Journey's new CD, Eclipse: a group revitalized, energized and rocking hard

The usual disclaimer: this is a break from political banter, so if this Journey post doesn’t interest you, there’s the regular brew of new content on the Blend to consume…Also, for the “No Perry, No Journey” crowd – let it go. This is not the place to stir up that argument.

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As a long-time Journey fan, I knew from the grapevine that Eclipse was going to be a surprise for those aficionados (old and new) that were expecting pop-rock classic hits churned out by the band.
This album rocks. And the reviews have been some of the best in the band’s career, as band founder Neal Schon decided to take the band in a muscular, guitar-driven direction that is audacious for a legacy or “classic” rock band with a reputation as an 80s hit machine. There is no coasting. You can stream it here. There are also clips at Amazon.
I was one of the fortunate fans to see Journey debut five of the new tunes from Eclipse in Las Vegas in February — Edge of Emotion, Resonate, City of Hope, Chain of Love, and Human Feel, so that preview only heightened my anticipation as I waited for the CD I had pre-ordered to arrive. (BTW, all of the photos here I took at that amazing Vegas concert).
In concert, lead singer Arnel Pineda and his mind-blowing rock pipes has had to prove himself to many skeptical fans who still carry a torch for legendary Steve Perry. It didn’t help that an entire CD of the last album, Revelation, contained re-recordings of many of the Journey classics, an arrangement dictated by Wal-Mart, which distributed the CD. That means that Journey, for all intents and purposes, is an indy band in the U.S. — not beholden to any record company, but sans that distribution network, thus the relationship with the ubiquitous Wally World.
The fresh material on Revelation was clearly meant to evoke memories of the band in its classic period – heavy on Jon Cain’s keyboards, mostly synthesizers, and guitar legend and band founder Neal Schon slipping in his hooks and solos. Vocally, there were glimpses into Arnel Pineda’s own delivery and voice, but in hindsight this was a training wheels album for him; Eclipse is all Arnel — there’s no ghost of Steve Perry anywhere on this album. And he shines; the versatility of his delivery, his range, and notably, his power, is on full display here. It’s clear that Schon and Cain (the principal songwriters on Eclipse), have found another vocal muse again; they have been inspired to weave tunes to test the boundaries of Pineda’s pipes. And oh they do.
There are no compromises for 3 minute tunes. Aside from an instrumental that closes Eclipse, each song clocks in at over 4 minutes, and many over 6. That said, there are definitely songs primed for airplay and can easily be trimmed for a radio edit.
Before I move on to a track-by-track review, I have to note that the production on Eclipse is amazing; the textures of multiple layers of guitars, percussion and vocals are masterfully mixed, with subtleties, backward loops, feedback, delicious sounds to stimulate your ears for the sonic wails to come. It’s a world away from the sorry compressed production on Revelation; its songs deserved better treatment to show off the musicianship.
Eclipse is a work of musical craftsmen at their peak – and it’s good to see them peak again. It’s a delight in that its new @ss-kicking, complex songs translate well live, and provide a different, equally pleasing listening-with-headphones-on experience on CD. Oh, and blasting it in your car is highly advised.
The tracks, all by Cain/Schon except where noted:
1. City Of Hope (6:02)


2. Edge Of The Moment (5:27)


3. Chain Of Love (6:10)


4. Tantra (6:27)


5. Anything Is Possible (5:21)


6. Resonate (5:11)


7. She’s A Mystery (6:41) (Schon, Cain, Arnel Pineda)


8. Human Feel (6:44)


9. Ritual (4:57)


10. To Whom It May Concern (5:15) (A. Pineda, Schon, Cain, Erik Pineda)


11. Someone (4:35)


12. Venus (3:34)
Produced by Kevin Shirley, Neal Schon, and Jonathan Cain


Recorded by Kevin Shirley and David Kalmusky


Mixed and mastered by David Kalmusky
The Band
Neal Schon – lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals


Jonathan Cain – keyboards, rhythm guitars, backing vocals


Ross Valory – bass, backing vocals


Deen Castronovo – drums, percussion, backing vocals


Arnel Pineda – lead & backing vocals
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1. City Of Hope (*****): Now this is the way to reintroduce the public to Journey. Created as an ode to Pineda’s home city of Manila, where the band made a stop on its 2009 tour, it’s the best of both worlds – an instant concert anthem with positivity at its core, and the debut of Schon’s vision of Eclipse as a guitar-driven album. Ross Valory provides a pumping bassline as well. And this is still melodic rock – the chorus is infectious:

There’s a city of hope beyond our fears,


Where miracles happen,


Where truth can be heard,


Don’t you wanna go to the city of hope

Arnel’s vocals soar with an energy that pervades the entire album. This screams to be a single. Fans do get a taste of the guitar shredding to come at the end of COH, and its intensity only foreshadows what’s to come in the next track…

2. Edge Of The Moment (*****). Heavy guitar, slamming bass, insistent drums, dark synths, this song oozes a bold, raw sexuality I’ve not heard from the J-Boys in long time. Arnel even shudders a hot Anticipating…uhhhh… right to let you know just how intense his passion is.

With your sweet love I lose all track of time,


‘Til I don’t know if it’s day or night.


Before it all fades into the past,


Wanna see how long we can make it last.


Come a little closer,


Into my arms.

Again, the pumping rhythm is melodic, dark, but draws you completely in. And, oh man, I was seriously enjoying Neal’s use of wah-wah pedal (!) You wonder if the intensity of this one-two punch of City of Hope and Edge will continue…
3. Chain Of Love (****): It starts out with soft sounds back in the mix and the welcome piano of Jonathan Cain. The plaintive, pure tones of Arnel Pineda’s opening salvo is served up and then replaced by the introduction of heavy, rhythm guitars and slamming skins by Deen Castronovo that encourages some serious headbanging.

Pathways in my mind that lead to nowhere


Promises of happiness that leave me wanting more


When my desire becomes a nightmare


Feel paranoia about what I’m wishing for.


If I could just let go of who I think I am


Surrender to the silence, help me understand

This is the darkest song yet, but you’re kept in check with the melodic chord progressions as the intensity of the beats continue. This one really tests Arnel’s pipes; he delivers flawlessly.
More below the fold.4. Tantra (**1/2): Based on the number of plokkers (fans on the AP Rocks fan site) who love this song, my grade here is not going to be popular, but it is what it is. The momentum created by the first three songs on Eclipse is completely halted by this ballad. Not that the Journey ballad is unimpressive. Arnel Pineda puts his heart and soul into Tantra, but my first thought when I heard the song was “this belongs in a Disney animated movie a la The Lion King or some such.”

Old beliefs let us down, many roads lead to heaven.


One love, many faiths all share the world in search of grace.


Across the universe, the same force that moves the earth’s


In my heart, makes me whole, wash my doubt and fear away.

You know, a grand, sweeping majestic song about the universe and our place in it. AP’s vocals are so exquisite, almost too exquisite. I tell you what – it’s proof that he’d kick ass on the Broadway stage belting out difficult songs.
But for me, Tantra doesn’t belong on Eclipse.
5. Anything Is Possible (*****): Sheer perfection. This track returns to a more classic Journey sound – love hearing the piano Jon. Anything is Possible reminds you how Journey can hit the sweet spot with chord progression, melody, harmony — and Neal Schon goes right back into hitmaster guitar solo mode effortlessly.

Try to break my brick, throw away the stone


Take a chance on something, build a castle you call home.


Live for the moment, you can’t put into words.


Don’t keep a song inside, let your voice be heard

And drum monster Deen Castronovo, who gets to let loose on the hard rock songs on Eclipse shows he can ratchet his power skins down to do straight pop-rock on command. AIP deserves to be a hit.
6. Resonate (*****): What can I say? This is the best produced track on the album. In concert this is a slamming, pumping song that the audience instantly got into in Vegas, but on CD the subtleties and choices that the band makes in painting an aural picture for the listener are stunning. Again, Ross Valory’s bassline is up front in the mix, giving the song an instant sensuality; the mix of harmonic backing vocals slide into Arnel’s lead vocals as he weaves the lyrics around the music.

Feel your presence all around me


On the same frequency


It’s all our love can be when we


Resonate… Resonate

A darker sound indeed, but it could easily be a hit for ears in need of relief from the autotuned pop pablum out there now.

7. She’s A Mystery (*****): Now this kind of change of pace, unlike Tantra, is a satisfying, surprising confection. One of the two songs contributed by Arnel Pineda, it evokes the singer/songwriter songs of the ’70s — the crystal clear acoustic guitar, sweet harmonies of the backing vocals. The lyrics are equally sweet (and there’s a reason for that, as the mystery unfolds.

(Chorus): Tattooed on a sacred place, she’s a mystery (she’s mine)


Wondering if she loves me; she’s a mystery (so fine) She’s a sweet


Confusion


(Verse): She’s my zen, my own, my only Shangri-la


She’s my French champagne, she’s my ooh la la

As you wait for the bridge, the guitar strums along, with swirling synthesizers ushering a change of tempo…and then in a complete, unexpected shift, Neal explodes in with a shredding guitar, opening that Pandora’s Box mystery of a woman…Arnel switches to hard rock mode vocals that just blow you out of the water. Incredible.
8. Human Feel (****): This is an ambitious song – and a showcase for Deen Castronovo, who drives this song with a syncopation that is tribal and unusual. And the Hammond organ — thank you god, for its return on Eclipse!. (An aside – when the band introduced this song in Vegas, I was in the third row and what was hilarious is that the people in two front rows were completely flabbergasted by the rhythm – they didn’t know how to dance to it.)
Deen’s drumming and Arnel’s vocals reach an almost excruciating, insistent four verses before going to the chorus, the lyrics reflecting equal frustration — with technology:

In a jungle of hardware and mass frustration,


Overloaded with way too much information these days.


I’m needing more than the virtual world I’m seeing.


Could someone just let me talk to a live human being?

The release of the chorus is accompanied by a change to a familiar tempo/beat that drives to the chorus and then returns to the pumping tribal rhythm and Neal’s hot licks.
9. Ritual (***): This is another throwback to the classic Journey hit sound, but doesn’t satisfy on the same level as Anything Is Possible, but it’s serviceable filler. Arnel’s vocal delivery is one of the strongest on the album – he takes on long and difficult notes here, but the song’s just a tad too formulaic.
10. To Whom It May Concern (****): The other song contributed by Arnel Pineda (and his brother Erik). This is a sweeping song sprinklied with spiritual references. The guitar and synth melody line are engaging (so much so that the coda is recalled in the last track, Venus). Arnel Pineda’s earnest delivery is what keeps the song from drifting too far into overly sentimental territory.
I think this is one of the key talents Arnel has brought to the table on Eclipse – his interpretation of the lyrics throughout Eclipse is one of the reasons you want to listen to the songs over and over to see how both he and the rest of the JBoys forge new ground on their own terms.
11. Someone (***1/2): A last return to classic Journey pop on Eclipse. It’s another “think positive” love song with traditional verse/chorus/verse/Neal solo structure, but it’s a more pleasing use of the formula than Ritual.

Once you let someone love you


You’ll find out an open door


A place in your heart you’ve never been before


Believe it’s never too late


For someone to set you free


Once you let someone love you

What this sets the listener up for is a reprise of the melody from To Whom It May Concern with the last track…
12. Venus (***) An instrumental that is short enough to be enjoyable as you hear Neal’s artistic noodling on the guitar, making it wail, scream and weave throughout the melody. It’s a nice endcap to Eclipse.

Pick yourself up after the knockout: queue up Journey for the blogmistress

Yes, the usual disclaimer – Blenders who aren’t Journey fans, scroll on to non-Journey content below. That also goes for the “No Perry, No Journey” crowd. I like them both. Humor me or face the trap door.

From an earlier Tweet:

@Pam_Spaulding Screwed. I just signed papers that put #PHB into the $ abyss. Can’t talk about it yet, but many of you know why.

So I’m cheering myself (or trying to) up by listening to ‘City of Hope’ – from Journey’s new album, Eclipse, drops May 27. The song is inspired by the band’s visit to Manila (lead singer Arnel Pineda’s home city) in 2009. City of Hope is the first single released in the U.S.
The band has been south of the border in March and April, packing them in at stops in Santiago, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Lima and Caracas. Most Blenders know that in February I trekked out to Vegas for one of the two “warm up” concerts in the States (the other was in Reno that same weekend). It was a sell-out crowd and we were treated to five of the new songs from Eclipse – Edge of the Moment, Resonate, City of Hope, Chain of Love, and Human Feel. As I said in my concert review, my picks for most radio-friendly  – if it gets played by DJs — are City of Hope and Resonate.

For audiophiles, Eclipse is not your “Open Arms” Journey, btw.

Not that I don’t love “Open Arms” — it’s like a warm fuzzy blanket ballad you rely on. And you want to hear it in concert — and you do (and you can always pop in a classic Journey album to hear the magnificent Steve Perry). But I don’t think we’ll hear anything like that on Eclipse. And it certainly isn’t Revelation, the last CD (the first with Arnel Pineda), either. Why? Based on the five songs introduced at the concert (and the above video), this is flat-out rock, darker, but still melodic album, with heavy emphasis on Neal Schon’s guitar licks. It has punching up-front-in-the-mix drums courtesy of Deen Castronovo, rhythm of Ross Valory on bass and less emphasis on Jon Cain’s keyboards as the prime mover. Arnel, my friends,  is at the top of his game.

And unlike Revelation, the production is so much cleaner and crisper. I can’t even begin to describe how sharp this production is by comparison, none of the muddiness that marred last album, which was so oddly mixed that some of the instrumentation sounds like it’s under water. And that’s from someone who loves the songs/songwriting on Revelations; it’s perpetually loaded in my car. But the production left much to be desired.

Listening to City of Hope several times on headphones is a welcome opportunity to hear each of the J-Boys work the song and the groove. I hope it gets a chance on radio. It’s surely of much more value than Auto-Tune crap on top of the charts (Bieber…Bieber…)

That is all for now; more about the royal abyss and the bloodsuckers in due time. More pleasant thoughts (and sounds) for me…




From February’s concert in Vegas; with some of my fellow J-Boys fans.

Journey tours in 2011-2012

Blogmistress heaven: five new songs from 'Eclipse' debut in throw-down set by Journey in Vegas

The usual disclaimer: it’s an unusual break from political banter, so if this off-theme Journey post doesn’t interest you, there’s the regular brew of new content on the Blend to consume…

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Let’s just say that I’ll be right up front when Journey comes to North Carolina in August (and go to a couple of other cities).

The concert was THAT good. Of course most fans would say that, but the energy Journey has playing live has always far surpassed its studio output, and this is absolutely the case. This was my first in-person concert, though I’ve been a fan since the late 70s. Sitting in a third row seat with a fellow friend who flew 24 hours from Japan to see this show at Planet Hollywood – Las Vegas, it was almost beyond belief to be that close to the band. And she’s seen Journey 20 times, the majority of the concents with legendary frontman Steve Perry. Sachi said she was blown away last night by Arnel’s performance.

As you can see by the photos (and I ended up with over 300+ fantastic shots), it was an incredible view. All of the guys in the band looked fit and road-ready; it’s going to be a looong tour into next year. There’s nothing like being able to make eye contact with Arnel Pineda, Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain and Ross Valory (sorry to say, I wish it were possible with drummer Deen Castronovo, who is a complete monster on the skins and has an angelic voice) while they jam to five completely new tunes that they debuted from the forthcoming “Eclipse” CD; it drops on May 24. (NOTE: See the setlist – and video of the five new songs – below the fold.)

On my way to Vegas to see Journey kick off its 'Eclipse' tour

As I’m typing this I am onboard the second leg of my flight from RDU-ATL-LAS, around 12AM ET. I was so angered by the filing of the marriage amendment bill in NC on Tuesday that Ms. Cheepy Blogmistress paid the $4.95 for air wireless to file my post on it. So I’ll get my money’s worth and get a head start on this much more pleasant topic.

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Your blogmistress is traveling to Las Vegas to see her favorite band, Journey, in concert at Planet Hollywood on Wednesday Feb. 23. (Naysayers can move along to the next post lest you be assimilated!) I’ve been a long-time fan, though unbelievably, this will be the first concert I’ve attended. I spent the 80s too poor, the 90s too busy working hard, and, well, most of the 2000s either doing too much day job and community work/volunteering, or, since 2004 political blogging. Heck, I didn’t even know current lead singer Arnel Pineda joined the band in 2008; I was too busy covering the presidential campaign!
I think the wake up call to do this — a bucket list item — was the creeping physical ailments over the last couple of years. The fibromyalgia and nearly disabling chronic and unpredictable pain, the neuropathy in my feet, and in November, the hysterectomy and slow recovery that I’m still going through were all red flags.
I said to myself, “Dammit, I better do this before I’m incapable of going to a concert and enjoying the experience!”
So I saved some scratch, got my director to ok the trip, and paid way more than I should have to get a third row, gold circle ticket to the kickoff show.  Kate couldn’t make this trip, but since a little birdie told me that Journey will play in two NC cities this summer, she’ll eventually get a chance to see them.
The J-Boys will play three songs from the new album “Eclipse“, which won’t be released until May 24th, so it will be a real treat to hear a taste of the new CD.

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UPDATE: I met a fellow Journey fan, Sachi, who flew all the way from Japan for the concert. She greeted me in the Planet Hollywood lobby.
It’s also been my lucky night – upgrade to Biz class on flt, now room upgrade at PH to kick-ass view of Paris Las Vegas & the Bellagio fountains!

More below the fold.Axe man and J-founder Neal Schon says:

“It sounds amazing. I’m in love with the record, which I haven’t said for a long time,” he said. “I really fought for this record to be the way it is. It’s a rock record. It’s built for the places we’re about to play. We’re playing a lot of big shows – South America and Europe – and we’re going to be touring the whole world on and off for two years. So with the addition of Arnel, we’ve become more of an international band which has been really great.”

As was the case with the highly successful “Revelation” album, the 12-track “Eclipse” will be a Wal-Mart-only release in North America. This worked out well for Journey, which is, in fact, now an indy band (classic AOR bands aren’t on the big labels anymore — thank the autotune gen for that — so you have to find a good distribution chain; and regardless, it’s hard to beat the ubiquitous Wally World on that score).
The man behind some of the bands greatest hits to date, keyboardist and composer Jonathan Cain, gave this description of “Eclipse” to the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Cain describes it as “a concept record with some spiritual themes to it. Pretty tough, hard-hitting stuff. This is Journey with big combat boots on. And helmet and a rifle.”
Cain’s lyrics sustain the band’s hopeful themes of “searching for soulfulness and enlightenment and love and all the stuff that Journey’s about.” But the album also has a larger dynamic sweep with “some darker stuff in there.”
“We just felt like it was time to send a message to the world about how we feel about life in general,” he says.
The album incorporates Hindu principles of Tantra, “the belief that life is kind of a weave, a circle of energy, a life force that’s woven with the universe in all of us. We dove deep into it.”

He calls it “one of those headphone records.” Should be interesting to hear that. (BTW, my wife Kate is an audiologist, so she reminded me to take earplugs to protect my hearing, lol). I can’t wait to rock out to Deen Castronovo – man he’s awesome on the skins, and has a wonderful voice to boot.
Blenders might recall my post from last year, “Blogmistress music overload: my Journey immersion weekend,” where I took out some time to reconnect with the music, old and new, and delved into th inspiring backstory behind Arnel Pineda’s discovery via YouTube by Neal Schon, and his rise from the streets of Manila to become an international rock star. With an enormous amount of pressure on him, he has flourished with the band with his nearly supernaturally powerful pipes and stage presence.
I won’t go back over the issue of how poorly some Journey fans have handled the comparison between Steve Perry (love him too!), and Arnel Pineda; you can read that in my earlier post, but it’s safe to say that the whole post-racial society claptrap is there in full embarrassing bloom. And I thought it was about the music.
But it is and that’s why I’m heading to Vegas. To see Journey.
I don’t see why people have to take sides –
1. Steve Perry isn’t coming back to Journey, and if even he did, it’s with 62-year-old pipes. He’s only human. Get over the fantasy, people and pop in an old CD and enjoy the classics.
2. If you want to hear Journey live, and the band is much better and rocks harder live than in studio takes, then go see them on the road and judge for yourself (or just stay away if you cannot bear any other frontman except SP).
3. If SP releases the new material he says he has ready to record, then enjoy it; I certainly will, but don’t expect it to sound like 1980s Journey.
With Eclipse this will be the second record with all new material recorded with Arnel Pineda. How hard is it for people to let go and just enjoy the Journey sound?
And I thought the rough and tumble of politics was nuts…
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One of the wonderful things I can say about Arnel Pineda is he’s genuinely grateful to his fans for their support and pops into the site’s chat room to gab with the plokkers (the faithful fans over at his web site; I am a member).
If you’re ever in the Philippines, his bar, Rockville, is loaded with fan-contributed and designed nameplates, art and contributed vinyl records. Bands compete in contests that showcase Filipino talent and the concerts are streamed; Arnel, prior to returning to the States for the tour, made frequent appearances at Rockville. He also believes in giving back to those who struggle as he once did, through the Arnel Pineda Foundation, Inc. (APFI) for street kids.
There will be a documentary released about Arnel’s story, “Everyman’s Journey.”

How much do I love Journey?

Music overload: my Journey immersion weekend

This post is clearly not for everyone—those of you who think Journey sucks can just move on to the next blog entry

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A month or so the subject of my weekend music immersion session was Anita Baker the songstress whose 1986 album Rapture I wore out, then a cassette, and I have at least two CDs. Spent a weekend playing it (and the other Baker CDs I have—up to Rhythm of Love) listening on headphones, on the stereo, in the car, etc. It’s always a therapeutic trip in my personal wayback machine.

And so it was this weekend that I immersed myself in the work one of my favorite rock bands, Journey. At 46 years old, that means I was enjoying the golden, OMG-gifted pipes of Steve Perry. The group was most recently in the news because the show Glee resurrected “Don’t Stop Believin’” for a new generation. A couple of years earlier the tune made headlines because of its use in the finale of The Sopranos. I haven’t seen either, btw.

My decision to do a personal Journey marathon was pretty accidental, since I sometimes surf YouTube to look for videos of groups from the past. I happened upon the video for Lights/Stay Awhile from Live in Houston 1981: The Escape Tour (1981). The moment I saw the crystal clear images of Steve Perry’s stage presence and heard The Voice it was like being swept into a time warp. He was blessed with an amazing instrument. I’m glad this moment in time was captured so well; the concert’s simplicity in today’s age of over-produced, um, crap, didn’t go unnoticed in reviews of the 2005 release of the DVD.

Filmed by a four month-old MTV and just days into the band’s first number one album Escape, Journey is at their peak. The recent addition of FM-friendly keyboardist/co-songwriter Jonathan Cain (fresh from the Babys) proved to be the final addition that the constantly changing concept band would need to crash both radio and retail charts. The concert DVD shows rows of fans in the same red-sleeved concert jerseys getting their fill of the hits “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Stone in Love,” “Who’s Crying Now,” “Open Arms,” “Anyway You Want It,” “Wheel In The Sky,” and “Lights.” Stage-wise, there is very little in terms of visual style with the exception of a few rows of gel lights to move with the music and a pair of spotlights that move with unlikely idols Steve Perry and Neal Schon.

 The hairs stood up on my neck as I watched Perry effortlessly hit every note with all the passion and emotion I remember and more from the vinyl, since it was live concert. To hit those high notes with such power night after night on a tour—this is a high octane catalog to deliver on—is an incredible feat, but Perry had the goods. It’s almost an impossible bar to clear. More on that later. The above-mentioned Amazon review neglected to mention “Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’”—that video is also simply fantastic. Anyway, you can tell that I was instantly smitten all over again and surfed around for more live videos (let’s just say Journey’s MTV video history is prone to induce laughter). I focused on what I guess is now considered “classic” Journey (the Perry years), since the group has, since Steve Perry left, been in various states of trying to preserve the legacy of his monstrously popular back catalog alive to this day. Those are the years I listened to the band. Not only listening to the music this weekend, I surfed around to bring myself up to date on the evolution of Journey over the years. It has been interesting, to say the least, particularly with the changes in lead vocalists since SP, who left briefly in 1994 after success as a solo act (see Street Talk’s “Oh Sherrie” and the wonderful “Foolish Heart”). He returned briefly in 1995, then left for good (let’s do the short version) after he injured his hip in a hiking accident and put off hip replacement surgery longer than the band was willing or able to wait for Perry. There’s a lot of back and after-story about this, but you can read more about that… Backstories One of the documents that really gets deep into the history and ups and downs of the band to the near-present day is by Ross Muir at The Journey Zone. It’s a long e-book and good grief, talk about band drama. Not as in sex, drugs and R&R, but a good deal of insight into band politics, business decisions and treatment of the lead singers, including Perry. I didn’t even know about this scandal.

In December 2006, Ross Muir burst onto the Journey scene with a blistering and hard-hitting commentary on Journey’s lip-syncing fiasco, including a lengthy exposition on the history of the band and later developments. Since then, Muir has followed up on his initial entry with a regular series of addendae, charting the Journey with lead singers Jeff Scott Soto and Arnel Pineda, with insights that continue to rock the Journey community.

It’s a fascinating read. The lip-syncing fiasco refers to events during the tenure of Perry’s initial replacement, the ill-fated, but talented Steve Augeri who came on in 1998 and was with the band for eight years. For those well-versed in the Journey catalog, it’s hard to imagine how Neal Schon was going to find any vocalist who handle the vocal intensity or emotive talents of Perry. Just the stress on the vocal cords for a man singing in the countertenor range at acetylene torch levels has to be punishing.  And apparently that’s what happened to Augeri, who, fairly early into his tenure was blowing himself out vocally. Muir’s book asserts (with pretty convincing evidence) that Journey basically did a Milli Vanilli, using pre-recorded vocals to assist Augeri for quite some time before he finally was dropped in the middle of a tour with Def Leppard in July 2006. In fact, you can catch a painful video of Augeri’s last Journey concert that shows just how damaged his voice was (he has since recovered and has a solo album out this year). Journey’s other members, including Schon, have denied the lip-sync story multiple times, though there’s a heck of a lot of smoke in Muir’s piece. Jeff Scott Soto from Talisman, a friend of Schon’s, picked up the pieces and stepped in to finish the tour as frontman (video); he has a wonderful voice and delivered, but he suffered from the “sounds nothing like Steve Perry” syndrome, and he was kicked to the curb in less than a year. That brings us to… Arnel Pineda, the dream, the voice, the fan racism…and success I was so involved in the political races of 2007 and 2008 to notice the fairy tale discovery by Neal Schon of Filipino cover band lead singer Arnel Pineda. Schon, left with a band without a lead singer and The Sopranos ending featuring “Don’t Stop Believin’” and no way to capitalize on it, scoured YouTube looking at tribute bands and found one of The Zoo, featuring Pineda, belting out Faithfully. Belting out is no lie; you can tell, even in the rough video, he’s projecting to the back of the room effortlessly. Pineda’s story is inspirational—going from being homeless in the Philippines, to bar bands to recording with and touring with Journey. But as always, sadly coming to America can have a price (read Muir’s piece for more) since we all know our seemingly intractable racism had to rear its ugly head.

When he was hired over a singer from a Journey cover band, he also had to learn to deal with an undercurrent of racism among some Journey fans. 

“When there were rumors about me joining Journey, there was a lot of that,” Pineda told me. “One of the worst things I read on a fan messageboard said that Journey is an all-American band and it should stay like that. But I don’t care. I just say, ‘Hey, grow up.’”

In this era of globalization, having a non American fronting a classic American band like Journey is an invigorating development that gives the band a new look and the possibility of expanding its fan base among Filipinos and Asians. 

“We’ve become a world band,” Cain said. “We’re international now. We’re not about one color.”

If that’s the worst thing Pineda has seen, he hasn’t checked YouTube comments. I swear to god, I’ve not seen so much filth – more than one idiot called him a “dancing monkey,” others “mongoloid”. Jesus. It’s bad enough there’s enough negativity for him to deal with in terms of 1) recreating the Perry sound without making it a clone; 2) having the vocal chops to handle that difficult songbook; 3) hitting the road in America and dealing with preserving his voice, 4) the media attention, and 5) fitting in with the band. Our country is sick. Apparently professional lightning can strike twice as the album Pineda recorded on short notice when joining, Revelation, went platinum and the subsequent tour, with Heart and Cheap Trick grossed over $35M. That album also included Pineda versions of Journey’s better known songs (another matter with a backstory in Muir’s book). In 2009 the group released Journey: Live In Manila, which was the first time Pineda had returned to his homeland as part of Journey. I happened to catch a truncated version of this on VH1 Classics last week. Of course as a big Steve Perry fan, I was skeptical about (and fearful for) Pineda as I would any new frontman for Journey, so I decided that I’d devote as much time this weekend watching and listening to the latest incarnation of the band; this Manila concert gave me an opportunity to do so. I was blown away. Arnel Pineda soared. At 42 years old he was a dynamo looking 20 years younger, running, leaping and commanding all parts of the stage—and hitting those Perry notes (and more), particularly on the fast tempo, harder rocking tunes—I thought he was going to blow the roof on “Separate Ways.”    No doubt buoyed by performing at home, he didn’t hold back and, as Steve Perry did with Journey in that 1981 Houston concert that was filmed for us to enjoy today, no matter how long Pineda remains the frontman for this band, his talent and energy have now been immortalized on video, captured in this moment for another Journey generation—around the world—to discover as well. Surfing around, there are plenty of hardcore Journey fans who will accept nothing less than the Steve Perry-fronted Journey, some hoping for his return (not likely). I think they fail to realize it’s not 1981, and that Steve Perry voice doesn’t exist anymore, you can’t wind the clock back and recapture that lightning in a bottle, and they should get a grip and stop dismissing Arnel Pineda. Pop in your classic CDs/DVDs and enjoy the gifts SP has given us. Clearly Schon and Co. would not have selected him, particularly with the new positive—growing a fan base in the east, and the negative —now dealing with the color-aroused ignorance in some of its existing fan base. It’s an intriguing and challenging time for this iconic band – preserving its performance of the Perry material is essential as is delivering new material that can become part of the permanent back catalog.  I would love to hear some new music from Steve Perry, simply because I’m sure his voice, with age, can still deliver ballads in his lower, raspier register that are equally wonderful. It would be great to hear from him again if only for his emotive style that has yet to be matched by his successors. So I’ve wrapped up my immersion Journey tour for the weekend; I’ve put a few songs on my Droid phone to listen to when I need a fix of old and new. It’s all good. Now that this is out of my system (save for Wheel in the Sky getting stuck in my head on Sat) I wonder what my next immersion musical artist from my past will be? * Live in Houston 1981: The Escape Tour (1981) * Journey: Live In Manila (2009) * Steve Perry Online * Arnel Pineda Official Web Site

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The usual disclaimer: it’s an unusual break from political banter, so if this off-theme Journey post doesn’t interest you, there’s the regular brew of new content on the Blend to consume….Also, for the “No Perry, No Journey” crowd – let it go. This is not the place to stir up that argument.

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I’m back in NC after a whirlwind (tiring) weekend of fun in NYC. I subjected my wife Kate to my Journey obsession and convinced her to go up to see the J-Boys perform on live TV. Journey is one of the acts appearing on the Toyota Concert Series on the Today Show, held each Friday this summer, in the plaza outside the Today studio at 30 Rock. As a die-hard fan, I wanted to get as close to the stage as possible, and both Today and the Journey fan site were offering VIP passes. I entered both lotteries and won 2 passes from the fan site, so I was stoked. The weather on Thursday was great, but when we walked outside at 4:45 AM on Friday, it was a downpour with wind to boot! Blogmistress bad luck. Kate and I made our way to the VIP line, which still had a number of equally die-hard fans there patiently waiting to get access to the plaza at 30 Rock. And we waited…and waited. Got drenched…but at around 6:15 AM, the NBC rep came out and gave us our fan passes to wear in, and around 6:30 they let us in. Kate and I ended up about 4-6 people back from the stage — really good viewing if you were taller than my hobbitty 5’3″. If I held my arms high and used my zoom, I could see very well. That came in handy later for pix/vid. The crappy rain at 4:30 AM; but the fans were chipper; right: the band came out to rehearse a bit while the tarp was still up. As the rain tapered off, there was hope that all would go off well; the NBC folks and roadies did set up and the sound check. And the band (guitarist and founder Neal Schon, current lead singer Arnel Pineda, keyboardist Jonathan Cain, bassist Ross Valory, and drummer Deen Castronovo), came onstage to check things out. Based on a conversation I had with a woman in front of me, the standard practice at this concert series on Today is that all the acts rehearse a few tunes around 7:30 (not on air, but for the fans), and in the 8:30 half-hour, Matt Lauer, Ann Curry and Al Roker come out for the live performance and interview. Below is the rehearsal performance of Don’t Stop Believing that I taped, it didn’t air. A note: the group had just played a concert the night before, hopped on a plane to NYC to do this gig — as I said, starting at 7:30 AM. They also did the rocking City of Hope from the latest CD, Eclipse (link is to my vid), as well as an instrumental of Faithfully (Arnel needed to save his voice to hit those notes live; the crowd sang instead). Arnel turned in an incredible performance despite little sleep and no decent time to rest his voice; the Journey catalog is notoriously difficult on the pipes. From my pix:
  The talented tenor hit all of his notes (I held my breath!), but it was clear that the current tour (some of these gigs involve 3 concerts in 3 days) is a tour of attrition – the power rock vox I heard in Vegas needs more than a couple of hours of sleep, but they still kicked it. I cross my fingers for AP. Arnel’s stagecraft was spot-on as usual. Casual Journey fans, like Kate, were bowled over by this concert (she’s an Arnel believer now), and my fellow Plokkers (fans from the AP web site; Gigi and Coley) were there to represent with a sign and did get on camera. Kate and I can also be spotted in a few shots (I’m in this screen cap below, via Jeremy Hooper).
 
 When we went live, the band performed: Don’t Stop Believing, Faithfully (viewers voted for this one, I voted for Separate Ways), Any Way You Want It, and from the latest CD, Eclipse, the rocking City of Hope. Interestingly, the band did 2 takes of DSB; I’m not sure if they used parts of each take for the West Coast airing, or whether Journey wanted a redo; both takes were good. I would have loved to hear more from the new album, but most of the folks in the audience want to hear songs the band calls “the dirty dozen” — the greatest hits. While on the air, the group also received an award commemorating “Don’t Stop Believing” as the most popular single of the 20th century, no small accomplishment. Related: * Journey’s new CD, Eclipse: a group revitalized, energized and rocking hard * Blogmistress heaven: five new songs from ‘Eclipse’ debut in throw-down set by Journey in Vegas

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Blogmistress heaven: five new songs from 'Eclipse' debut in throw-down set by Journey in Vegas
The usual disclaimer: it’s an unusual break from political banter, so if this off-theme Journey post doesn’t interest you, there’s the regular brew of new content on the Blend to consume…

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Let’s just say that I’ll be right up front when Journey comes to North Carolina in August (and go to a couple of other cities).
The concert was THAT good. Of course most fans would say that, but the energy Journey has playing live has always far surpassed its studio output, and this is absolutely the case. This was my first in-person concert, though I’ve been a fan since the late 70s. Sitting in a third row seat with a fellow friend who flew 24 hours from Japan to see this show at Planet Hollywood – Las Vegas, it was almost beyond belief to be that close to the band. And she’s seen Journey 20 times, the majority of the concents with legendary frontman Steve Perry. Sachi said she was blown away last night by Arnel’s performance.
As you can see by the photos (and I ended up with over 300+ fantastic shots), it was an incredible view. All of the guys in the band looked fit and road-ready; it’s going to be a looong tour into next year. There’s nothing like being able to make eye contact with Arnel Pineda, Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain and Ross Valory (sorry to say, I wish it were possible with drummer Deen Castronovo, who is a complete monster on the skins and has an angelic voice) while they jam to five completely new tunes that they debuted from the forthcoming “Eclipse” CD; it drops on May 24. (NOTE: See the setlist – and video of the five new songs – below the fold.)

In interviews prior to the concert, people were warned to expect a darker, heavier sound and theme to the new songs – and that’s quite true of Edge of Emotion, Resonate, City of Hope, Chain of Love, and Human Feel. However, fans won’t be disappointed –this is harder stuff, but it’s still melodic Journey at its core.
The good/phenomenal:

• 
  
  The concert was in standard tuning (E, vs. E-flat): Glory, be. This was huge for fans with the ear to discern the difference; the songs have much more vitality when not played a half-step down. The big downside is that on a two year tour, it’s almost certain the band will drop to E flat to preserve Arnel’s voice.
  
  
• 
  
  All of the new songs kick ass. And despite songs with longer running times than the average single, my pick that is the most radio-friendly and sure hit — if it gets played by DJs — is Resonate. I can easily see Edge of Emotion and City of Hope charting well – there are a lot of album oriented rock (AOR) fans that are hungry to hear this kind of music.
• 
  
  Arnel Pineda Rocks. There is no doubt. Any naysayers at this point have to give props or they are just holding serious personal grudges, and not judging talent. Arnel’s pipes are married to the new material and to Neal Schon’s harder licks on the new tracks. And props to him for being so generous to fans – I actually got a chance to speak on the phone to him after the concert.
• 
  
  The fans rock: I was welcomed into the loyal online Journey fanbase fold prior to the concert. Many thanks for your kindness, enthusiasm and sharing your stories.
• 
  
  Deen Castronovo gets to go wild on some of these new tracks. LOVE IT, Deeno.
• 
  
  Good mix of old and new(er) tunes: A few songs from Revelation got a workout, thankfully, and the monster hits from the past are there.
• 
  
  The seats and the venue. Um, yeah. There’s no going back once you’ve been up front to see the band. The Planet Hollywood venue is not ginormous, and the acoustics were great.
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  The volume: Mercifully, I didn’t need earplugs, even though Journey rocked hard. The reason that I can report this is because the opening act, Night Ranger, prompted me to put in the plugs that Kate, my personal audiologist and spouse, told me to bring to Vegas. Rocking hard doesn’t have to be painful. Thank you, Journey.

The not-so-good (though these are subjective, of course):

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  Stage setup: Pretty spare, spartan; other fans seated further back said the lighting was excellent; when you’re up close, that’s not quite as apparent.
• 
  
  Not enough Deen: While he gets ample time to show off his dazzling work on the skins, he only had 2 lead vocals – Mother, Father and Keep On Runnin’; Still They Ride was dropped. And the other obvious downside is he’s behind the kit the whole time, so it’s hard to see him when he’s singing.
• 
  
  If you came for ballads, you’ll be disappointed: Aside from the must-plays – Open Arms and Faithfully, the soft stuff has been packed away in favor of the rockers. I like both, and generally the harder stuff is played is even heavier live. BTW, one song missing that rocks hard and was missed dearly — “One More” from Trial by Fire — that would have been a great addition to this set.
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  Don’t Stop Believing. I love this song, but it’s been way played out. Also, the new coda was not as dynamic as the one on the last tour, so I spent my time focusing on taking photos. I guess the Glee crowd has to be tossed this bone.

That’s it for now; I do have more to say, but I have to check out and catch a plane back to the real world in a few. I’m looking forward to the summer so I can catch the J-Boys again.
Slideshow:
More below the fold – including the setlist and videos of the new songs.
The setlist for Vegas (vid, via hardcore fan RipRokken):
Separate Ways

Edge of the Moment (new song)

Only the Young

Ask the Lonely

Never Walk Away

Send Her My Love
Resonate (new song):

Stone in Love

Keep on Running (Deen)

City of Hope (new song)

Lights

Open Arms

Chain of Love (new song)

Mother Father (Deen)

Escape

Guitar/Harmonica jamming – Neal/Jon

Wheel in the Sky

Human Feel (new song)

Be Good to Yourself

Faithfully

Don’t Stop Believing
Encore:

Anyway You Want It

Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’

David Mixner names the 'Twenty Most Powerful Lesbians In American Politics'

OK. I'll only give you five full descriptions from his list; you can surf over to read about the rest. David Mixner's no stranger to power lists. The best-selling author, civil rights and AIDS activist, political strategist and former advisor to Bill Clinton was once named by Newsweek as the most powerful gay man in America.

With that in mind, here's how he conjured up his selections, meant for generating fun discussion.

Oh, this posting will be fun and sure to result in some debate. Often very powerful and influential political Lesbians are left off the usual national LGBT publications lists. No doubt many will question some of my choices and rankings. Others will question why a male is putting together such a list. You can have fun debating both of those points in the comments section.

To create this list, I eliminated anyone from the entertainment and sports community and focused totally on national politics and grassroots. So that leaves off such influential but not exclusively political heavy weights like Kate Clinton, Cynthia Nixon, Melissa Etheridge and Ellen DeGeneres. Some such as Nancy Sutley, who has a major position in the Obama team is lower in the list because she is not that active in LGBT issues or politics despite her powerful position.

Who do you think made the top 5? Oy, here you go...

1. Rachel Maddow: Who can argue with this influential and powerful commentator being number one? With her MSNBC perch, she reaches millions and doesn't shy away from being a Lesbian and covering LGBT stories. Her own journey is an amazing story and gives new definition to LGBT power.

2. Congresswomen Tammy Baldwin: Having been in Congress for a decade as an open Lesbian, she has developed a significant power base and respect in the United States House of Representatives. Representing Wisconsin's second district, she has become a close ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and is a major point person in the House on LGBT legislation.

3. Hilary Rosen: Without a doubt, one of the most powerful behind the scenes political power brokers in Washington, DC. Rosen's list of friends reads like a "who's who" in American politics both in Washington and the entertainment industry. As a television commentator, she has earned the respect of many in the nation's capital. Is there anyone she doesn't know?

4. Pam Spaulding: Charismatic, kind and powerful are the words to describe Pam Spaulding. Her site, Pam'sHouseBlend.com, has become one of the most well-read and influential blogs in America. Quick with breaking stories, unapologetically liberal and a champion of Transgender rights, she is known for her lack of patience in freedom for LGBT people. Her influence will only grow.

5. Randi Weingarten: As president of the American Federation of Teachers, she is the most powerful open LGBT person in American labor. She is known to be a fierce advocate for her members and fighting for LGBT rights in the American labor movement.

The rest of the top 20 makes me squirm uncomfortably because many of them certainly should rank higher than your blogmistress. And no, I didn't slip David some scratch; in fact we have yet to meet.

6. Speaker Christine Quinn
7. Mayor Annise Parker
8. Rea Carey
9. Urvashi Vaid
10. Dr. Marjorie Hill
11. Kerry Eleveld
12. Robin McGeehee
13. Torie Osborn
14. Nancy Sutley
15. Kate Kendall
16. Sheila Kuehl
17. Karen Ocamb
18. Elizabeth Birch
19. Lorri Jean
20. Coya Artichoker
And congratulations to David, btw, who will receive the Point Legend Award from The Point Foundation in NYC on Monday.

The Point Legend Award is presented to an individual who has, through the course of their lifetime, achieved greatness in their professional career and unapologetically supported the LGBT community. David Mixner has been a force within the LGBT community for many, many years. In celebrating 50 years of community organizing and volunteerism, Point is humbled that he’s graciously agreed to be recognized with the Point Legend Award. He continues to be a source of inspiration to society and more importantly, our youth. He is a shining example of the type of leaders Point scholars strive to be.

My Durham News column: When do dogs get 2nd chance?

This month, I took on the subject of Michael Vick and his rehabilitation tour. He made a stop here to talk to at-risk youth. From his POV, it's to help kids learn that dogfighting can lead to your career crashing down on you. What it isn't about is restoring the reputation of a breed of dog Vick helped demonize as well as debase by shooting, electrocuting and beating to death for entertainment's sake.

Mr. Vick and many of the students he spoke to are receiving second chances to rebuild their lives with new skills and support. In Vick's case he was asked by the Humane Society of the United States to travel around the country to talk about the animal cruelty he engaged in - and how it has affected his life. His visit here in Durham touched many, including Bull City resident Jason McClairy, 19, who said he initially raised three pit bulls to fight, but after seeing the fate of Michael Vick, is now raising them as pets.

Those may be three lucky pit bulls.

...[I]n the wrong hands - like those of Mr. Vick and his cohorts - the pit bull became synonymous with unstable, anti-social, chained, aggressive dogs, bred solely for the ability to fight, maim, and kill. And that reputation led to fear and unnecessary breed-specific legislation.

I go on to compare the message of Vick's rehab tour to the work of Cesar Millan, who has done more to rehabilitate the image of the pit bull than Vick will ever do.