Damned if he did; damned if he didn't...

[TRAGChick]

Hey all...

I was forced upstairs to listen to Music, since Mark was doing drum-practice...

So, I listened to the "Escape Live" CD - the one that was with the "Collector's Edition" DVD - on our "Surround Sound" Radio/CD player in our room...

And it occurred to me:

The Escape Tour happened in 1981: my Freshman Year in High School....I remember a lot of kids thinking "oh, he has such a high voice; that's all he has..." I remember my sister's friends, who were 2 or 3 years older than me, thinking the same thing.

So, flash-forward to 1983: Frontiers:

These same people are saying, "What HAPPENED to him? His voice is so low!!"

By the time ROR came along....keep in mind, this is WITH "Street Talk".....most of my peers thought "oh, his voice is GOING..."

From my point of view - at Front-&-Center Lead Vocalist - all I can say is:

Most Lead Vocalists can "stake their claim" with one sound:

Steve Perry managed to do that - with TWO DISTINCTIVE VOCAL RANGES: Infinity-Escape Frontiers/Street Talk/ROR and beyond.

Give him Credit where Credit is due....and stop with the THINKING that he lost his Voice.
He didn't "lose" it....he just changed it.

[Perrydise]

Nora you always have good thoughts.

[Rockindeano]

Nora you always have good thoughts.

Oh you two are going to be on suicide watch Friday.

[Saint John]

Great post, Nora. I actually think he had 3 distinctive voices. Pre-Escape, Escape to Frontiers and then post-Frontiers.

[larryfromnextdoor]

i dont remember anyone saying or comparing anything in '83.. except maybe m.jackson vs journey.. low vs high ??? your world was either rocked ..or it wasnt.. some folks listened to the New Shoes band or duran duran .. freaks..

[Perrydise]

Nora you always have good thoughts.

Oh you two are going to be on suicide watch Friday.

Great! I didnt have anything else planned for Friday anyway.

[Red13JoePa]

Great post, Nora. I actually think he had 3 distinctive voices. Pre-Escape, Escape to Frontiers and then post-Frontiers.

Very true.
And busting it down even further, the Captured track The Party's Over (one of the a11-time GREAT Journey tracks) voice seems identica1 to ESC4P3 era (and why not, both recorded in '81) and Frontiers sounds ever so s1ight1y different.
Near1y imperceptib1e is the difference in the 2-year gap but there it is if you 1isten.

But for a11 intents and purposes, to the naked ear there are 3 distinct voices (but a11 the same sti11).

[SteveForever]

Nora you always have good thoughts.

Oh you two are going to be on suicide watch Friday.

sounds like you have already read the interview, thanks for the warning... bummer~

[Deb]

Great post, Nora. I actually think he had 3 distinctive voices. Pre-Escape, Escape to Frontiers and then post-Frontiers.

I agree, my favorite hands down is the Frontiers and forward vocals.

[mistiejourney]

Great post, Nora. I actually think he had 3 distinctive voices. Pre-Escape, Escape to Frontiers and then post-Frontiers.

We don't get You Tube on the computer at work, but my co-worker has an iPhone, so I spent half-an-hour watching Perry videos ("Strung Out", "You Better Wait", "I Stand Alone"). Damn - love the voice all over the specturm.

Yeah, for two hours we had no patients. But....I DID run my butt off for six of them!

Don't want you all to think I was slacking!

[yulog]

[tammy]

Yep, all his voices are great...different voices for different moods.

[Dr Arrival]

I am not sure how many voices he had, but it (they) were by far the BEST voice in all of rock and roll.

Did the voice go? Well, he told Neal's mom that if he could DO IT, he would be out there "doing it". However, if he could not achieve the level of perfection that he once did, he wasn't going to try. Either 100% or 0%.

I, for one, wouldn't care if it was perfect or not. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear him, imperfections and all. He doesn't realize that his 75% (or whatever) is still worlds above the rest.

[StoneCold]

Did the voice go? Well, he told Neal's mom that if he could DO IT, he would be out there "doing it". However, if he could not achieve the level of perfection that he once did, he wasn't going to try. Either 100% or 0%.

When was that conversation?

[Dr Arrival]

Hell, I don't know. It would have had to have been sometime after they taped Trial By Fire. He was having dinner with Les and Barb with Neal.

Although I remember the Quest for Camelot soundtrack sounding pretty freakin' perfect and he was injured (hip) at the time. So it must have been AFTER that.

[Liquid_Drummer]

Steve Perry managed to do that - with TWO DISTINCTIVE VOCAL RANGES: Infinity-Escape Frontiers/Street Talk/ROR and beyond.

Give him Credit where Credit is due....and stop with the THINKING that he lost his Voice.
He didn't "lose" it....he just changed it.[/b][/quote]


I disagree. He didnt change his voice. His voice changed him.

[youkeepmewaiting]

Though I agree that Perry had a great voice with every style he had.. But his voice definitly got damaged - surely common knowledge amongst us fans

[ProgRocker53]

Perry's voice isn't lost, I'm positive. I wouldn't even call it "damaged." It was still changed and affected by that grueling series of tours though, that much is clear.

[BobbyinTN]

I gotta say, his voice changed, and it wasn't on purpose. I'm not saying it was a bad change or really horrible to listen to after it changed, but I am saying it was noticeably rougher and I'd bet loads of money it couldn't be helped. The simply toured too much and he tried too hard to do what he did on the records.

I think he's amazing, but to keep our heads in the sand about his voice is just sad.

[youkeepmewaiting]

I gotta say, his voice changed, and it wasn't on purpose. I'm not saying it was a bad change or really horrible to listen to after it changed, but I am saying it was noticeably rougher and I'd bet loads of money it couldn't be helped. The simply toured too much and he tried too hard to do what he did on the records.

I think he's amazing, but to keep our heads in the sand about his voice is just sad.

Agreed. I dont think Perrys voice changed that dramitically because thats "what he wanted". Maybe he did want to change the style of his voice and singing.. but I dont believe to the extent that it did.

[brywool]

He didn't change his voice. The road changed his voice. Overuse changed his voice.

[Saint John]

He didn't change his voice. The road changed his voice. Overuse changed his voice.

I agree and disagree. I've heard both. The road (and age) obviously changed his voice. However, I heard one the most remarkable things after Frontiers was recording and they were on tour. He was able to, seemingly at will, put away the "huskier" Frontiers album voice in concert on that tour and sound exactly like he did on Escape while singing songs off of the Escape album. I was floored when I heard this. I think to some extent he did sing in a different voice on Frontiers, but after that tour his voice had definitely changed.

[Deb]

Gawd, my head hurt even trying to read that.

[Red13JoePa]

I heard one the most remarkable things after Frontiers was recording and they were on tour. He was able to, seemingly at will, put away the "huskier" Frontiers album voice in concert on that tour and sound exactly like he did on Escape while singing songs off of the Escape album.

Dude, come on.
Now YOU'RE telling whoppers.

[brywool]

He didn't change his voice. The road changed his voice. Overuse changed his voice.

I agree and disagree. I've heard both. The road (and age) obviously changed his voice. However, I heard one the most remarkable things after Frontiers was recording and they were on tour. He was able to, seemingly at will, put away the "huskier" Frontiers album voice in concert on that tour and sound exactly like he did on Escape while singing songs off of the Escape album. I was floored when I heard this. I think to some extent he did sing in a different voice on Frontiers, but after that tour his voice had definitely changed.

While he was at first able to go in and out at will, by the end of the Frontiers tour, he was rough. That's why the band played everything super fast, to make it easier on him. Still a great voice, the greatest voice. But I guarantee you the huskiness was from too much road work.

[Saint John]

He didn't change his voice. The road changed his voice. Overuse changed his voice.

I agree and disagree. I've heard both. The road (and age) obviously changed his voice. However, I heard one the most remarkable things after Frontiers was recording and they were on tour. He was able to, seemingly at will, put away the "huskier" Frontiers album voice in concert on that tour and sound exactly like he did on Escape while singing songs off of the Escape album. I was floored when I heard this. I think to some extent he did sing in a different voice on Frontiers, but after that tour his voice had definitely changed.

While he was at first able to go in and out at will, by the end of the Frontiers tour, he was rough. That's why the band played everything super fast, to make it easier on him. Still a great voice, the greatest voice. But I guarantee you the huskiness was from too much road work.

Agreed.

PS Fuck you, 13. You still think Jamison can shatter glass on those cheese puff Survivor ballads. Your ears are about as clear as Randy Johnson's complexion. You could put Jamison's nuts in a vice and he wouldn't sound any better than "Mick" from Rocky. Like the way I made that full circle? Fag.

[Red13JoePa]

PS Fuck you, 13. You still think Jamison can shatter glass on those cheese puff Survivor ballads. Your ears are about as clear as Randy Johnson's complexion. You could put Jamison's nuts in a vice and he wouldn't sound any better than "Mick" from Rocky. Like the way I made that full circle? Fag.

Jamo's voice IS deeper than septum face's.
That's part of the reason I prefer it (while agreeing that perry's deeper, more resonant vox on Frontiers are a sheer thing of awe).

[Saint John]

PS Fuck you, 13. You still think Jamison can shatter glass on those cheese puff Survivor ballads. Your ears are about as clear as Randy Johnson's complexion. You could put Jamison's nuts in a vice and he wouldn't sound any better than "Mick" from Rocky. Like the way I made that full circle? Fag.

Jamo's voice IS deeper than septum face's.
That's part of the reason I prefer it (while agreeing that perry's deeper, more resonant vox on Frontiers are a sheer thing of awe).

You know more like Perry on Frontiers than you did Bin Laden on 9/11. You hate the guy. Admit it.

[FishinMagician]

PS Fuck you, 13. You still think Jamison can shatter glass on those cheese puff Survivor ballads. Your ears are about as clear as Randy Johnson's complexion. You could put Jamison's nuts in a vice and he wouldn't sound any better than "Mick" from Rocky. Like the way I made that full circle? Fag.

Jamo's voice IS deeper than septum face's.
That's part of the reason I prefer it (while agreeing that perry's deeper, more resonant vox on Frontiers are a sheer thing of awe).

you found the "l" !!!

[kgdjpubs]

He didn't change his voice. The road changed his voice. Overuse changed his voice.

I think there was a little bit of intentional in there also. As a vocal style, Street Talk and ROR are very different from the pre-Frontiers material. I'm talking about phrasing here, not the notes hit.