Post by tj on Feb 17, 2021 11:10:20 GMT -8
"I know you remember that Cain wasn't interested in doing Eclipse at first either... There's tweets with Neal slamming Cain about new music...
Why would Cain be hesitant? He didn't think it ( a different direction) would sell.... and he wanted to continue with "traditional" Journey music (which Neal had had more than enough of)"
Why would Cain be hesitant? He didn't think it ( a different direction) would sell.... and he wanted to continue with "traditional" Journey music (which Neal had had more than enough of)"
I don't remember this actually.
After the tepid response to Arrival, Cain said he wanted to do only EPs. I remember that.
After the success of Revelation, there seemed to be a quick turn around by the band toward working on a new album for Walmart.
Cain's griping only begun after the album didn't sell as well as Revelation.
In 2011 while promoting Eclipse he was all about it. Quotes from 2011 interviews below -
JC: "Well, after playing these heavy rock festivals, it was obvious that we could use some rock in our repertoire – a little bit more of that European-flavored stuff. Europe is one place you can play new material. The States tend to be more of a “greatest hits” crowd, but here, not as much. I mean, our fans are great, but the majority of the people that come to those shows, I don't know how much they're interested in the new stuff. [Laughs] we play it whether they like it or not.
Europe certainly gives you an opportunity to step up your game. We felt that playing with the heavy rock bands, we certainly could go there, and I think Arnel is the reason. He can pull it off – he's really a fine all-around chameleon rock singer. He can sing the phone book, he's got the power to pull it off, and sing on the big power chords and the walls of guitars that Neal [Schon] comes up with. We needed that part of it, too. We noticed that his voice is really up for the challenge. He's done really well, he's really been an inspiration for all of us."
JC: "It's a raw rock album. It's guitar driven. Neal said early on 'I want to go with this. Will you go with me?' I said, well lyrically it's got to be profound, I don't want to put out any old stuff. If we're going to go in this direction, it's got to be to some mystical place, like Zeppelin did with their music.
Neal came to me with this conceptual idea, the Hindu interpretation of life as an endless circle. So I started doing research on the internet and writing ideas down. And I really liked the concept, you known for a band that sings about hopeful things.
Without being religious, I believe in a universal god, and I like the idea of the endless circle. I've always dabbled in the metaphysical belief. I was meditating and performed yoga and I always noted this wonderful high energy and I wondered how can I trigger this peace of mind and this happiness?
I thought this is something that we should look at, maybe with this album. With the conflict and turmoil that we face every day in our society sometimes it's good to see how you relate to the universe and god.
Neal had some ideas and it encompasses physical, spiritual and metaphysical ideas which go really deep, without being too 'heavy' about it.
I was able to craft some very sensual lyrics. Neal allowed me to write these lyrics. He's a Buddhist, he's a spiritual man, he likes the idea of eternal peace - that conflicts can be resolved. I said this is what we should be singing about, not about chasing women around.
When we finished these songs and we learned them and started singing them in the studio it was like 'Oh, I was right!' This was something different.
But to me it's an album that is not a one-listen record. You need to listen through it a few times. It's very complex musically, it has many layers to it and there's something different every time you listen to it to pick up on."
Here he talks about studio costs...
Actually, I would not be surprised if a lot of people work with JONATHON CAIN, WRITER OF DON'T STOP BELIEVING AND LONG TIME KEYBOARD PLAYER IN JOURNEY for free. Many Christian musicians are caught up in the search for fame and significance, just like the rest of the world. Listen to Christian radio station for a while and it sounds like top 40 of two years prior, only with lyrics about Jesus - and many times no reference to Jesus or God at all. I can't stand it.