New Neal Interview

[STORY_TELLER]

I know it would have been a humbling experience, but Journey should have hired Smith to do the drumming on Revelation and let Deen perform during the tour. Smith is arguably the best drummer in the world and I think he would have done this. Shit, if I read the interview correctly, Neal did the bass lines for Revelation. Asking Deen to step aside for Smith to do the album shouldn't have been a big deal if an original member was asked the same.

I was thinking the exact same effing thing! Never happen of course, but dare to dream...

[mistiejourney]

.......With touring being their life's blood, I think Neal just wants to be with as many guys he can get along with as possible. I mean he didn't pick Deen because he's the best possible drummer out there, he chose him because they're buds.

Deen is way too underrated among most Journey fans....
The stuff he did for Shrapnel like Joey Tafolla's record, Marty Friedman's stuff (Cacophony), the incredible record he did with Tony Macalpine....just amazing!
I also think the entire Hardline record is great, just listen to the drum intro on "Lifes a bitch".

While Steve Smith is, without a doubt, more versatile, Deen is imho the better choice when it comes to rock/metal drumming.
You guys have no idea what the guy is capable of......
If you wanna hear Deen at his best, check "Kill the guy with ball" from Steve Vai.

If you add the insane singing abilities, I dont see a much better choice out there.

I'm not exactly a connoisseur of rock drumming, but I always thought Deen was great. He's a blast to watch (as was Smitty) and damn, that voice is amazing.

Worked for me!

He does a great job when he's aping Smitty's chops on the catalogue, but when it comes to originating his own chops on new material, he shows his limitations.

I was at the HWOF after concert when Deen, Ansly Dunbar and Steve Smith all took turns on Deen's drum kit. Smitty literally wiped the floor with Deen. It was a night and day comparison. He was even more thunderous than Deen. When Deen got back on his kit following Smitty's two songs, his chops came off as simple drum machine beats.

I know it would have been a humbling experience, but Journey should have hired Smith to do the drumming on Revelation and let Deen perform during the tour. Smith is arguably the best drummer in the world and I think he would have done this. Shit, if I read the interview correctly, Neal did the bass lines for Revelation. Asking Deen to step aside for Smith to do the album shouldn't have been a big deal if an original member was asked the same.

Whoa - that would have been great to see! And easy to compare back-to-back. I missed the whole HWOF thing - I wasn't part of Back Talk boards and really did not know what was going on.

Would have been fun!

[STORY_TELLER]

Whoa - that would have been great to see! And easy to compare back-to-back. I missed the whole HWOF thing - I wasn't part of Back Talk boards and really did not know what was going on.

Would have been fun!

I found out at the very last minute. Heard it on the radio that day about the concert. I had just sold my motorcycle for about $500.00 two days prior. Word on the radio was that Perry was at the WOF ceremony and that Neal had asked him to join them at the small venue concert that evening. Even though it was a long shot, I decided to gamble. I knew Perry would never rejoin Journey and if there was ever a chance for a one off performance, this was it. I grabbed my wife and ran down to the venue. We walked up and down scalper alley looking for tickets. Ended up paying $400.00 for the both of us, but we got in. Unfortunately, Perry was a no show.

The surprise of the evening: Robert Fleishman got up on stage to sing Wheel in the Sky. He couldn't hit the notes. Augeri had to help him out or there would have been blank spots in the vocals.

The highlight of the evening was when Smitty took the stage along with Neal, Jon and Ross. With Smitty in the mix, the instrumentals improved dramatically. Neal's expression changed. He looked over at Ross with a knowing expression. This was Journey. I glossed over Augeri's vocals and focussed on the instrumentals, becoming absorbed in the musical chemistry these 4 musicians have. Without Perry there, the only way those couple of songs could have sounded better was if Deen sang them, but there was no way that was going to happen. Deen was sitting crouched behind Smitty, watching with intense awestruck bug eyes as Smitty tore it up on Deen's own kit. He (Deen) literally fell over backwards at one point at seeing some of Smitty's drumming acrobatics.

The crowd exploded at the end of Smitty's performance. I swear my ears started ringing from their roar of applause. It was deafening.

That was the closest I ever got to experiencing the REAL Journey live. It was a memorable experience to say the least.

[Red13JoePa]

Steve Smith has basically huffed "no perry no me."

Who else do you think Neal was talking about in my sig quote?

[Michigan Girl]

Whoa - that would have been great to see! And easy to compare back-to-back. I missed the whole HWOF thing - I wasn't part of Back Talk boards and really did not know what was going on.

Would have been fun!

I found out at the very last minute. Heard it on the radio that day about the concert. I had just sold my motorcycle for about $500.00 two days prior. Word on the radio was that Perry was at the WOF ceremony and that Neal had asked him to join them at the small venue concert that evening. Even though it was a long shot, I decided to gamble. I knew Perry would never rejoin Journey and if there was ever a chance for a one off performance, this was it. I grabbed my wife and ran down to the venue. We walked up and down scalper alley looking for tickets. Ended up paying $400.00 for the both of us, but we got in. Unfortunately, Perry was a no show.

The surprise of the evening: Robert Fleishman got up on stage to sing Wheel in the Sky. He couldn't hit the notes. Augeri had to help him out or there would have been blank spots in the vocals.

The highlight of the evening was when Smitty took the stage along with Neal, Jon and Ross. With Smitty in the mix, the instrumentals improved dramatically. Neal's expression changed. He looked over at Ross with a knowing expression. This was Journey. I glossed over Augeri's vocals and focussed on the instrumentals, becoming absorbed in the musical chemistry these 4 musicians have. Without Perry there, the only way those couple of songs could have sounded better was if Deen sang them, but there was no way that was going to happen. Deen was sitting crouched behind Smitty, watching with intense awestruck bug eyes as Smitty tore it up on Deen's own kit. He (Deen) literally fell over backwards at one point at seeing some of Smitty's drumming acrobatics.

The crowd exploded at the end of Smitty's performance. I swear my ears started ringing from their roar of applause. It was deafening.

That was the closest I ever got to experiencing the REAL Journey live. It was a memorable experience to say the least.

This makes me want to !!!! NICE Story!!

[stevew2]

Whoa - that would have been great to see! And easy to compare back-to-back. I missed the whole HWOF thing - I wasn't part of Back Talk boards and really did not know what was going on.

Would have been fun!

I found out at the very last minute. Heard it on the radio that day about the concert. I had just sold my motorcycle for about $500.00 two days prior. Word on the radio was that Perry was at the WOF ceremony and that Neal had asked him to join them at the small venue concert that evening. Even though it was a long shot, I decided to gamble. I knew Perry would never rejoin Journey and if there was ever a chance for a one off performance, this was it. I grabbed my wife and ran down to the venue. We walked up and down scalper alley looking for tickets. Ended up paying $400.00 for the both of us, but we got in. Unfortunately, Perry was a no show.

The surprise of the evening: Robert Fleishman got up on stage to sing Wheel in the Sky. He couldn't hit the notes. Augeri had to help him out or there would have been blank spots in the vocals.

The highlight of the evening was when Smitty took the stage along with Neal, Jon and Ross. With Smitty in the mix, the instrumentals improved dramatically. Neal's expression changed. He looked over at Ross with a knowing expression. This was Journey. I glossed over Augeri's vocals and focussed on the instrumentals, becoming absorbed in the musical chemistry these 4 musicians have. Without Perry there, the only way those couple of songs could have sounded better was if Deen sang them, but there was no way that was going to happen. Deen was sitting crouched behind Smitty, watching with intense awestruck bug eyes as Smitty tore it up on Deen's own kit. He (Deen) literally fell over backwards at one point at seeing some of Smitty's drumming acrobatics.

The crowd exploded at the end of Smitty's performance. I swear my ears started ringing from their roar of applause. It was deafening.

That was the closest I ever got to experiencing the REAL Journey live. It was a memorable experience to say the least.

Thats a cool story, I wish i was there,havin Rolie there would have even made it better

[DracIsBack]

Smitty literally wiped the floor with Deen. It was a night and day comparison. He was even more thunderous than Deen. When Deen got back on his kit following Smitty's two songs, his chops came off as simple drum machine beats.

That doesn't necessarily mean Dean's a bad drummer. Look who he had to follow up against! I mean for crying out loud - Smith taught Chicago's Danny Serephine how to play the drums better than ever and that is saying something.

[STORY_TELLER]

Smitty literally wiped the floor with Deen. It was a night and day comparison. He was even more thunderous than Deen. When Deen got back on his kit following Smitty's two songs, his chops came off as simple drum machine beats.

That doesn't necessarily mean Dean's a bad drummer. Look who he had to follow up against! I mean for crying out loud - Smith taught Chicago's Danny Serephine how to play the drums better than ever and that is saying something.

No, it means he's not a good enough drummer for Journey. You're going to tell me Deen is the next best drummer in the world after Steve Smith? I think not.

[Ehwmatt]

Deen is a hell of a drummer, stop denigrating him. Smitty was/is a great drummer in his own right, but the way we're talking about Journey's drums is laughable to me - like the stuff they've been playing live the last 25 years is such a demanding set for a drummer. lol. Smitty woulda sure fit in in the first set of the Generations tour where they were playing more technical songs - Deen does not detract in any way from the performance of the dirty dozen.

[DracIsBack]

You're going to tell me Deen is the next best drummer in the world after Steve Smith?

Did I say that?

Reread what I said: "look at who he followed ..."

[STORY_TELLER]

Deen is a hell of a drummer, stop denigrating him. Smitty was/is a great drummer in his own right, but the way we're talking about Journey's drums is laughable to me - like the stuff they've been playing live the last 25 years is such a demanding set for a drummer. lol. Smitty woulda sure fit in in the first set of the Generations tour where they were playing more technical songs - Deen does not detract in any way from the performance of the dirty dozen.

If you'd read everything that was said, you wouldn't have posted that. I said Deen does a good job on the GH's when he's aping Smitty's chops. My issue is with his artistry when he has to originate new material within Journey. His technical skills are great (when it comes to a pounding hard rock songs), but that's as far as it goes.

[STORY_TELLER]

You're going to tell me Deen is the next best drummer in the world after Steve Smith?

Did I say that?

Reread what I said: "look at who he followed ..."

I know exactly what you said. What I said was used to illustrate my larger point, which is: Deen is not the best drummer for Journey. Nor is he the second best, or third, etc., etc.. Mind you, he didn't just follow Smitty, he preceded him that evening too, but that's not the point. You used who he followed as a reasoning for why he didn't sound so good and I'm saying that has nothing to do with it. What it did show was the difference in skill, so then I naturally ask myself, are there drummers out there not as good as Smitty but better than Deen (for Journey). The answer is yes, but we will never hear that because Neal didn't chose Deen for being the best drummer. In fact, he didn't audition anyone. He just gave his buddy a call. Fact is, Neal doesn't seem to want to spend time and effort finding the best musical choices. That's how we ended up with Augeri.

Because Journey set the bar as high as they did, it is natural to compare what they do now to what they achieved. Personally, I think their music is lesser for these kinds of choices and it's disappointing. Thankfully, they found Arnel who is worlds better than Augeri. Now I believe the only weak link in the talent pool is Deen's drumming on new music. He's a much better singer than drummer (for Journey).

[DracIsBack]

I know exactly what you said. What I said was used to illustrate my larger point, which is: Deen is not the best drummer for Journey. Nor is he the second best, or third, etc., etc.. Mind you, he didn't just follow Smitty, he preceded him that evening too, but that's not the point. You used who he followed as a reasoning for why he didn't sound so good and I'm saying that has nothing to do with it.

I used "followed" in the context of look at who's shoes he has to fill and the standard that was set, not who played in what order that night.

Steve Smith is an absolutely incredible drummer. Against him, almost everyone seems to "suck".

Again, one of my favorite drummers, Danny Serephine of Chicago hit a rough patch in the late 1980s and was written off. When he wanted to get back into things, he went to Steve Smith for lessons and is now playing better than ever. And Danny's bar in the 1970s wasn't exactly "set low", if you know what I mean.

[STORY_TELLER]

I know exactly what you said. What I said was used to illustrate my larger point, which is: Deen is not the best drummer for Journey. Nor is he the second best, or third, etc., etc.. Mind you, he didn't just follow Smitty, he preceded him that evening too, but that's not the point. You used who he followed as a reasoning for why he didn't sound so good and I'm saying that has nothing to do with it.

I used "followed" in the context of look at who's shoes he has to fill and the standard that was set, not who played in what order that night.

Steve Smith is an absolutely incredible drummer. Against him, almost everyone seems to "suck".

Again, one of my favorite drummers, Danny Serephine of Chicago hit a rough patch in the late 1980s and was written off. When he wanted to get back into things, he went to Steve Smith for lessons and is now playing better than ever. And Danny's bar in the 1970s wasn't exactly "set low", if you know what I mean.

Absolutely agree. I'm saying there's a lot of grey area in between Smitty and Deen. The best choice wasn't made to replace him. He's on the far end of the spectrum IMO. Not on touring the GH's, but on new material.

[mistiejourney]

I know exactly what you said. What I said was used to illustrate my larger point, which is: Deen is not the best drummer for Journey. Nor is he the second best, or third, etc., etc.. Mind you, he didn't just follow Smitty, he preceded him that evening too, but that's not the point. You used who he followed as a reasoning for why he didn't sound so good and I'm saying that has nothing to do with it.

I used "followed" in the context of look at who's shoes he has to fill and the standard that was set, not who played in what order that night.

Steve Smith is an absolutely incredible drummer. Against him, almost everyone seems to "suck".

Again, one of my favorite drummers, Danny Serephine of Chicago hit a rough patch in the late 1980s and was written off. When he wanted to get back into things, he went to Steve Smith for lessons and is now playing better than ever. And Danny's bar in the 1970s wasn't exactly "set low", if you know what I mean.

Absolutely agree. I'm saying there's a lot of grey area in between Smitty and Deen. The best choice wasn't made to replace him. He's on the far end of the spectrum IMO. Not on touring the GH's, but on new material.

Remember how hard it was to find a drummer for the ROR tour? Smitty is a hard act to follow. And where is Michael Baird these days? We know where Randy is!

[STORY_TELLER]

Remember how hard it was to find a drummer for the ROR tour? Smitty is a hard act to follow. And where is Michael Baird these days? We know where Randy is!

Well, no, lol... That was Perry's poor choice just as it was his poor choice to remove Smitty in the first place. Read the Castle's Burning interview with Herbie Herbert and he said they auditioned tons of well respected drummers who were worlds better than Michael Baird. I think the quote was something like "we presented those guys (Journey) with the best of the best out there and he chose the worst".

[NealIsGod]

And where is Michael Baird these days? We know where Randy is!

I heard that Baird passed away. Anyone know if that's true?

[MartyMoffatt]

Isn't it amazing how you can twist a positive thread about a great interview with Neal into yet another 'let's bash another Journey member' thread? It leaves me speechless.

[mistiejourney]

And where is Michael Baird these days? We know where Randy is!

I heard that Baird passed away. Anyone know if that's true?

Oh no, I hope not! I just tried googling his name and nothing like that showed up. He is quite the session drummer with an impressive list of folks he has worked with! I was amazed!

[STORY_TELLER]

And where is Michael Baird these days? We know where Randy is!

I heard that Baird passed away. Anyone know if that's true?

Was it Baird or Larrie Londin? Story I heard was Londin died of a heart attack during a studio session (not with Journey). Didn't hear anything about Baird though.

[ttango1]

http://www.rock-of-life.com/music/karma.html

Other than that...I do not know what else he's done.

Deen live in Vegas didn't make me miss Steve Smith just like Arnel live didn't make me miss Steve Perry.

I wanted Journey that night and I got Journey and you know what? IT WAS FRICKEN AWESOME!

[Alex Landenburg]

.......With touring being their life's blood, I think Neal just wants to be with as many guys he can get along with as possible. I mean he didn't pick Deen because he's the best possible drummer out there, he chose him because they're buds.

Deen is way too underrated among most Journey fans....
The stuff he did for Shrapnel like Joey Tafolla's record, Marty Friedman's stuff (Cacophony), the incredible record he did with Tony Macalpine....just amazing!
I also think the entire Hardline record is great, just listen to the drum intro on "Lifes a bitch".

While Steve Smith is, without a doubt, more versatile, Deen is imho the better choice when it comes to rock/metal drumming.
You guys have no idea what the guy is capable of......
If you wanna hear Deen at his best, check "Kill the guy with ball" from Steve Vai.

If you add the insane singing abilities, I dont see a much better choice out there.

You used the quote function improperly. I never said that. I think Deen is great.

Sorry, my bad!

[chad]

Whoa - that would have been great to see! And easy to compare back-to-back. I missed the whole HWOF thing - I wasn't part of Back Talk boards and really did not know what was going on.

Would have been fun!

I found out at the very last minute. Heard it on the radio that day about the concert. I had just sold my motorcycle for about $500.00 two days prior. Word on the radio was that Perry was at the WOF ceremony and that Neal had asked him to join them at the small venue concert that evening. Even though it was a long shot, I decided to gamble. I knew Perry would never rejoin Journey and if there was ever a chance for a one off performance, this was it. I grabbed my wife and ran down to the venue. We walked up and down scalper alley looking for tickets. Ended up paying $400.00 for the both of us, but we got in. Unfortunately, Perry was a no show.

The surprise of the evening: Robert Fleishman got up on stage to sing Wheel in the Sky. He couldn't hit the notes. Augeri had to help him out or there would have been blank spots in the vocals.

The highlight of the evening was when Smitty took the stage along with Neal, Jon and Ross. With Smitty in the mix, the instrumentals improved dramatically. Neal's expression changed. He looked over at Ross with a knowing expression. This was Journey. I glossed over Augeri's vocals and focussed on the instrumentals, becoming absorbed in the musical chemistry these 4 musicians have. Without Perry there, the only way those couple of songs could have sounded better was if Deen sang them, but there was no way that was going to happen. Deen was sitting crouched behind Smitty, watching with intense awestruck bug eyes as Smitty tore it up on Deen's own kit. He (Deen) literally fell over backwards at one point at seeing some of Smitty's drumming acrobatics.

The crowd exploded at the end of Smitty's performance. I swear my ears started ringing from their roar of applause. It was deafening.

That was the closest I ever got to experiencing the REAL Journey live. It was a memorable experience to say the least.

too funny...i was there that evening too...only because of the slim chance perry would show. i knew is was extremely thin, but i didn't want to miss out if he did decide to belt out a few

steve smith was the highlight.....what an awesome drummer. and kudos to dean for graciously watching and smiling while smitty played. i realized so much that evening how much i missed seeing journey with the classic line up...made me appreciate those years all the more

one other thing that evening, the entire night everyone was wondering if perry would show...it was like a broken record, there wasn't 2 minutes that would go by without someone saying "do you think perry is here?"

chad

[nutz4Neal]

And where is Michael Baird these days? We know where Randy is!

I heard that Baird passed away. Anyone know if that's true?

Was it Baird or Larrie Londin? Story I heard was Londin died of a heart attack during a studio session (not with Journey). Didn't hear anything about Baird though.

Have no proof to post, but I heard Larrie Londin did pass away a few years ago.

[Enigma869]

Neal being classy doesn't surprise me a bit. I had this dude all wrong for a long time. Friga too. I will apologize to them personally this summer.

I have to say that this paragraph from the recent GQ article doesn't paint Neal as the picture of "class". I find his comments to be in VERY poor taste! Nobody would know Schon's name, and certainly NEVER would have heard of Journey had that "motherfucker, who shouldn't be" paid not joined the band!



"Oh, y’know,” Schon says. “There’s no legal issue. We just try not to. I mean, I didn’t say anything inflammatory. I didn’t talk about how he still gets paid like a motherfucker even though he shouldn’t be. It’s stuff like that I’m not allowed to talk about. He sorta just bitches and moans and whines about everything. And he just assumes that every time we bring up his name, that we’re sayin’ bad things.”


John from Boston

[Saint John]

I have to say that this paragraph from the recent GQ article doesn't paint Neal as the picture of "class". I find his comments to be in VERY poor taste! Nobody would know Schon's name, and certainly NEVER would have heard of Journey had that "motherfucker, who shouldn't be" paid not joined the band!

Incorrect. Perry joined Schon's band, not the other way around.

[RedWingFan]

I have to say that this paragraph from the recent GQ article doesn't paint Neal as the picture of "class". I find his comments to be in VERY poor taste! Nobody would know Schon's name, and certainly NEVER would have heard of Journey had that "motherfucker, who shouldn't be" paid not joined the band!

Incorrect. Perry joined Schon's band, not the other way around.

Technically Perry was shoe-horned into Schon's band by Herbert against Schon's will.

[Enigma869]

Incorrect. Perry joined Schon's band, not the other way around.

I'm quite sure that I NEVER said that Schon joined Perry's band! We all know the history of Journey and don't need a lesson on the chronology of events! It still doesn't change the fact that nobody ever heard of Schon's fucking band before Perry was brought into the mix!

As I said, I find Schon's comment fucking classless! As far as I'm concerned, every damn song in that catalogue that Perry has a writing credit on should entitle him to royalties for the rest of his life! If he wrote them, he has an ownership interest in them, and Neal's bitching and whining won't change that!


John from Boston

[AlteredDNA]

Incorrect. Perry joined Schon's band, not the other way around.

I'm quite sure that I NEVER said that Schon joined Perry's band! We all know the history of Journey and don't need a lesson on the chronology of events! It still doesn't change the fact that nobody ever heard of Schon's fucking band before Perry was brought into the mix!

As I said, I find Schon's comment fucking classless! As far as I'm concerned, every damn song in that catalogue that Perry has a writing credit on should entitle him to royalties for the rest of his life! If he wrote them, he has an ownership interest in them, and Neal's bitching and whining won't change that!


John from Boston

I don't think there's any disagreement about songwriting royalties, as that is standard practice, but if Perry is/was getting paid based on the rest of the band performing live, I can see where Neal might be a bit roiled...

[STORY_TELLER]

too funny...i was there that evening too...only because of the slim chance perry would show. i knew is was extremely thin, but i didn't want to miss out if he did decide to belt out a few

steve smith was the highlight.....what an awesome drummer. and kudos to dean for graciously watching and smiling while smitty played. i realized so much that evening how much i missed seeing journey with the classic line up...made me appreciate those years all the more

one other thing that evening, the entire night everyone was wondering if perry would show...it was like a broken record, there wasn't 2 minutes that would go by without someone saying "do you think perry is here?"

chad

Dude, how amazing was that evening? Where were you standing? I was about the middle of the venue near a support column with my back against a bar of some sort facing center stage. Heard rumblings that Paul Stanley was sitting at a VIP table in the balcony, but could never confirm it. I'm trying to remember what songs Smitty played again. I know one of them was Chain Reaction, but I'm forgetting the other. Do you recall what it was?

I totally remember that "is Perry here?" vibe hanging thick in the air. Everyone was wondering. Lasted right up until Neal took the mic at the end, knowingly apologizing to us as he informed the crowd that Perry didn't show. A let down for sure, but even still, I felt great that I got to see the classic instrumental lineup with Smitty in the mix. Was worth the $400.00, lol... Wish Neal would do some solo work with him on his next instrumental album. They have amazing chemistry.

You don't happen to know if anyone recorded a boot of that show, do you? I can't believe no one did.

Cheers-