You heard the story of Arnel Pineda? He was a homeless kid in the Phillipines when the newly reformed power-ballad band Journey “found” him on YouTube (check out the video they watched here). Flat out, the dude could sing him some Journey. So they traveled overseas and plucked him out of the Pilipine slums like some latter day Oliver Twist. He didn’t say “jolly good” or anything like that though, he was like “why you tease me? You no Journey. Where guy with big hair?”
ANYWAY.
Point is the guy can sing. He isn’t just as good as Steve Perry (the “big hair” original singer who for whatever reason believes he is better off sitting on his ass rather than out making millions touring with Journey), he’s better. Here’s a little comparison using my favorite Journey song “Stone in Love” as the proving grounds.
Steve Perry Version
Arnel Pineda Version
Granted, Perry prevails in the awesomely rad hair and rockin’ animal tee elements but, for every other category, I’m going Pineda baby).
*****
Here’s New York Times Editor Ben Ratliff’s review of Journey’s new album. Or you can check out the podcast.
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July 18, 2008 at 4:46 am
Chris
Hi! Cool that you like Arnel! But he’s not a kid. He will be 41 years old in September. He’s the father of 3 sons, his oldest son is 19 years old. Arnel was not homeless when Journey discovered him. He had been homeless for 2 years as a teenager, after his Mom died. When Journey found him via YouTube, Arnel was in a band that appeared at Manila clubs like the Hard Rock Cafe. A fan posted vids of his band online, Journey saw them, and sent Arnel a plane ticket to America to audition. Anyways, LOVE the title of your post!