Sports Illustrated FS Interview!

[jaxmanjoe]

You guys are gonna love this one:

http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2015/12/21/frankie-sullivan-survivor-rocky-muhammad-ali

Some interesting comments from Frankie in here including no love for 'Reach.'

Enjoy!

Jaxmanjoe

[def]

Yeah, 'Maybe I had done a great job.' says it all. Not surprised he likes Lance Armstrong. Yes in Lance days they did it all, but some did it and behaved besides, whereas Lance behaved like Lance.

[Abitaman]

Didn't make Reach? then why did he sing two songs on it? Two of the worst songs in Survivor history! He is so full of BS. I think he has lost his creativity.

[Mikele]

I can see where his current view on Reach comes from. There were some turmoils at the time between him and Jimi, and now that jimi is gone he looks at that with a different perspective

[Journey/Survivor]

Back when "Reach" was being released, Sullivan was claiming that everyone was telling him that it was a great album. He was also claiming that it was the first Survivor album that was being praised by everyone that he knew that had heard the album. Supposedly all of the other albums were being at least somewhat criticized in some way by people that he had heard from, but that was not the case with "Reach."

[DavidWT]

I listen the "Fire Makes Steel" demos more than I listen to "Reach." There are some duds on FMS, too, but overall, I think it's a stronger selection of tracks.

Speaking of "Reach" and "FMS"-- Does anyone else think the vocal track on the FMS demo version of "Never The Less" is different from the version on "Reach"? I remember asking Frankie about that back on the old Survivormusic.com message board, and he basically mocked me for it, implying I was nuts for thinking two different takes were used, and that there was only ever one recording of that song done. But I STILL think they sound slightly different. So, either I'm nuts (entirely possible!), or Frankie is.

[Journey/Survivor]

I listen the "Fire Makes Steel" demos more than I listen to "Reach." There are some duds on FMS, too, but overall, I think it's a stronger selection of tracks.

Speaking of "Reach" and "FMS"-- Does anyone else think the vocal track on the FMS demo version of "Never The Less" is different from the version on "Reach"? I remember asking Frankie about that back on the old Survivormusic.com message board, and he basically mocked me for it, implying I was nuts for thinking two different takes were used, and that there was only ever one recording of that song done. But I STILL think they sound slightly different. So, either I'm nuts (entirely possible!), or Frankie is.

It has ALWAYS been obvious that it is a different vocal track used on the Reach album than was used in the demo. To deny it is ridiculous and pointless. His vocals were actually better on the demo than on the Reach release of Nevertheless.

[Mikele]

The demos are far superior than the versions on Reach.

[DavidWT]

Ok good, glad to know I'm not losing my mind!
And yeah, I agree, I think the demo version is better. It feels more energetic, for one thing.

Speaking of which...
Which version of "Seconds Away" do you all prefer? The more stripped-down demo version with Dave, or the more polished version with Jimi? I'm on the fence about this one. My ex really preferred the Dave version.

[Journey/Survivor]

Ok good, glad to know I'm not losing my mind!
And yeah, I agree, I think the demo version is better. It feels more energetic, for one thing.

Speaking of which...
Which version of "Seconds Away" do you all prefer? The more stripped-down demo version with Dave, or the more polished version with Jimi? I'm on the fence about this one. My ex really preferred the Dave version.

As much as I love Dave's singing, and he is in my top 5 as a singer, I am an even bigger fan of Jimi's singing in general.
With that said, I actually prefer Dave's vocals better on several of the songs that appeared on both "Fire Makes Steel" and "Reach." Granted, I did hear the versions with Dave first, so that would help me like his a little better in some ways.
As for "Seconds Away," I kind of view that as more or less a tie for me.

By the way... Our very own Marcel Jordan from here on MR has said that Sullivan once told him that he (Sullivan) thinks that "Here Comes Desire" is one of the biggest piece of crap songs that Survivor ever did. At a later date Sullivan denied having said that. I believe Marcel Jordan!!!

Sullivan changes the shit that he says on a regular basis. I sometimes wonder if he has split personalities?

[jaxmanjoe]

Didn't make Reach? then why did he sing two songs on it? Two of the worst songs in Survivor history! He is so full of BS. I think he has lost his creativity.

That's funny you feel that way. I'm obviously not impressed by Frankie's singing, but I think Talking 'bout Love is the best song on the album. I think it could have been a hit if it was sung by a real lead singer instead of Frankie.

It was sad to hear Frankie dismiss 'Reach' the way he does. It's funny that he'll not release something for years because it has to be perfect, then he'll go and release something he apparently doesn't like or isn't proud of. Makes no sense...

[MarcelJordan]

Ok good, glad to know I'm not losing my mind!
And yeah, I agree, I think the demo version is better. It feels more energetic, for one thing.

Speaking of which...
Which version of "Seconds Away" do you all prefer? The more stripped-down demo version with Dave, or the more polished version with Jimi? I'm on the fence about this one. My ex really preferred the Dave version.

As much as I love Dave's singing, and he is in my top 5 as a singer, I am an even bigger fan of Jimi's singing in general.
With that said, I actually prefer Dave's vocals better on several of the songs that appeared on both "Fire Makes Steel" and "Reach." Granted, I did hear the versions with Dave first, so that would help me like his a little better in some ways.
As for "Seconds Away," I kind of view that as more or less a tie for me.

By the way... Our very own Marcel Jordan from here on MR has said that Sullivan once told him that he (Sullivan) thinks that "Here Comes Desire" is one of the biggest piece of crap songs that Survivor ever did. At a later date Sullivan denied having said that. I believe Marcel Jordan!!!

Sullivan changes the shit that he says on a regular basis. I sometimes wonder if he has split personalities?

Wow, you remember this J/S. Nice to recall!

FS told me (as we chatted online) Here Comes Desire was crap. However, he also said at that point, that "we do try things". That said, I'm ok with it with it personally now. Infact a complete turn around for me, the guitar work smokes! So perhaps FS also had a change of heart. Im tired however of waiting for FS to come up with the goods. Ah well.

On the subject of Seconds Away, Dave version is for me. Sonically JJ has more power. But I prefer the finesse of Dave. Reach meanwhile is basically a tie. Both do it well.

MJ

[Mikele]

I don't know if it's just me, but I kind of prefer Dave singing Jimi's songs and Jimi's singing Dave's... ! Just as an example, I love to hear Dave singing tunes from Too hot too sleep, more than hearing the original versions. And on the other side, Jimi's interpretation of the band's early tunes blows me away (Poor man son, take you on a saturday etc)

[DavidWT]

Didn't make Reach? then why did he sing two songs on it? Two of the worst songs in Survivor history! He is so full of BS. I think he has lost his creativity.

That's funny you feel that way. I'm obviously not impressed by Frankie's singing, but I think Talking 'bout Love is the best song on the album. I think it could have been a hit if it was sung by a real lead singer instead of Frankie.

It was sad to hear Frankie dismiss 'Reach' the way he does. It's funny that he'll not release something for years because it has to be perfect, then he'll go and release something he apparently doesn't like or isn't proud of. Makes no sense...

Yeah, I like "Talking 'bout Love", too, and think it's one of the better tracks on the CD. I'm always a bit puzzled by the story that Jimi refused to do it because he felt it was too "pop." This is the same guy who sang "Is This Love," right? I mean, that's the very definition of bubblegum pop music right there. And "Rhythm Of Your Heart" practically sounds like something the Backstreet Boys would sing, so if he was willing to do that, why not "Talking 'bout Love"? I always suspect there was more to the story, like he was just fed up with the whole album and didn't feel like recording another track for it, regardless of what the track was. But that's just purely speculation, of course.

[scarab]

Talking Bout Love is a good song but Frankies vocals ruins the song. Makes me think of every time Jon Cain sings.
Jamisons soaring vocals would have made that song it great.

[Ehwmatt]

Talking Bout Love is a good song but Frankies vocals ruins the song. Makes me think of every time Jon Cain sings.
Jamisons soaring vocals would have made that song it great.

I don't mind Frankie's vocal on that song. Sounds sorta like a cookie-cutter 80s singer, which isn't a horrible thing. He's not vintage Jimi or Dave, obviously, but he's a lot better than Jon Cain. Good tune.

[Abitaman]

Didn't make Reach? then why did he sing two songs on it? Two of the worst songs in Survivor history! He is so full of BS. I think he has lost his creativity.

but I think Talking 'bout Love is the best song on the album. I think it could have been a hit if it was sung by a real lead singer instead of Frankie.

Oh I agree, one of the reasons I think it is one of the two on songs on the CD is due to Frankie singing the song. A real singer would have done the song a lot better.