Audio Comparison B/T Journey, Four Tops, & Phil Collins

[Jeremey]

In another thread there was a discussion about Neal's recent comment about pursuing an "R&B with power chords" sound for their next record.

I wanted to do a short screen cap video to show what I thought Neal meant by that.

Here's a comparison of "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" by The Four Tops and "Where Did I Lose Your Love" by Journey. I'm using my recording of the song, because during the arrangement of the tune I consciously wanted to arrange the background vocals like The Four Tops in their hit "Reach Out" ...

So this should give you a good example of how even a recent tune like "Where Did I Lose Your Love" can still showcase Journey's deep R&B roots ... if Steve Perry would have had a hand in this tune I think it would have been massive, since Neal did a great job chunking this tune up with his "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" riff and making the song a completely different animal. The only thing missing from this being Frontiers-era magic is Perry's melodic signature on the tune.

Also, funny TNC mentioned that most tunes on ROR could have been Phil Collins songs ... the opening of this tune always reminded me of a Phil Collins song, so I put that at the beginning of this video.

What does Melodicrock.com think?

http://youtu.be/WSfLooVMjOI

PS: Can you still not preview YouTube videos on the forum? I thought you could. Anyway, click the link above I guess.

[Ehwmatt]

In another thread there was a discussion about Neal's recent comment about pursuing an "R&B with power chords" sound for their next record.

I wanted to do a short screen cap video to show what I thought Neal meant by that.

Here's a comparison of "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" by The Four Tops and "Where Did I Lose Your Love" by Journey. I'm using my recording of the song, because during the arrangement of the tune I consciously wanted to arrange the background vocals like The Four Tops in their hit "Reach Out" ...

So this should give you a good example of how even a recent tune like "Where Did I Lose Your Love" can still showcase Journey's deep R&B roots ... if Steve Perry would have had a hand in this tune I think it would have been massive, since Neal did a great job chunking this tune up with his "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" riff and making the song a completely different animal. The only thing missing from this being Frontiers-era magic is Perry's melodic signature on the tune.

Also, funny TNC mentioned that most tunes on ROR could have been Phil Collins songs ... the opening of this tune always reminded me of a Phil Collins song, so I put that at the beginning of this video.

What does Melodicrock.com think?

http://youtu.be/WSfLooVMjOI

PS: Can you still not preview YouTube videos on the forum? I thought you could. Anyway, click the link above I guess.

'

Cool video. What you been up to?

[koberry]

I always loved WDILYL because of the nod/respect it gives to Reach Out. Love me some Four Tops. Might see them with the Temptations again this year. Great show!

Thanks for weaving these together, it was fun to hear side-by-side

[koberry]

A bit OT (but not), I've always loved Eric Martin's version of the Supremes' Stop in the Name of Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6I2-AOd6eY

[Jeremey]

Cool video. What you been up to?

Hey bud, staying insanely busy as a copywriter & marketing consultant ... just bought a new acoustic but haven't had time to pick it up more than twice in the 2 weeks since I bought it LOL ... hit you up on FB, that should keep you in the loop - hope you & the wife are doing great!

[Jeremey]

I always loved WDILYL because of the nod/respect it gives to Reach Out. Love me some Four Tops. Might see them with the Temptations again this year. Great show!

Thanks for weaving these together, it was fun to hear side-by-side

Yeah, it really is a pretty direct "tribute" to that tune, isn't it?

[StoneCold]

As much as I like Reach Out, between the two, I'd rather hear WDILYL.

relevant:

Stylistics - ISILWY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xp29gs4DrI

Four Tops - ATL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLCr1DoL4mI

[Final Frontiers]

In another thread there was a discussion about Neal's recent comment about pursuing an "R&B with power chords" sound for their next record.

I wanted to do a short screen cap video to show what I thought Neal meant by that.

Here's a comparison of "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" by The Four Tops and "Where Did I Lose Your Love" by Journey. I'm using my recording of the song, because during the arrangement of the tune I consciously wanted to arrange the background vocals like The Four Tops in their hit "Reach Out" ...

So this should give you a good example of how even a recent tune like "Where Did I Lose Your Love" can still showcase Journey's deep R&B roots ... if Steve Perry would have had a hand in this tune I think it would have been massive, since Neal did a great job chunking this tune up with his "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" riff and making the song a completely different animal. The only thing missing from this being Frontiers-era magic is Perry's melodic signature on the tune.

Also, funny TNC mentioned that most tunes on ROR could have been Phil Collins songs ... the opening of this tune always reminded me of a Phil Collins song, so I put that at the beginning of this video.

What does Melodicrock.com think?

http://youtu.be/WSfLooVMjOI

PS: Can you still not preview YouTube videos on the forum? I thought you could. Anyway, click the link above I guess.

Funny you should mention song arranging, Motown, and singing. I've been sitting on this article for awhile and was waiting for the right time to post it. I think it's a very interesting take on how harmonies are laid out in a song and how important being a lead singer really is. The lead singer is not just soloing. The lead singer is actually leading the others in harmonizing by laying a guide vocal.

This interview is with Jimmy Jam (Morris Day & The Time, famous music producer) talking about the 25th anniversary of New Edition's N.E. Heartbreak. How Bobby Brown left the group and how Johnny Gill joined and worked with lead singer Ralph Tresvant.

Who was responsible in coming up with the harmonies and melodies for the songs on this album?

Well, the way we would do backgrounds is that Ralph would do every single background on the record and then the guys would go in and fill in their parts. They would sing the notes that Ralph already sang so it would have that true New Edition sound to it. We couldn’t shortcut it. We couldn’t tell Ralph to just go and do the backgrounds. We had to have all their voices and we found that out early on. The way that they sound is they all need to sing it. Ralph would be the one to put all the guide vocals down and make sure everyone was singing the right part. Now that’s very meticulous work. Johnny would sit down next to us and just shake his head and say, “I don’t know how that guy can do that. How is he hearing those harmonies? I couldn’t do all that.” And when Johnny would go into sing, everything with him was always first take. Johnny could never remember more than two words at a time. We could have the lyrics right in front of him, but we would tell him not to focus on the lyrics just memorize the line. Johnny would nail everything on the first take with feeling and everything. And Ralph would sit there at the board and say, “How does Johnny do that? I don’t get it.” So – they both appreciated what the other one could do. I think the fact those two were tightly knit fed energy into the whole album. The recording of the record was really fun.



What was involved in the recording process to make the album sound as great as it did?

I’ll tell you one technical thing we did with the record. At our studio, we had a 24 track analog machine and that’s how everything was recorded in those days. When we started recording with New Edition, we started recording with a 48 track analog machine; meaning we had to link two machines together. It was because we had so many vocals on them that we couldn’t fit it onto a 24 track tape. We actually took a space in our studio that was a garage and converted it into a second tiny studio — so that we could do New Edition songs. They were the catalyst for making that happen. We would be in both studios doing stuff. The guys had so much energy and they were really into it.


http://thegrio.com/2013/11/17/25-years- ... best-ever/

Here's New Edition's "Can You Stand The Rain".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7flrKMGfwjw

[FamilyMan]

Generally speaking, Jeremey, it's good to see you posting here again.