STORY_TELLER wrote:Gideon wrote:AR wrote:Gideon wrote:annie89509 wrote:I have always said Arnel does great on OA....but better than SP ever, by a long shot???...no way! Granted, in the later years, when SP's voice became deeper and hoarser, live rendition of this song often became diminished...so yeah, Arnel may be better. But, no way better than SP at his peak. This is pitched perfect, with the right emotion and nuance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5pUOVC50Y8
Arnel's diction issues are rampant on live recordings and diminish the songs. Comparatively, Perry's histrionics wreck that one. Arnel's version has balls, bringing power to an otherwise powerless ballad. The only balls in Perry's are the ones that are being squeezed to unleash those high notes.
I am glad Perry's histrionics were brought up live. He was not the "be all end all" in concert.
Yup.
I've heard all the relevant live recordings and I haven't heard a single rendition of OA from Perry that sounds as good as Arnel's. Obviously it doesn't make him the better singer overall, live or otherwise, but you run the risk of inciting a nervous breakdown in our resident Loons to suggest Perry isn't utterly flawless.
Fuckers need a hearing aid and a therapist.

And we all love how your opinion trumps all Gideon. Truly, we are clearly not worthy.
In the interest of preempting any further miscommunication between myself and Loons, Spoons, and other facets of the tuxedo tailed strait-jacket community, let me be both blunt and clear in the enduring spirit of Melodic Rock:
My opinion on Arnel’s renditions vis a vis Perry’s is just that: an opinion. It is not fact, was not said by me to be fact, nor was it suggested to be fact-like. It is a matter of preference: most of you prefer Perry’s take, I don’t. Make no mistake, my understanding that this
is a matter of opinion is what separates me from some of you.
Traditionally, this place is pretty liberal with criticism—as long as it’s directed at specific targets. Schon, Cain, Valory, and Castronovo are by far the most abused names. Herbert, Augeri, Rolie, Dunbar, Smith, and Pineda are up there, too. In those situations, the pattern has been to either aggressively participate or observe in detachment.
But when some brazen fuck
dares to offer a dissenting opinion about the great, infallible Steve Perry? Christ Almighty, sound the alarms, rally the troops, man your stations, because shots have been fired across the bow of the SPS
Retard.
The absolute creepiness and inexcusable foolishness of this cult-like mentality is self-evident; surely I need not remind you of the unpleasant consequences of what happens when morons deify a man for no good reason.
I’ve long come to terms with the fact that a not inconsiderable segment of the Melodic Rock community misrepresents and caricaturizes the things I have to say in an effort to de-legitimize their validity. The gloves came off a long while back when I understood that this is place is nothing more than a message board for the purpose of exchanging opinions about a common interest.
But the rest of you seem to take it so personally that it is my fondest hope that this helps each of you come to terms with the truth: Steve Perry is probably my all-time favorite singer, but was neither flawless or divine as either musician or man. The things I say about him are no different from things that have been said about others
by others on these boards, with often glowing reception.
If you want me to stop, you have two options: one, convince Andrew to ban me; two, adopt a universal policy wherein
none of the current or previous members of Journey are to be criticized in any respect.
Otherwise, I have two words for you:
fair play.
I would have used “fuck you,” but that’s an overused phrase around here.
P.S.: The idea that I’m an “Arloon” or “Pinhead” is downright laughable. I’ve praised Perry and criticized Pineda; if need be, I can find the fucking posts to prove it. What a grotesque, dogmatic world you depict: if you’re not up Perry’s ass, you must be up someone else’s!
P.P.S.: None of the above applies to those
rational Perry-fans out there, who have managed to allow the Beaked One to be supreme and be secure enough to not rabidly react to those who do not agree. I’d name names, but I’ve done it before and you know who you are.

'Nothing was bigger for Journey than 1981’s “Escape” album. “I have to attribute that to Jonathan coming in and joining the writing team,” Steve Perry (Feb 2012).'