marco17 wrote:I apologize in advance if this has been discussed long ago when Red 13 was origninally released, but this got me thinking.
There's a lot of talk and consensus that many people liked the potential new direction the Jeff could have taken Journey vocally and with their overall sound. However that said, Red 13 was more experimental, which I think lent itself more to Augeri's vocal style prior to Journey, and was their attempt at the time to move in a different direction musically, but failed in the eye of their fans, especially diehard fans. Personally, as a stand alone EP I didn't mind it, and thought it had its moments, but yes, does not sound like the Journey the world knows and loves. Do you believe that because Red 13 fell flat that this is why the band is so hesitant to move forward beyond the "classic" sound, and instead of being daring and moving forward with a guy like Jeff, they chose to once again hire Arnel, who while not a clone, but can pull off a decent Perry impression?
I don't think it had anything to do with Red13. They recorded that, then toured for years after ,singing the "Dirty dozen". I think they tried to venture out again, and saw that fans didn't like the experimental Generations album. After the whole thing blew up over Steve's Lipping, they shoved him out the door. Neal being "Friends" with Jeff, knew Jeff could pull off the material in short notice (which saved their asses by not having to cancel on Def Leppard) and was probably thinking things could work out between Jeff and Journey. After announcing that they would be working on an album and going in a new direction, I think the following happened...
I think Neal and Jonathan had a serious pow-wow, and realized "wait a minute, we're pushing retirement age here. Why should we try to risk our last two or three years of touring on new uncharted territory, when the last two albums we did that with didn't succeed?". I personally think that Jeff was pushing for the "New direction" of the band, but the band decided to go back to where the money is. From a financial standpoint, I think they made the right decision. I think the way they handled it sucks ass.
That's my three or four cents for the day!
