The Divas over on the Journey board...........

[SuiteMadameBlue]

Greggie says:

It's kind of funny you all are complaining about who's first and who's second when my band [Kansas] doesn't even have a forum of it's own. <sigh>

Is Kansas your favorite band to listen to? I'm curious, do they have any new music out there? I'm afraid to ask, how many original members do they have in their band. Obviously I don't know a lot about Kansas and maybe you can fill me in There's so many other forums on here with other bands that are so empty with posts.

Equinox is a GREAT cd!!

[jrnyman28]

Fit *how*? What genre are you talking about? Are you talking classic rock/80's bands or classic rock bands past their prime on a comback trail or what?

Serious tourers in the last ten years:

Aerosmith

Bruce Springsteen(with and without E Street)

AC/DC(not continuous, but usually in support of a new album)

Bon Jovi

ZZ Top

Rolling Stones

U2

Pat Benatar

Foreigner(promise of a new album that never materialized)


Oh, Def Leppard and Cheap Trick too.

OK, good list. SMB asked "why is Journey playing Arena's and other bands from the same "years" or "eras" are playing these [fairs and smaller] type of venues?" So I was trying to figure out who else she might be talking about. Def Lep and Bon Jovi came later but are good examples. Def Lep is building back up a little with the double bill with BA. Who knew the ballparks would be so advantagious. We all know Bon Jovi, U2, Stones, Aerosmith and Bruce don't fit the conversation...they are playing huge venues. They are truly the exception. Journey is very "middle-ground" by comparison. Foreigner hasn't been able to keep a lineup together and they have no new material. Pat Benatar has been out of site for a while, I am really not sure what kind of venues she is playiong now. But this year she did play the same venue as Journey here in Denver. Maybe some time away did her good as well. ZZTop...hmmm, they do alright. AC/DC is an "icon" so they always do well touring.

I think, in this conversation, it still boils down to comparing Journey and Styx. For that, I think the answer may be consistency without over-saturation.

[SuiteMadameBlue]

jrnyman28 says:

OK, good list. SMB asked "why is Journey playing Arena's and other bands from the same "years" or "eras" are playing these [fairs and smaller] type of venues?"

I was thinking of bands like STYX, Journey, REO, Foreigner and maybe Kansas, .38 Special, The Cars, Def Leppard (?)

[Greg]

Greggie says:

It's kind of funny you all are complaining about who's first and who's second when my band [Kansas] doesn't even have a forum of it's own. <sigh>

Is Kansas your favorite band to listen to? I'm curious, do they have any new music out there? I'm afraid to ask, how many original members do they have in their band. Obviously I don't know a lot about Kansas and maybe you can fill me in There's so many other forums on here with other bands that are so empty with posts.

Equinox is a GREAT cd!!

Their last new album was released about two or three years ago. They went back to their Prog roots on this one and I thought it was well put together. The album is called Somewhere to Elsewhere.

They do in fact still tour with the majority of their orginal members except for Kerry Livgrin (guitars) and Dave Hope(base.) The only guy in the band, Billy Greer, that hasn't been in the band since its early days has been with the band since 1986, so I consider him a long time member of the band.

They still tour on pretty much a regular basis, but I'm not sure if they'll do a new album anytime soon.

[sadie65]

Their last new album was released about two or three years ago. They went back to their Prog roots on this one and I thought it was well put together. The album is called Somewhere to Elsewhere.

They do in fact still tour with the majority of their orginal members except for Kerry Livgrin (guitars) and Dave Hope(base.) The only guy in the band, Billy Greer, that hasn't been in the band since its early days has been with the band since 1986, so I consider him a long time member of the band.

They still tour on pretty much a regular basis, but I'm not sure if they'll do a new album anytime soon.

[/quote]

I've always liked Kansas. I have one lone boot of theirs that I enjoy (along with some of their commercial releases). Thanks for the update. Feel free to share your Kansas stories here in Styxland.

[Angiekay]

Pat Benatar has been out of site for a while, I am really not sure what kind of venues she is playiong now. But this year she did play the same venue as Journey here in Denver. Maybe some time away did her good as well.

She has toured every summer since 1995. In that time, she has had two new studio albums out. I've seen her at the very same arenas, fairgrounds and little outdoor venues I've seen Journey in. As a matter of fact, she played outdoors at a lawn venue that I had seen Journey at a week before. She's also been on tv...on that 70's show, Emeril, We's Women and Guitars Rock for breast cancer awareness and Crossroads with Martina McBride. She also just recently received the Long Island Sound Award (LISA) and has been involved in several benefits and causes the past couple years including it's Hip to H.E.A.R in which she was in conjunction with Engerizer batteries for coupons for hearing aids. Her husband also composed the music for the movie "Smile" with Beau Bridges.

That is hardly out of site, unless you're not paying attention.

[Angiekay]

I've always liked Kansas. I have one lone boot of theirs that I enjoy (along with some of their commercial releases). Thanks for the update. Feel free to share your Kansas stories here in Styxland.

So am I the only one who has had bad experiences with Kansas? I've seen them probably a half dozen times in the last ten years and I can't remember anything really memorable about their shows other then Steve Walsh doing a handstand on his keyboard back in '96. In fact, at one show they didn't play a song I knew until their encore and I know the Kansas library pretty good. Very disappointing. I love their music, but I consider them very very boring in concert.

[bugsymalone]

So am I the only one who has had bad experiences with Kansas? I've seen them probably a half dozen times in the last ten years and I can't remember anything really memorable about their shows other then Steve Walsh doing a handstand on his keyboard back in '96. In fact, at one show they didn't play a song I knew until their encore and I know the Kansas library pretty good. Very disappointing. I love their music, but I consider them very very boring in concert. [/color][/size]

[/b]

I saw the "classic" lineup of Kansas, during their heyday, back in the 70's. They were, except for Steve Walsh, pretty static onstage, but the music was just fabulous and that was what we were there for. They were most certainly at the top of their game musically at that point.

I cannot speak for anything they are doing now as I have not kept up with them.

Bugsy

[SuiteMadameBlue]

Scott & Deano wrote:

I have to agree with you about guitarists. But I'd put Tommy up against Neal combining Guitar playing, Singing AND songwriting. Still close, but it would be an interesting battle.

Guitars...Come on Scotty. Are you drinking? Neal is possibly the best guitarist in the world. And writing? Neal has had a hand in the 40 or so hits they have.

Me: I think Neal is a better guitar player than Tommy. He's listed on many guitar lists, as where Tommy's name isn't even mentioned in the top 100 or even 50. I still like Tommy's guitar playing, but Neal's just better. Tommy for songwriting. Has Neal written any songs as the main writer, or were they all co-written with him? Singing, Tommy.

Drums-Deen is awesome, but Todd might be even better. When you add the singing component into it, the gap narrows.

Drums, both are awesome, and if I didnt use Dennis singing on keys, I wont use Deen singing on drums..

Me: I think both Deen and Todd are tied (IMO) If they had a "drum-off", it would be close. Wouldn't you say their styles of drumming is similar? I think so (IMO)


Keyboards-I would take a Dennis/Larry combo over a Gregg/Jon combo anyday. Jon is a very capable songwriter and a solid keyboardist, but not a virtuoso. Larry and Dennis are superior musicians and Dennis is without question the best vocalist of the four. Only Jon can give Dennis a run as a songwriter.

I didnt include Dennis on Keys...but Jon Cain versus Larry? Not close

Me: I would take Dennis over Jon, but Jon over Larry in both keyboards and vocals (which isn't a surprise). As for songwriting, Dennis number one in my book, but as I looked over all the songs that Jon wrote and co-wrote he's right up there in top, since I like all those songs too.

Bass-who knows? I'd probably give it to Ross since he's been there the longest.

Bass..who cares

Me: Seriously, are there any really great popular bassists out there? Are people at concerts just in awe over the playing of a bassist? (No offense to bassists).

Vocals-Another tough one. Perry and Dennis are premier. Augeri and Shaw just barely behind. But past that, I'd take Glen/Larry/JY over Kevin/Jon/Gregg.
But this is of course strictly my opinion and I actually like all of them.

Me: Dennis, then Perry, then Shaw & Augeri. Then Deen and Jon. Forget the others mentioned.

This is my opinion too

[SuiteMadameBlue]

Greggie says:

They do in fact still tour with the majority of their orginal members except for Kerry Livgrin (guitars) and Dave Hope(base.) The only guy in the band, Billy Greer, that hasn't been in the band since its early days has been with the band since 1986, so I consider him a long time member of the band.

Thanks for the info

Hey, maybe you know this. I remember seeing the band Streets. Steve Walsh and Billy Greer were in the band. I remember it was a great concert. I don't have the cd, but there was a popular song on there and I can't remember the name.

Also, is that cd out there or is it Out Of Print?

They still tour on pretty much a regular basis, but I'm not sure if they'll do a new album anytime soon.

Do they tour as much as Styx now? Seriously?

[Zan]

But still for one short 15 minutes in the life of the band Styx could say they were the MOST popular band in America. Can Journey EVER make that claim???

Dammit Yogi, I thought we were wrapping this up, until your last sentence.

Yes, Journey was voted Americas most popular group in 1982 AND 1983.

So, according to you, the popular vote makes for a "better" product. So, I guess you're a big Bush advocate.

[ohsherrie]

So, according to you, the popular vote makes for a "better" product. So, I guess you're a big Bush advocate.

OMG! Now that's hitting just a little too far below the belt.

[swwskj]

As for me, I'm a big fan of Bush. The prez, the shrub, the musician oh and the other one too.

Scott

[SuiteMadameBlue]

Well hopefully I won't be verbally abused by anyone for posting these "facts":

This is from "Song Hits" October 1984:

During the past six years, the group has sold millions of albums and singles and in 1983 was voted the most Popular Rock Band by the National Gallup Poll. Unlike many bands plagued by internal strife and bickering, Steve, Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain all speak highly of the group's strong bonds. In 1984, Journey is one of rock's most successful bands with no end to their enormous popularity in sight.

http://www.superseventies.com/sw_babe.html

With sold-out concert tours and best-selling albums like Equinox, Crystal Ball, Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight, [b]Styx eventually came to be voted America's favorite rock band in a Gallup poll -- with overwhelming support from teenage girls. The 1979 Cornerstone LP yielded the band's biggest hit. Breaking from Styx' usual pattern of slick, progressive rock was an emotional, DeYoung-penned ballad called "Babe." [/b]

I'll keep finding more

[jrnyman28]

That is hardly out of site, unless you're not paying attention.

Since you put it that way...but I have heard and seen NONE of that. I know she toured a couple years ago and played Red Rocks and this year at the Universal Lending Pavillion...both that Journey has also played. I know of ONE new CD "Go". Before that wasn't it "Gravity's Rainbow"?

[SuiteMadameBlue]

More on "popularity" between band A and band B

From Steve Perry's January 1999 "Off The Record Interview"

By the time the Frontiers tour ended in 1983 Journey had performed for some 2 million fans in 72 cities. A national gallop poll at the time named Journey the most popular band in America and that most popular band was in dire need of a real vacation.

STYX:

If you were a teenager in the late 70's, you heard Styx. They were one of those infinitely popular bands, like Journey and REO Speedwagon- bands that sold gazillions of records and were the heartthrobs of millions of teenage girls. In fact, as the band's website proclaims, a 1979 Gallup poll found that Styx was the most popular band of kids ages 13-19, in America. If you weren't one of those teenagers you could only mope about how horrible they were, along with most of the critics who derided them a corporate enterprise. Well that enterprise is still going strong, with legions of aging fans paying them homage.

http://www.racerrecords.com/Styx/goldmine.html

And the fans agreed. In 1980, Styx was voted the most popular band in the country, according to a Gallup poll. They were nominated for a Grammy; they won a People's Choice award. And in 1981, Styx released a new masterpiece, a concept album called Paradise Theatre (A&M 3719), a disc that would eventually become the band's fourth consecutive multiplatinum album.

I read a bunch of articles and STYX, Journey and REO are usually lumped together all the time.

[Zan]

So, according to you, the popular vote makes for a "better" product. So, I guess you're a big Bush advocate.

OMG! Now that's hitting just a little too far below the belt.

LOL...I think not. This person seems to associate popularity with greatness. I used Bush as as example because from Deano's posts, it's evident that he dispises the guy, yet, ironically, he's using Journey's numbers to "prove" they are "better" (or at least that's how I'm understanding him). Which raises the question: Do the numbers prove Bush is better than...Kerry because he got more votes? Using your logic, they do.

And yes, it was meant to be a rhetorical question. Numbers don't mean jack to me. Styx is a better band. Period.

[Zan]

As for me, I'm a big fan of Bush. The prez, the shrub, the musician oh and the other one too.

Scott

You sweet talker, you!

[Greg]

I've always liked Kansas. I have one lone boot of theirs that I enjoy (along with some of their commercial releases). Thanks for the update. Feel free to share your Kansas stories here in Styxland.

So am I the only one who has had bad experiences with Kansas? I've seen them probably a half dozen times in the last ten years and I can't remember anything really memorable about their shows other then Steve Walsh doing a handstand on his keyboard back in '96. In fact, at one show they didn't play a song I knew until their encore and I know the Kansas library pretty good. Very disappointing. I love their music, but I consider them very very boring in concert.

I've seen them twice in concert. Once back in 1998, and just last year. The concert in 1998 was just "okay." They opened for ZZ Top. The concert last year was excellent! The band sounded great, the songs were awesome, Steve Walsh sounded the best I've heard him sound in years. Nobody that night found them boring at all! You probably didn't get to see the current line-up.

[classicstyxfan]

swwskj wrote:
"Kevin was never in this band"
Doh!
I must have had The Storm on the brain.
Scott

Diva Says:
Ahem, He may be soon though..Something is going on that is major....
But this is a Styx board so i won't divulge.
_________________

Classic says: So Journey is looking to add a MUCH NEEDED infusion of talent eh ? That really says a lot about the state of affairs at Camp Journey!!! but it's understandable. Maybe once they add some new guys the overall talent level will approach that of Styx's !

[Greg]

So am I the only one who has had bad experiences with Kansas? I've seen them probably a half dozen times in the last ten years and I can't remember anything really memorable about their shows other then Steve Walsh doing a handstand on his keyboard back in '96. In fact, at one show they didn't play a song I knew until their encore and I know the Kansas library pretty good. Very disappointing. I love their music, but I consider them very very boring in concert. [/color][/size]

[/b]

I saw the "classic" lineup of Kansas, during their heyday, back in the 70's. They were, except for Steve Walsh, pretty static onstage, but the music was just fabulous and that was what we were there for. They were most certainly at the top of their game musically at that point.

I cannot speak for anything they are doing now as I have not kept up with them.

Bugsy

Kansas is not a band that tries to be extremely flashy on stage. Actually, out of all the concert footage I've seen, and the concerts I've been to, they appeared to me to have more life in them than in previous years. I absolutely love the music. It's not all about sex, drugs, and rock and roll ya know.

[ohsherrie]

So, according to you, the popular vote makes for a "better" product. So, I guess you're a big Bush advocate.

OMG! Now that's hitting just a little too far below the belt.

LOL...I think not. This person seems to associate popularity with greatness. I used Bush as as example because from Deano's posts, it's evident that he dispises the guy, yet, ironically, he's using Journey's numbers to "prove" they are "better" (or at least that's how I'm understanding him). Which raises the question: Do the numbers prove Bush is better than...Kerry because he got more votes? Using your logic, they do.

And yes, it was meant to be a rhetorical question. Numbers don't mean jack to me. Styx is a better band. Period.

Well Zan, Oh by the way Hi, nice to meet you. When you're talking about something as purely subjective as music the only way you can prove a point is with whatever relative numbers are available. This is a Styx board, so the prevalent opinion is going to be that Styx is the best band. There will never be any other means of disputing an opinion except through numbers.

Where Bush is concerned, the results are self evident.

Frankly, I don't know enough about the evolution of Styx since they lost DDY to be able to talk about it. I was all about Dennis's voice and lost interest after he left.

I only came here to see what Deano was up to.

(Hi Sadie and SMB, )

[sadie65]

Well Zan, Oh by the way Hi, nice to meet you. When you're talking about something as purely subjective as music the only way you can prove a point is with whatever relative numbers are available. This is a Styx board, so the prevalent opinion is going to be that Styx is the best band. There will never be any other means of disputing an opinion except through numbers.

Where Bush is concerned, the results are self evident.

Frankly, I don't know enough about the evolution of Styx since they lost DDY to be able to talk about it. I was all about Dennis's voice and lost interest after he left.

I only came here to see what Deano was up to.

(Hi Sadie and SMB, )

[/quote]
And now you know. Waving back at you OhSherrie.

[ohsherrie]

Waving back Sadie.

[SuiteMadameBlue]

ohsherrie says:

(Hi Sadie and SMB,)

Hi to OhSherrie and waving too

Scott says:

As for me, I'm a big fan of Bush. The prez, the shrub, the musician oh and the other one too.

OMG LOL, it took me 2 hours to figure this one out!! You're bad!!

[Zan]

Well Zan, Oh by the way Hi, nice to meet you.

Ditto! Hi back atcha! Nice to meet you as well.

When you're talking about something as purely subjective as music the only way you can prove a point is with whatever relative numbers are available. This is a Styx board, so the prevalent opinion is going to be that Styx is the best band. There will never be any other means of disputing an opinion except through numbers.

See, this is where we disagree. By the same logic, you can "prove" that Britney Spears, Beyonce, and Michael Jackson are better than Journey OR Styx because they've had more "success" than probably both of those bands combined. I also don't think that politics aren't subjective, I mean, depending on who you are, and what you stand for or believe in.

Where Bush is concerned, the results are self evident.

Are they? I guess we'll never know.

Frankly, I don't know enough about the evolution of Styx since they lost DDY to be able to talk about it. I was all about Dennis's voice and lost interest after he left.

I only came here to see what Deano was up to.

At least your tastes in entertainment are consistent.

Seriously, welcome to the asyllum.

[Angiekay]

That is hardly out of site, unless you're not paying attention.

Since you put it that way...but I have heard and seen NONE of that. I know she toured a couple years ago and played Red Rocks and this year at the Universal Lending Pavillion...both that Journey has also played. I know of ONE new CD "Go". Before that wasn't it "Gravity's Rainbow"?

Then you should probably say she's been out of YOUR site for awhile. Gravity's Rainbow was 1993. Inamorata came out in 1997. EXCELLENT album. Here's some catching up reading and pictoral material for you. Take a look around.

http://www.benatarfanclub.com/

[ohsherrie]

Zan,

I don't disagree with you at all. The numbers don't necessarily reflect quality. They're just the only facts we have. Everything else is just a matter of personal preference. When it comes to all of those you mentioned though, with the exception of Micheal Jackson, if you adjusted the numbers for Styx and Journey to compensate for the changes in the way the labels sell music now and the economics of the music buying demographic over the last 30 yrs, there might not be that much difference.
In other words, kids have more money to spend these days, the labels market these acts towards that demographic, the acts don't tour as much as our bands used to, the kids buy the cds and watch they're acts on tv.

At least your tastes in entertainment are consistent.

Let there be no doubt.

[bugsymalone]

ohsherrie said:

I was all about Dennis's voice and lost interest after he left.

Bugsy says: Ohyeah, ohsherrie!!!

Bugsy

[Red13JoePa]

Mmmmmm I thought Innamorata hamgstrung Neal Giraldo a lot. Go in my opinion's the superior album, with the Spyder returning to it's rightful place at the foundation. God almighty, can Benatar still BLAZE with those pipes, too. Amazing how little she's lost.