Don't Stop Believin'
What a cliche title. I almost went back and changed it to something else, but I'm trying to practice that discipline of "just write and leave it alone" (my own words). Eh, oh well.
So I broke down and bought the new Journey CD yesterday. "A Walmart Exclusive! (tm)". Yes, that Journey. Oh, haven't you heard? They found a new lead singer that sounds just like Steve Perry. But better, in my opinion, but I'll get to that later. The new lead singer is Arnel Pineda from the Philippines and he's had a very storied life to this point. And how did they find him? Youtube, of course! Not some stupid "Replace Steve Perry" reality show, but Youtube. CBS Sunday Morning did a great piece on him this last Sunday. Check it out (courtesy Youtube, of course!):
Very inspiring story, don't you agree? Well, that plus the fact that the Walmart Exclusive! (tm) was a 3 disc set for 11.88 compelled me to get one. I have caved to the "gotta have it" pressure.
The 3 disc set contains the following:
Disc 1: New material written by the original band (minus Steve Perry) and recorded by the new lineup. 11 songs.
Disc 2: The classic Journey hits rerecorded by the new lineup - the original band plus Arnel Pineda. 11 songs.
Disc 3: A DVD that is a video of their first concert together - the new lineup, that is. In Las Vegas. In March.
So I get the set on the way to work yesterday. First thing I do is open it up, then stick in disc 2. Yes, disc 2. Why? Because Journey (the great years) was part of the soundtrack to my life during high school and college. I wanted to hear the new old stuff before hearing the new new stuff. I fire up iTunes and proceed to "import" the CD. Interesting side note here: When iTunes went and got the track names, 2 of them had typos in them. Does anyone know what service iTunes uses for track names? "Importing" complete, I then stick in disc 1. Oh, nice! iTunes can't find ANY track names for disc 1! Do I want to import anyway? Yes, and I'll go manually edit them in later. AARRGGHH!!
So I crank up disc 2 and listen to a couple of tracks. Now, mind you, this is at work so there are plenty of interruptions. I get through 1 song, and partly through another. Then the interruptions start. Both visitors and IM. I manage to get through most of the rest of the new stuff here and there over the morning. Stupid job. But anyway, so far I'm liking what I'm hearing. In my current iTunes collection I have Journey's Greatest Hits. Done by the original lineup. Naturally, some of the same songs are on both discs. I hesitated just a minute before typing this, but actually I like the new singer better than Steve Perry. I can actually make out lyrics I couldn't make out before. I know this will bring out the haters, but I have to say this new lineup makes me happy that Steve Perry is being a brat and refusing to talk to the band (see CBS Sunday Morning story above).
That afternoon, I get to disc 1. As a review I read in the NY Times (thanks, bugmenot!) said (paraphrased), if you're a Journey fan, then you'll like this. And they're right - pretty classic Journey stuff. Then I hit the song "What It Takes To Win" and heard the line "There is no I in TEAM". aarrgghh. FAIL!
So, in a nutshell, what are my thoughts?
Disc 1 - 3 out of 5 stars. Considering a 2 simply because of the line "There is no I in TEAM".
Disc 2 - 4 out of 5 stars. Leaning to 5, actually, because of how much more I like the new singer.
DVD - Not yet viewed. I will update this post with a rating for it and an overall rating when I get a chance to view the DVD.
The nutshell of the nutshell?
If you were a Journey fan back in the day, then this is well worth the 11.88 for the Walmart Exclusive! (tm). Except for having to both shop at and financially support Walmart. But that is for another post.
If you're not a Journey fan from back in the day, but are even interested, I'd say for all this content it is still worth 11.88. But what do I know. I'm writing this review for free, without even any links to anything that'll give me a kickback if you buy something.
So I broke down and bought the new Journey CD yesterday. "A Walmart Exclusive! (tm)". Yes, that Journey. Oh, haven't you heard? They found a new lead singer that sounds just like Steve Perry. But better, in my opinion, but I'll get to that later. The new lead singer is Arnel Pineda from the Philippines and he's had a very storied life to this point. And how did they find him? Youtube, of course! Not some stupid "Replace Steve Perry" reality show, but Youtube. CBS Sunday Morning did a great piece on him this last Sunday. Check it out (courtesy Youtube, of course!):
Very inspiring story, don't you agree? Well, that plus the fact that the Walmart Exclusive! (tm) was a 3 disc set for 11.88 compelled me to get one. I have caved to the "gotta have it" pressure.
The 3 disc set contains the following:
Disc 1: New material written by the original band (minus Steve Perry) and recorded by the new lineup. 11 songs.
Disc 2: The classic Journey hits rerecorded by the new lineup - the original band plus Arnel Pineda. 11 songs.
Disc 3: A DVD that is a video of their first concert together - the new lineup, that is. In Las Vegas. In March.
So I get the set on the way to work yesterday. First thing I do is open it up, then stick in disc 2. Yes, disc 2. Why? Because Journey (the great years) was part of the soundtrack to my life during high school and college. I wanted to hear the new old stuff before hearing the new new stuff. I fire up iTunes and proceed to "import" the CD. Interesting side note here: When iTunes went and got the track names, 2 of them had typos in them. Does anyone know what service iTunes uses for track names? "Importing" complete, I then stick in disc 1. Oh, nice! iTunes can't find ANY track names for disc 1! Do I want to import anyway? Yes, and I'll go manually edit them in later. AARRGGHH!!
So I crank up disc 2 and listen to a couple of tracks. Now, mind you, this is at work so there are plenty of interruptions. I get through 1 song, and partly through another. Then the interruptions start. Both visitors and IM. I manage to get through most of the rest of the new stuff here and there over the morning. Stupid job. But anyway, so far I'm liking what I'm hearing. In my current iTunes collection I have Journey's Greatest Hits. Done by the original lineup. Naturally, some of the same songs are on both discs. I hesitated just a minute before typing this, but actually I like the new singer better than Steve Perry. I can actually make out lyrics I couldn't make out before. I know this will bring out the haters, but I have to say this new lineup makes me happy that Steve Perry is being a brat and refusing to talk to the band (see CBS Sunday Morning story above).
That afternoon, I get to disc 1. As a review I read in the NY Times (thanks, bugmenot!) said (paraphrased), if you're a Journey fan, then you'll like this. And they're right - pretty classic Journey stuff. Then I hit the song "What It Takes To Win" and heard the line "There is no I in TEAM". aarrgghh. FAIL!
So, in a nutshell, what are my thoughts?
Disc 1 - 3 out of 5 stars. Considering a 2 simply because of the line "There is no I in TEAM".
Disc 2 - 4 out of 5 stars. Leaning to 5, actually, because of how much more I like the new singer.
DVD - Not yet viewed. I will update this post with a rating for it and an overall rating when I get a chance to view the DVD.
The nutshell of the nutshell?
If you were a Journey fan back in the day, then this is well worth the 11.88 for the Walmart Exclusive! (tm). Except for having to both shop at and financially support Walmart. But that is for another post.
If you're not a Journey fan from back in the day, but are even interested, I'd say for all this content it is still worth 11.88. But what do I know. I'm writing this review for free, without even any links to anything that'll give me a kickback if you buy something.
Labels: music reviews
posted by learningtowrite | 10:52 AM
2 Comments:
The voice that made this band famous and VERY rich gets "replaced" because he didn't have hip surgery fast enough, and HE's the brat?????
PLEASE!! (same CBS interview)
Why in the HELL would he want to talk to these people again?
It's ALL about money with Neal Schon – no matter the consequences. He copied the classics as close as possible so he could sell them for hamburger commercials – something Perry wouldn’t allow. (ms interview)
Arnel’s a great vocalist, with a great story – but it doesn’t make up for this whole exercise in bastardization and greed.
&, Better than Perry, yeah, whatever. Just more proof the masses with buy any McDonaldized crap.
The brat comment was about how Perry's only response to communication attempts seems to be "Have your lawyer talk to my lawyer." Whatever the issues involved are, that attitude sucks.
As far as the McDonalized crap - I totally agree - this is not "quality" music, but it wasn't back in the 80's either. This definitely falls in the "guilty pleasure" category, and if I hadn't been a fan back in the day (when I really didn't know enough to distinguish quality music from crap) then I probably wouldn't even be interested in this today.
Better than Perry? Well, even I said it was a close call. Lyrics are important to me, so maybe it helps that I can actually understand everything coming out of Arnel's mouth.
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