Journey (is) back

By Clarence Yu
Contributor

I’ve been very lucky to have a sixth sense when it comes to getting a hold of good music.

In these days of downloading music, I rarely buy CD’s, and if I do, they are from bands that in my mind deserve a slot in my CD case drawer.

Journey is one of those bands. When a friend advised me of his impending trip to Manila I immediately requested him to find me a copy of their latest release, Revelation, which is available only at Wal-Mart Stores in North America. Much of my interest stemmed from news that their new lead singer was Arnel Pineda of the Philippines.

I am one of the lucky ones to have possession of it at this time, and would like share my thoughts on the band in general and a personal review on the new album.

Journey burst onto the music scene in the late 1970’s and early 80’s, ruling the pop/rock scene with a lethal combination of catchy melodies, syrupy, sugar coated lyrics, and the “Voice” — as Steve Perry, the original lead singer of Journey, was and is called up to this day.

With a voice as sweet as saccharin, guitar riffs extraordinaire, (Neal Schon), driving keyboards (Jonathan Cain), a thunderous bass (Ross Valory) and a jazz/rock fusion groove (drummer Steve Smith), it was tantamount to eating ice cream on a hot summer night. And who does not love ice cream? It’s sweet, and it tastes good.

With Journey, the music they have created over the years is as sweet as sweet it can ever be. Who can ever forget those long drives at night when you turned up the radio and heard, “Send Her My Love,” or “I’ll Be All Right Without You” without getting a chill up your spine. Or for others who still remember prom nights with the local band playing “Faithfully.”

Filling stadiums and breaking adult oriented rock (AOR) chart sales, the “City By The Bay” band (“Lights”) had mass appeal in large part due to their excellent pop songwriting. Tales of broken hearts, fidelity, commitment, breaking up, making up, faith, love and anything sappy in general were common themes of every boy and girl relationship that the band collectively tapped.

“Separate Ways,” “Open Arms,” and “Don’t Stop Believin,” stand out as classic examples of their excellent songwriting abilities, and they were a band that people actually flocked to stadiums to see live in concert before the onset of MTV (a formidable feat, in my opinion, considering that music videos were not en vogue during the time).

After considerable success with Journey, Steve Perry went solo with two albums while maintaining membership with the band. “Foolish Heart,” and “Oh Sherrie” were probably the most commercial successes from his solo venture, and remain staples on classic rock radio to this day.

With the arrival of heavy metal and hard rock in the mid to late 80’s, the band found difficulties in maintaining a fickle audience, no doubt by this time largely influenced by the visceral images from MTV.

The band never formally called it quits, but it was apparent with guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain’s new band, Bad English (“When I See You Smile” being their most notable chart success), that things were not quite as stable within the homefront.

Fastforward to 1996. Journey “reunites” with an excellent album “Trial By Fire” produced by none other than legendary Kevin “Spank” Shirley, also producer of well-known bands such as Aerosmith and the Black Crowes, to name a few (the nickname “Spank,” owing to the distinct wall of sound that he is known for creating during the recording and mixing process).

Steve Perry then refuses to tour behind the album due to vocal cord problems and hip-replacement surgery, and the reunion was short-lived.

The year 2001 marked the arrival of the aptly named release “Arrival” with new singer Steve Augeri and new drummer Deen Castronovo in tow (Schon’s and Cain’s bandmate from Bad English).

Unimaginable at the time to find a singer to fill in Perry’s shoes, Augeri was first introduced to the general public as a member of Journey via a cut on the “Armageddon” movie soundtrack album (“Remember Me”), and Deen Castranovo faithfully duplicated the classic sound of drummer Steve Smith (his most famous recorded performance outside of Journey being drums and percussion on the 1984 Bryan Adams track “Heaven.”

Augeri gave the band a second life and renewed hopes for fans of Perry’s voice, which Augeri aptly duplicated, albeit on lower octaves. “Higher Place” and “All The Way” were strong cuts from this album, but were met with little commercial response from fans, most of whom were die-hard Perry fanatics. The band’s decrease in popularity was evident on their 2001 Live Concert DVD “Journey 2001,” playing to a much smaller audience relative to the stadiums they filled in the ‘80’s.

After a second album, Augeri called it quits (or Journey fired him, depending on what you have read) owing to “vocal cord problems.” Sounds similar to Perry’s departure?

After a brief tour with temporary singer Jeff Scott Soto (from Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force—music fans, just Google it), the band again called it quits. A brief resurgence, notably in the final episode of The Sopranos, where “Don’t Stop Believin” was featured in the final cliffhanging scene, and in a derivative remake of “Open Arms” by Mariah Carey, perhaps renewed hopes for the band that they could still write and record simply good music without the “Voice.”

The search was on for a new singer. Risky as might have been in searching, other bands had pulled it off before (Van Halen, Genesis, Motley Crue), finding second lives and even more success with new singers.

Enter Filipino Arnel Pineda.

Pineda’s story is the stuff of a million American Idol fan’s dreams combined. With a 25- year music career in Manila and Hong Kong, singing with numerous cover bands under his belt, Arnel first gained prominence in the Philippines as lead singer of the ’80’s band, AMO (in English, loosely translated as “Master”).

The infamous (or famous, depending on your point of view) story of Mr. Schon’s discovery of Mr. Pineda on YouTube is now a part of urban legend. Basically, Mr. Schon felt that looking for a singer the traditional way was time consuming, thus committing himself to hours of browsing on YouTube. He found a clip of the band “Zoo,” and in his gut, he knew Pineda was the one.

After a brief audition process, the band immediately went in to record their latest release, again with Shirley on producing duties.

Considering the limited amount of time the band had to adjust to Mr. Pineda and vice versa, Journey version 3 was able to churn out high output, with a 3-disc package: one disc of 11 new songs, the other an 11 re-recorded greatest hits compilation, and the third, a live DVD of their recent performance at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

With a huge question on whether Mr. Pineda could fill in the void left by Mr. Perry and co., I was, suffice to say, quite hesitant to listen to the new disc for fear of disappointment.

The opening track, “Never Walk Away,” was enough to erase any doubts in my mind. I was blown away immediately. The opening, soaring guitar riff with a crash of drums and bass was enough to keep me smiling as it opened the door to the possibilities of a new, relevant Journey. Mr. Pineda’s voice was immediately seared into my brain with the first line: “So young in love and they couldn’t wait/said their vows just to run away.” Alright, that is cheesy lyric but that is what great songwriting is all about. Again the songs revisit familiar themes of running away, love, broken promises, etc., the band fires on all cylinders on this driving, propelling track.

Strong cuts on the album include: the ballad “After All These Years,” which is sure to make waves on Adult Contemporary Radio. “What It Takes to Win” is an aerobic, anthemic tune that would fit in great on any boxing movie soundtrack. “Like A Sunshower” is a doo-wop type of ballad with a chord structure reminiscent of “Lights” from Journey’s earlier material but is strong enough to stand out on its own. “Change for the Better” has Mr. Pineda showcasing vocal staccato breaks reminiscent of an earlier hit, “Any Way You Want It.”

Mr. Pineda’s voice is full of fire and soul, and combined with the band, becomes an instrument unto itself. I’ve seen a YouTube performance of “Never Walk Away” and Jonathan Cain (keyboards) is playing rhythm guitar. The song is pure melodic rock, without the aid of keyboards, and from a technical standpoint, that’s very difficult to pull off.

There is an ethereal, live ambience feel to the whole album, like it was cut live in the studio. Mr. Pineda respectfully gives a nod to Steve Perry by being able to duplicate his signature high tenor, yet infuses his own raw, rough and fiery style. I doubt if Mr. Perry would be able to pull of the rough and raw vocals of Mr. Pineda on “What It Takes to Win.”

The rest of the album is very strong material, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t post high sales. Mr. Schon and Mr. Castronovo are in fine form throughout the album.

Mr. Schon is truly an underrated guitarist, who not only is technically good, but rhythmically great. I am particularly impressed with Mr. Castronovo’s rock-solid drums and the raw, primal sound of the production by Mr. Shirley.

The 2nd disc of re-recorded versions of their greatest hits is good but not great. That’s fine with me, and enough to keep a Journey fan’s appetite wet.

I am a guitarist myself, having played in Filipino cover bands for 20 years and I know that Mr. Pineda is not the best singer here. But he is the most optimal singer, a consummate professional who is the best fit for Journey. After all, he has been singing Journey tunes for most of his career. I guess he had 25 years of rehearsal, and he rightly deserves this job.

With Mr. Pineda on vocal duties, there is that distinct possibility that Journey may finally escape the stigma of “The Voice,” and finally be given credit simply as a group of guys who made good music, and are still continuing to make relevant, good tunes, as a band that never tried to be hip in the first place.

Hard core fans and critics may disagree, but opinions vary, and, as they say, music does the best talking. Listen for yourself and close your eyes. There might be a day when the question is reversed: Will Mr. Perry be able to fill in Mr. Pineda’s shoes? Buy this disc, and don’t stop listening and believing.

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