Arnel and His New "Journey"

After Steve Perry, Journey brought in Steve Augeri, Jeff Scott Soto, and now Arnel Pineda who was discovered on YouTube. Journey doesn't plan on going anywhere as this 40 year old filipino has made a life-changing decision that could bring Journey back to super-stardom, although let's not get too ahead of ourselves. Arnel Pineda hasn't had it easy at all before his life turned around, and dealing with his personal problems throughout his life has and will only make him stronger.

At first, fans found it difficult to accept Pineda with open arms- no pun intended, like Journey did, but it was only a matter of time before this ex-bar band singer would capture the hearts of hundreds of thousands of Journey fans. The current lineup of Journey as of 2008 is Neal Schon- guitars, backing vocals; Jonathan Cain- keyboards, backing vocals; Ross Valory- bass, backing vocals; Deen Castronovo- drums, percussion, backing vocals; Arnel Pineda- lead vocals. From receiving the call that Journey would be interested in having Pineda audition, to flying over to the United States, singing in the airport to prove that he really was Arnel Pineda and auditioning, to waiting on whether or not he would be the frontman of one of the most famous bands in the history of rock & roll music- it must have been the most nerve-wracking moment in Pineda's life, or at least one of them.

As stated on Journey's website, Revelation should bookmark one of the most challenging chapters of Journey's legendary career, and did it ever! I thought everything was a bit rushed in terms of getting Arnel all set and comfortable in the band, as well as recording their new album (including the classics being remade) and embarking on a tour to promote that album. Pineda seems like he is ready from what I have seen, and it's also quite obvious that the band is happy with his staggering performances show after show. I suppose after selling over 104,000 copies of their new album also closes any doubt in people's minds that Pineda wouldn't be ready. Journey's new album Revelation marked a 1400% increase over their 2005's first week's sales of Generations.

Discussing the album, I must say that I can't stop listening to it, and if anyone reading this hasn't already done so, please pick this album up if you are or even aren't a Journey fan because you just have to hear how amazing it really is. I guarantee that anyone who purchases Revelation will not be disappointed. Back in the 70s and 80s, Journey was a band of super-stardom, selling out stadiums and sellings hundreds of thousands of albums in a short period of time. But it was that sound that really caught everyone's ears and this was what Journey was looking for. Heck, I thought Augeri was the perfect replacement for Perry, because he really brought the classic Journey sound back, but boy was I wrong.

Revelation is a three-disc CD/DVD package consisting of 11 new songs, 11 re-recorded songs, and a live DVD filmed in Las Vegas all priced under $12.00! All of the music was produced by Kevin Shirley. I am a huge fan of the new songs, and I can't even rank them right now because they all are so great.

The classics are good, but I think that this should have either not been done at all, or at least put on hold for quite some time- so that Arnel Pineda could learn the English language more. Even though Pineda's voice is brilliant, it's not difficult to hear his accent when he sings, which doesn't really bother me all that much. Once Pineda learns more English, it will definitely show when he sings.

As for the Live DVD, to be honest with everyone, it wasn't the fact that the performances were bad because they definitely weren't, but it seemed like Arnel was shoved on stage without first testing his performance style, etc. Arnel's vocals were spectacular, as well as the band in general, it just could have been a lot better in terms of the "little things" that make a concert excellent, or at least close to that. I would give the current version a C. If I were in charge, I would have had Arnel and the band complete the first leg of their current tour and see how he did. It would have been better if that was done. When they come back to the United States, they will be performing all over, so a DVD could have been shot anywhere and it wouldn't have been that much longer of a wait.

There is only one Steve Perry, who is also known as 'the voice,' and people are expecting Pineda to sound just like him, but as Arnel stated: "It'll be a lot of hard work on my part, and I'm actually looking forward to the scrutiny I'll get from the hardcore Journey fans. I know they'll expect me to sound exactly like 'the voice,' but that will never happen. I know there's only one Steve Perry in this world." We all know that Pineda's voice is almost a carbon copy of what Journey's tunes were like back then, but he is right and he will add his own taste to every song, while keeping the same sound that Journey fans remember and love.

If anyone would like to find out more information regarding current news of the band, please go to the following links:
- http://journeymusic.com/home.html - Journey's HomePage
- http://journeymusic.com/tour.html - Journey's Current Touring Schedule