Stranger Things Season4 Trailer - Separate Ways

[Eric]

https://youtu.be/yQEondeGvKo

WOW!

[DK23]

Wow that was so good!

[Loneman1]

Wow is right, that was pretty badass!! Diggin' the remix as well!

[Monker]

OMG, that was perfect. The way they paced SW to the beating of that clock is epic. Wonder who did that guitar solo...an obvious nod to EVH, or was it Eruption? Whoever handles the music for the show knows what they are doing.

Like I said, Journey had to get in this show. Glad everybody got together to get this done, including Perry. Also, Kudos to the Duffer brothers for their creative vision...That was so good.

[bellairepark73]

What they did was PERFECT!!!

NOW to get TROUBLED CHILD on there. That would be EPIC

[Monker]

This made it to Billboard:
https://www.billboard.com/culture/tv-fi ... 235058366/

[Monker]

Great short article about how the song fits the show:
https://screenrant.com/stranger-things- ... rate-ways/

[ebake02]

I found the this through an article that mentioned a Journey song being in the trailer and I was not expecting this version at all, it’s very well done. Stranger Things has been a hugely popular show and the trailer already has 6 million views so the band could really use this exposure to their advantage if they do it right.

[Monker]

I found the this through an article that mentioned a Journey song being in the trailer and I was not expecting this version at all, it’s very well done. Stranger Things has been a hugely popular show and the trailer has already 6 million views so the band could really use this exposure to their advantage if they do it right.

I agree....since NetFlix has a LOT more subscribers than HBO, this could be bigger than Sapranos using DSB. With the band in the middle of a tour, and a new album...if it gets a true US release and not only on import from Frontiers.

[Loneman1]

Someone made a stand alone version - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqrQtWR2huw

Also I guess I'm a little slow on the uptake.....Journey's official YT channel as their version as well - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb25W0P4ICs

[ebake02]

What they did was PERFECT!!!

NOW to get TROUBLED CHILD on there. That would be EPIC

Edge of the Blade would be a good choice too.

[Moose]

Even Journey’s Steve Perry Was Floored By That ‘Separate Ways’ Remix in ‘Stranger Things 4’ Trailer


https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshweiss/2022/04/15/even-journeys-steve-perry-was-floored-by-that-separate-ways-remix-in-stranger-things-4-trailer/?sh=76227d6528f0

Netflix certainly knows how to drum up a supernatural amount of excitement for what is arguably the streamer’s most popular original property: Stranger Things.

Audiences simply can’t get enough of the throwback television series, whose earnest homage to pop culture of the 1980s (particularly the contributions made by Steven Spielberg and Stephen King) has struck a profound chord across multiple generations.

And that’s the real beauty of the show: an almost magical ability to make what was once old feel new again.

Take, for instance, the official trailer for Season 4, which features an epic and creepily atmospheric rearrangement of Journey’s 1983 hit, “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart).” Similar to the synthwave-inspired remix of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” that headlined the Season 3 trailer, this particular soundtrack choice was one of utter perfection.

“The lyrics are about people going their separate ways and the characters, at the end of the third season, did all go their separate ways,” says Bobby Gumm, Head of Music at Trailer Park, which has cut together every Stranger Things trailer since the show first premiered back in 2016. “And even the ones that are still living in the same town have gone their separate ways a little bit. They’re in different cliques and things like that.”

Gumm recalls how the Journey song was originally suggested by the trailer’s editor, Adam Finkelstein, who immediately saw the potential for maximum thematic resonance. “[He] recognized that right at the beginning. He’s like, ‘This is the song.’ Once he said that, we hit the ground running.”

The next step was to call up one of Trailer Park’s regular collaborators, Alloy Tracks, whose resume includes custom trailer music for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Dopesick, The King’s Man, The Batman, Moonfall, and Jurassic World Dominion.

“We’re more of a small boutique company and it’s pretty cool to be working with the big boys on all these massive trailers,” admits Alloy founder and owner Troy MacCubbin. “I started it in my bedroom in Los Angeles 15 years ago.”

According to longtime Alloy composer Bryce Miller, Trailer Park was initially vague in its description of the Stranger Things project, though there was little doubt over what show they were talking about. “They said, ‘[It’s] a popular streaming series about kids in the ‘80s who fight evil,’” he recalls, adding that the brief description even specified how the “main characters are split up and going their separate ways.’ They literally said the words ‘separate ways’ in their depiction of the season.”

While MacCubbin teases that “some other songs” were pitched, there was no denying that the best choice was already staring them dead in the eye.

“You have this whole gamut of ‘80s music to pick from,” Gumm adds. “There are just so many options. But I think we settled on ‘Separate Ways’ just because we love the song and we love Journey, but lyrically, it says exactly what we were needing to say.”

To bring the classic rock ballad further into the world of the hit TV show, Miller isolated the vocal tracks using an A.I. program and focused on blowing out the song’s “opening synth riff” in an effort “to pull it back a little from the rock world and bring it into more of the Stranger Things synth mixed with epic orchestral sounds ... the orchestra takes it to the next level, making it as big and loud as we can get.”

For him, the goal isn’t just to add a few bells and whistles onto the original songs. “It’s totally [about] recreating the song using just orchestra and new synths. I really enjoy that because it allows a lot of freedom to find new meaning in the music that, in this case, Journey wrote and add new harmonies and melodies to it that give it new life.”

“We have that whole back end that’s built around that synth,” Gumm says. “I think that was a big factor too — the way we were able to use that synth to tie into this world was really helpful and made it really effective.”

The initial mix was so impressive, that it caught the attention of Journey frontman, Steve Perry, who called up an unsuspecting MacCubbin.

“I’m thinking I’m talking to this guy from Netflix because he caught me off guard and he wanted to talk about the song,” the Alloy founder remembers. “He kept saying to me, ‘I don’t usually allow these songs to go through’ and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, it’s the guy from Netflix.’ We probably talked for about 15 minutes, he wanted to know all about what we did with the song and how’d we do this and how’d we do that? At the end of the conversation, before he hung up, I was like, ‘Sorry, who am I talking with? What’s your role in this?’ And he's like, ‘It’s Steve Perry from Journey!’ ... Over the course of a month-a-half or so, I’ve been talking a lot with Steve Perry and we’ve kind of become friends through that.”

Unlike the vast majority of artists who allow their songs to be licensed out for trailer purposes like this, Perry enjoyed a hands-on role throughout the entire “trailer-izing” process for “Separate Ways,” which took around six months to complete.

“He had some specific mixing notes,” Miller says. “He wanted the vocals to be brought out a little bit more in some places and just a refinement of some [other] details. It was really cool to work with him and he had some really nice things to say. One of his favorite things now in his career is hearing these songs that he wrote decades ago get new life and be brought to new generations and new demographics through things like Stranger Things.”

The specific element that prompted Perry to reach out in the first place was Alloy’s ability to somehow isolate the vocal tracks (or “stems”) from the song when no standalone vocals exist from the original studio recording.

“He was like, ‘How did you guys do this?’” states MacCubbin with pride. “Rarely will the artist call you and go, ‘Hey! What’d you do to my song? I love it!’ Steve was like, ‘I want to work more with you guys. What can we do next?’”

In fact, it sounds as though the Stranger Things trailer version of “Separate Ways” may very well be Perry’s preferred version of the song. What was once old feels new again. “He was like, ‘Man, I wish I had you guys back in the day when we released this song because this is what I wanted the song to sound like,’” MacCubbin continues. “I mean, what a compliment coming from Steve Perry. He couldn’t have been cooler, man.”

Since dropping online earlier this week, the Season 4 trailer has racked up 11 million views. More impressive than that, however, is the fact that audience members are paying as much attention to the music as they are to the actual footage.

“It’s been pretty amazing to see how many of the comments and reactions to the trailer are specifically about the music,” Miller says. “That just makes my day. I think that trailers are a unique medium where the music often leads the way of the trailer and creates the identity of the trailer and can often make or break the trailer. It is so rewarding to see everyone online just loving this remix and loving what we’ve spent months on. I couldn’t ask for more.”

Gumm credits this sonic success to a rigid vetting process in which he and his team look for that one piece of music capable of taking a trailer to the next level. No corners are cut — and it shows in the finished product.

“The thing that we say a lot is, ‘This is a cool song, but it’s not special enough for this,’” he concludes. “There’s definitely pressure involved in that, too, but just knowing that the expectations are for you to create something great, and it’s fun. When you do create something that you’re happy with and people respond to it, then it’s just super exciting. I feel like that’s the situation we’ve had on every Stranger Things trailer we’ve worked on. It’s a really cool, creative group to work with. It’s great.”

[JourneyHard]

Who signed off on this? Just Perry? Or Jon and Neal, too? Of course, Perry loves this because they took out all of Neal's blazing guitar and the song focuses on Perry's vocals. I wonder if Perry will release a new solo album that features Journey's dirty dozen neutered in the same way. All the songs will focus on Perry's vocals and erase Neal's guitar-work from the history of the band. And the best part is Perry won't have to sing a lick. Just use the computer program and presto-change-o, it is done. Perry can have a new album without doing much at all. Yet, Perry is such a perfectionist that the new album won't be out until 2024.

[indigo]

Why is Steve looking for the person who made this bootleg video? Interesting!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaAG1FUwj_g

[Monker]

Why is Steve looking for the person who made this bootleg video? Interesting!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaAG1FUwj_g

I think he answers your question himself. It's a special moment to him, and he likes the video. Also, I know it is one of the more popular videos from the FTLOSM tour, probably the best he sounded on that tour.

[Arkansas]

This is kinda interesting. I wonder what the back story is.
"...when no standalone vocals exist from the original studio recording."

later~

[Monker]

This is kinda interesting. I wonder what the back story is.
"...when no standalone vocals exist from the original studio recording."

later~

I find it hard to believe that Herbie would lose the master tapes....Also, how did they remaster the catalog back during TBF if they have no tapes?

I have a feeling that either Sony or Nightmare own the masters and they were not easy to get ahold of. So, to save time and hassle, they just put the song through the program to isolate the vocals. I'm sure that is much easier than trying to get access to the master tapes....but it is just a guess.

[Loneman1]

This is kinda interesting. I wonder what the back story is.
"...when no standalone vocals exist from the original studio recording."

later~

I find it hard to believe that Herbie would lose the master tapes....Also, how did they remaster the catalog back during TBF if they have no tapes?

I have a feeling that either Sony or Nightmare own the masters and they were not easy to get ahold of. So, to save time and hassle, they just put the song through the program to isolate the vocals. I'm sure that is much easier than trying to get access to the master tapes....but it is just a guess.

Yup, this is my line of thinking as well. I know Herbie said in one of his last interviews that Sony had the live footage of every concert from '82-'87 via Nocturne since he said Neal basically gave it all away to them. If they have all that stuff, I'm pretty sure they own all things Journey from back in their heyday.

On the other hand, I remember reading someplace long ago that on at least a few tracks the band just went in and played the song in its entirety in the studio and that could have been their "master", though that isn't usually the case in the studio. Also, that doesn't hold a lot of water since with all the separate mics involved there had to have been at the very least a MOSTLY 100% vocal track, with maybe some guiding percussion or something in the recording as well?

[JourneyHard]

Soon, the technology will be advanced enough so they can use old Journey recordings to make brand new songs and have Perry with his top vocals from back in the day. The band won't have to play and nobody will have to sing. It will all be done with the computers. That is where this is all headed.

[Journey/Survivor]

In my neighborhood on Halloween night some people will put stereo speakers in the front windows of their house and play "spooky" music while kids are trick-or-treating. One of the most common songs is John Carpenter's theme music for the movie Halloween.

It would be kind of funny and cool if someone were to play the Separate Ways Stranger Things mix over their stereo while kids are trick-or-treating.

It would also be cool (Although, I know it won't happen) if Journey were to get John Carpenter's permission to release a similar version of Separate Ways to the one that was used by Stranger Things, but also incorporate Carpenter's Halloween music into the recording.

Maybe any of you who are skilled keyboardists can record your own version of a Separate Ways/Halloween theme music version and put it up on YouTube?