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The Steve Perry produced Journey live in Houston concert was released today on DVD withg a bonus cd included and it's an awesome package.
This was originally broadcast live on MTV and has been floating on the boot circuit for quite sometime, but now it has full remixed audio and a 5.1 mix.
Bonus interviews never seen before too. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]
Awesome. Thanks for the info Randy.
oh bless you, randy walker!! [img]biggrin.gif[/img]
Awesome! Can't wait to see this. It's interesting to compare Steve Smith during his time with Journey to the Steve Smith of today.
As you can probably guess, I'm a huge fan of Steve Smith. Since he was a Berklee trained jazz musician who got a great gig with Journey, he was new to rock drumming and therefore was playing by instinct with Journey. (He even referenced this in an interview). I thought his rock drumming was phenominal given his training. His instincts were great and he is the standard bearer for rock ballads.
If you contrast that to his style now, he is technically much better now and has really studied music and improved his musicianship immensely. But in some ways, I think he overthinks his parts and is not playing with the same freedom he did with Journey. I've seen various comments from time to time in here about how "stiff" he is. I've never really felt that we was stiff but maybe that's what people are commenting on?? In any case, I still really admire him as a drummer and I think he is one of the most versatile and well rounded drummers in the world.
Thoughts??
Well, for me I prefer older Smith like this DVD over the new and improved Smith.
The drum solo on this concert kicks.
I have a few SS boots Live w/Journey...I love 'em. The epic Journey footage was the Frontiers Tour, but I have a few others.
I just popped in SS's new DVD's and watched them again, focusing on the solos. The guy's sick technically and musical. It is a different style then the Joruney days and I respect his growth as a musician. That's the direction he discovered. IMO, his stick control is in the Buddy world of drumming.
As for rock drumming, I loved his playing on Journey LP's and his sound, especially that boxy popping snare.
Frontiers is a rock masterpiece IMO. Listen to Edge of the Blade...he plays just a few notes but his groove and intensity drives that tunes so deep. When I listened to that years ago, I couldn't believe his play was so simple--I would have sworn he played more complicated parts. The shuffle on, After The Fall is great. I loved comparing his style to Jeff's on this tune. There is a great fill on this tune--so creative and musical. Smith played some real signature fills with Journey. A guy rarely mentioned in hear, Mark Zonder, has a similar approach to drumming as Steve w/Journey. Check out his playing on Fates Warning's Parallels; especially the tune, Eye to Eye.
I might be off, but as I understand it, Steve really thought out these drum parts even back then. He is a thinker type personality. I don't believe he walked into the studio and just let it happen as Ringo stated he did.
Edge of the Blade off Frontiers is an absolute classic! Excellent drum track.
Course that guitar riff is pretty F'n killer too!
D.
My skin-stretchin' bruthas,
Ditto on the Frontiers disc.
I totally dug EOTB [& that gtr riff!].
The tune Frontiers itself has a cool "inverted" drumming intro into a cool approach to the groove of the tune.
Troubled Child was a hauntingly crankin' tune in 3 & 6...what a killer classic album that was.
Evolution, Departure, Escape, Captured, AWA Frontiers & Raised on Radio had some great memorable pop / rock drumming parts. I also enjoyed the Trial By Fire disc [even if it was still a little "80s" in some spots [img]wink.gif[/img] ]
BTW - i think After the Fall was actually not a shuf per se, but rather similar to the old groove JP used to play on tunes such as Carlton's off Last Night...4/4 in 1/2-time, w RH/HH on "1, &a2, &a3, &a4, &a1," w the LH filling in w ghost notes in between the hats/BBs...perhaps feelwise it was somewhere slightly in between straight & shuffled?, if my haven't-listened-to-it-in-eons memory isn't failing completely [img]wink.gif[/img] ...hope i got that right... [img]cool.gif[/img]
Has that old Frontiers & Beyond Concert Video VHS been released to DVD yet?! If not, it should be, by Gadd...the one w all the live AWA behind the scenes footage...& where some idjit in the crowd throws a bottle & hits Neal Schon in the head, & it starts bleeding, & Perry stops the show & has "a few words" to say to the person/crowd...& SS is wearing out a hole in the fabric of the "arm" of a backstage couch [AWA the floor] while warming up for the show, & Schon is just looking on & sort-of laughing in disbelief...
"Ladies & gentlemaen - I'd like to introduce you to Steve 'Machine-Gun' Smith!"... [img]cool.gif[/img]
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 15, 2005 11:23 PM: Message edited by: got_a_match_grip? ]</font>
for a brief second, Frontiers and Beyond made it to DVD, but it was released without Perry's consent, so it was taken off the market.
[See added-edit in my post above]...
You know, some peers of mine used to bag a little on SS's groove or feel [stiff was never the comment, but rather, "too white," or, "too tippy-tappy-over the top" & not "digging in deep enough into the trench"], but I've never had a problem w him. He has long been a major influence on my playing...
However, I did see a vid-segement where VI was reading charts & playing "a country-style tune"...& i wasn't buying it [jazz-rock guys trying to cop a country vibe]...& SS was never a seriously fonkay mutha, but oh well...i go listen to the gospel, RnB, & funk drummers for that...but he was a great trad-meets-bop-meets-contempo jazz player AWA pop & rock drummer, IMHO. I also completely dig the jazzy-fusion Vital Info & Steps Ahead stuff.
SS used to "take a lot of flack" for his "too-human" feel [ebb & flow in the groove or meter], but in the [long-now] age of rigid, rigid timekeeping [drum machine/click] in SOOOO many popular tunes, i tend to appreciate a cat that has a natural human feel to their playing & not sounding like every other record or player [machine-time]...of course he's even evolved since then...
He was AWA is a VERY successful drummer to date...if not in the strictly drumming top 20 most successful of all time.
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 15, 2005 11:42 PM: Message edited by: got_a_match_grip? ]</font>