City of Hope single to be released April 4th??

[steveo777]

Perry sounded great on TBF and while it's true that they would have to do downtune or do different arrangements with him today, it would be real and have credibility, not to mention emotion. Remember when that was a key ingredient with Journey? I'm not talking about the wish-wash muzak of "Like a Rainshower and "After all these Years", but the real deal... Positive Touch, Why Can't This Night Go on Forever, Happy to Give... That was Journey, Perry was an important ingredient for that magic to happen and I think I'm not the only one who misses him.

But I'm glad if you can enjoy the current Walmart/American Idol version of the band and "feel" their new material. It's not working for me at all.

Schon/Cain left to their own devices with no other force to balance it out in the songwriting dept and you're left with Generations/Revelations type stuff. Cain writing lyrics about rainshowers and "all those years"... How can you dig that kind of stuff?

The band's creative side died with the dismissal of JSS - when they turned into a bank account.

You really are on drugs. JSS didn't create jack shit in his tenure with Journey. Just stop already!

[jrny10]

Re creative side dying: JSS was a brave choice, and they should have gone further down that route instead of down the American Idol route.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Re creative side dying: JSS was a brave choice, and they should have gone further down that route instead of down the American Idol route.

Arnel's on-stage antics are amateur and Idol-esque, but the kid is still green. Give it time. Vegas 2001 featured a Steve Augeri who had yet to hit his stride too. Andrew says Eclipse is Journey's most creatively daring album in ages and I believe him. Whatever reservations I held about this lineup are temporarily suspended.

[jrny10]

But the problem is that Arnel is American Idol in both senses of the word. He looks like someone that jumped up onstage from the crowd (as opposed to Augeri who had the moves and looked like a natural onstage at Vegas 2001) but the main problem is of course that he doesn't have a voice of his own. Just my 2 cents.

[steveo777]

But the problem is that Arnel is American Idol in both senses of the word. He looks like someone that jumped up onstage from the crowd (as opposed to Augeri who had the moves and looked like a natural onstage at Vegas 2001) but the main problem is of course that he doesn't have a voice of his own. Just my 2 cents.

Using the term "american idol is bullshit and you know it. The man worked 25 years to get where he is.

[jrny10]

American Idol = the karaoke clips on Youtube

[The_Noble_Cause]

But the problem is that Arnel is American Idol in both senses of the word. He looks like someone that jumped up onstage from the crowd (as opposed to Augeri who had the moves and looked like a natural onstage at Vegas 2001) but the main problem is of course that he doesn't have a voice of his own. Just my 2 cents.

I think Arnel is a work-in-progress both vocally and as an entertainer. He's got huge pipes tho. As for Augeri...I thought he appeared semi-awkward and uncomfortable on Vegas 2001.

[Jana]

Perry sounded great on TBF and while it's true that they would have to do downtune or do different arrangements with him today, it would be real and have credibility, not to mention emotion. Remember when that was a key ingredient with Journey? I'm not talking about the wish-wash muzak of "Like a Rainshower and "After all these Years", but the real deal... Positive Touch, Why Can't This Night Go on Forever, Happy to Give... That was Journey, Perry was an important ingredient for that magic to happen and I think I'm not the only one who misses him.

But I'm glad if you can enjoy the current Walmart/American Idol version of the band and "feel" their new material. It's not working for me at all.

Schon/Cain left to their own devices with no other force to balance it out in the songwriting dept and you're left with Generations/Revelations type stuff. Cain writing lyrics about rainshowers and "all those years"... How can you dig that kind of stuff?

The band's creative side died with the dismissal of JSS - when they turned into a bank account.

Everyone misses Steve Perry, but I don't live in the past. He's gone from everywhere, solo, Journey, recorded music, live music. He left the building musically 15 years ago, live once in 24 years. So I don't pine. I enjoy his past music and their new music but am not in dreamland that he's an option or could even sing the music. Steve Perry is a one of a kind.

Re the songwriting department, Arrival is amazing and far better than Trial by Fire and Perry's FTLOSM (talk about smaltzy in places.). And Perry's vocals in some songs on TBF were grating on me with his hollow high notes. He was stunning on most of the ballads, though, except Forever Blue where his hollow high range killed my ears. And Revelation had some really good songs. Turn Down the World Tonight, one of their best ever. And I love Like a Rainshower. It brings me back to early Journey. Arnel sounds like himself on Revelation, disk one, nothing like Perry, save the tenor range.

Creative side died with the dismissal of JSS? I don't get that, since this new album sounds hugely creative musically and lyrically. So that remark doesn't even hold water with the release of Eclipse. JSS's best work, to me, is W.E.T., and he wrote none of that; though, his delivery on the songs was absolutely perfect.

Many don't like Arnel and his singing, which is fine. It's all subjective who likes which singer with Journey. I happen to love Arnel's vocals and find emotion in the delivery of most of the songs he sings. Though, for the most part, he was far better live on the Revelation material, which isn't surprising, since he was brand new with Journey when he recorded Revelation, and only given each song the day before recording to learn and record the next day, which considering that, he did beautifully.

[S2M]

Ok people....it's Like a SUNSHOWER, not Rainshower.....WOW....just wow.

[steveo777]

American Idol = the karaoke clips on Youtube

You'd better go back and learn what Karaoke really is. Someone somewhere used that term and all you're doing is holding on to someone elses misinformed terminology.

[Jana]

Ok people....it's Like a SUNSHOWER, not Rainshower.....WOW....just wow.

oops. LOL You like that song, too, S2M, admit it. It kind of takes me back to the Infinity sound.

[S2M]

Ok people....it's Like a SUNSHOWER, not Rainshower.....WOW....just wow.

oops. LOL You like that song, too, S2M, admit it. It kind of takes me back to the Infinity sound.

I've admitted it 20x already. Best song on the CD. Harkens back to the REAL Journey sound. A sound that is sorely missed.

[Michigan Girl]

Re creative side dying: JSS was a brave choice, and they should have gone further down that route instead of down the American Idol route.

Arnel's on-stage antics are amateur and Idol-esque, but the kid is still green. Give it time. Vegas 2001 featured a Steve Augeri who had yet to hit his stride too. Andrew says Eclipse is Journey's most creatively daring album in ages and I believe him. Whatever reservations I held about this lineup are temporarily suspended.

Good Post ...I, too, am giving the new lp a shot based on Andrews excitement ...but, onstage antics or not,
this time I want to feel the music and not just from the band ...I want to hear AP believing/understanding what he is delivering!! His
voice has never been in question..it's good, but its delivery has been less reliable than the USPS!!!

BTW~J10 ...I certainly understand some of where you're coming from based on what's been produced thus far!!

[SoonerThunder]

Perry sounded great on TBF and while it's true that they would have to do downtune or do different arrangements with him today, it would be real and have credibility, not to mention emotion. Remember when that was a key ingredient with Journey? I'm not talking about the wish-wash muzak of "Like a Rainshower and "After all these Years", but the real deal... Positive Touch, Why Can't This Night Go on Forever, Happy to Give... That was Journey, Perry was an important ingredient for that magic to happen and I think I'm not the only one who misses him.

But I'm glad if you can enjoy the current Walmart/American Idol version of the band and "feel" their new material. It's not working for me at all.

Schon/Cain left to their own devices with no other force to balance it out in the songwriting dept and you're left with Generations/Revelations type stuff. Cain writing lyrics about rainshowers and "all those years"... How can you dig that kind of stuff?

The band's creative side died with the dismissal of JSS - when they turned into a bank account.

This post cracked me up- dissing the current version of the band as too "American Idol" while praising the poppiest, most AI sounding incarnation that included one of the stars of...American Idol

[Melissa]

Ok people....it's Like a SUNSHOWER, not Rainshower.....WOW....just wow.

That is the best song on that album IMO.

[Monker]

Yes, I know I'd take WET over Revelation any day of the week. JSS has his own voice. The same way Van Halen ventured into new waters with Hagar, JRNY could have successfully done the same with JSS. Instead they went down the American Idol route and all credibility, soul and emotion went out the window...

WET represents Soto trying as hard as humanly possible to sound like ... Perry. Soto has fronted many nabds and they've all gone the same route ... nowhere. Besides, everyone has conceded that Eclipse will be Arnel's first Journey album where he has contributions. And I'm guessing it will beat WET's total sales of 650.

Again, that is just ridiculous. On WET, Soto sounds like himself...he has no NEED to sound like anybody else. There is only ONE song where he sounds like Perry.

Arnel, on the other hand, has a NEED to sound like Perry...because THAT is what he was hired for.

[Monker]

Yes, I know I'd take WET over Revelation any day of the week. JSS has his own voice. The same way Van Halen ventured into new waters with Hagar, JRNY could have successfully done the same with JSS. Instead they went down the American Idol route and all credibility, soul and emotion went out the window...

I agree about WET vs. Revelation...the first three songs on WET are worth more to me then the entire Revelation package.

I disagree with the VH/Journey/Hagar/JSS comparison tho...Hagar joined VH at the peak of their career, when they could afford to take such a risk. Journey can't do that. Journey needs somebody who can cover the old songs AND take them in a new creative direction JSS can't do that, IMO, because he does not have the right voice and he just doesn't 'fit'. Arnel can't do it either because he will always be a Perry imitator...the very story of how Neal found him on YouTube has cemented that.

[Monker]

Perry sounded great on TBF

Perry had no 'wow' moments AT ALL on TBF. In that sense, it was very disappointing. I don't think he sounded 'great' at all...more like an old man way past his prime.

and while it's true that they would have to do downtune or do different arrangements with him today, it would be real and have credibility

I would however agree with this. At least Journey would not have a singer up their imitating somebody else.

but the real deal... Positive Touch, Why Can't This Night Go on Forever, Happy to Give... That was Journey,

That is NOT Journey do me. Two of those three are completely gay, and the third is a typical Jonathan ballad and not much different from the songs you critiqued earlier. Journey is a variety of songs, styles, and such. To pin it down to just one is wrong...whether it be the Air Supply on helium that you just pointed out, or the 'hard rock' stuff that Neal has now gone all ape about. Pointing at one small section of what Journey can do misses the big picture.


Perry was an important ingredient for that magic to happen and I think I'm not the only one who misses him.

But I'm glad if you can enjoy the current Walmart/American Idol version of the band and "feel" their new material. It's not working for me at all.

Schon/Cain left to their own devices with no other force to balance it out in the songwriting dept and you're left with Generations/Revelations type stuff. Cain writing lyrics about rainshowers and "all those years"... How can you dig that kind of stuff?

The band's creative side died with the dismissal of JSS - when they turned into a bank account.[/quote]

[Monker]

Checked out the Amazon.co.uk sample. How I wish Perry would have been singing on this one... When Arnel goes up he sounds strained, whereas Perry naturally soared like a bird up in those high registers. Arnel just comes across as screaming, big difference in feel there.

You're a dumb ass. We'll give you Perry and you can see if soars up like a bird. The guy is 62 years old, now fuck off with your rhetoric, numb nuts.
This is Arnel's music that Arnel is singing. No need to pull Perry into the mix.

What I think is "dumb ass" thinking are people do not understand why people want Perry back when you put a guy on lead vocals who tries to sound as much like him as possible. Of course people are going to want the 'real thing' back...because THAT is what they are reminded of every time they hear Arnel sing.

[steveo777]

Checked out the Amazon.co.uk sample. How I wish Perry would have been singing on this one... When Arnel goes up he sounds strained, whereas Perry naturally soared like a bird up in those high registers. Arnel just comes across as screaming, big difference in feel there.

You're a dumb ass. We'll give you Perry and you can see if soars up like a bird. The guy is 62 years old, now fuck off with your rhetoric, numb nuts.
This is Arnel's music that Arnel is singing. No need to pull Perry into the mix.

What I think is "dumb ass" thinking are people do not understand why people want Perry back when you put a guy on lead vocals who tries to sound as much like him as possible. Of course people are going to want the 'real thing' back...because THAT is what they are reminded of every time they hear Arnel sing.

I completely understand why people want Perry back. I want him back too, but not at his age and not when I know he can no longer pull it off. That, really, is my point, when people keep bringing up "I want Perry back", "bring back Perry, then I'll go see a show". What is it that people don't get about SP returning being impossible?

[kgdjpubs]

Yes, I know I'd take WET over Revelation any day of the week. JSS has his own voice. The same way Van Halen ventured into new waters with Hagar, JRNY could have successfully done the same with JSS. Instead they went down the American Idol route and all credibility, soul and emotion went out the window...

WET represents Soto trying as hard as humanly possible to sound like ... Perry. Soto has fronted many nabds and they've all gone the same route ... nowhere. Besides, everyone has conceded that Eclipse will be Arnel's first Journey album where he has contributions. And I'm guessing it will beat WET's total sales of 650.

Again, that is just ridiculous. On WET, Soto sounds like himself...he has no NEED to sound like anybody else. There is only ONE song where he sounds like Perry.

Arnel, on the other hand, has a NEED to sound like Perry...because THAT is what he was hired for.

let me add a caveat to this....Arnel has a NEED to sound like Perry on the greatest hits. On the new material, he can sound do his own thing. Other than a tenor on Revelation, I don't think he sounded like Perry at all. Probably even less on the new album. Don't think Augeri sounded like Perry either on his albums either. Generally speaking, it sounded like Journey, but certainly not Perry's vocal style.

[kgdjpubs]

Perry sounded great on TBF

Perry had no 'wow' moments AT ALL on TBF. In that sense, it was very disappointing. I don't think he sounded 'great' at all...more like an old man way past his prime.

I thought he had some very good vocal moments on that album. Certainly diminished range, but as far as hitting the emotional core of the song, he did very well. From a technical standpoint, his voice diminished. From a vocal control standpoint, he was doing things he couldn't do in the Escape era. It's more than just vocal acrobatics, and I honestly think his singing improved when he started doing LESS of those.

[annie89509]

Perry sounded great on TBF

Perry had no 'wow' moments AT ALL on TBF. In that sense, it was very disappointing. I don't think he sounded 'great' at all...more like an old man way past his prime.

I thought he had some very good vocal moments on that album. Certainly diminished range, but as far as hitting the emotional core of the song, he did very well. From a technical standpoint, his voice diminished. From a vocal control standpoint, he was doing things he couldn't do in the Escape era. It's more than just vocal acrobatics, and I honestly think his singing improved when he started doing LESS of those.

I agree with everything in Kpubs' post. SP was manificient in WYLAW. As with Faithfully, he set the standard for this song in which all subsequent renditions & covers seem like cheap imitations.

[The_Noble_Cause]

What I think is "dumb ass" thinking are people do not understand why people want Perry back when you put a guy on lead vocals who tries to sound as much like him as possible. Of course people are going to want the 'real thing' back...because THAT is what they are reminded of every time they hear Arnel sing.

The 'real thing' has been retired for ages. Delusional fans can keep wishing upon a star all they want. It's the job of rational fans to tell them how stupid they sound. In the aftermath of VH1-BTM some hope remained that Perry would sing again, but now it's been well over a decade. Time to move on. I'm surprised you would encourage such idiocy.

[RocknRoll]

Yes, I know I'd take WET over Revelation any day of the week. JSS has his own voice. The same way Van Halen ventured into new waters with Hagar, JRNY could have successfully done the same with JSS. Instead they went down the American Idol route and all credibility, soul and emotion went out the window...

WET represents Soto trying as hard as humanly possible to sound like ... Perry. Soto has fronted many nabds and they've all gone the same route ... nowhere. Besides, everyone has conceded that Eclipse will be Arnel's first Journey album where he has contributions. And I'm guessing it will beat WET's total sales of 650.

Again, that is just ridiculous. On WET, Soto sounds like himself...he has no NEED to sound like anybody else. There is only ONE song where he sounds like Perry.

Arnel, on the other hand, has a NEED to sound like Perry...because THAT is what he was hired for.

let me add a caveat to this....Arnel has a NEED to sound like Perry on the greatest hits. On the new material, he can sound do his own thing. Other than a tenor on Revelation, I don't think he sounded like Perry at all. Probably even less on the new album. Don't think Augeri sounded like Perry either on his albums either. Generally speaking, it sounded like Journey, but certainly not Perry's vocal style.

It's so nice to see a rational post!!

[jrny10]

I thought he had some very good vocal moments on that album. Certainly diminished range, but as far as hitting the emotional core of the song, he did very well.

Amen, and that's what it's all about.

[SherriBerry]

I have a feeling once the new album comes out that Arnel will no longer be dismissed as an "American
Idol/Karaoke" singer, since it seems like he was given the freedom on this one to find his own voice and not try to copy Steve Perry's. Is that true Andrew?

Who cares if he got the job because Neal saw him on YouTube? That's like Jon Bon Jovi getting mad that people don't go to record stores anymore to buy albums! Times have changed and so has the way people are hired in any industry. At least Arnel can really sing and doesn't lipsynch or need autotune. Besides, American Idol has given a lot of singers a chance they might not have gotten otherwise, and we have gotten some pretty good artists from it: Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson, Adam Lambert, and Jennifer Hudson. Arnel's in good company without even being on the show. Now if we can only get Gwyneth Paltrow to stop singing... Maybe Glee is responsible for killing the music industry.

[superreverb]

I have a feeling once the new album comes out that Arnel will no longer be dismissed as an "American
Idol/Karaoke" singer, since it seems like he was given the freedom on this one to find his own voice and not try to copy Steve Perry's. Is that true Andrew?

Who cares if he got the job because Neal saw him on YouTube? That's like Jon Bon Jovi getting mad that people don't go to record stores anymore to buy albums! Times have changed and so has the way people are hired in any industry. At least Arnel can really sing and doesn't lipsynch or need autotune. Besides, American Idol has given a lot of singers a chance they might not have gotten otherwise, and we have gotten some pretty good artists from it: Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson, Adam Lambert, and Jennifer Hudson. Arnel's in good company without even being on the show. Now if we can only get Gwyneth Paltrow to stop singing... Maybe Glee is responsible for killing the music industry.

Good post and points. I 'm really treating this as Arnel's first album -

Rather then Revelation where he was "Thrown into the band / an Album" to sing mostly Steve Perry Classics, Eclipse is the 1st album, coming from a place where Arnel is "IN the Band" -

Toured, already, wrote, created in the studio, worked with Vocal coaches extensively, and spent ALOT of time with Neal and Jon in Nashville recording these vocals. I can already "Hear Arnel" all over these clips, singing in his own voice.

Folks on here can criticize his voice, and thats fine if it's not your ball of wax... but this really, sounds like "Arnel's record" / Voice on a production, and musical style that has evolved for Journey themselves, combined, and Gelled with Arnel's tone, to create a sound, WITH Journey.

I'm gonna give it a shot, and listen to this record as "The new Journey", as a collective effort - I still may not like it?? but I DO like to 2 clips I have heard.... Alot.

[jrny10]

Granted, it's only a 30 second clip, but Arnel sounds the same way here as he does on Revelation (the same with production). I don't expect any big improvements from that record, but I hope to be positively surprised.

[Andrew]

Yes, I know I'd take WET over Revelation any day of the week. JSS has his own voice. The same way Van Halen ventured into new waters with Hagar, JRNY could have successfully done the same with JSS. Instead they went down the American Idol route and all credibility, soul and emotion went out the window...

WET represents Soto trying as hard as humanly possible to sound like ... Perry. Soto has fronted many nabds and they've all gone the same route ... nowhere. Besides, everyone has conceded that Eclipse will be Arnel's first Journey album where he has contributions. And I'm guessing it will beat WET's total sales of 650.

Again, that is just ridiculous. On WET, Soto sounds like himself...he has no NEED to sound like anybody else. There is only ONE song where he sounds like Perry.

Arnel, on the other hand, has a NEED to sound like Perry...because THAT is what he was hired for.

Not on Eclipse. 100% his own man. Same with Revelation really. Has a great voice and then can cover the Perry stuff extremely well.