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[Mountain Man]

I actually love the sound John's voice has matured into in the last 10 or so years. I think his greatest vocal work came on PP2 & JAH.

On a somewhat related note, one of my favorite Journey albums is "Trial by Fire" where Steve Perry sounds like a mellow crooner as opposed to the high-pitched rocker he was in his younger days. His voice has so much soul to it.

Yes that was Steve's finest album, too bad he couldn't or didn't want to tour.

The band had a falling out. Perry needed hip replacement surgery but was nervous about getting it, and the rest of the band (or probably just Neal Schon) basically said, "Get the surgery, or you're out of the band." They had no concern for Perry's well-being and just wanted to get their comeback tour underway. When Perry instead sought alternative treatments (and who can blame him for not wanting major surgery), he was fired, Steve Augeri was hired as his replacement, and they started the tour after a six-month delay. Perry did one solo album and a tour after that and then basically dropped out of the music scene almost entirely (or rather retired comfortably), although he still performs backing vocals from time to time on various albums.

[Mountain Man]

Tuning down is the way to go. Journey is doing it with the new guy...

That's because the "new guy", Arnel Pineda, was tearing up his vocal chords trying to sing like Perry in his prime, and his voice started to sound really ragged and strained half-way through his first tour.

[Mountain Man]

Steve Perry....he didn't want to tour because his voice was falling apart. There was a BUNCH of tuning and over dubbing on Trial By Fire. I LOVE that album. They let the mix swim in reverb, most unfortunate. Some guys I know at the rehearsal stage said that Steve lost his range and they had to tune waaay down. He did not want to make a fool of himself on stage, and go out on top, so he quit.

I've never heard that version of events before. The most widely reported story is the one I recounted above, that the band was frustrated because he wouldn't bow to pressure and get hip replacement surgery, so they fired him just so they could get their comeback tour underway in a timely manner. If the live recordings from Perry's "For The Love of Strange Medicine" tour in 1994 are any indication, I think the claim that "his voice was falling apart" is exaggerated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtpCp8YFl60

He's not in his prime, obviously, but not "falling apart", either.

[Dan]

Axl Rose could sing in 1994 aswell.. that was 17 years ago... things change.

[petheadeast123]

I've kinda always figured the same as Brent on this one. I think Steve's voice started to deteriorate in the 'Raised On Radio' days.. which I believe is mid 80s - I love the sound of his voice on that album.. its got a little more edge to it like John's voice - and all his range is still intact, but unforunately he began to lose it very quickly. By '91 he's having trouble hittin the notes at the Bill Grahm concert - and I've got some bootlegs of the solo tour afterwards - also struggling.. and then it just kept getting worse. Its reported Steve had quite the ego (as well as some of the other members) and its my thought that if the band fired him just because of the hip surgery and the guy could still sing like a bird - he'd no doubt be out there making albums and hit singles by the truck load just to shove it in the guys' faces - kinda like he did to Neil with "Oh Sherrie" after Neil had released a solo work.. Steve showed that he was the voice and didnt necessarily need Journey to make a hit. I think the guy called it quits and knew it would be better to leave the fans wanting him back and wanting more rather than painfully showing them he lost those golden pipes. I really refuse to believe he stopped singing because he wanted an early retirement or because of his hip - heck Freddie Mercury recorded the final Queen album from a wheelchair. Now don't get me wrong - I LOVVEE Steve Perry's voice - he's the closest second to John on my list - and I'm not saying Steve cant sing at all anymore - I think he could probably hack it enough to release a single or do some bgv stuff.. But do I think the guy could do a respectful job for even one entire Journey "reunion" concert?... honestly - no, not at all.

[Shell]

Sigh, Steve Perry was my heartthrob back in the day. I was 18 or 19 though, what does an 18 or 19-year-old know? What mattered most to me was that he was cute.

The hip replacement story and how they didn't want to wait for him is what I've heard, but who knows? It's not unusual for a singer's voice to change over the years, and all the partying these guys likely did probably isn't the best thing for someone's voice. It's not unusual to find big egos in the biz either, I think on some level it's almost necessary to survive out there.

Interesting how this drifted from a discussion on Classic Petra to Journey by the way.

[Jan]

[quote="Shell"]Sigh, Steve Perry was my heartthrob back in the day. I was 18 or 19 though, what does an 18 or 19-year-old know? What mattered most to me was that he was cute.

Cute? Ewwwwwww. I didn't think so. Bon Jovi. Yeah.

[brent]

First of all, his voice was falling apart before the hip replacement story surfaced. The hip replacement thing allowed Steve to bow out without using his voice as the reason. But, if you check around, you will find more than one interview that confirms what my tech crew contacts state. Steve said that he has lived with constant, terrorizing fear of opening up his mouth and the show being over. He was afraid to push it. He did not know if part of it was mental or if it was abuse. He examined both.

Now, through the years, Perry has stated that he has faced some physical set-backs, but not has disclosed any info. I know that he has been hanging out in studios, singing backing vocals here and there, and that inspired him to write. So, Steve bought a ProTools HD system and set up a studio in his home. He has had some people in to train him, and record. He says that the new material is R and B, his roots. Journey rock fans would be let down.

It would seem that the co-boss and primary owner of Journey could have a hip replacement if he wanted one. They all work for him and pay him. Why wouldn't they wait? Because it was really his decision. He wanted it to end and did not want them to go on. So, to make their life hell, he got to be paid not to sing and they became a parody band of themselves with two, nearly three singers since. Dean sounds more like Perry than Ageri or this new kid. I like the new kid's story though. THAT is what America is good for.

[petheadeast123]

Dean sounds more like Perry than Ageri or this new kid.

I've always thought that too! Dean's voice is great - very free sounding.. and to do that while playing the drums - the guy has to have amazing breath control! Send him upfront and get Steve Smith back on the drums!

[BForm]

I actually love the sound John's voice has matured into in the last 10 or so years. I think his greatest vocal work came on PP2 & JAH.

I don't know that I would mention those two works as being similar in vocal style. JAH seems much edgier/gravely to me than PP2. I also think his voice is changing too fast to categorize the last ten years as one era. When I listen to live footage his voice changes significantly from the PP2 era through Farewell. Live recordings since Farewell seem very different as well. He really struggles to keep from cracking on the high screamer notes in more recent concerts.

It's just a fact of life. His vocal style is hard on the old cords and he's gettin' up there in years. Regardless, I'll still buy anything he puts out and go see him when I can.

[rexreed]

I'm not sure it is fair to say that John S. and Steve Perry have voices that fell apart. In both cases they had incredible upper registers, and those do not last forever. Perry did some absolutely amazing vocal work,especially on the earlier albums(check out 2:45 on Sweet and Simple, Evolution). You will notice a change beginning with Escape all the way to Raised on Radio. There was a little more rasp- but on the live recordings I've hears he was still hitting the notes. The sound was a little different but it had been ten years of relentless singing live and in studio at that point. Trial By Fire and For the Love of Strange medicine had the rawest Perry rasp- and he was using a different style to add musicianship to the songs. He wasn't just belting away notes, he used a lot more of the R&B Sam Cooke type inflection. At that point it was time to support the new album since they had a Grammy nomination and a hit song and video- that did not happen and so the revolving door of lead singers began. Perry did release a few leftover tracks from an unfinished third solo album and they are pretty good, but sound a lot less like Journey than the previous 2 solos records. His voice sounds strained, but it not like it has "fallen apart." Dean C. has a good high range, but he is not a lead singer, and his voice isn't the "powerful tenor" voice that most Journey songs require. Why mention all this- well I hear a lot of the strain in John S's voice like I do in Steve Perry's. One might argue that John took a lot of notes down an octave or just flat out missed, but he is older and sang nonstop for decades. It takes a toll, but that doesn't constitute "falling apart." I've heard John sing wonderful since Petra retired, it just sounds a little different.

[Preacherman777]

Very few singers can keep that high end as they grow older. It's just a fact of life. It's a bit less obvious with more straight ahead singers like Greg Volz or say Dennis DeYoung. They were never screamers, so they can basically just drop it down a step or so and be good to go, sounding just fine in a slightly lower register. But someone like John, who let out power scream vocals that seemed to come from his toes, well, there's just no fudging your way through that. You can either still do it or you can't. John still has a nice voice, but in his old age he basically needs to settle it down a bit and sing more normally if he wants to sound decent. It's when he tries to go to those high end after burners that his voice falls apart and that's probably something he'll just have to live with.

[brent]

I'm not sure it is fair to say that John S. and Steve Perry have voices that fell apart. In both cases they had incredible upper registers, and those do not last forever. Perry did some absolutely amazing vocal work,especially on the earlier albums(check out 2:45 on Sweet and Simple, Evolution). You will notice a change beginning with Escape all the way to Raised on Radio. There was a little more rasp- but on the live recordings I've hears he was still hitting the notes. The sound was a little different but it had been ten years of relentless singing live and in studio at that point. Trial By Fire and For the Love of Strange medicine had the rawest Perry rasp- and he was using a different style to add musicianship to the songs. He wasn't just belting away notes, he used a lot more of the R&B Sam Cooke type inflection. At that point it was time to support the new album since they had a Grammy nomination and a hit song and video- that did not happen and so the revolving door of lead singers began. Perry did release a few leftover tracks from an unfinished third solo album and they are pretty good, but sound a lot less like Journey than the previous 2 solos records. His voice sounds strained, but it not like it has "fallen apart." Dean C. has a good high range, but he is not a lead singer, and his voice isn't the "powerful tenor" voice that most Journey songs require. Why mention all this- well I hear a lot of the strain in John S's voice like I do in Steve Perry's. One might argue that John took a lot of notes down an octave or just flat out missed, but he is older and sang nonstop for decades. It takes a toll, but that doesn't constitute "falling apart." I've heard John sing wonderful since Petra retired, it just sounds a little different.

The rasp came with age, smoking and misuse of the the pipes. The other contributing factor in the studio was his combination of mics, pres and comps. He has two matching Neumann M50s, custom tweaked by the late Stephen Paul. Those have a built in hype that really brings the rasp out. This is what female crooners like to use to this day. Then he used a compressor that really helped him sing lower as he went higher, and brought out the rasp even more. The Escape record, the full album as it is released now, has tracks from a wide period of time, some of which were tracked while Greg was still in the band. John just replaced his parts. Those earlier recordings reveal more rasp in my opinion than the later songs recorded for Escape. Escape as it is now has some movie soundtrack crap, and this is where we begin to hear hear Randy Jackson on bass and Larrie London and then they began to play on Raised on Radio and tour full time.

[executioner]

I actually love the sound John's voice has matured into in the last 10 or so years. I think his greatest vocal work came on PP2 & JAH.

I don't know that I would mention those two works as being similar in vocal style. JAH seems much edgier/gravely to me than PP2. I also think his voice is changing too fast to categorize the last ten years as one era. When I listen to live footage his voice changes significantly from the PP2 era through Farewell. Live recordings since Farewell seem very different as well. He really struggles to keep from cracking on the high screamer notes in more recent concerts.

It's just a fact of life. His vocal style is hard on the old cords and he's gettin' up there in years. Regardless, I'll still buy anything he puts out and go see him when I can.

I wasn't comparing PP2 & JAH I was saying John's vocals were great on both of those offerings but in a different way. This shows on how wide range John can be.

[executioner]

Neal & Jonathan had an interview during the "Revelation" press tour saying they no longer have any legal financial obligation towards any former members and that Journey and their complete catalog are now soley owned by 3 of the current members of the band. I would have to guess that they bought Steve out, and This is something that has happened since 2008.