Corporate Rock Lives

Arnel Pineda sounds just like Steve Perry. That's no revelation. But the latter is the title of the Pineda led Journey's Wal-Mart sold CD/DVD. A freakin' bargain at $12, it has one disc of new songs the other of old songs in which Steve Perry gets his props via Pineda. Oh those new songs! They do sound just like old Journey ones. Neal Schon can bitch about Steve Perry all he wants, but he's learned much from his old nemesis. While Perry wrote the words, Schon was writing the melodies and with Revelation he's studied Perry's knack on how to craft radio-made songs. And Jonathan Cain fills in for Perry's ballads by writing a new one that could be taken from an old Perry lyric sheet. This album won't change anyone's opinion on Journey's legacy. Although it's funny to see it get a 3 star review in Rolling Stone, a magazine that used to hate these types of bands when they were top of the charts in the 80's. And remember the post 9/11 issue in which David Fricke waxed positively on the power of "Don't Stop Believin"? Corporate Rock lives.