

So you weren't expecting that at all? Did you think people would have forgotten who you were?

"I didn't think anyone in Europe ever knew about us, let alone had forgotten" (laughs).

So with the success of the dates you played last year do you think the promoters have been a little less cautious this time?

"Completely! That was the break we'd been waiting for – finally some promoter stepped up to the plate and was not scared of us, and losing his ass. It went very well so some other promoters took a look at that and now all over Europe we're the hot ticket."

What kind of setlist will you be doing this time, will it be less of a Greatest Hits set than last time?

"You know what? I don't know what we're doing!" (laughs). "We're going to get together very shortly and work it out but I think we'll definitely play the hits, that's something we have to do. That's what the majority of people want to hear, but we'll also play some obscure stuff and some old stuff – we're going to mix it up a little bit."

So is that going to be another two hour set?

"I doubt it, I don't think that we need to play that long. We got so used to playing very long sets, the year before last we did three hours – which was my idea – and everybody hated me at the end of the tour. It was like "You asshole, what a terrible idea". The fans loved it but then once you've played to them for three hours it's like they never want to hear anything else again. I think an hour and a half or one hour forty-five is plenty."

I imagine there must have been widespread panic in the camp when you had the tour with Def Leppard booked and Steve Augeri couldn't carry on?

"Well... it was for everyone except for myself. The management, the band, the promoters – everybody was kind of wigging out y'know, so basically it was "Are we going to go home, or are we going to continue with another vocalist?"

So I presume it was your idea to bring in Jeff?

"Yeah, I had worked with Jeff before of course, I knew that he could handle it and I knew that it would only be a matter of time before he slipped into a groove. The register was much higher than he'd been singing for years even though he'd had the range before, but I knew that he would be able to nurture it and get up there to reach those notes, and after a while he did. Not immediately - but Jeff is a great musician and a great singer and the notes that he couldn't hit he would know what to substitute. That's what you do, you have to improvise when you can't quite hit everything that was there on the record since that wasn't him initially – you substitute other notes for it, every singer does it. He instinctively knows what's correct and what's not correct to use for whatever notes – it's all very natural for him, so it's all good."

So were the management and the other guys in the band up for this idea, or did they take some convincing that it was the right thing to do?

"Everybody was very sceptical at first, but I said "You know what? We don't have too many choices here. We either check this out or we go home!" So we ended up checking it out and it worked out fine. Management and promoters were scared and so were other band members, and they were waiting for tickets to get returned because the tour was pretty much sold out, especially the second leg. They were saying that tickets would be coming back because fans would be disappointed that it wasn't Steve, but I said "I don't think so". It turned out that there were two tickets returned throughout the whole tour. If it wasn't for Steve Augeri we wouldn't be here eight years later – he helped us get to that plateau with his vocal ability and song writing – but in the end it's about the songs and conveying them to people who want to hear those songs."

So what do you think Jeff brings to Journey that wasn't there before?

"I think he's bringing quite a lot to tell you the truth. First of all there's the song writing ability he has and that I have with him – I have chemistry with him – and I think Jonathan now realises that he has chemistry with him as well. He can sing any type of music that you want to play, be it R & B or rock or whatever – he's there, he can do it all. Also what he brings to the table that we've never had before is a very, very strong frontman – an entertainer – a guy who knows how to carry himself on stage and work an audience – he's real. A lot of singers just do the Vegas type thing – you know, they rehearse a show and they say exactly the same thing every night. I've noticed when I've toured with other bands that a lot of singers just lock into a thing that works and they just stay there, and Jeff doesn't do that, he's very off-the-cuff – he feels out the audience and whatever they're like defines how he talks to them. He's just awesome – it shouldn't be like a Vegas show, just set in stone – he just makes the show up as he goes."

This tour has brought you some of the best reviews you've had for a long time.

"Yeah, some of the best reviews we've ever gotten, period. No matter who was singing." (laughs)

Do you read stuff about yourselves on the internet?

"I check it a lot more when I'm on tour than when I'm off tour. When we're playing live I like to read what people are thinking and what they're saying about the show, but it's only on a tour that I do that. I'm not really an internet geek."

You must have been happy reading that your gamble had paid off and people were liking it?

"Absolutely! I wanted to know. I knew just from playing and the reaction from the audience that they liked us, but it was nice to read it also."

You've been quoted as saying that you want to stay out of America this year, do you think you've overdone the touring in the last few years?

"Well, you know what? I think with the change in the band now with Jeff, we have to get out and see what interest is out there in the rest of the world – I think it's the right thing to do. We've toured extensively in the States for the last eight years without a break and I think we need to give it a rest, and now that things are picking up for us in Europe and in South America – we're going to concentrate on different parts of the world this year. We'll come over there and play the dates and then come back for a writing session and make a new CD. We're also re-recording all our Greatest Hits and some of the more obscure songs that are on our big records, with Jeff in the studio. That's probably the first thing we'll put out and then we'll come with a brand new record as well, and then we're coming back over to Europe to headline some festivals. How about that? We're headlining!"

So what's the mood in the camp at the moment, you must be pretty positive?

"We're very, very up. We're getting ready to do a lot of live TV, which we haven't done in years – we're playing Mardi Gras in New Orleans, which will be nationally televised. Plus I have a friend from New York who's involved in a huge new benefit concert – kinda like Farm Aid but it's for World Peace, and it's a huge thing that they're doing in numerous cities across the United States which will be televised worldwide to something like three point five billion people. I think we're going to be doing that as well. We're going to be doing as much TV as we can and set ourselves up for what is to come."

I've been reading some comments that some fans are worried that new material might sound more like Soul SirkUS than Journey.

"It won't sound like Soul SirkUS! When you're about to write a record you've got to kind of see it before you write it, and think about what you're going to do – and I think we have a great direction in mind. We've been talking about it for quite a bit now, during the whole last tour – we wrote some stuff whilst we were on the bus and recorded bits onto a computer, and it's going to sound like Journey – it doesn't sound like Soul SirkUS. I mean Soul SirkUS wasn't supposed to sound anything like Journey – it's so funny that people went "So that's what he sounds like with that guy!" but that's not necessarily true. We can go in a zillion different directions and we chose to go in a harder vein because I didn't want it to sound like Journey. The new album is definitely going to sound like Journey – it's going to have big hooks and choruses and many memorable parts, much like our older hits. I think the only change will be that there will be more upbeat songs and a more live sound – I'm not saying heavy, but more upbeat, fun, party, and with a sound more like our live show."

Going back to ‘Generations', reading all the feedback, in hindsight what do you think about the criticism it got for having everyone singing on it?

"Well, it was just something that we happened to be doing at our shows at that time because we were playing the three hour show, we were playing everything from our first record on. We were doing a musical biography of everything we had done and we were all singing because we all HAD to sing to do a long show like that – there's not one singer who could sing this kind of stuff for three hours straight every night. There was nothing more to it than that, and people read into it that Augeri obviously couldn't sing and that's why everybody else was singing – it's so funny what people read into things and think they understand everything and what the reason is for it. It had nothing to do with that, we had all been singing and just said "You know what? Screw it, let's all sing a song on the record" - big deal!"

So Steve wasn't having any vocal problems at that time then?

"He's been having them for the last four years to tell you the truth, and Deen, our drummer, was saving him from night to night. Deen was singing all the high stuff – although Steve was singing along – and Kevin (Elson – producer and live sound engineer) was switching to Deen's microphone out front."

So in hindsight what did you think of "Generations" in relation to your back catalogue?

"I thought it was a very good record. I thought the vocals on it were so-so, and I thought it was not the writing that was at fault but the actual performances. I thought Steve didn't really have the voice that he had when we first got him, to perform on the songs, and I also thought that the sound of the record was not good. I was not happy with that at all. I mean we spent a frickin' small fortune on that record too – I didn't think the studio sounded good that we recorded it in and then I don't think the mixes ended up sounding right. I was not impressed with the sound quality at all."

Around the time of Arrival you were saying some very nice things about Kevin Shirley, why didn't you get him to produce the album?

"You know what? I don't know!" (laughs). "We wanted to go back to the way we had done things in the past. Kevin Elson had not done a record with us in years - he was involved in all our biggest records that we had on Columbia back in the day - and the mix engineer Mike Stone had passed away so we decided to use Mike Fraser, who I completely respected from his past and had worked with in Bad English. It just wasn't the right studio I think, with the wrong board – the funny thing was that I went back there recently and used the studio next door to record a track, and it sounded brilliant. I think it was just the wrong studio and the wrong board."

How have you found working with Frontiers Records rather than a major label?

(Pauses) "I think...Frontiers – I would not go back there! I think initially they do a great job with their packaging, but the problem with them is they do a great job getting it out and promoting for the first month and then as soon as they make their money back they drop the ball. I think any indie label - they don't have a lot of money to spend and they're looking to make their money back, or maybe double their money, and then the promotion stops and they just move on to the next thing."

Most of your back catalogue has been re-mastered again, sometimes with bonus tracks, but most of the bonus tracks were already on the ‘Time' boxed set – are there any more unreleased tracks out there sitting on a shelf somewhere?

"I don't even know what's on the re-releases, that was Steve Perry and Sony working together, and to tell you the truth I'm so far removed from that that I don't know what's on them. I really doubt that there's anything left on the shelf, there are a few live recordings and stuff like that but I don't think there's anything recorded in a studio that hasn't been put out already."

So Ross, Jonathan and yourself weren't asked to be involved with those, or the Houston DVD?

"We're busy playing while he's busy re-releasing everything we've ever done" (laughs). "We spent seven months of last year on tour."

Do you think that's him still looking back whilst you're looking forward?

"I guess so – I don't know what I'm really saying" (laughs), "but we're playing live and making new records and he's recreating the past. I think in a sense he's going "Remember me, remember me?" It's not like anyone's going to forget about him, but if that's what he wants to do – keep repackaging and re-releasing old stuff instead of new stuff – I guess that's what he wants to do, you'd have to talk to him about that."

Did you not speak to him about this when you all attended the unveiling of your star on Hollywood's Walk Of Fame?

"I didn't speak to him at all. I had done some radio interviews two days before that happened – one that goes all over the USA, and another big radio show with Mark & Brian – point blank inviting him down because I felt he should be there. It was up to him, but he said that my interviews had nothing to do with him being there."

Were you surprised that he showed up?

"I was glad. He put in the work during our most successful years and deserved to be there with us."

[Clasicrockldy]

Thanks for posting this. Augeri having problems for 4 years? I never knew that.

[dcvader]

Thanks for posting this. Very interesting indeed!

[junky]

Thanks for posting this. Very interesting indeed!

Love the siggy!!!

[Deb]

Thanks for posting that Jrnyjunky, interesting read. But WTF is with the jabs towards Perry still? Guess I'll just chock it up to this.......

"I just got out of the dentist's office, if I'm talking funny it'll be because my mouth is numb," says the guitarist apologetically."

[lights1961]

thanks for the read!! Love that they are moving and looking forward...and someone else is recreating the past. Also interesting about the quality of Generations, of what he did not like about that CD. But AWESOME tough questions from the author that Neal answered in only Neal's way!! AGAIN GREAT READ!!

Is the world peace concert Neal is talking about actually the GLOBAL WARMING concert
Gore is putting on, or is that something else entirely?? THAT WOULD BE AWESOME...



Rick

[ohsherrie]

Thanks for posting that Jrnyjunky, interesting read. But WTF is with the jabs towards Perry still? Guess I'll just chock it up to this.......

"I just got out of the dentist's office, if I'm talking funny it'll be because my mouth is numb," says the guitarist apologetically."

I didn't like that much either Deb, and I don't think the novocaine had anything to do with it. Neal's getting paid for those rereleases just like Perry is and he needs to remember that those hits that the band's playing on their tours wouldn't exist if it wasn't for people REMEMBERING Steve Perry.

[Deb]

Thanks for posting that Jrnyjunky, interesting read. But WTF is with the jabs towards Perry still? Guess I'll just chock it up to this.......

"I just got out of the dentist's office, if I'm talking funny it'll be because my mouth is numb," says the guitarist apologetically."

I didn't like that much either Deb, and I don't think the novocaine had anything to do with it. Neal's getting paid for those rereleases just like Perry is and he needs to remember that those hits that the band's playing on their tours wouldn't exist if it wasn't for people REMEMBERING Steve Perry.

I just think it kind of made him sound foolish, going on about Perry re-creating the past........right after saying that they were going to go in and re-record the greatest hits with Jeff.

Definately liking this though:

The new album is definitely going to sound like Journey – it's going to have big hooks and choruses and many memorable parts, much like our older hits. I think the only change will be that there will be more upbeat songs and a more live sound – I'm not saying heavy, but more upbeat, fun, party, and with a sound more like our live show."

And fully agree with him on Jeff being a very, very strong frontman/entertainer. He owns that stage, something that is sorely missed in today's R&R.

[jrnyjetster]

This has got to be the most revealing interview I've read from Neal in a long time...GOOD reading and I like the part about getting ready to do alot of LIVE TV!! I wonder what shows they'll appear on and could they be planning to sign on with another big label?

[Granny]

JJ..that was awesome reading...I thought they decided not to do the re-recording of the old songs? If everything else takes place, they will certainly be in the public's eye once again...
Neal, if you are reading this.....MAKE SURE EVERYTHING YOU SAID COMES TRUE.. you have hundreds of thousands of fans here and over the pond.....guess u just didn't realize it....
Your biggest fans are right here at MelodicRock and Andrew McNiece is the best!!!!

Neal, you are the greatest guitarist of all time....IMHO

[Rockindeano]

Sherrie and Deb, please, for fucks sake!

He didn't bash Perry. This gets so old. Every fucking post has got to be turned into a dramatic Perry v Journey thread.

Tell me how he dissed Perry? What was untrue about that?

Come on already.

[ohsherrie]

Sherrie and Deb, please, for fucks sake!

He didn't bash Perry. This gets so old. Every fucking post has got to be turned into a dramatic Perry v Journey thread.

Tell me how he dissed Perry? What was untrue about that?

Come on already.

Dean,

There hasn't been a Perry vs Journey thread on here for a long time, and this doesn't have to be one either. I think what Neal said about Perry living in the past and saying "remember me" with the remasters was inappropriate. Especially in light of the fact that they've been touring on the same past that Steve has remastered and are planning on rerecording that same past. I don't see how any reasonable person could see it any other way. Whether it turns into a Perry vs Journey thread doesn't depend on my post, but on whether people over react to my post by assuming that I'm being anti-Journey.

I know Neal sticks his foot in his mouth in most interviews in one way or another, but I meant no more by saying that he was being unfair to Perry in this interview than I did when I said that he was being unfair to you in another one.

[Red13JoePa]

1) agree with Neal's perception perry's saying "remember me" but I have no problem with it as I dig the reissues and he's done a good job preserving the classics
2) I feel about Arrival the way he feels about the sound of Generations.
3) I think he KNOWS Generations vocally was Augeri's best studio performance but is saying that he thought the vox were weak as a means of buttressing the "steve had a throat condition" official line.
4) he did a GOOD job covering steve's and the bands' collective butts with masterful spin. EX: "no no, when you heard sudden improvements int he vox it was Kevcat switching to DEEN not to tape."

5) he mentions the redo of the old stuff again, I'm STILL on board with this.

6) who cares that they did not use Shirley for Generations? Elson was a big reason it sounded like it did and I think he proved that he should be the producer next album.
Fuckin Shirley? God.

[Rockindeano]

Dean,

I think what Neal said about Perry living in the past and saying "remember me" with the remasters was inappropriate.

Why is it inappropriate? It's the truth! For Gods' sake, his claim to fame is remastering old Cd's? Ok Sherrie, spin to your hearts content. Neal is right on with this.

Especially in light of the fact that they've been touring on the same past that Steve has remastered and are planning on rerecording that same past. I don't see how any reasonable person could see it any other way.

I don't give a shit what they're touring on. Those aren't Steve Perry songs. Those are Journey songs. You forget that simple fact. Perry himself toured on Journey songs too, if you remember correctly.

And by the way, they aren't re-recording those songs. I believe that idea is being shelved; I could be wrong, but don't think it's happening.

Whether it turns into a Perry vs Journey thread doesn't depend on my post, but on whether people over react to my post by assuming that I'm being anti-Journey.

No it doesn't have to turn into a Journey v Perry, and it would be mistake if it did, but the Perry fanatics are so fucking quick to jump in and get their goddamned area staked out. It's so obvious.

I know Neal sticks his foot in his mouth in most interviews in one way or another, but I meant no more by saying that he was being unfair to Perry in this interview than I did when I said that he was being unfair to you in another one.

Ok, I have had enough.

Fuck Neal. Neal is a dick. Neal is stupid. Neal drinks too much and fucks other women. Neal this and Neal that.

Neal does interviews. Neal works his ass off. Neal writes and Neal plays. Neal doesn't fake it. Neal speaks the fucking truth, except where he has to lie to cover for a dismissed singer(and coincidentally that protects the singer in question).

I don't see Perry doing interviews. I don't see Perry writing, singing, or recording. I see Perry remastering older issues. Is that not what he is doing? This isn't a slam on Steve, it's a slam on you Perry worshippers who think he has to be involved and win every fucking post. it's sickening. Yes, it's as bad as the Wigglers' fans.

Neal just spoke the truth about perry. If Perry doesn't like it, go do something about it.

[brywool]

WHY record the old stuff with Soto? If you're going to do that, make it a live album. Otherwise, what a waist of time. get in the studio and make some NEW stuff and move to the future. Just what I need, more Journey old stuff made new again... no thanks.

I didn't dig the Perry comments much either and I NEVER get into the Perry Vs. Journey deal. Perry's voice was amazing, but the way he left the band hanging forever is unforgivable, so I'm not really Pro either one. (the av is just due to the voice). Neal didn't say a word to Perry at the walk of fame? Nice guys, both of them. At least he finished by saying he was glad he was there and gave him credit. Otherwise, I thought Neal sounded like an ass during that part of the interview.

Also, this was a lame ass quote too:

"Also what he (jeff) brings to the table that we've never had before is a very, very strong frontman – an entertainer – a guy who knows how to carry himself on stage and work an audience – he's real."

Is this a joke???? Perry was the quintesential frontman, especially in the earlier years. Leaps and bounds above anyone. Yeah, him too.

Regarding Generations- Augeri sang his ass off on that record. He might not've held up on the tour, but on the album he sang great.

Hopefully the new album will be everything that Neal says. EVERY TIME I read interviews by bands, they say "oh, our next album will DEFINITELY rock harder" then it's full of ballads. Why is that? Maybe they can jump to the new Starbucks label as McCartney just did. Starbucks? Yup! That one.

[junky]

1) agree with Neal's perception perry's saying "remember me" but I have no problem with it as I dig the reissues and he's done a good job preserving the classics.

Neal didn't seem real sure of that "remember me" statement, more of a guess, but he did say that no one will forget Perry.

2) I feel about Arrival the way he feels about the sound of Generations.

I didn't care for the production of either one.

3) I think he KNOWS Generations vocally was Augeri's best studio performance but is saying that he thought the vox were weak as a means of buttressing the "steve had a throat condition" official line.

Yeah, I thought Augeri's studio performance was pretty good on Generations, but I think the guys in Staten Island didn't do a very good job of capturing it. Neal only heard the finished product and didn't witness the performance, so maybe he didn't KNOW.

4) he did a GOOD job covering steve's and the bands' collective butts with masterful spin. EX: "no no, when you heard sudden improvements int he vox it was Kevcat switching to DEEN not to tape."

Yep.

5) he mentions the redo of the old stuff again, I'm STILL on board with this.

Me, too.

6) who cares that they did not use Shirley for Generations? Elson was a big reason it sounded like it did and I think he proved that he should be the producer next album.
Fuckin Shirley? God.

I agree with Neal on the production of Generations, but I don't think Shirley is the answer.

[brywool]

Didn't Neal produce the 1st Hardline album? THAT album sounded great.

[Rockindeano]

Also, this was a lame ass quote too:

"Also what he (jeff) brings to the table that we've never had before is a very, very strong frontman – an entertainer – a guy who knows how to carry himself on stage and work an audience – he's real."

I think Neal was stating the last incarnation of the band. I have spent time with Schon and he can't say a bad word about Espees' talents. How could he?

Regarding Generations- Augeri sang his ass off on that record. He might not've held up on the tour, but on the album he sang great.

Hey, I sing my ass off in my Pathfinder. Doesn't mean I can record a good record. Read between the lines here. Augeri just wasn't that good. Not for this level anyway.

[Deb]

Sherrie and Deb, please, for fucks sake!

He didn't bash Perry. This gets so old. Every fucking post has got to be turned into a dramatic Perry v Journey thread.

Tell me how he dissed Perry? What was untrue about that?

Come on already.

I'm not a Dean. It's just my opinion (ya, I got one of those too eh! ).......doesn't mean I have to like everything out of Neal's mouth, or Perry's for that matter. Nobody is turning this into a dramatic Perry vs. Journey thread. Just IMO, it sounded kind of silly going on about Perry living in the past, right after saying they were going to go in and re-record their greatest hits again. Besides you know full well how I feel about the current line-up so get off my .

[McNeil]

Agree what he said about Perry... the guy is stuck in a goddamn timewarp... move on for christ's sake...... how many frikkin times can you repackage the greatest hits!!

As far as re recording them with Jeff...its valid.....it will go a long way to helping the diehard Perry's and Augeri's accepting Jeff... and hearing him at his best...not just on "boots" ...fuck...rather that than another repackaged "hits with Perry" ..give me a break!!

and for the record..Jeff is sounding great on the UK stuff!!

[Rockindeano]

Sherrie and Deb, please, for fucks sake!

He didn't bash Perry. This gets so old. Every fucking post has got to be turned into a dramatic Perry v Journey thread.

Tell me how he dissed Perry? What was untrue about that?

Come on already.

I'm not a Dean. It's just my opinion (ya, I got one of those too eh! ).......doesn't mean I have to like everything out of Neal's mouth, or Perry's for that matter. Nobody is turning this into a dramatic Perry vs. Journey thread. Just IMO, it sounded kind of silly going on about Perry living in the past, right after saying they were going to go in and re-record their greatest hits again. Besides you know full well how I feel about the current line-up so get off my .

Bullshit. He was asked about Perry. He reported exactly what Perry was doing. Case closed. If Perry were actually doing SOMETHING, other than faint backing vox on a gothic rap band or whatever the fuck it is, Neal could say the hurtful truth now could he?

[Lora]

People seem to have misinformation about the Sony re-issue project. Notice I said Sony project. They are the ones who decided to do the reissues - with or without input or approval of the band. Steve Perry simply stepped in to make sure the end product was something worthy of Journey's fans. We all (Sony, Steve, Cyndy & I) worked our butts off on this project because we all care about Journey legacy and wanted to make the re-issues something special. This doesn't mean anyone is stuck in the past.

[treetopovskaya]

PLEASE... do not re-record classic journey with jss. that would be a HUGE mistake. maybe (i said maybe) a song or two but not a whole cd. geez... nobody is going to take them serious if they do something so lame as that. don't waste jeff's time & talent. write & record NEW songs.

}:C|

just the thought of this pisses me off. time to move on guys...

[Carlitto H@kk]

Great read.

My opinion of re-recording the hits and
some obscure stuff is this.
Do it. Get Jeff's voice on these classics
out there for the casual fans to hear.
Let's face it, alot of fans that don't read these MBS
are a little confused nowadays when they go see Journey.
Some still think they're gonna get Perry. Some think it's
gonna be Augeri. And some just really don't care.

Re-Do some hits. Try to get some radio airplay with them.
Promote the hell out of them and say,
"Ladies and Gentlemen, THIS is your New Journey!
This is what you're gonna get when you come see us!"
Use these clips in ALL promotions for future appearances.

By doing this, there is no longer any confusion.
Fans, new and old, will have ONE VOICE to hear
and know right away what to expect.

As for doing some "Obscure album stuff"...

PLEASE! For the
love of all things sacred record a
rocking, studio-version of
Dixie-Fucking-Highway!!!

[Deb]

Sherrie and Deb, please, for fucks sake!

He didn't bash Perry. This gets so old. Every fucking post has got to be turned into a dramatic Perry v Journey thread.

Tell me how he dissed Perry? What was untrue about that?

Come on already.

I'm not a Dean. It's just my opinion (ya, I got one of those too eh! ).......doesn't mean I have to like everything out of Neal's mouth, or Perry's for that matter. Nobody is turning this into a dramatic Perry vs. Journey thread. Just IMO, it sounded kind of silly going on about Perry living in the past, right after saying they were going to go in and re-record their greatest hits again. Besides you know full well how I feel about the current line-up so get off my .

Bullshit. He was asked about Perry. He reported exactly what Perry was doing. Case closed. If Perry were actually doing SOMETHING, other than faint backing vox on a gothic rap band or whatever the fuck it is, Neal could say the hurtful truth now could he?

LOL, your itchin for a fight.......and it ain't going to be me Dean.

[Deb]

PLEASE! For the
love of all things sacred record a
rocking, studio-version of
Dixie-Fucking-Highway!!!

Sooooooooo with ya on that one! Or at least do it LIVE, I think JSS would be killer on that one.

[fightingilliniJRNY]

PLEASE... do not re-record classic journey with jss. that would be a HUGE mistake. maybe (i said maybe) a song or two but not a whole cd. geez... nobody is going to take them serious if they do something so lame as that. don't waste jeff's time & talent. write & record NEW songs.

}:C|

just the thought of this pisses me off. time to move on guys...

Why not? Maybe they're hoping radio stations will play Separate Ways with Jeff instead of Separate Ways with Steve Perry? Might as well introduce your new singer to the public singing one of the classics rather than new material (that the general public usually doesn't give a chance anyway). I personally think that re-recording the classics is a good idea. People are more likely to listen to a classic and hear the new singer than pick up New Album X and listen to the new singer on New Song X.

[fightingilliniJRNY]

Apparently Carl had the same idea I did and posted it quicker than I could. I didn't read your post, Carl, and say the same thing. I promise.

[Deb]

Also, this was a lame ass quote too:

"Also what he (jeff) brings to the table that we've never had before is a very, very strong frontman – an entertainer – a guy who knows how to carry himself on stage and work an audience – he's real."

I think Neal was stating the last incarnation of the band. I have spent time with Schon and he can't say a bad word about Espees' talents. How could he?

That's how I took it too. I agree with Neal here, as far as 'frontmen' IMO JSS is on par with Perry when it comes to owning that stage.

[Barb]

I think what is really pissing Neal off is that whatever is repackaged and sold will outsell anything Journey ever does again. At least that has been the case up until now. When this Journey can actually sell new music, he'll have a leg to stand on. He's not making money touring on new music, now is he?

Neal is just being arrogant and it's a huge turn off.