Gideon wrote:Jubilee wrote:Now, Gideon, you have to admit, that is completely subjective. One must take into account the very nature of that particular song. It happens to be a very languid and lilting song with a sweeping chorus. It's a ballad that lends itself to a great deal of sincerity and emotion. Was he milking every bit of it? Probably. I wouldn't quite call it "Vegas-class theatrics", though.
Most of Journey's power ballads are "languid" and all that. The bottom line is that there's more to all of the songs than the vocals and thus Perry didn't (at least in the studio version) stretch the notes out to a ridiculous length at the expense of the underlying beat and rhythm. Live, I find that he was so caught up in his theatrics that he tried to dramatize the vocals to the point where it came off as overacted. You all call it emoting. That's fine, it's your opinion, no more or less valid than mine. But for me, Steve Perry's studio versions -- where everything was measured and refined -- was easily as 'emotive' as any live version. In the studio, he infused just enough emotion and sincerity to appreciate and believe the lyrics without messing with the rest of the song. Live? Not so much. At least, not on "Open Arms."
The long and the short of it is,
hey, chicks dig it. Sometimes that's all there is to it.

That's all well and good for the chicks. But not enough for me to like it.

Well, that's the thing. Perry invented the way the song was sung, and because of that, he simply sings it how he chooses (he does it, because he can) that's what
"controlling" front men do

- They take control and command the stage, and that's what Journey was in their Prime, driven by Steve Perry as per the VH1 Behind The Music documentary
Probably after a few months or years of singing the same song, over, and over, and over again... well you get bored of doing it the same old way. Personally, I prefer he would sing it the way he did in the studio. Perry and the boys, with all that success behind them, and "Ego" if you will, probably got the better of them at times, you just take a listen to Neal Schon these days, dragging out and changing the classic guitar solo, and riffs all over the shop, it just happens when you have been touring for 30+ years, you need to change it up. Can't please everybody.
In my opinion, of course.
