Jana wrote:donnaplease wrote:steveo777 wrote:
And it would have been more Journey with JSS?
No, and that's just the point. The Journey of our youth is gone, no matter how much some people like to try to convince us that just because Neal and Jon are there it's the same ol' Journey. It's not, period. With JSS, they had an opportunity to branch out and evolve, while still honoring the past. By choosing Arnel, they have proven once again (and admitted it more than once) that they are incapable of 'evolution' and only want to hang on to the past.
Revelation (from what I've heard from it) has the "Journey" sound. But...the "Journey" sound that everyone refers to is really the "Steve Perry" sound. If that's what they want, that's fine. Most of us have come to accept that. Arnel, by all accounts, is a good guy who's working hard to please the fans. But please, just be honest and call it like it is.
If you think on the new Revelation songs Arnel sounds like Perry or is trying to, I don't hear it and I just don't get anyone that does. The sound is the type of songs written and then sung by a tenor with distinctive huskier vocals that aren't Perry's and he doesn't do the phrasing that Perry does that others emulate. Jeremey or Hugo or Chalfant sounds more like Perry. So, in fact, they are evolving. Do I want to hear the old songs in concert more like the Perry sound, tenor, and close to how he did them? Hell, yeah. And as much as JSS tried, he sang them like Perry did, it was just that his voice was deeper. He didn't put any new big spin on the songs. In fact, JSS is trying to sound like Perry on a couple of songs on W.E.T. and people are bragging about it.
The first time I heard AATY on the radio (on an 'oldies/soft rock' station), when it first came on I said 'holy shit, that sounds like Steve Perry!' and then realized what it was. It was a direct attempt to emulate the "Journey" sound that I described in my previous post. It's a good song. I haven't listened to much else because I really don't have the desire. But look, they are doing exactly what Neal and Jon said in interviews, trying to bring the "classic" sound, which again, is the Steve Perry sound.
I attended several Frontiers (Jeremey's band) shows during the same time I was going to Journey shows with JSS. I often remarked that if I wanted to hear the "classic" Journey, Frontiers was far better than Journey. I had a great time at the Journey shows because they were, well, Journey, and I attended with some great friends that I met here. I agree that it wasn't the classic Journey sound, but I was okay with that because they weren't trying to copy
what was with an emulator. They made it fresh and different.
Kinda like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmfrPrN1L_s Sammy picked up some of the nuances of DLR's original version of the song, but changed it to make it his own. Jeff did that very well with the dirty dozen, IMO.
The bottom line is that Neal and Jon got exactly what they wanted (and that's ok, it's their band), but they (and/or the folks here) can't have it both ways. You can't say that they are 'evolving' when they are attempting to use the same formula that made them so successful in their prime, and that
is the Steve Perry sound.
JSS has often said that Steve Perry is one of his influences, so I'm not surprised that he is taking some of his 'sound' in his songs. I think what some people are trying to say is that given the similarity noted in the WET songs to SP, it is something that could've been explored with JSS to keep some of the old vibe while expanding to that more rock-focused genre that Neal has talked about. In essence, they could've had their cake and eaten it too. It's really a moot point now, though. I wish Jeff Scott Soto all the success that he rightfully deserves.
