What if Steve would have gone on one more tour and blown out his voice completely? Do you think that would have helped or hurt his legacy?

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Voyager wrote:My wife and I went to see the movie American Gangster tonight. One of the highlights of the movie for me was when a mafia boss told Denzel Washington, "Quitting while you are ahead is better than just quitting." I immediately thought of Steve Perry. Steve knew his voice was not capable of hitting the high notes that had become his signature, so he decided to quit while he was ahead. Millions of fans have tried to encourage him to go back on the road again, but so far he has resisted the pressure to do so. I am sure this has taken a lot of inner strength for Steve to go against the will of his fans. Do you think he made the right decision?
What if Steve would have gone on one more tour and blown out his voice completely? Do you think that would have helped or hurt his legacy?
Saint John wrote:Voyager wrote:My wife and I went to see the movie American Gangster tonight. One of the highlights of the movie for me was when a mafia boss told Denzel Washington, "Quitting while you are ahead is better than just quitting." I immediately thought of Steve Perry. Steve knew his voice was not capable of hitting the high notes that had become his signature, so he decided to quit while he was ahead. Millions of fans have tried to encourage him to go back on the road again, but so far he has resisted the pressure to do so. I am sure this has taken a lot of inner strength for Steve to go against the will of his fans. Do you think he made the right decision?
What if Steve would have gone on one more tour and blown out his voice completely? Do you think that would have helped or hurt his legacy?
No, I don't. His lack of honesty destroyed all of his credibility. We waited circa TBF and Herbie pretty much outlined what an asshole he is. He didn't address it and more importantly he didn't prove him wrong. His indifference toward his fans is silently loud. The man is simply enamored in some sort of "legacy" that will ultimately find him to be a quitter and a recluse. May God bless him as a person, but as an artist he left as a quitter. The ultimate fiend. Circa 1996.
Saint John wrote:His indifference toward his fans is silently loud. The man is simply enamored in some sort of "legacy" that will ultimately find him to be a quitter and a recluse. May God bless him as a person, but as an artist he left as a quitter. The ultimate fiend. Circa 1996.
Voyager wrote:My wife and I went to see the movie American Gangster tonight. One of the highlights of the movie for me was when a mafia boss told Denzel Washington, "Quitting while you are ahead is better than just quitting." I immediately thought of Steve Perry. Somewhere around 1995 Steve seemed to realize that his voice was not capable of hitting the high notes that had become his signature, so he decided to quit while he was ahead. Millions of fans have tried to encourage him to go back on the road again, but so far he has resisted the pressure to do so. I am sure this has taken a lot of inner strength for Steve to go against the will of his fans. Do you think he made the right decision?
What if Steve would have gone on one more tour and blown out his voice completely? Do you think that would have helped or hurt his legacy?
STORY_TELLER wrote:I don't think Perry did anything wrong as far as retiring goes. The man had some serious emotional trauma to deal with. He had his voice failing on him. He lost his mother and his girlfriend back to back. He was both emotionally and creatively burnt out. Not one person who criticizes his actions regarding retirement have walked a day in his shoes. Until you do that, go through what he went through, you really can't relate.
The only MAJOR thing he did wrong in my view was firing two of his band mates in an effort to make a Journey album all about him (Raised on Radio). While I like the music for what it is, I've always felt it would have been better if Perry didn't produce it and the escape/frontiers lineup was involved.
STORY_TELLER wrote:I don't think Perry did anything wrong as far as retiring goes. The man had some serious emotional trauma to deal with. He had his voice failing on him. He lost his mother and his girlfriend back to back. He was both emotionally and creatively burnt out. Not one person who criticizes his actions regarding retirement have walked a day in his shoes. Until you do that, go through what he went through, you really can't relate.
The only MAJOR thing he did wrong in my view was firing two of his band mates in an effort to make a Journey album all about him (Raised on Radio). While I like the music for what it is, I've always felt it would have been better if Perry didn't produce it and the escape/frontiers lineup was involved.
Sure we dig his music, his talent. We miss it. We want more. But that doesn't mean he owes us anything. He owed his bandmates one last tour on TBF, then he could have stepped down again gracefully. But other than that, he's his own person. A human being with his own flaws, issues and lessons to learn, just like the rest of us.
He gave us some great music. Obviously he touched us in a way that we continue to yearn for more. We should be happy with what we got.
TRAGChick wrote:He did that because MUSIC was the only thing he COULD control at that point in time.
Voyager wrote:What if Steve would have gone on one more tour and blown out his voice completely? Do you think that would have helped or hurt his legacy?
Voyager wrote:Any thoughts on these questions?Voyager wrote:What if Steve would have gone on one more tour and blown out his voice completely? Do you think that would have helped or hurt his legacy?
ArnelRox wrote:I've been thinking about this lately. I was looking something up about Michael Bolton. I was never a Bolton fan but liked the stuff he did w/Neal & Jon. W/out liking his "hits", I can appreciate his talents. My friend & I had been discussing his voice, his particular stylings & the strain that puts on ur voice in concert, & the vocal issues he's dealt w/ so I was interested in hearing how he sounds today. I came across his 2007 performances. While I'm sure Bolton's diehard fans enjoy it, he's up there doing Frank Sinatra songs & he's not even doing them well IMHO.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pJ7TMJnJqNM
I started thinking about Perry. I've always said I'd listen to him sing the phone book but do I really want to go hear Perry sing Frank Sinatra or something similar poorly? Didnt Perry himself say he's not about to do that in one interview? I had to be really honest w/myself. I dont want to hear Perry covering someone else poorly. I'd rather enjoy the legacy of the incredible voice he had. If he writes something that suits his voice now, I'm all ears tho.
strangegrey wrote: Theres a problem with that video, if that it's an audience recording...and there's someone singing along bolton on the tape...and the person is off-pitch from bolton. Listen carefully...it's light enough to miss it. His singing is a different animal when you take out the singing fan.
I would prefer to judge Bolton on a video where his voice isn't getting ruined by an out of pitch singer near the mic in the audience....He sounded find otherwise...
ArnelRox wrote:strangegrey wrote: Theres a problem with that video, if that it's an audience recording...and there's someone singing along bolton on the tape...and the person is off-pitch from bolton. Listen carefully...it's light enough to miss it. His singing is a different animal when you take out the singing fan.
I would prefer to judge Bolton on a video where his voice isn't getting ruined by an out of pitch singer near the mic in the audience....He sounded find otherwise...
Sure that's an audience recording, just like all the videos of Arnel u pull apart (sorry Frank, I had to throw that in there, u left urself wide open).
I just threw in the first example of Bolton I could find quickly. There are a ton of others if u want to go look & listen which I did the other nite. On the more difficult songs, he gives the audience the mic for any challenging parts. If he tries parts of them, he doesnt sound so hot. He's still fine while in chest voice & it sounds great, but as he goes up in pitch, it starts to sound strangled. I felt sorry for him. At least he's trying & he's in great physical shape. His songs are fucking hard to sing. Ouch!
STORY_TELLER wrote: It's not just the audience member singing along though. Bolton sounds like he's intentionally trying to channel Sinatra here. He's not making the song his own, singing it the way he sings his other songs. He's trying to approach it the way Sinatra did and it's not working. Still, he's not off key or pitch.
ArnelRox wrote:Anyway, my point was I dont really want to see Perry do Sinatra or Elvis or anything like that. It got a bit convoluted.
larryfromnextdoor wrote:Brooks once said, "get busy living, or get busy dying."
ArnelRox wrote:Sure that's an audience recording, just like all the videos of Arnel u pull apart (sorry Frank, I had to throw that in there, u left urself wide open).
ohsherrie wrote:Steve Perry owes nothing to any of his fans or his former bandmates. He gave us everything that we paid for and he gave those assholes he worked with a legacy that they're still living on and planning to bleed dry.
strangegrey wrote:ohsherrie wrote:Steve Perry owes nothing to any of his fans or his former bandmates. He gave us everything that we paid for and he gave those assholes he worked with a legacy that they're still living on and planning to bleed dry.
Sherrie, they already bled the stone dry years ago....Nothing left...no blood left from this stone....Now, they're just getting ready to smash it to dust with this next idiotic move.
There;'ll be nothing left but thunderous laughter from those out there desperate to see Journey die in horid fasion.
ohsherrie wrote:True Frank. They're giving those people who called them "corporate rock" and "formula rock" all the justification they need for never recognizing Journey for their contributions to the music world.
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