Journey On Oprah

[brywool]

Neal & Jon, especially, owe it to the fans AND Mr Augeri to come
clean and really, truly explain what happened there.
But we all know we'll never get that from them...

I really don't agree. Everyone knows what happened. They don't need to rehash it. Saying "We're sorry" really won't do anything.
They just need to let it go. HOWEVER- they also can't be saying stuff like what Ross (?) said about "Oh, those're just some crazed fans" or whatever.
They just need to say "It was a mistake. We don't want to talk about it".

MANY bands do what they got caught doing. Personally, I cannot believe they were so blatant about it. I mean, the tapedeck guy was onstage next to Deen for chrisakes... ugh, don't wanna go there.

They DO need to acknowledge that SA helped them for YEARS and deserves credit.

And they need to acknowledge that they played as much a part in the debacle, if not more, as Mr Augeri did.
They shoved him off like a leper. In hindsight, he was more a victim of the Big Journey Machine.
For all the years he gave, thay owe him that.

yeah, that's true. I'm surprised that Castronovo hasn't done that, though... he probably doesn't wish to bite the hand the feeds.

[Carlitto H@kk]

yeah, that's true. I'm surprised that Castronovo hasn't done that, though... he probably doesn't wish to bite the hand the feeds.

As long as he's been Neal's hired gun and
side-kick, you'd think that secretly he was
Neal's bastard child from some one-night stand
back when he 1st started touring w/Santana

J/K, I love Deen and his Mom, who used to post at
"the other site" is one cool gal!

but it does make you wonder how Deen has put up
with some of the things that have gone on
over the years...

[The Sushi Hunter]

I watched the show and they all looked just fine.

[Blueskies]

Just finished watching the show on Youtube and I think Arnel sounded incredible!! and I figure if Perry watched he would be equally impressed with his performance. Big thumbs up to Arnel!

[Michigan Girl]

His voice sounded like it still has some punch to it. I had the same response on the raspy aspect, but I didn't think it sounded awful. I do think he could easily blow himself out in short order if he weren't careful.

On another note, I'd be sick to hell of his story if I'm the other band members. How many times have they had to sit down and do the same interview about his upbringing and youtube discovery? Man that would get old.

I agree, I'd really like to hear more about Deen. What's his story?!?!

[Gibby]

Great performance by the entire band. Being on the show was a huge get - Oprah has millions of viewers of which the vast majority have probably never heard of Arnel. So, she has to ask the same old questions that all of us hardcore fans have heard a thousand times. Understandable - hopefully it will see a nice spike in Revelation and DVD sales this week. People can be so fucking critical that the big picture gets lost. The success of Revelation has guaranteed another Journey album and another tour. How many more of these are we likely to get? I'm going to enjoy everything they have left to give.

Thanks to Journey for a great cd, dvd, and tour in 08 - 09

[bluejeangirl76]

WOW!!! --- Was I watching the same show? Arnel's singing this time around was so much better than how he sounded at the Super Bowl but singing aside, if you're talking about their physical appearance, I have to totally disagree. I was just going to post that for once Ross didn't look like one of the character's from the movie Dick Tracy, Jon was hot as ever & Neal looked like a brand new man!!!

That's because Oprah's makeup crew worked him over. You ever see Oprah before hair and makeup? She's got a make up crew that could make... make... um, hmm... I don't know how to finish that because in any other comparison I'd usually say "make Ross Valory look like George Clooney".

Wait.

Wait.

Did you just say Jon was "hot as ever"?

*rubs eyes*

Dear sweet Father Christmas, you DID say that!

[JasonD]

WOW!!! --- Was I watching the same show? Arnel's singing this time around was so much better than how he sounded at the Super Bowl but singing aside, if you're talking about their physical appearance, I have to totally disagree. I was just going to post that for once Ross didn't look like one of the character's from the movie Dick Tracy, Jon was hot as ever & Neal looked like a brand new man!!!

That's because Oprah's makeup crew worked him over. You ever see Oprah before hair and makeup? She's got a make up crew that could make... make... um, hmm... I don't know how to finish that because in any other comparison I'd usually say "make Ross Valory look like George Clooney".

Wait.

Wait.

Did you just say Jon was "hot as ever"?

*rubs eyes*

Dear sweet Father Christmas, you DID say that!

And your point is....?

[mdaemon]

WOW!!! --- Was I watching the same show? Arnel's singing this time around was so much better than how he sounded at the Super Bowl but singing aside, if you're talking about their physical appearance, I have to totally disagree. I was just going to post that for once Ross didn't look like one of the character's from the movie Dick Tracy, Jon was hot as ever & Neal looked like a brand new man!!!

That's because Oprah's makeup crew worked him over. You ever see Oprah before hair and makeup? She's got a make up crew that could make... make... um, hmm... I don't know how to finish that because in any other comparison I'd usually say "make Ross Valory look like George Clooney".

Wait.

Wait.

Did you just say Jon was "hot as ever"?

*rubs eyes*

Dear sweet Father Christmas, you DID say that!

And your point is....?

...your secret lover has a secret crush on JC. this could be the beginning of a manage-a-trois

[JasonD]

WOW!!! --- Was I watching the same show? Arnel's singing this time around was so much better than how he sounded at the Super Bowl but singing aside, if you're talking about their physical appearance, I have to totally disagree. I was just going to post that for once Ross didn't look like one of the character's from the movie Dick Tracy, Jon was hot as ever & Neal looked like a brand new man!!!

That's because Oprah's makeup crew worked him over. You ever see Oprah before hair and makeup? She's got a make up crew that could make... make... um, hmm... I don't know how to finish that because in any other comparison I'd usually say "make Ross Valory look like George Clooney".

Wait.

Wait.

Did you just say Jon was "hot as ever"?

*rubs eyes*

Dear sweet Father Christmas, you DID say that!

And your point is....?

...your secret lover has a secret crush on JC. this could be the beginning of a manage-a-trois

mdaemon, do you got me on a GPS tracker?

[perryswoman]

I will say this. After watching these members of this band talk they all comes across so full of crap except for Deen and Arnel who neither ever seem to be brain washed by Journey. I can not ever watch an interview with Arnel without getting alittle teary eyed. He has got to be the most sincere person and nice as as anyone can be. I hope this band doesn't toss him to the curb when they are done with them. He has the most infectious smile ever!

[stevew2]

Neal & Jon, especially, owe it to the fans AND Mr Augeri to come
clean and really, truly explain what happened there.
But we all know we'll never get that from them...

I really don't agree. Everyone knows what happened. They don't need to rehash it. Saying "We're sorry" really won't do anything.
They just need to let it go. HOWEVER- they also can't be saying stuff like what Ross (?) said about "Oh, those're just some crazed fans" or whatever.
They just need to say "It was a mistake. We don't want to talk about it".

MANY bands do what they got caught doing. Personally, I cannot believe they were so blatant about it. I mean, the tapedeck guy was onstage next to Deen for chrisakes... ugh, don't wanna go there.

They DO need to acknowledge that SA helped them for YEARS and deserves credit.

It sucked especially with Oprah s fat black ass was in the audience.Steve A carried there ass for 8 years. Fuck them and Oprahs huge Hippo ass.they sounded like frigas gas

[The Sushi Hunter]

I will say this. After watching these members of this band talk they all comes across so full of crap except for Deen and Arnel who neither ever seem to be brain washed by Journey. I can not ever watch an interview with Arnel without getting alittle teary eyed. He has got to be the most sincere person and nice as as anyone can be. I hope this band doesn't toss him to the curb when they are done with them. He has the most infectious smile ever!

Due to the gap in ages between AP and the others, I don't think they will "toss him to the curb". I believe that AP is their last great voice option. AP is younger and full of energy, and is the closest to SP we may ever get. Neal, Cain, Ross, and Deen are thrilled with AP so it would have to be something beyond anyone's control to have to get a new singer for the band. I think AP will outlast the rest of them. If AP was no longer there, I'd be willing to bet that Neal and Ross may think seriously about retiring the band. Cain and Deen seems to be the type that has the means to continue, IMO anyways. Kicking AP to the curb happens, I think Journey would call it quits and at best maybe continue to write songs for other musicians only. This is just my opinion. I may be completely wrong. I just don't see anyone else (that we already know of) being able to go into Journey and being able to perform the Journey style of music better then AP.

[stevew2]

Part 2 wouldnt even load ,Whats up with that?

[stevew2]

It was total bullshit as i thought it would be

[twinklestar]

Great performance by the entire band. Being on the show was a huge get - Oprah has millions of viewers of which the vast majority have probably never heard of Arnel. So, she has to ask the same old questions that all of us hardcore fans have heard a thousand times. Understandable - hopefully it will see a nice spike in Revelation and DVD sales this week. People can be so fucking critical that the big picture gets lost. The success of Revelation has guaranteed another Journey album and another tour. How many more of these are we likely to get? I'm going to enjoy everything they have left to give.

Thanks to Journey for a great cd, dvd, and tour in 08 - 09

thank you

[Ehwmatt]

"Struggled for 10 years to find a singer...."?!?!?!

Bah! I just knew I was gonna get ticked off if I watched that.

And why was Neal dressed like a carnival barker?

Did they really say that? That's fuckin low. As if they didn't record CDs and tour for years with Augeri! I'm not gonna watch this, why the fuck would I wanna watch Chocolate Saddlebags Oprah for any reason. TV performances almost always suck anyway, so I don't care about the music, and certainly not about hearing DSB and Faithfully for the umpteenth time.

[fightingilliniJRNY]

"Struggled for 10 years to find a singer...."?!?!?!

Bah! I just knew I was gonna get ticked off if I watched that.

And why was Neal dressed like a carnival barker?

Did they really say that? That's fuckin low. As if they didn't record CDs and tour for years with Augeri!

For the 100,000th time - Journey has no real control over what Oprah's producers have her read in the opening monologue, which is where this quote came from. Oprah read that - the band did not say that. Everyone always gets bent out of shape that SA doesn't get mentioned. It sucks, but saying "the band enjoyed success with Steve Augeri for eight years, including two albums, an EP and many well-received tours" does not sound as good as telling everyone that Arnel dragged the band out of obscurity. It's all about the spin.

Yes, it's really too bad that Augeri's contributions are overlooked after all these years. But the band isn't the one feeding the information to get Oprah ready for the show. I imagine since the producers had never heard of Steve Augeri and never recognized the band when Augeri was with them, they assumed Journey did enjoy any real success.

[Rocker Chic]

"Struggled for 10 years to find a singer...."?!?!?!

Bah! I just knew I was gonna get ticked off if I watched that.

And why was Neal dressed like a carnival barker?

Did they really say that? That's fuckin low. As if they didn't record CDs and tour for years with Augeri! I'm not gonna watch this, why the fuck would I wanna watch Chocolate Saddlebags Oprah for any reason. TV performances almost always suck anyway, so I don't care about the music, and certainly not about hearing DSB and Faithfully for the umpteenth time.

Finally watched it myself. That piece made it sound like they sat around, doing nothing, while tirelessly trying to find the perfect singer to get back together... Damned bastards! They're not fit to shine Steve Augeri's shoes!

Debbie

[Michigan Girl]

"Struggled for 10 years to find a singer...."?!?!?!

Bah! I just knew I was gonna get ticked off if I watched that.

And why was Neal dressed like a carnival barker?

Did they really say that? That's fuckin low. As if they didn't record CDs and tour for years with Augeri!

For the 100,000th time - Journey has no real control over what Oprah's producers have her read in the opening monologue, which is where this quote came from. Oprah read that - the band did not say that. Everyone always gets bent out of shape that SA doesn't get mentioned. It sucks, but saying "the band enjoyed success with Steve Augeri for eight years, including two albums, an EP and many well-received tours" does not sound as good as telling everyone that Arnel dragged the band out of obscurity. It's all about the spin.

Yes, it's really too bad that Augeri's contributions are overlooked after all these years. But the band isn't the one feeding the information to get Oprah ready for the show. I imagine since the producers had never heard of Steve Augeri and never recognized the band when Augeri was with them, they assumed Journey did enjoy any real success.

Bullcrap, they do their research. Let them eff up the story of Angelina, Brad or any other
big names and you can bet it would be corrected. Now call a spade a spade, this is the story
the band/management put out there.

[Onestepper]

"Struggled for 10 years to find a singer...."?!?!?!

Bah! I just knew I was gonna get ticked off if I watched that.

And why was Neal dressed like a carnival barker?

Did they really say that? That's fuckin low. As if they didn't record CDs and tour for years with Augeri!

For the 100,000th time - Journey has no real control over what Oprah's producers have her read in the opening monologue, which is where this quote came from. Oprah read that - the band did not say that. Everyone always gets bent out of shape that SA doesn't get mentioned. It sucks, but saying "the band enjoyed success with Steve Augeri for eight years, including two albums, an EP and many well-received tours" does not sound as good as telling everyone that Arnel dragged the band out of obscurity. It's all about the spin.

Yes, it's really too bad that Augeri's contributions are overlooked after all these years. But the band isn't the one feeding the information to get Oprah ready for the show. I imagine since the producers had never heard of Steve Augeri and never recognized the band when Augeri was with them, they assumed Journey did enjoy any real success.

Bullcrap, they do their research. Let them eff up the story of Angelina, Brad or any other big names and you can bet it would be corrected. Now call a spade a spade, this is the story
the band/management put out there.

Exactly. The publicity people have stacks of band history and current happenings/bios that are provided to these show's producers. Those producers give them to the writers, and off they go. EVERYTHING Oprah or any other host reads comes directly from band management. EVERYTHING! And by the way, pull up the CBS Morning appearance and you'll hear the host almost say verbatim what Oprah said yesterday. It's really not that tough to figure out.

[fightingilliniJRNY]

Now call a spade a spade, this is the story
the band/management put out there.

It's the story that management failed to correct.

[Carlitto H@kk]

Now call a spade a spade, this is the story
the band/management put out there.

It's the story that management failed to correct.

No, it's a story management and the band LOVE to tell.
During the Q&A they had every opportunity to say,

"Well, for 8 years, Steve Augeri fronted the band, recorded a few
albums and we toured constantly; we never really went away...
But due to some health reasons with hisvoice, we had to move on...
We even had our friend Jeff Scott Soto fill in for our 2006-2007 dates..."

Sure, it's sugar-coated but at least it is half the truth instead of trying to hide
it all to make Arnel's story that much more sensational.

Look, I like Arnel; he seems like a genuine, kind person and wish him the best...
I just think the rest of the band are pretty heartless.


BTW, fianlly watched the Oprah episode (Thanks DVR) and thought Faithfully
sounded absolutely horrible.
The way Arnel sang it sounded like a cross between
a church choir performance and a really bad American Idol audition.

I still can't get past the way he drags out words and phrases...
It has always driven me nuts...

Loved Ross's Bass at the end

[Ehwmatt]

"Struggled for 10 years to find a singer...."?!?!?!

Bah! I just knew I was gonna get ticked off if I watched that.

And why was Neal dressed like a carnival barker?

Did they really say that? That's fuckin low. As if they didn't record CDs and tour for years with Augeri!

For the 100,000th time - Journey has no real control over what Oprah's producers have her read in the opening monologue, which is where this quote came from. Oprah read that - the band did not say that. Everyone always gets bent out of shape that SA doesn't get mentioned. It sucks, but saying "the band enjoyed success with Steve Augeri for eight years, including two albums, an EP and many well-received tours" does not sound as good as telling everyone that Arnel dragged the band out of obscurity. It's all about the spin.

Yes, it's really too bad that Augeri's contributions are overlooked after all these years. But the band isn't the one feeding the information to get Oprah ready for the show. I imagine since the producers had never heard of Steve Augeri and never recognized the band when Augeri was with them, they assumed Journey did enjoy any real success.

That's a fuckin cop-out man, sorry. You think Oprah cares how "the spin" is? Fuck no. This is handed down from the band, no doubt. A simple Google search reveals that the band has been very active in the last 10 years... you don't think someone on Oprah at least so much as did that? I mean I know we are in an age where our media is blatantly lazy and one-sided, but come on now, let's be realistic.

I defend the band when they are attacked unfairly here, like when Deano is bitching about the setlist on Manila when it has 7 new songs and some deeper cuts, but this is not one of those times. They deserve whatever malice they get from this here. This is straight from Neal, Friga, and Irving Asshole

EDIT: And to defend them just a bit, I don't think they are slighting SA out of malice... maybe JSS given the fallout of all that. I just think they are scared to death of bringing SA up because Tapegate could still come to light in the mainstream. That could be embarrassing at minimum... maybe even a lot worse.

[Ehwmatt]

Now call a spade a spade, this is the story
the band/management put out there.

It's the story that management failed to correct.

I still can't get past the way he drags out words and phrases...
It has always driven me nuts...

Loved Ross's Bass at the end

It's certainly a huge problem for me when it comes to enjoying Arnel and most recently, the Manila show. It's like he's trying to make the songs his "own," but the language barrier just makes it too hard for him to make any changes to the way it was written/recorded. I kinda wonder if part of it has to do with the tendency of many Asians to be really good at a lot of rote memorizing/repetition techniques but some aren't so good at improvising or "breaking from the mold."

One of my best friends is a filipino who played keyboards with me in my old band and he has the same issue. He could play synth lines he memorized from Dream Theater, but when it came to a tasteful piano line, being able to leave space, or even just getting down with some simple blues riffs (which he certainly had the technique to do), he just couldn't. He was too "robotic" because of the way he learned/practiced.

I think Arnel is making a good faith effort to change things up so he's not sounding like a replacement, but I just don't think he has the ability to make these kinda melody/phrasing/pacing changes! Many singers don't. It's not an easy thing to do. Chalk it up to his language barrier, the way he's memorized the songs over the years, or whatever else you want to... But if you can't do it, then by all means, DON'T.

[fightingilliniJRNY]

"Struggled for 10 years to find a singer...."?!?!?!

Bah! I just knew I was gonna get ticked off if I watched that.

And why was Neal dressed like a carnival barker?

Did they really say that? That's fuckin low. As if they didn't record CDs and tour for years with Augeri!

For the 100,000th time - Journey has no real control over what Oprah's producers have her read in the opening monologue, which is where this quote came from. Oprah read that - the band did not say that. Everyone always gets bent out of shape that SA doesn't get mentioned. It sucks, but saying "the band enjoyed success with Steve Augeri for eight years, including two albums, an EP and many well-received tours" does not sound as good as telling everyone that Arnel dragged the band out of obscurity. It's all about the spin.

Yes, it's really too bad that Augeri's contributions are overlooked after all these years. But the band isn't the one feeding the information to get Oprah ready for the show. I imagine since the producers had never heard of Steve Augeri and never recognized the band when Augeri was with them, they assumed Journey did enjoy any real success.

That's a fuckin cop-out man, sorry. You think Oprah cares how "the spin" is? Fuck no. This is handed down from the band, no doubt. A simple Google search reveals that the band has been very active in the last 10 years... you don't think someone on Oprah at least so much as did that? I mean I know we are in an age where our media is blatantly lazy and one-sided, but come on now, let's be realistic.

No, I know. It's handed most of the information is handed down from management. I'm just saying that management probably didn't blatantly lie and say that "the band struggled to find a singer for 10 years." I'm saying that could be Oprah's producers spinning it so Arnel's story sounds more compelling. I know management is a bunch of scumbags who have lied on multiple occassions, but I don't think they worked too closely to come up with what Oprah read in her opening monologue. They probably provided some background and left it at that.

[Pelata]

like a cross between
a church choir performance and a really bad American Idol audition.

I still can't get past the way he drags out words and phrases...

He sings everything like that...

[kgdjpubs]

Simply put, this is no less accurate than saying Perry left after 20 years in the band. It's not a lie. It's just leaving out certain pieces of information. You guys really think this is the only band that does that?!?!?

What exactly do you WANT them to say? I can just see this press release...
Journey, hiding in oblivion the past 10 years, has had a hard time filling the shoes of former singer--and now hermit--Steve Perry. After waiting many years for his return, they decided they were going to go with Journey spinoff band The Storm's vocalist Kevin Chalfant in 1993 until Perry's wallet decided he should join them. Then, after an album in 1996 and no tour, Perry woudn't/couldn't do anything and went back into retirement, so Journey was left with going for another singer. While appreciated by the band's fanbase, new singer Steve Augeri couldn't break out from under Perry's shadow due to a record label and changing times that had little use for new Journey material minus Perry. After 2 albums and an EP that didn't sell for anything, not to mention a dvd that didn't really catch the band on their best night, Journey burned out Augeri's voice on endless, but popular tours and had to pick up someone else in 2006. That singer was Jeff Scott Soto, a journeyman of his own right who has sung for everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to a 70s Vegas cover band Boogie Nights. After making Soto part of the band for a few months, the decision was made that Soto was not the correct person to front the band, so Journey kept looking around and then...finally, found Arnel.

Come on people. At least be real. You knew they were going to say that Arnel is the successor to Perry. Fair or not, it's just good business.

[steveo777]

Simply put, this is no less accurate than saying Perry left after 20 years in the band. It's not a lie. It's just leaving out certain pieces of information. You guys really think this is the only band that does that?!?!?

What exactly do you WANT them to say? I can just see this press release...
Journey, hiding in oblivion the past 10 years, has had a hard time filling the shoes of former singer--and now hermit--Steve Perry. After waiting many years for his return, they decided they were going to go with Journey spinoff band The Storm's vocalist Kevin Chalfant in 1993 until Perry's wallet decided he should join them. Then, after an album in 1996 and no tour, Perry woudn't/couldn't do anything and went back into retirement, so Journey was left with going for another singer. While appreciated by the band's fanbase, new singer Steve Augeri couldn't break out from under Perry's shadow due to a record label and changing times that had little use for new Journey material minus Perry. After 2 albums and an EP that didn't sell for anything, not to mention a dvd that didn't really catch the band on their best night, Journey burned out Augeri's voice on endless, but popular tours and had to pick up someone else in 2006. That singer was Jeff Scott Soto, a journeyman of his own right who has sung for everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to a 70s Vegas cover band Boogie Nights. After making Soto part of the band for a few months, the decision was made that Soto was not the correct person to front the band, so Journey kept looking around and then...finally, found Arnel.

Come on people. At least be real. You knew they were going to say that Arnel is the successor to Perry. Fair or not, it's just good business.

Like or not, it did take 10 years to find the missing bridge to the Perry sound. That's the way I took it and given a limited time slot, I'm sure that's what they wanted to emphasize. And not everyone is going to agree with this, I understand that, but yeah it makes the point.

[Jana]

Great performance by the entire band. Being on the show was a huge get - Oprah has millions of viewers of which the vast majority have probably never heard of Arnel. So, she has to ask the same old questions that all of us hardcore fans have heard a thousand times. Understandable - hopefully it will see a nice spike in Revelation and DVD sales this week. People can be so fucking critical that the big picture gets lost. The success of Revelation has guaranteed another Journey album and another tour. How many more of these are we likely to get? I'm going to enjoy everything they have left to give.

Thanks to Journey for a great cd, dvd, and tour in 08 - 09

Good post. Neal even commented how tiring it was to perform, fly in quick for the Oprah interview on their day off and fly back out to tour. Really good performance and Arnel is just an amazing person. I love him. The guys in the band looked great.

Re Steve Augeri, in longer interviews last year Augeri is mentioned. In fact, Jonathan raved about him and said, paraphrasing, that he was a team player, great person, and wonderful to tour with all those years, etc. He said some really great things about him.

I know with Tears for Fears when they reunited and released an album in 2004 people kept interviewing them and talking like TFF went away for 13 years, but in actuality Roland kept the TFF moniker and released two albums and toured several times. I saw where he didn't bother mentioning that or correcting the interviewers anymore in short interviews when they would act like they disappeared after Seeds of Love in '90. He would mention it in longer interviews in print.