Arnel, lets be frank!

Frank wrote:Um, lynn, *you* brought up the 'real fan' phrase...NOT I....

That "phrase" was sarcasm too, but I guess I forgot the It was in response to this:

"Oh, wow...you were around and witnessed the JSS situation...what does that make you, a 2-3 year fan, tops?"

Like you are saying only if I "witness" a bad situation in the band personally, am I a fan. That is where your assumption came into play that I had only been a fan for 2 or 3 years. I was a fan for years prior, not 2-3 years. Just a bit more obsessed at that time. There are different levels of fan, and I guess I have managed to be a different kind of fan when need be. I am not a fan of the people who play the music. I am a fan of the MUSIC. The music is what it's all about. Once you get as personal as you have with the band, it ruins it. Once you know the inner-workings, it ruins it. That is what happened to many in the JSS situation, and it almost happened to me until I realized it is about the MUSIC for me.

Lynn, save it. What you don't seem to get is that I just don't give a fuck. I view the current fanbase of this sorry-ass excuse for a band with morbid amusement...almost like watching a guy jump off a building, yelling for him to turn around and walk away from the ledge...and then watch them jump to a tomato soup splat on the street below. I derive a little morbid interest in watching how worked up all people get when they defend the youtube hireling or the alcoholic midget who likes to fire singers.....nothing more, nothing less.

I really don't give a shit whether Friga or Fro lives or dies and I just don't have the emotional investment in this band I once had. If Schlong ODed on smack tomorrow, I wouldn't be among the 12-23 people who would congregate in front of his house holding a candlelight vigil. I just wouldn't care. The idiot lemming fans that still fawn over these losers that are butchering the music is the sad, disturbing part of this....

In all seriousness, It's self serving for you (only assuming you give 2 shits about what "I" think or more apropriately, a large % of the asslings at MR) to claim I am "jilted" or whatever...because it makes you (again, speaking generically) feel better about your current emotional connection with the music. Probably because I hit rather close to the nerve...If thats what you need to tell yourself to preserve it, well go right ahead.

Frank wrote:Lynn, save it. What you don't seem to get is that I just don't give a fuck. I view the current fanbase of this sorry-ass excuse for a band with morbid amusement...almost like watching a guy jump off a building, yelling for him to turn around and walk away from the ledge...and then watch them jump to a tomato soup splat on the street below. I derive a little morbid interest in watching how worked up all people get when they defend the youtube hireling or the alcoholic midget who likes to fire singers.....nothing more, nothing less.

I really don't give a shit whether Friga or Fro lives or dies and I just don't have the emotional investment in this band I once had. If Schlong ODed on smack tomorrow, I wouldn't be among the 12-23 people who would congregate in front of his house holding a candlelight vigil. I just wouldn't care. The idiot lemming fans that still fawn over these losers that are butchering the music is the sad, disturbing part of this....

In all seriousness, It's self serving for you (only assuming you give 2 shits about what "I" think or more apropriately, a large % of the asslings at MR) to claim I am "jilted" or whatever...because it makes you (again, speaking generically) feel better about your current emotional connection with the music. Probably because I hit rather close to the nerve...If thats what you need to tell yourself to preserve it, well go right ahead.

Nope, no nerves hit on this end. To each his own. I was explaining my feelings and I know there are all kinds of different people with different feelings. I don't feel the need to persuade them to feel like me. Love em or hate em, they're still relevant which I believe was my point at the beginning of all this, when I hit a nerve in you.

Lynn wrote:
Nope, no nerves hit on this end. To each his own. I was explaining my feelings and I know there are all kinds of different people with different feelings. I don't feel the need to persuade them to feel like me. Love em or hate em, they're still relevant which I believe was my point at the beginning of all this, when I hit a nerve in you.

Oh give me a break. Let's dispense with the melodrama. It's not a nerve...I just disagree with you that they are as relevant as you think.

Frank, I don't have the same history with you that others around here do, so I feel obligated to ask... your personal feelings for the band members aside, do you consider them talented?

Gideon wrote:Frank, I don't have the same history with you that others around here do, so I feel obligated to ask... your personal feelings for the band members aside, do you consider them talented?

Good question. My opinion of their talents changed as my musical horizons changed. Especially when I started liking country....and reached a pinacle point in my guitar playing. I'll address the later first.

About 3-4 years ago, I got to a point where I could pretty much play anything that floated into my head within the AOR genre. Anything from Bryan Adams to Van Halen to Journey to Whitesnake to Masterplan. I was able to conjur up the same sounds, same nuances, same general overall licks. All of a sudden, Neal Schon, who along with EVH, was like God to me...was suddenly human. (it didn't help that both turned out to be douchebag pricks, but i'll leave that out of this for now). The fact remains that while I used to look up to these guys, beyond even people that truly deserved my praise....as soon as the mystery surrounding their playing was conquered, I realized that they're both just hugh school drop outs that were in the right place at the right time.....nothing more, nothing less....

It became increasingly exacerbated as I became further interested in other forms of music....country and blues specifically. I found musicians who were insanely interested in the integrity of their craft. They didn't whore themselves out to their respective dirty dozens or fire band members for ordering pizzas to the wrong room...I also discovered that some of these players were so good at their instruments, that it made the mystique of Cain, Schlong, Castro's playing suddenly appear less impressive. There are piano players in country music that can play circles around Friga...and do it for pennies, just because they love the music. If Friga was offered twice what these guys were making, he'd be home on his ass making his wife work at the local Dairy Queen. Trust Me!


Do I feel these guys are talented? Not any more. Guitar-wise, I can do almost anything Schlong does...and if I can't cop his exact phrasing on some parts, I'm confident I can come up with something equally interesting....

Cain is a mediocre piano player who can be outshined by another 1000 players out of nashville. I never thought Valory was a very good bassist, but he's the only genuine nice guys in the band.

Castro's a monster of a drummer...but I'd love to see what he can or more appropriately, can't do in a style like Jazz, Blues or Country. I've seen Steve Smith play jazz gigs right in front of my eyes...and he's hands down, the best drummer in the world. ever....


Arnel? Not talented enough to march the Journey flag into battle....as plainly as I can put it. There are very few people that should even bother....Arnel's not one of them. They broke the mold with Perry....

That was mindboggling but very candid, so I appreciate it.

All I have to say on the issue is that even Perry, whom I consider to be a class all his own in terms of jackass decisions relative to the Journey environment, is a supremely talented individual in my opinion. That goes for all of them: Schon, Cain, Deen, Smith, Dunbar, Rolie, ect.

I know, specifically regarding Schon, that Sammy Hagar and Joe Satriani and Phil Collen from Def Leppard have given the man accolades ad infinitum. He's highly respected by other guitarists and, if what you say is true, it ain't because of his award winning personality.

If what you say is true about your own guitar prowess, consider that that doesn't mean that Schon lacks talent, but perhaps that you just might be pretty handy with an axe yourself?

I'm sorry, but I just don't see the guy whom Santana and Clapton had a tug-o'-war match over when he was 15 lacking in talent.

Just my two cents anyway.

I think on the current lineup, some of us just have to agree to disagree.

well, with respect to Schon's guitar playing. There's HUGE difference between him and I...and that's to the point of creativity.

He created his licks, his melodies, his music. While I can technically pull it off, I'm no different than an Arnel, meaning that I can reproduce what someone else created to a certain level...

granted, I can sound alot closer to Schon that Arnel ever has a prayer of sounding to Perry, unless he gets diction lessons...but that's another discussion (or this one, 2 pages ago! )



So to that end, the man has my praise...but it's really a moot point as I no longer get the tug in the soul I got when I used to listen to his music...

Frank wrote:

So to that end, the man has my praise...but it's really a moot point as I no longer get the tug in the soul I got when I used to listen to his music...

That's pretty much where I'm at right now. I think the music has been prostituted out so many times by the band that it's not as special to me as it once was. The fact that they did the re-records tells me that they don't appreciate the magic of 'what was'. I still LOVE the SP era and everything that went along with it, but the name Journey doesn't have the same meaning to me as it once did.

Frank wrote:

Saint John wrote:lol...jilted fanboy is at it again.

Go back MR, dickbag.

You talk about Arnel's diction and then come up with a sentence like that?

Saint John wrote:

Frank wrote:

Saint John wrote:lol...jilted fanboy is at it again.

Go back MR, dickbag.

You talk about Arnel's diction and then come up with a sentence like that?

Fuck off Dicksnot...

Saint John wrote:

Frank wrote:

Saint John wrote:lol...jilted fanboy is at it again.

Go back MR, dickbag.

You talk about Arnel's diction and then come up with a sentence like that?

that's what happens when you hang out with stevew2

Frank wrote:

Saint John wrote:

Frank wrote:

Saint John wrote:lol...jilted fanboy is at it again.

Go back MR, dickbag.

You talk about Arnel's diction and then come up with a sentence like that?

Fuck off Dicksnot...

Did you say something, Frank? I can't hear you. Maybe your microphone isn't on. Must be a New York thing.

Saint John wrote:Did you say something, Frank? I can't hear you. Maybe your microphone isn't on. Must be a New York thing.

well, too much jerking off in mommy's basement not only makes you blind, it makes you deaf. I'll yell real loud for your benefit.

FUCK OFF, DICKSNOT.

Frank wrote:

Saint John wrote:Did you say something, Frank? I can't hear you. Maybe your microphone isn't on. Must be a New York thing.

well, too much jerking off in mommy's basement not only makes you blind, it makes you deaf. I'll yell real loud for your benefit.

FUCK OFF, DICKSNOT.

lol...I own my own house, have a condo and my car is paid off. Nice try, though!

Awwh, isn't that cute. We have a vendetta, here?

No, I love Dan. I think he's good people...this is just how I express my true feelings for him!

Oh, I see.

A love/hate/S&M relationship, huh?

I have absolutely, positively, no problems with Frank at all. I like his fire and he's extremely informative when it comes to Journey and music in general. Most importantly, like me, he hates Curious George (Obama). We disagree on a few things, but we agree on that one...and it's a big one!

Plus, I think if I were more into AOR/MR music these days....I'd be more into Arnel. I find the whole scene, not just Journey...to be tired, filled with old farts that are no longer in it for the music, but to make the alimony checks or pay off the debt they incurred in the 90s, when they wanted to retain their lifestyle.....

If were still really into this music, I think I'd forgive any issues I would have with Arnel and be a supporter of the band. I would consider any Journey is better than no Journey....

So really, it's not a huge point of contention with Dan....just one that I playfully (even though I come across as being filled with piss and vinegar) wage.....

The boys showing affection by punching each other on the arm and wrestling... awwwww.

Frank wrote:Actually, people in the entertainment business can train to suppress an accent very easily. Most people who are news anchors/reporters go through such training as a requirement of their employment.

But if Arnel singing "Wooshie go o wooshie stay, Done geef up Never wralk array" is an asset in your eyes, well, I suspect Frig and Fro are laughing all the way to the bank.

PURE FUCKING GOLD LOL!!!

This guy's review made me laugh.

http://streamingdrivel.blogspot.com/

Arnel Pineda

Has the all the stage presence of deranged muppet on uppers. He is so small that he would get lost on stage and had to stand on monitors to be seen. After the third song he left the stage and the drummer sang for him. I don't know why. He came back on stage and said something about living in Manilla, and then broke into that song from Vision Quest. Which got me thinking about Mathew Modine and all those rumors that he went nuts and all the stuff that was pulled out of his rectum.

Ed wrote:This guy's review made me laugh.

http://streamingdrivel.blogspot.com/

Arnel Pineda

Has the all the stage presence of deranged muppet on uppers. He is so small that he would get lost on stage and had to stand on monitors to be seen. After the third song he left the stage and the drummer sang for him. I don't know why. He came back on stage and said something about living in Manilla, and then broke into that song from Vision Quest. Which got me thinking about Mathew Modine and all those rumors that he went nuts and all the stuff that was pulled out of his rectum.

lol...I read that a week or two ago and couldn't stop laughing. The Matthew Modine stuff especially. "...that song from Vision Quest."