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Post by tj on Jan 12, 2021 18:46:37 GMT -8
Decent update on the band, management, feud with Ross and Smith, JTT, and other stuff. Worth the read.
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Post by slucero on Jan 12, 2021 21:52:50 GMT -8
Interesting that he's painting Azoff as the bad actor....
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TNC
Full Member
Posts: 231
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Post by TNC on Jan 13, 2021 9:13:48 GMT -8
The band always acted like they were afraid of Azoff and grateful to be managed by him. Outside of the Walmart deal and some lucrative tour packages (ex. Def Leppard), what has he done for them in the past few decades? As for the ongoing legal battle....it's sad how this turned out, but Ross is an average player tbh. His silence during this whole affair also speaks volumes. He doesn't want to engage with the fans because he'd rather work behind-the-scenes to undermine Journey's creatively prosperous future. Good riddance.
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Post by tj on Jan 17, 2021 19:55:18 GMT -8
The band always acted like they were afraid of Azoff and grateful to be managed by him. Outside of the Walmart deal and some lucrative tour packages (ex. Def Leppard), what has he done for them in the past few decades? As for the ongoing legal battle....it's sad how this turned out, but Ross is an average player tbh. His silence during this whole affair also speaks volumes. He doesn't want to engage with the fans because he'd rather work behind-the-scenes to undermine Journey's creatively prosperous future. Good riddance. My observation is that most bass players are average. It is really the least common denominator in the band. Not always, I know. There are some awesome bass players in the world, but the ability to get by as an average bass man is a lot greater than any other rock band instrument. Ross has been fortunate to have had a second chance with journey. They could have easily gone another direction in 1996 with Jackson or someone else. My guess is that anyone in Azoff's roster does whatever he says while they are under contract with him. His influence across the industry is so great that crossing him would only be something that a few acts could easily survive. Paul McCartney, Ringo, Bob Dylan, Eagles and people of that stature. Don Henley once said "he may be Satan, but he's our (Eagles) Satan", meaning that you never want to be on his bad side. The Walmart and big tours are nothing to sneeze at, but realistically I don't see this band continuing on the road at anywhere near the pace they did for the past 20 years. They are pushing into their 70s. Time is not at all on their side. Azoff probably saw that and decided that Neal wasn't worth the hassle.
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Post by slucero on Jan 17, 2021 20:39:29 GMT -8
Neal's just taking shit... I used to have the same attitude about bass as Neal appears to have about about Ross. EVH had the same opinon about Michael Anthony... And all of us were/are fucking WRONG. I've been a musician since I was 15 years old... I play guitar, drums, bass, some keyboards. I played in a bunch of bands as a teen, well into my 20's and went to school for audio engineering. I can tell you that playing the bass is hard as fuck. There's a huge difference between playing the bass and playing the bass....
Guitar players have a different mindset when it comes to playing. The mindset to play bass is NOT the same as a guitarist. In fact it's more like a drummer. Finding space. Leaving space. Knowing when to play. When not to. When to lay back, into the beat.
If Ross was that bad.. and knowing Neal's ear... there's NO WAY Ross would have been in Journey for 25 of the Journey's 48 year existence...
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Post by tj on Jan 19, 2021 13:58:20 GMT -8
Neal's just taking shit... I used to have the same attitude about bass as Neal appears to have about about Ross. EVH had the same opinon about Michael Anthony... And all of us were/are fucking WRONG. I've been a musician since I was 15 years old... I play guitar, drums, bass, some keyboards. I played in a bunch of bands as a teen, well into my 20's and went to school for audio engineering. I can tell you that playing the bass is hard as fuck. There's a huge difference between playing the bass and playing the bass....
Guitar players have a different mindset when it comes to playing. The mindset to play bass is NOT the same as a guitarist. In fact it's more like a drummer. Finding space. Leaving space. Knowing when to play. When not to. When to lay back, into the beat.
If Ross was that bad.. and knowing Neal's ear... there's NO WAY Ross would have been in Journey for 25 of the Journey's 48 year existence... Neal wrote most of the classic Journey bass parts, Ross himself has said as much. DSB the best example. Ross could play it, but Neal wrote it. Ross threw in with Journey 50 years ago b/c Herbie put him in. In the Castles Burning interview, I think it was, Herbie even said that at one point he told Ross he would have to step it up to stay in the band. Sort of like Felder being invited back to the Eagles reunion, Ross was brought back in '96 to have the "classic Escape era lineup", not because of Ross' ability. Ditto on the instruments, but for me bass is quite simple - even for the reasons you said. Drummers are coordinating 2 arms and 2 feet with a few "notes" (actually tones) to work with. Guitarists have 4 fingers on one hand and at least one, but as many as 5 fingers on the other. Chords, rhythms, individual notes, phrasing, spacing, et. al. I play decent chords, but my fingers will never fly like Neal's. It's the most difficult of a rock band instrument to play solo by far IMO. Keyboards are 10 fingers and sometimes 2 feet. Chords, single notes, etc., If you understand chord structure and key tonality, it can be pretty basic as well. To play it solo like Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson, yeah, totally different story. Chris Squire, Entwhistle, John Paul Jones, are just 3 of the guys who really play bass like wizards. Dozens of others too, Geddy Lee, Jason Scheff, Nathan East, Lee Sklar, the list goes on. Then guys like Ross, solid, but never showing anything amazing. When I look at the list of great classic rock bands, more have average bass players than great. Leppard, Boston, Styx, Foreigner, the list goes on. Most of those bands have great guitarists (or two), perhaps a great drummer, maybe even a great keyboard player, but rarely great bass players.
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Post by slucero on Jan 19, 2021 18:33:42 GMT -8
Neal's just taking shit... I used to have the same attitude about bass as Neal appears to have about about Ross. EVH had the same opinon about Michael Anthony... And all of us were/are fucking WRONG. I've been a musician since I was 15 years old... I play guitar, drums, bass, some keyboards. I played in a bunch of bands as a teen, well into my 20's and went to school for audio engineering. I can tell you that playing the bass is hard as fuck. There's a huge difference between playing the bass and playing the bass....
Guitar players have a different mindset when it comes to playing. The mindset to play bass is NOT the same as a guitarist. In fact it's more like a drummer. Finding space. Leaving space. Knowing when to play. When not to. When to lay back, into the beat.
If Ross was that bad.. and knowing Neal's ear... there's NO WAY Ross would have been in Journey for 25 of the Journey's 48 year existence... Neal wrote most of the classic Journey bass parts, Ross himself has said as much. DSB the best example. Ross could play it, but Neal wrote it. Ross threw in with Journey 50 years ago b/c Herbie put him in. In the Castles Burning interview, I think it was, Herbie even said that at one point he told Ross he would have to step it up to stay in the band. Sort of like Felder being invited back to the Eagles reunion, Ross was brought back in '96 to have the "classic Escape era lineup", not because of Ross' ability. Ditto on the instruments, but for me bass is quite simple - even for the reasons you said. Drummers are coordinating 2 arms and 2 feet with a few "notes" (actually tones) to work with. Guitarists have 4 fingers on one hand and at least one, but as many as 5 fingers on the other. Chords, rhythms, individual notes, phrasing, spacing, et. al. I play decent chords, but my fingers will never fly like Neal's. It's the most difficult of a rock band instrument to play solo by far IMO. Keyboards are 10 fingers and sometimes 2 feet. Chords, single notes, etc., If you understand chord structure and key tonality, it can be pretty basic as well. To play it solo like Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson, yeah, totally different story. Chris Squire, Entwhistle, John Paul Jones, are just 3 of the guys who really play bass like wizards. Dozens of others too, Geddy Lee, Jason Scheff, Nathan East, Lee Sklar, the list goes on. Then guys like Ross, solid, but never showing anything amazing. When I look at the list of great classic rock bands, more have average bass players than great. Leppard, Boston, Styx, Foreigner, the list goes on. Most of those bands have great guitarists (or two), perhaps a great drummer, maybe even a great keyboard player, but rarely great bass players. That's because most of those bands play songs in the I-IV-V structure.... with few variations. Geddy Lee, Jason Scheff, Nathan East, Lee Sklar would all be bored as fuck playing Journey songs.. they just aren't that challenging.... I have the Castles Burning Interview... have read it a few times.. I remember what Herbie said....Herbie wouldn't have kept him if he sucked... Ross was good enough, no Geddy Lee... but in Journey he didn't have to be...
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