Rockindeano wrote: Journey had stopped becoming a real rock band as soon as Friga joined
Stone In Love, Separate Ways, Ask The Lonely and even Only The Young were great rock songs, on par with anything from Leppard or BJ.
Rockindeano wrote: and as soon as Open Arms was cut.....that was the end of their "rock" sound, and that's ok too.
Bon Jovie and Leppard had songs like Love Bites, Hysteria, Never Say Goodbye and I'd Die For You off of the very same albums from that time, proving that the "formula" of rockers to ballads that Perry broke was a terrible idea.
Rockindeano wrote: Journey was a pop/rock act, not a real rock n roll band.
This is just not true. There was not a better act live from 1980-1984. You don't consider the Live In Houston DVD a great rock n roll show?
Rockindeano wrote: People laughed at them as a rock band. They weren't taken seriously as a rock band.
Tour receipts say you're wrong. Their concerts were that first perfect mix of uptempo rockers, midtempo numbers and ballads.
They perfected that very same formula that Leppard and Jovi adopted. Until, of course, someone changed it.
Rockindeano wrote: why didn't Neal protest any of the soft songs and put one or two of HIS own written songs on there? Why didn't Jon Cain say no to the countless piano pussified tunes on there?
The band was already light 2 members and I'm quite sure that Neal and Jon were convinced that Perry would up and leave if his demands weren't met. It was either cave or shelve the band. Neal chose to play ... that's what he loves to do.
Rockindeano wrote: Perry is an unquestionable leader, like him or not, and dude did what he thought was the right thing for Journey at that time. Think I am wrong? Fast Forward to TBF, another album that doesn't really "rock." They knew then that they were no longer a real "rock" band anylonger.
You cite 2 colossal
failures as your proof that Perry was a leader. Journey went from selling 7-9 million albums to a combined 3 million over 2 albums. Seems to me that Herbie Herbert had them sailing along just fine, getting bigger with every album, until 1986 when someone else decided he knew what was best and started liquidating and firing. They went straight into a downward spiral. Thank God Neal was smart enough to listen to Herbie and keep his stake in Nocturne Productions They do the lighting and stage production for The Eagles, Metallica, Madonna, Paul McCartney, The Super Bowl, Dancing With The Stars and countless other huge acts. I think Neal finally sold a few years back and made an incredible amount of money. That specific example, the numbers while Herbie had majority control of Journey and the real estate ventures he made for the band, tell me that his brains and vision make Nostrildamus look like Louis Braille.