OT: Interview with Andrew from Melodic Rock

[Tito]

I just listen to some of this interview and I want it put on the record that Andrew J. McNiece/MelodicRock.com owe all of their success to one, Jonathan Cain. Per the interview, the Jonathan Cain interview in 1996/1997 helped accelerate the amount of traffic to the website. Cain, being the generous person he is, kept in contact with McNiece and gave Andrew inside information during the Perry saga including informing McNiece of the official seperation with Perry which gave McNiece the opportunity to break the Perry leaving story. That breaking news took this website to the next level and keeps it there to this day. Bottom line, had Cain not given McNiece this crucial information, let alone the earlier interview, this site would not exist today.

Now, a 13 year old story may only get you so far, regardless of how big the story is. But the fuel that kept this site going for that long was the other interviews the band gave McNiece through the years and other breaking news they fed McNiece because he "got in good with them"...AND HE BLEW IT! You, AJM, short-clotheslined them and sided with a dime a dozen singer. You should've stayed neutral (not even sided with them although that would have been the smart play) but you decided to go with Soto and no longer care about them. You think you would be more loyal to the person and the band that helped, no, MADE this site. Instead you let people trash them, Neal and Cain in particular, with unfounded personal assaults. And you wonder why they don't talk to you anymore? And why your "97" for Revelation wasn't good enough? Not to rain on your parade on the eve of MR Fest II, but you can't tell me an Arnel and Journey interview in 2008 or even 2009 wouldn't have helped this site's cause. Talk about what have you done for me lately.

I can relate to the position Andrew is in, and really, it's standard that bands tend to have egos involved, and those egos want entirely positive converage, and sometimes when they work with you on something it can create the misimpression on their part that you are now "on their team" so to speak, when in fact everyone involved on both ends is giving something to get something. The band gives its time to get coverage for new work, and the writer gives his time and site resources to get an interview that will draw people so he can sell advertising. But writers don't work for bands, and if we can't feel free to say whatever we have to say - positive, negative or whatever - they how can we possibly serve the needs of our readership? It's tricky. Andrew is just one of many who go through this all the time.


Sterling

And Neal sent Andrew an email (that was a funny part of the interview when Andrew said this isn't going to be good when he got the email) after his Arrival review and said he was right.

What did Neal and Cain ever do wrong to this site?

[Rockindeano]

I just listen to some of this interview and I want it put on the record that Andrew J. McNiece/MelodicRock.com owe all of their success to one, Jonathan Cain. Per the interview, the Jonathan Cain interview in 1996/1997 helped accelerate the amount of traffic to the website. Cain, being the generous person he is, kept in contact with McNiece and gave Andrew inside information during the Perry saga including informing McNiece of the official seperation with Perry which gave McNiece the opportunity to break the Perry leaving story. That breaking news took this website to the next level and keeps it there to this day. Bottom line, had Cain not given McNiece this crucial information, let alone the earlier interview, this site would not exist today.

Now, a 13 year old story may only get you so far, regardless of how big the story is. But the fuel that kept this site going for that long was the other interviews the band gave McNiece through the years and other breaking news they fed McNiece because he "got in good with them"...AND HE BLEW IT! You, AJM, short-clotheslined them and sided with a dime a dozen singer. You should've stayed neutral (not even sided with them although that would have been the smart play) but you decided to go with Soto and no longer care about them. You think you would be more loyal to the person and the band that helped, no, MADE this site. Instead you let people trash them, Neal and Cain in particular, with unfounded personal assaults. And you wonder why they don't talk to you anymore? And why your "97" for Revelation wasn't good enough? Not to rain on your parade on the eve of MR Fest II, but you can't tell me an Arnel and Journey interview in 2008 or even 2009 wouldn't have helped this site's cause. Talk about what have you done for me lately.

I can relate to the position Andrew is in, and really, it's standard that bands tend to have egos involved, and those egos want entirely positive converage, and sometimes when they work with you on something it can create the misimpression on their part that you are now "on their team" so to speak, when in fact everyone involved on both ends is giving something to get something. The band gives its time to get coverage for new work, and the writer gives his time and site resources to get an interview that will draw people so he can sell advertising. But writers don't work for bands, and if we can't feel free to say whatever we have to say - positive, negative or whatever - they how can we possibly serve the needs of our readership? It's tricky. Andrew is just one of many who go through this all the time.


Sterling

And Neal sent Andrew an email (that was a funny part of the interview when Andrew said this isn't going to be good when he got the email) after his Arrival review and said he was right.

What did Neal and Cain ever do wrong to this site?

Moron, they wronged the fans..you know, the people who pay their outrageous salaries. The only thing Mac did was to allow freedom of speech. Those fuckers deserved every ounce of shit they got(sans the personal midget and fag references). They are still guilty of defrauding the public in a large way. have you conveniently forgotten the fact that a rock band of this stature resorted to miming? You're a sorry excuse of a fan.

Also spermbreath, the fans of this site over the years made MR what it is, not a single solitary band. Get your head out your ass.

[The_Noble_Cause]

I just listen to some of this interview and I want it put on the record that Andrew J. McNiece/MelodicRock.com owe all of their success to one, Jonathan Cain. Per the interview, the Jonathan Cain interview in 1996/1997 helped accelerate the amount of traffic to the website. Cain, being the generous person he is, kept in contact with McNiece and gave Andrew inside information during the Perry saga including informing McNiece of the official seperation with Perry which gave McNiece the opportunity to break the Perry leaving story. That breaking news took this website to the next level and keeps it there to this day. Bottom line, had Cain not given McNiece this crucial information, let alone the earlier interview, this site would not exist today.

I see your point, but it wasn't a one-way relationship. Throughout much of the post-TBF era, very few press outlets gave a damn about Journey. Standard press interviews accompanied every tour stop, but aside from that, the big three networks weren't exactly pounding down their door. Obviously, the Sopranos finale, The OC, and the hiring of Arnel has radically upgraded their Q rating. Journey now feels they are above MR.com. That's fine, but during the bleak Augeri years, I'm not sure they had the luxury of being so choosy. Andrew's site was the place to go for all-things-Journey, even moreso than the band's own website.

[RobbieG]

I just listen to some of this interview and I want it put on the record that Andrew J. McNiece/MelodicRock.com owe all of their success to one, Jonathan Cain. Per the interview, the Jonathan Cain interview in 1996/1997 helped accelerate the amount of traffic to the website. Cain, being the generous person he is, kept in contact with McNiece and gave Andrew inside information during the Perry saga including informing McNiece of the official seperation with Perry which gave McNiece the opportunity to break the Perry leaving story. That breaking news took this website to the next level and keeps it there to this day. Bottom line, had Cain not given McNiece this crucial information, let alone the earlier interview, this site would not exist today.

Now, a 13 year old story may only get you so far, regardless of how big the story is. But the fuel that kept this site going for that long was the other interviews the band gave McNiece through the years and other breaking news they fed McNiece because he "got in good with them"...AND HE BLEW IT! You, AJM, short-clotheslined them and sided with a dime a dozen singer. You should've stayed neutral (not even sided with them although that would have been the smart play) but you decided to go with Soto and no longer care about them. You think you would be more loyal to the person and the band that helped, no, MADE this site. Instead you let people trash them, Neal and Cain in particular, with unfounded personal assaults. And you wonder why they don't talk to you anymore? And why your "97" for Revelation wasn't good enough? Not to rain on your parade on the eve of MR Fest II, but you can't tell me an Arnel and Journey interview in 2008 or even 2009 wouldn't have helped this site's cause. Talk about what have you done for me lately.

I can relate to the position Andrew is in, and really, it's standard that bands tend to have egos involved, and those egos want entirely positive converage, and sometimes when they work with you on something it can create the misimpression on their part that you are now "on their team" so to speak, when in fact everyone involved on both ends is giving something to get something. The band gives its time to get coverage for new work, and the writer gives his time and site resources to get an interview that will draw people so he can sell advertising. But writers don't work for bands, and if we can't feel free to say whatever we have to say - positive, negative or whatever - they how can we possibly serve the needs of our readership? It's tricky. Andrew is just one of many who go through this all the time.


Sterling

And Neal sent Andrew an email (that was a funny part of the interview when Andrew said this isn't going to be good when he got the email) after his Arrival review and said he was right.

What did Neal and Cain ever do wrong to this site?

Moron, they wronged the fans..you know, the people who pay their outrageous salaries. The only thing Mac did was to allow freedom of speech. Those fuckers deserved every ounce of shit they got(sans the personal midget and fag references). They are still guilty of defrauding the public in a large way. have you conveniently forgotten the fact that a rock band of this stature resorted to miming? You're a sorry excuse of a fan.

Also spermbreath, the fans of this site over the years made MR what it is, not a single solitary band. Get your head out your ass.

Dickno, Dickno. No one was miming Dickno. You keep repeating the same crap.

[Rockindeano]

Dickno, Dickno. No one was miming Dickno. You keep repeating the same crap.

LOl, ok if you say so. LOL, yep, Journey was all live all the time. Gotcha. Go catch Syphilis you fuckass.

[Tito]

the fans of this site over the years made MR what it is, not a single solitary band. Get your head out your ass.

Check your ego at the door. Like anybody cares what you and all of us have to say on a stupid message board. This message board is only a fraction of what MR.com is. Not to mention the website is what we are talking about, not the board. Having said that, if it wasn't for the Cain interviews/breaking news early on, this site would never have lasted or at least become what it became. Just like Journey, he took this site to a higher place (no pun intended). If that didn't happen, this message board would not have existed or at least not had the volume of traffic/posters it had/has (which then you took to another level since you drive traffic ).

[Rockindeano]

the fans of this site over the years made MR what it is, not a single solitary band. Get your head out your ass.

Check your ego at the door. Like anybody cares what you and all of us have to say on a stupid message board. This message board is only a fraction of what MR.com is. Not to mention the website is what we are talking about, not the board. Having said that, if it wasn't for the Cain interviews/breaking news early on, this site would never have lasted or at least become what it became. Just like Journey, he took this site to a higher place (no pun intended). If that didn't happen, this message board would not have existed or at least not had the volume of traffic/posters it had/has (which then you took to another level since you drive traffic ).

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

[RedWingFan]

Dickno, Dickno. No one was miming Dickno. You keep repeating the same crap.

Wow, you must have your head up your ass right up to the small intestine to make such a stupid post!!!! You'd need a pretty small cranium and contents and an asshole with ALOT of mileage on it to accomplish that. Impressive.

[RobbieG]

Dickno, Dickno. No one was miming Dickno. You keep repeating the same crap.

Wow, you must have your head up your ass right up to the small intestine to make such a stupid post!!!! You'd need a pretty small cranium and contents and an asshole with ALOT of mileage on it to accomplish that. Impressive.

LOL Dude talking about stupid comments!!! Seriously were you at the soundboard for every show??? Do you believe everything Dickno posts???

[RobbieG]

the fans of this site over the years made MR what it is, not a single solitary band. Get your head out your ass.

Check your ego at the door. Like anybody cares what you and all of us have to say on a stupid message board. This message board is only a fraction of what MR.com is. Not to mention the website is what we are talking about, not the board. Having said that, if it wasn't for the Cain interviews/breaking news early on, this site would never have lasted or at least become what it became. Just like Journey, he took this site to a higher place (no pun intended). If that didn't happen, this message board would not have existed or at least not had the volume of traffic/posters it had/has (which then you took to another level since you drive traffic ).

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yes they have come to this message board and read all of the comments. They got good laughs from the posters especially from you Dickno. Like I said before they were and are laughing at you not with you. I played you

[Rick]

the fans of this site over the years made MR what it is, not a single solitary band. Get your head out your ass.

Check your ego at the door. Like anybody cares what you and all of us have to say on a stupid message board. This message board is only a fraction of what MR.com is. Not to mention the website is what we are talking about, not the board. Having said that, if it wasn't for the Cain interviews/breaking news early on, this site would never have lasted or at least become what it became. Just like Journey, he took this site to a higher place (no pun intended). If that didn't happen, this message board would not have existed or at least not had the volume of traffic/posters it had/has (which then you took to another level since you drive traffic ).

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yes they have come to this message board and read all of the comments. They got good laughs from the posters especially from you Dickno. Like I said before they were and are laughing at you not with you. I played you

Hey RobbieG, what's it like being nothing but a vitriolic message board troll? I sure wish Andrew would ban your ass. Right from where he sits in Elgin Illinois. That would make my fucking day. Moron.

[RobbieG]

the fans of this site over the years made MR what it is, not a single solitary band. Get your head out your ass.

Check your ego at the door. Like anybody cares what you and all of us have to say on a stupid message board. This message board is only a fraction of what MR.com is. Not to mention the website is what we are talking about, not the board. Having said that, if it wasn't for the Cain interviews/breaking news early on, this site would never have lasted or at least become what it became. Just like Journey, he took this site to a higher place (no pun intended). If that didn't happen, this message board would not have existed or at least not had the volume of traffic/posters it had/has (which then you took to another level since you drive traffic ).

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yes they have come to this message board and read all of the comments. They got good laughs from the posters especially from you Dickno. Like I said before they were and are laughing at you not with you. I played you

Hey RobbieG, what's it like being nothing but a vitriolic message board troll? I sure wish Andrew would ban your ass. Right from where he sits in Elgin Illinois. That would make my fucking day. Moron.

Maybe I will tell him tomorrow at the MR fest. You guys make me laugh...

[Rick]

the fans of this site over the years made MR what it is, not a single solitary band. Get your head out your ass.

Check your ego at the door. Like anybody cares what you and all of us have to say on a stupid message board. This message board is only a fraction of what MR.com is. Not to mention the website is what we are talking about, not the board. Having said that, if it wasn't for the Cain interviews/breaking news early on, this site would never have lasted or at least become what it became. Just like Journey, he took this site to a higher place (no pun intended). If that didn't happen, this message board would not have existed or at least not had the volume of traffic/posters it had/has (which then you took to another level since you drive traffic ).

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yes they have come to this message board and read all of the comments. They got good laughs from the posters especially from you Dickno. Like I said before they were and are laughing at you not with you. I played you

Hey RobbieG, what's it like being nothing but a vitriolic message board troll? I sure wish Andrew would ban your ass. Right from where he sits in Elgin Illinois. That would make my fucking day. Moron.

Maybe I will tell him tomorrow at the MR fest. You guys make me laugh...

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you're nowhere near Elgin. Just a guess though. I think you're complete bullshit.

[RobbieG]

the fans of this site over the years made MR what it is, not a single solitary band. Get your head out your ass.

Check your ego at the door. Like anybody cares what you and all of us have to say on a stupid message board. This message board is only a fraction of what MR.com is. Not to mention the website is what we are talking about, not the board. Having said that, if it wasn't for the Cain interviews/breaking news early on, this site would never have lasted or at least become what it became. Just like Journey, he took this site to a higher place (no pun intended). If that didn't happen, this message board would not have existed or at least not had the volume of traffic/posters it had/has (which then you took to another level since you drive traffic ).

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yes they have come to this message board and read all of the comments. They got good laughs from the posters especially from you Dickno. Like I said before they were and are laughing at you not with you. I played you

Hey RobbieG, what's it like being nothing but a vitriolic message board troll? I sure wish Andrew would ban your ass. Right from where he sits in Elgin Illinois. That would make my fucking day. Moron.

Maybe I will tell him tomorrow at the MR fest. You guys make me laugh...

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you're nowhere near Elgin. Just a guess though. I think you're complete bullshit.

Yes you are right I am in northwest indy right now. I will be there around 3 pm tomorrow.

[Rick]

the fans of this site over the years made MR what it is, not a single solitary band. Get your head out your ass.

Check your ego at the door. Like anybody cares what you and all of us have to say on a stupid message board. This message board is only a fraction of what MR.com is. Not to mention the website is what we are talking about, not the board. Having said that, if it wasn't for the Cain interviews/breaking news early on, this site would never have lasted or at least become what it became. Just like Journey, he took this site to a higher place (no pun intended). If that didn't happen, this message board would not have existed or at least not had the volume of traffic/posters it had/has (which then you took to another level since you drive traffic ).

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yes they have come to this message board and read all of the comments. They got good laughs from the posters especially from you Dickno. Like I said before they were and are laughing at you not with you. I played you

Hey RobbieG, what's it like being nothing but a vitriolic message board troll? I sure wish Andrew would ban your ass. Right from where he sits in Elgin Illinois. That would make my fucking day. Moron.

Maybe I will tell him tomorrow at the MR fest. You guys make me laugh...

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you're nowhere near Elgin. Just a guess though. I think you're complete bullshit.

Yes you are right I am in northwest indy right now. I will be there around 3 pm tomorrow.

Sure thing snapper head, have fun.

[Chubby321]

Andrew mentioned in the interview the number of hits this site is getting per month so I got interested and looked for more data. This is what I found.

Numbers are estimated, if you go to the Quantcast site, you can view the data by visits or people - daily, weekly or monthly. Look at that huge spike in February. Pretty cool data and this is just in the US.

http://www.quantcast.com/melodicrock.com/summary

[Tito]

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yeah, they must have listened to the feedback when they fired your friend, Soto.

[steveo777]

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yeah, they must have listened to the feedback when they fired your friend, Soto.

Having not been here back then, were the majority of this board generally for or against Soto fronting Journey?

[RocknRoll]

Andrew mentioned in the interview the number of hits this site is getting per month so I got interested and looked for more data. This is what I found.

Numbers are estimated, if you go to the Quantcast site, you can view the data by visits or people - daily, weekly or monthly. Look at that huge spike in February. Pretty cool data and this is just in the US.

Pretty cool numbers especially if this is just US. I would think Andrew has even bigger numbers for the frontpage from Europe and ROW. Here's a challenge, can you find Europe etc.?

[G.I.Jim]

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yeah, they must have listened to the feedback when they fired your friend, Soto.

Having not been here back then, were the majority of this board generally for or against Soto fronting Journey?

I can't tell you the percentage, but it was very split. I like Jeff, and he's a great talent (with his Talisman and W.E.T. albums) but I've NEVER thought he was a good replacement for Steve's signature sound. With that said, another part of me would like to have heard some new Journey tunes with Jeff just to hear the end result.

The problem with him though is that when people go to a "Journey" concert, they want to hear that signature sound. I didn't get that at ALL with him. He gave it his all, but in the end I just think it was a bad choice. He DID save Journey's ass on the tour though, and should be commended for it. Journey owes him a serious apology!

[Rockindeano]

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yeah, they must have listened to the feedback when they fired your friend, Soto.

You're absolutely right. They should have listened to feedback and yes, he is my friend. Very proud of that too, thank you.

[Ehwmatt]

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yeah, they must have listened to the feedback when they fired your friend, Soto.

Having not been here back then, were the majority of this board generally for or against Soto fronting Journey?

I can't tell you the percentage, but it was very split. I like Jeff, and he's a great talent (with his Talisman and W.E.T. albums) but I've NEVER thought he was a good replacement for Steve's signature sound. With that said, another part of me would like to have heard some new Journey tunes with Jeff just to hear the end result.

The problem with him though is that when people go to a "Journey" concert, they want to hear that signature sound. I didn't get that at ALL with him. He gave it his all, but in the end I just think it was a bad choice. He DID save Journey's ass on the tour though, and should be commended for it. Journey owes him a serious apology!

You and I are in complete agreement here Sergeant.

[G.I.Jim]

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yeah, they must have listened to the feedback when they fired your friend, Soto.

Having not been here back then, were the majority of this board generally for or against Soto fronting Journey?

I can't tell you the percentage, but it was very split. I like Jeff, and he's a great talent (with his Talisman and W.E.T. albums) but I've NEVER thought he was a good replacement for Steve's signature sound. With that said, another part of me would like to have heard some new Journey tunes with Jeff just to hear the end result.

The problem with him though is that when people go to a "Journey" concert, they want to hear that signature sound. I didn't get that at ALL with him. He gave it his all, but in the end I just think it was a bad choice. He DID save Journey's ass on the tour though, and should be commended for it. Journey owes him a serious apology!

You and I are in complete agreement here Sergeant.

That's because you're cool. And that's Sergeant First Class homo!

[Rick]

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yeah, they must have listened to the feedback when they fired your friend, Soto.

Having not been here back then, were the majority of this board generally for or against Soto fronting Journey?

I can't tell you the percentage, but it was very split. I like Jeff, and he's a great talent (with his Talisman and W.E.T. albums) but I've NEVER thought he was a good replacement for Steve's signature sound. With that said, another part of me would like to have heard some new Journey tunes with Jeff just to hear the end result.

The problem with him though is that when people go to a "Journey" concert, they want to hear that signature sound. I didn't get that at ALL with him. He gave it his all, but in the end I just think it was a bad choice. He DID save Journey's ass on the tour though, and should be commended for it. Journey owes him a serious apology!

You and I are in complete agreement here Sergeant.

That's because you're cool. And that's Sergeant First Class homo!

They have Sergeant First Class homo's in the military now?

[G.I.Jim]

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yeah, they must have listened to the feedback when they fired your friend, Soto.

Having not been here back then, were the majority of this board generally for or against Soto fronting Journey?

I can't tell you the percentage, but it was very split. I like Jeff, and he's a great talent (with his Talisman and W.E.T. albums) but I've NEVER thought he was a good replacement for Steve's signature sound. With that said, another part of me would like to have heard some new Journey tunes with Jeff just to hear the end result.

The problem with him though is that when people go to a "Journey" concert, they want to hear that signature sound. I didn't get that at ALL with him. He gave it his all, but in the end I just think it was a bad choice. He DID save Journey's ass on the tour though, and should be commended for it. Journey owes him a serious apology!

You and I are in complete agreement here Sergeant.

That's because you're cool. And that's Sergeant First Class homo!

They have Sergeant First Class homo's in the military now?

Yep... don't ask don't tell fucker!

[Rick]

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yeah, they must have listened to the feedback when they fired your friend, Soto.

Having not been here back then, were the majority of this board generally for or against Soto fronting Journey?

I can't tell you the percentage, but it was very split. I like Jeff, and he's a great talent (with his Talisman and W.E.T. albums) but I've NEVER thought he was a good replacement for Steve's signature sound. With that said, another part of me would like to have heard some new Journey tunes with Jeff just to hear the end result.

The problem with him though is that when people go to a "Journey" concert, they want to hear that signature sound. I didn't get that at ALL with him. He gave it his all, but in the end I just think it was a bad choice. He DID save Journey's ass on the tour though, and should be commended for it. Journey owes him a serious apology!

You and I are in complete agreement here Sergeant.

That's because you're cool. And that's Sergeant First Class homo!

They have Sergeant First Class homo's in the military now?

Yep... don't ask don't tell fucker!

[Everett]

You're fucking laughable dude. This message board is read by Neal fucking Schon. He got a lot of fan feedback, real fan feedback from this message board. Don't believe me, ask your friend Dan. he is quoted on here as saying "Neal reads here." The band came here for direction, not the mother site.

You know I don't fall for or buy into your Cain smack dude...it's hilarious that you run with it, but he isn't but an acorn in the oak.

Yeah, they must have listened to the feedback when they fired your friend, Soto.

Having not been here back then, were the majority of this board generally for or against Soto fronting Journey?

I can't tell you the percentage, but it was very split. I like Jeff, and he's a great talent (with his Talisman and W.E.T. albums) but I've NEVER thought he was a good replacement for Steve's signature sound. With that said, another part of me would like to have heard some new Journey tunes with Jeff just to hear the end result.

The problem with him though is that when people go to a "Journey" concert, they want to hear that signature sound. I didn't get that at ALL with him. He gave it his all, but in the end I just think it was a bad choice. He DID save Journey's ass on the tour though, and should be commended for it. Journey owes him a serious apology!

You and I are in complete agreement here Sergeant.

That's because you're cool. And that's Sergeant First Class homo!

They have Sergeant First Class homo's in the military now?

Yep... don't ask don't tell fucker!

Did u name your pillow jason d???

[SherriBerry]

I just listen to some of this interview and I want it put on the record that Andrew J. McNiece/MelodicRock.com owe all of their success to one, Jonathan Cain. Per the interview, the Jonathan Cain interview in 1996/1997 helped accelerate the amount of traffic to the website. Cain, being the generous person he is, kept in contact with McNiece and gave Andrew inside information during the Perry saga including informing McNiece of the official seperation with Perry which gave McNiece the opportunity to break the Perry leaving story. That breaking news took this website to the next level and keeps it there to this day. Bottom line, had Cain not given McNiece this crucial information, let alone the earlier interview, this site would not exist today.

Now, a 13 year old story may only get you so far, regardless of how big the story is. But the fuel that kept this site going for that long was the other interviews the band gave McNiece through the years and other breaking news they fed McNiece because he "got in good with them"...AND HE BLEW IT! You, AJM, short-clotheslined them and sided with a dime a dozen singer. You should've stayed neutral (not even sided with them although that would have been the smart play) but you decided to go with Soto and no longer care about them. You think you would be more loyal to the person and the band that helped, no, MADE this site. Instead you let people trash them, Neal and Cain in particular, with unfounded personal assaults. And you wonder why they don't talk to you anymore? And why your "97" for Revelation wasn't good enough? Not to rain on your parade on the eve of MR Fest II, but you can't tell me an Arnel and Journey interview in 2008 or even 2009 wouldn't have helped this site's cause. Talk about what have you done for me lately.

I can relate to the position Andrew is in, and really, it's standard that bands tend to have egos involved, and those egos want entirely positive converage, and sometimes when they work with you on something it can create the misimpression on their part that you are now "on their team" so to speak, when in fact everyone involved on both ends is giving something to get something. The band gives its time to get coverage for new work, and the writer gives his time and site resources to get an interview that will draw people so he can sell advertising. But writers don't work for bands, and if we can't feel free to say whatever we have to say - positive, negative or whatever - they how can we possibly serve the needs of our readership? It's tricky. Andrew is just one of many who go through this all the time.


Sterling

And Neal sent Andrew an email (that was a funny part of the interview when Andrew said this isn't going to be good when he got the email) after his Arrival review and said he was right.

What did Neal and Cain ever do wrong to this site?

Moron, they wronged the fans..you know, the people who pay their outrageous salaries. The only thing Mac did was to allow freedom of speech. Those fuckers deserved every ounce of shit they got(sans the personal midget and fag references). They are still guilty of defrauding the public in a large way. have you conveniently forgotten the fact that a rock band of this stature resorted to miming? You're a sorry excuse of a fan.

Also spermbreath, the fans of this site over the years made MR what it is, not a single solitary band. Get your head out your ass.

Dickno, Dickno. No one was miming Dickno. You keep repeating the same crap.

"Miming" is not technically correct, but the vocals were not live, everyone knows it, and denying it does not change what Journey did. I guess Herbie Herbert is clueless too. If you want to believe that coming on here and acting as Journey's sycophantic troll will gain you points with the band, good luck with that. You are the one being played if you believe they will feel indebted to you for it.

[SherriBerry]

Great interview Andrew - you have put up with an inordinate amount of crap from all sides over the years and deserve a medal for hanging in there! I hope MRFestII was a great success. Everyone looked like they were having the best time.

[WykkedSensation]

Excellent interview.
Some funny stuff there for sure. A thoroughly enjoyable listen.
Thanks to both parties.