Journey. Yes, Journey.

I’m talking about the pre-Faithfully, pre-uber-ballad Journey, which toed the line between old-school rock, blues and just a little pop. To this day, Departure is one of my favorite albums — uh, CDs. The guitar work is great (Neal Schon, of course), the keyboards are great (Gregg Rolie — great), the vocal melodies are great, the songs are great, and sound-wise there’s lots of wood.

Neal has always been a very tasteful player, something Carlos Santana recognized early on when he tapped Neal to be in his band — when Neal was only 15! — and was asked by none other than the great Clapton to join Derek and the Dominos around the same time (reference on that fact is here).

Early on Neal seemed to be a Les Paul-only guy, presumably with a Marshall, but in the early, woodier Journey switched guitars often, even live. Les Pauls, Strats, the Ovation electric and other guitars made their way through his hands — yet more proof that a big chunk of tone is in the hands.

I remember reading at some point that Neal was completely blown away by Ed Van Halen, which would explain Neal’s unfortunate “straying from the force” (wood) — using a Floyd Rose (his signature Les Paul has a Floyd), changing his style to be a bit more “modern,” etc. He was still good and still Neal, but in my opinion neal didn’t need it, not with that much WoodyTone in the hands.

The point of all this? Neal had/has wood, and along with the early members of Journey — Gregg, Ross Valory, Steve Perry, Steve Smith — put out some good, woody rock. Some examples:

Any Way You Want It (vid can’t be embedded)

Just the Same Way (can’t be embedded — this makes me wonder what would’ve happened if Greg Rollie gave up the keys and sang instead)

Walks Like a Lady (fast blues)

Here’s Neal’s website, if you’re curious. Doesn’t look very current.

If you didn’t know, here’s a pretty cool factoid: Journey got its most recent singer, Arnel Pineda, off YouTube — the pop version of Ripper Owens and the Priest. Arnel sounds uncannily similar to Steve Perry. Gotta love the Web: No way a huge rock act would find a great Filipino singer, living in the Philippines, 10 years ago. Great story — here’s a great piece on it from the Sunday Morning TV show:

And just to be clear, I admire the current lineup and talent of Journey. Just not a big fan of the ballad-era sound. I wonder what the new tunes will sound like….

Gibson Les Paul, Fender Strat,

Category: Les Paul, Neal Schon/Journey, Strat