 |
Journey makes great rock 'n' roll, and they've been doing it since 1973. There's a contingency that snickers and belittles enthusiasm for this band that's become a punchline in Will Ferrell movies. But, in order for that punchline to work one should be aware of the worldwide cultural presence these guys have achieved. There's not many spots on the planet where their songs aren't sung and celebrated. From Tokyo to Timbuktu to Tulsa, Journey is a household name, even in places where fans sing the words phonetically. Formed by Santana alumni guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Gregg Rolie, Journey has shifted personnel numerous times, yet still remains a marquee attraction after 35 years - a neat trick most of their peers from the '70s haven't managed. They've sold over 100 million albums and there's barely a jukebox on Earth that doesn't have “Don't Stop Believin'" on it. At the height of their commercial popularity in the early '80s Bally even released a Journey arcade game, and no night of karaoke would be complete without “Open Arms" or “Faithfully." Love 'em or hate 'em, Journey are a fact of life and for some they are every sweet, sticky thing one loves about mainstream rock.
After the departure of iconic lead singer Steve Perry in 1987, the band went on hiatus until an ill-fated reunion with Mr. “Oh Sherry" in 1995. When Perry refused to tour, the rest of the band moved on without him, first with gifted soundalike Steve Augeri and last year with Jeff Scott Soto. Neither was a perfect fit but this year the group - now comprised of founding members Schon and bassist Ross Valory, longtime keyboardist Jonathan Cain and drummer Deen Castronovo - discovered their guy, Arnel Pineda, a small powerhouse with a golden pop voice from the Philippines. Smitten after a single rehearsal, the group jumped into the studio and cut Revelation, their best, most cohesive album since 1986's Raised On Radio (though there are jewels scattered around the Augeri sung releases, 2001's Arrival and 2005's Generations). Released exclusively through Wal-Mart like The Eagles' last album, Revelations is a new calling card for a band heading into their fourth decade. The new tracks are paired with a pro-shot concert DVD and a disc of re-recordings of Journey hits by this lineup. In nearly every respect, the album and the group's ebullient demeanor in recent appearances and interviews suggests a band anxious to conquer stages and airwaves, and far from prepared to quit the rock life.
Journey is very purely who they are. They write music that connects with a wide spectrum of people. Then in concert, they get those people off in style, which is not as easy as you think. Sometimes a little syrupy, there's enough bite and irresistible melody to seduce all but the most hardened listeners. Set aside looking cool, forget what your buddy will think and just sing along to “Wheel In The Sky" in the shower and your day is off to a fine start.
“[We] write for the fans. We actually get to see the state of this country with each city we visit - how the economy is doing, how people are feeling. It's amazing the perspective it gives you," says Castronovo. “Journey set a precedent years ago, which was writing hooky, catchy songs with integrity. They were always real and always will be."
What It Takes To Win
 |
“I've been in the band ten years this past February. It's the best job I've ever had, and I'm so blessed to be doing this. I don't take it for granted to play in a band with the caliber of players I work with. I'm with the sickest musicians on the planet," says Castronovo, pointing out an oft-overlooked fact about Journey, that despite their pop success these guys are serious muthas on their instruments. “I don't like to say we're amazing but I'm amazed at the musicianship! There's nobody in this band that sucks. I've been in bands where the guitarist will suck or someone's the weak link but not with this band. Everybody is on their game, especially right now. Arnel is just frightening!"
Castronovo was singing the signature ballads during last year's tour with Def Leppard, and still sings a couple live ("Mother Father," “Keep On Runnin'"). Vocal interplay is one of the core elements to Journey's sound, from their early back and forth between Steve Perry and Gregg Rolie on through recent years where everyone has gotten into the game and grown as singers.
“It was thrown to me, basically. Stevie [Augeri] was having a rough night and they said, 'Try this and this...' So, it fell into my lap and developed into 'Deen, you're singing this every night.' But let me tell you as much as I love singing, I don't love singing! It's hard. You've got to be Steve Perry Jr. You've got to be that good or they will crucify you," says Castronovo, pointing out the ghost in the room with Journey - the absence of the lead singer that helped put them on top of the charts. “I was lucky, dude, I never got crucified. I was very fortunate. Steve [Augeri] would get crucified every night. Jeff would get crucified every night. So, I'm just thankin' Jesus, man. [Perry's legacy] is daunting. Steve Perry is and was and always will be my favorite singer. I'm a metal drummer and I still think Perry is untouchable. Arnel is amazingly similar and can stand on his own two feet, especially with the new stuff, where he sounds fantastic. But Perry was like a god to me. Still is really."
 |
Pineda's recorded debut is eerily reminiscent of hearing Perry for the first time on 1978's Infinity. From the first track there's no mistaking Pineda is a force to be reckoned with. However, the carefully angled back cover picture on Revelation can't diminish how different the slight Filipino singer is from his beefy, road worn brethren. But, outside of the visual difference, Pineda weighs in with as much moxie and presence as everyone else on the new material, and gives ol' Steve Perry a run for his money on the disc of re-recorded Journey staples. The differences in Pineda's delivery and tone on classics like “Open Arms" and “Separate Ways" are slight, and ultimately he's his own singer not some mimic. What Pineda does better than anyone else they've had since Perry is nail the spirit and mood of the originals.
“He sells it. It's amazing to watch this humble little guy from the Philippines. He speaks English but it's very broken, and then he goes up and effortlessly blazes these songs. And the whole band, every night, is just knocked flat," Castronovo says. “We found him on YouTube. I kid you not. Neal was getting tired and said, 'We're not gonna use a tribute singer and do this tribute band crap. I'm just gonna look around some more.' Thank God for the mighty Internet. We found him at the eleventh hour doing a Survivor song. I swear to God! Then we did a little more poking around and found him doing 'Don't Stop Believin'. Neal called Jon at midnight and said, 'Dude, get online and look at this guy!' Then Neal called me and I looked at him a couple days later and was blown away. We brought him into rehearsals and he was frightening. In two songs we knew he was our singer."
Confidence and enthusiasm for the lead singer is central to Journey. After they moved past their early prog-inflected sound into the mainstream with Perry, that frontman position became the defining focus of the band for many fans. With Pineda, the others seem fired up and ready to charge in together. Free of the enthusiasm dampening final years with Perry or the complicated, never-quite-there combinations with Augeri and Soto, Journey seems renewed. The band is currently headlining one of the biggest tours this summer, playing amphitheatres with fellow FM staples Cheap Trick and Heart. Mock if you will but one suspects there might not be a more enjoyable pure rock bill out there this season. This triple bill is powered by 30-plus years of good times, radio omnipresence and seasoned performing. A single concert that includes “Lights," “Surrender," “Magic Man," “Any Way You Want It," “Dream Police" and “Barracuda" is going to be a fine old time, and depending on one's sobriety, a potentially great one.
Continue reading for more on Journey...
 |
|
Life Before Journey
 |
The first time I saw Castronovo with Journey I did a double take. I'd seen him years earlier with short lived but beloved hard rock band GZR led by Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler.
“Most people see me as the drummer for Journey but I'm a metal kid, through and through. The guys in the band [Journey] don't always get that. They let me go when they can but they usually keep the reins on [laughs]. If I'm doing too much, playing too hard, Neal just turns and looks at me with a squinted eye and shakes his head, as if to say, 'You better not do another lick like that again' [laughs]. I've done a lot of stuff; I've played on over 57 records. I've worked with Hole and Social Distortion," recalls Castronovo, who recognizes the big drum shoes he stepped into with Journey, whose pedigree includes one of the illest fusion percussionist of all-time (Steve Smith) and an English gentleman rocker who's played with Lou Reed, David Bowie and John Mayall (Aynsley Dunbar).
“Steve Smith has been and always will be a god to me. To me, he's by far the finest drummer on the planet because he can do no wrong. I'm a fan. He can play anything. Tell him to play a samba in 7/6 time and he'll say, 'How fast do you want it?'" continues Castronovo. “As a metal drummer when I was playing with Ozzy and GZR, Journey was like the guilty pleasure. You never admitted it. I did an interview with Kerrang! when I was with this band Wild Dogs, and when we admitted to liking Journey they said, 'You can't like that!' Turns out Wayne Static of Static-X is a huge Journey fan. The guys in Children of Bodom, too; my kid was at their concert the other day and he said when they broke into 'Don't Stop Believin' the crowd went crazy."
Change For The Better
“[With the new album], I got a sudden call saying, 'We wrote 20 songs and we're going into the studio.' I wondered when Jon and Neal had written 20 songs but the stuff was just magical. Jonathan writes what he sees and feels, and there's one song called 'Change For The Better' that he wrote for me. Nine months ago I was almost dead from drug and alcohol abuse, and Jon saw me get back on my feet and come together. Jon writes from his heart, and I remember him playing it for me and we both ended up in tears. I said, 'I fuckin' hate you' [laughs]," says Castronovo, spotlighting Cain's gift for undisguised sincerity. “I've made a lot of records but this one I'm especially proud of."
 |
Schon and Cain are the band's primary composers in recent years, though each has helped shape each chapter of Journey's career from the inside out. Though not often name-checked by other artists, you can hear their sensibilities rippled throughout contemporary popular music.
“[Jon] just writes the greatest stuff. He's just got that thing. That guy can come up with a fantastic riff in a minute and ten minutes later the song is done. Neal is very underrated, too. Zakk Wylde [Ozzy Osbourne] says great things about Neal's playing, Dimebag Darrell loved Neal, and still he doesn't get a lot credit. First he'll do something nice and melodic, then he tears your face off and then he makes you cry," says Castronovo. “It's like the yin and the yang, Neal and Jonathan, two polar opposites. Jon's the balladeer and Neal's the rocker. That's the way it works when they write and then they color each other's stuff. Journey is their baby and sometimes I just watch in awe."
There's myriad pleasure buttons in their catalog, and most of their faithful aren't happy unless they get to hear all the biggies at every show. While some of us long for a taste of their early '70s space rock exploration - something they delved into during the 2005 two-set tour, much to the bafflement of audiences only familiar with their “Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" side - they're lifelong pros that understand it's usually best for a band like Journey to give the people what they want.
“The hits go without saying. We have to do what we call 'The Dirty Dozen' [just look at one of their Greatest Hits collections to make an educated guess], which are the ones everybody requests. So, we have to stay in that realm and then we have six or seven other songs we can pick. We've got a catalog of 80 songs so we switch it up nightly. When we go on this European tour [which just concluded] we're doing a lot of dates in the U.K. so we're gonna switch it up, play some really old stuff like 'Kohoutek' [off Journey's self-titled 1975 debut] and 'Nickel And Dime' [off 1977's Next] which people over there just love," says Castronovo, acknowledging the greater freedom to explore all parts of the group's history overseas. However, there's not a hint of ungratefulness to Castronovo or his bandmates, who have one of the closest, most sincere relationships with fans a band can have.
“There's not a lot of people that get to do what I do and get paid for it. I get paid to do what I love, and that's a gift from God, a gift from Jesus Christ above," says a suddenly subdued Castronovo. He perks up immediately when Journey's detractors come up. “[Critics] don't like us at all, bro. Rolling Stone has dissed us since day one, and they still will diss us. But you know what? We're still going. Do we sell out every place we go? Yeah. We may not sell out every record we make but we have a new single, 'After All These Years,' climbing the charts [and Revelation has already hit the Number 5 spot on the Billboard 100]. And we're doing this without the original lead singer! Usually if you do that you just struggle. We did that for the first two years after Perry left and we built this up. In ten years, we went from playing to 1500 a night to 20,000 people a night. That's consistent now. We did over a million ticket sales on the Def Leppard tour last year! We're doing alright."
Here's today's Journey in action in Las Vegas doing, well, you'll recognize it:
