This entry had been a long wait due to an audition for a lead vocalist spot that I was getting ready for (which I am still waiting for the decision of the band whether they will take me or not). Nonetheless, I am back here to do some blog work.
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This part of the head2head feature comes actually with a surprise for me. More revelations that I had never realized before. So let's get on with it.
NOTE: I have viewed quite a number of videos of both performers, but I will just be posted just a few notables.
Some say the band's (not only the singer's) live performances really tell their real talent (apart the talent in songwriting and composing of course). For me it's not entirely true but a big part of it is true. But let's speak of the lead vocalist alone. Live performances give vocalists the chance to show their ability to replicate IN REAL TIME (or even tweak a bit crediting their creativity) the songs they have recorded on studio where they could have done it NOT in real time. They also give the vocalists to show longevity, stamina and endurance mainly of their singing voices (and Journey songs are songs to be reckoned with). Also, live performances can reveal a vocalist's level of showmanship - one's ability to connect with the audience.
Perry and Pineda definitely got what it takes to deliver long live performances without even breaking a sweat off their asses, but if you try to closely watch their performances, there are a number of things that can be significantly noticeable, and maybe splits the two singers in some fashion more effective than the comparison of their studio performances.
As contrary to popular belief that they have very similar voices, I disagree again. Yes they do have similar vocal range (in the countertenor range), but they have different and distinct timbres. Perry has this trademark rasp, and Pineda has what I would say a clean voice. Making an analogy to a guitar, Perry is to distorted (but of course not too distorted), as Pineda is to clean. Both of them delivered effectively in their live performances with their own styles.
I have noticed that Perry's voice is somewhat different in live compared to the studio versions, where Pineda would maintain his studio voice in live performances. This is very noticeable in the song Separate Ways. I have mentioned in the previous entry that Perry and Pineda had similar delivery in the studio versions of this song, but in Perry's live performance of this song, his voice was thinner. Well, he had a better delivery in his NY 1994 performance than the video below, but he sang it two semitones lower. The video below features Perry singing Separate Ways (the longer version already) in Houston 1981.
Perry's trademark rasp is still true in his live performances. His voice quality in his live performance of Faithfully (find clip here - http://theamateurmusicanalyst.blogspot.com/2010/02/head2head-steve-perry-vs-arnel-pineda.html) would more or less be the same, which is good.
Perry appeared to be the more creative live performer than Pineda, in a sense that he would play with vocal notes (maybe instantaneously on set). He would bend and get out of the usual ways he sings the songs, and make it sound beautiful. Check his 1994 in NY video -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W9SatPrhmU&feature=related (I am sorry about this, embedding is disabled in this video by request). Anyway in Perry's performance there (I'm guessing not with Journey), his creativity in this song was really at the highest level. The only bad thing about that is he sang it two semitones lower than the original. See video below for his less creative (but still highly creative) live performance of the same song in Houston 1981:
Like what I have mentioned above, Pineda would sound pretty much the same in his studio and live performances. His clean and very whole modal voice is very true in all of his performances. And again, as he would do in his studio versions, he does emphasize long notes very effectively. Check his live performance of Faithfully in Chile 2008 concert (find clip here - http://theamateurmusicanalyst.blogspot.com/2010/02/head2head-steve-perry-vs-arnel-pineda.html). The whole song had him display his ability to sing long notes but check his rendition in 2:28-2:30. I never heard Perry do that as how Pineda has been doing it.
Pineda has been proven very gutsy already in his studio versions, but he would just go further in his live performances, hitting those high notes with longer measures, yielding an even more whole voice compared to his studio voice. His vibrato is just top notch, most especially when hitting those tied whole B4 notes in the line "somewhere in the night" in Don't Stop Believin, where in Perry's version, he just hit that note right on with no vibrato.
In the showmanship sense, Pineda just beaten the shit out of Perry. Yea, Perry would do some gestures, and would walk around the stage, interacting a bit with bandmates and speaking with the audience. But Pineda would do a lot better. And I have seen his ultimate performance in the band's and Pineda's homecoming concert here in Manila in 2009, singing Separate Ways. All those moving and running around and jumping around. And any vocalist would know (including I myself) how hard it is to hit those B4 and C#5 notes properly while trying to get down and shake the fans' hands. Well, it may be kinda biased, but that's his first homecoming concert with Journey. He must have been really happy doing those on stage. And mind you, Separate Ways was at least the tenth song already they performed that night, with all that energy Pineda spent before singing Separate Ways (which in my opinion is a very "tiring" song to sing), and he still had that energy to finish the whole concert. Talk about stamina.
And take note: Pineda is already in his 40s, while Perry was in his 30s when he was doing most of these stuff. But it seems Pineda appears to have the more youthful energy than the other vocalist, which is more appropriate for the songs Separate Ways, Don't Stop Believin', Anyway You Want It, and those other songs on that tempo.
As that energy Pineda would show us, that actually takes him down on the mellow songs, particularly on Faithfully, Open Arms and Lights. Pineda would sound overly intense singing those songs (with the exception of his performance guesting in Ellen's show singing Faithfully, which in my opinion his most soulful and relaxed performance of that song), while Perry would maintain his "seemingly hypnotic tone" which is more appropriate in those songs. This difference itself wouldn't be that hurtful on the studio versions, because you would not see the facial expressions of the vocalists, but on live performances, some of Pineda's mannerisms while singing those mellow songs would seem inappropriate, and in a way, it has an effect on the listeners/viewers on how they think Pineda would sound like. The video below is their performance here in Manila singing Open Arms, which had him moving like he wasn't supposed to, at least in my honest opinion. I wish Pineda would just do Open Arms or any other mellow song they got as how he did move in their concert in Chile, AND minus his overly intense delivery in the stanzas.
Or just try to do what Perry did in their Oakland 1982 concert (at least the movement and stanza parts):
I have read a few comments that came to my attention - in live performances, Perry had this tendency to sing that would be hard to understand. So I did try to listen to the videos closely, as if I do not know the lyrics. I found that even though Perry and have these little pronunciation issues, Pineda appears to sing clearly than Perry. I can be a bit technical about it, but I wouldn't bother.
So that's it for now. Definitely two both great vocalists, each with their own strengths and weaknesses (at least for my own pair of eyes and ears). It's really a matter of preference.
Now the last installment of this entry coming up!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
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 :)
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 :)
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