Head2Head: Steve Perry vs. Arnel Pineda Part 2 - Studio Versions

So now we're going to focus on the studio versions of the same songs they have recorded. I have chosen the following songs for comparison (from the slow ballad songs to the power rock songs):

1. Faithfully
2. Open Arms
3. Don't Stop Believin'
4. Separate Ways

By the way, I am hoping I will not rouse fans around (more or Arnel's fans as I am a Filipino too), and I'd like to keep everything as unbiased as possible.

1. Faithfully

Steve - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vUriVEn7FU
Arnel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNBSo44t5a8

The first difference that I have spotted, On delivering the very first line, it's almost a definite given that Steve's voice can tend to be more "soothing" to listeners compared to Arnel's.

I have also noticed that Arnel seems to be more able to sustain long notes longer than Steve, and at times that can tell that he is able to put more emphasis on some words better than the other vocalist. One of the notables too is when they deliver the line "Two strangers learn to fall in love again..." - Arnel made a good emphasis and power on the line, and Steve just delivered a dotted quarter note and just did a rest the measure. In my opinion, the emphasis as Arnel had done it would be more suitable as in those parts Neal (lead guitars) was already delivering his power lines. There are also other parts of the song that manifest this.

As reference in the first statement for this song, Steve having the "more soothing" voice, it may seem that Steve may appear on the speakers as the more relaxed singer as Arnel.


2. Open Arms

Steve - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHHHmi_8Bhs (note: this isn't the official Open Arms video, but a very hilarious video. thought of sharing it)
Arnel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OqLI1X72RE

This is going to be actually a difference in preference in the part of the listeners. Both are equally musically effective in delivering the song. If you prefer the rock star leaning to a thin voice compared to Axl Rose, listen to Steve's version, but if you prefer a whole voice all throughout the song, go for Arnel. Steve delivered such power in this song that I thought it was missing in Faithfully, while Arnel was getting the rasp on high notes especially in the chorus parts. Too bad this is is just three and a half minutes long, that they could have showcased more of their vocal skills in this very nice song.

There is, by the way, a surprise about this song in the last part of this head to head.


3. Don't Stop Believin'

Steve - http://www.trilulilu.ro/magic_dream/3f00a3d4117350
Arnel - http://www.livevideo.com/video/C7A2769589614AF2852B9694639AD855/journey-don-t-stop-believin.aspx

This song, let alone which singer would do better, deserves a powerful rocker. The way Steve sang this song, in my opinion, is a bit soft. Arnel gave justice more to this song than the original counterpart, maybe because of Steve's more relaxed demeanor on the microphone. His voice was a bit reasonable wholler than Steve's. The range in the whole in both versions aren't really different, but noticably, Steve's famous rasp becomes less evident when he tries to hit the high notes (unlike Michael Bolton's seemingly infinite supply of rasp even on high notes). But undoubtedly, both singers can deliver the eight count (2 whole notes) on the chorus line "...hiding somewhere in the night." So that actually slices the gap of the two singers in terms of vocal timbre. I honestly like Arnel's version of this compared to Steve's, and even to the other past Journey vocalists.

On a side note, Steve surprisingly sang this way better in live.


4. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)

Steve - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQbZRMLKozk
Arnel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2UxLRG2kNE

Here's actually a surprise for me. They sounded almost exactly the same in this song except for a slight mispronunciation on Steve's version in the second stanza, which isn't really bad (overstating the word "forgivable"), and a little creative differences. Arnel beautifully nailed the last note (a whole B4 note using modal register) of the refrains as Steve did in his version. For the untrained ear, you can almost never distinguish the difference between the two singers for this song. No vocal notes were delivered longer by one singer compared to the other.

But perhaps the biggest differences lie on two things: firstly, because the Revelation release (Arnel's) is an extended version of the Escape release (Steve's), extended by an extra 1:03 with a couple of additional riffs in-fixed in the ending of the song, and secondly, Arnel just raised the bar of his vocal range in the modal register.

The first difference: Check out 4:42 up to 5:11 of the Revelation release. Those riffs are additional ones. The lines "I still love you girl, I really love you girl" and "If he ever hurts you, true love won't desert you" sang by Arnel are nasty lines. The first line was sang with starting note at B4, then just hits C5 and D5 with one note each. That's not easy. And the next line was sung with starting note at B4 then peaks at E5 for two notes.

And if you think that's really hard (well it is really hard), wait til you get to the ending which brings us to the second difference. Steve in the Escape release hit the whole B4 notes twice. That's actually already an exclamation point for an ending of a song. But Arnel did it differently and a lot harder, hitting a whole B4 note in the first then doing a nasty portamento from B4 to E5, and he did not have to employ falsetto in the whole process.

My friend researched about this and Arnel was the first Journey vocalist who did this. I do not want to think that Arnel's predecessors (including Perry) were not capable of doing it, and just thought that they just did not think of doing it. So that's +1 in creativity and guts for Pineda.


So wait for the next installment of this head to head :)