Journey’s Neal Schon takes his turn

It is unfortunate that the Journey concert scheduled at the Mall of Asia Arena last Thursday, March 21, was cancelled due to slow ticket sales. It must be because parents and kids are busy with school activities and getting ready for the Holy Week. I cannot help but think though that would have been great to have them over. It is always an inspiring experience watching our own Arnel Pineda take center stage for the classic American band, and this is aside from the fact that the guys of Journey really put on a fantastic show. They have a long list of hits that they do even better live.

Then also, this is a great time for Journey. The band has a big hit album in Eclipse, its second big seller with Pineda, after Revelation from three years ago. They are touring in sold-out arenas in North America and are set to conquer Europe this summer. They are also generating lots of extra buzz, thanks to the showing of Don’t Stop Believing: Everyman’s Journey. 

This is the documentary by filmmaker Ramona Diaz about Pineda’s rags-to-riches story. The picture opened last week in US theaters and has been getting positive reviews. As a result, fans are once more excited about Journey, while non-fans have become curious about the group. They will then watch the concerts and will surely like what they will see and hear.

When they do, they might also get the chance to hear one or two cuts from The Calling, the new album by Journey songwriter and lead guitarist Neal Schon. Pinoys know him best as the Journey founder who saw Arnel singing classic rock songs on YouTube and recruited him for the vocalist job in 2007. But he actually also has a flourishing solo career that he mostly keeps under wraps while busy with the band.

Schon was already a rock music legend long before he created Journey. That happened because he went off to be a part of the iconic Santana at the age of 15. The young virtuoso played on tour and in the album Caravanserai, plus other recordings. He has since then recorded several solo instrumental albums and grabbed some Grammy nominations on his own. He is also one of those famed guitarists who create their own kind of licks and have special edition guitars named after them.

Schon’s music is a mix of fusion and acoustic rock. My favorite among his solo albums is Voice, where he turned the most commercial of melodies into his own style. And when I say commercial, I mean songs like Killing Me Softly With His Song, A Song For You, My Heart Will Go On, I Dreamed A Dream and others. The dreamiest of all the cuts though is Caruso where Schon’s plaintive guitar blends beautifully with the piano of David Foster.

Schon’s mastery of the guitar is in full view in The Calling in the way the music was written and arranged, all done also by him. This is no smooth ride. This man speaks with his guitar and he is sometimes angry and agitated or soaring to ecstatic heights. He is in excellent form throughout. So are the quality of the recording and the performance of the special band he put together for this project — Igor Len on the piano, Jan Hammer on the Moog synthesizer and former Journey member Stevie Smith on the drums.

The cuts are The Calling, Carnival Jazz, Six String Waltz, Irish Field, Back Smash, Fifty Six, True Emotion, Tumbleweeds, Primal Surge, Blue Rainbow Sky, Tansonic Funk and Song of the Wind.

Now while listening to Schon, I decided to revisit the list of the Greatest Guitarists of All Time that comes out in the Rolling Stone Magazine a few years ago. The editors polled musicians and music writers on who they think are the greatest blues and rock guitarists. They came out with a truly great list. Schon was not in it. At least not this time. I am sure he will definitely be there later. You will understand why when you find out who are in the list. 

Here are the names in the Top 20: Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Eddie Van Halen, Duanne Allman, Pete Townshend, George Harrison, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King, David Gilmour, Freddie King, Derek Trucks, Neil Young, Les Paul, James Burton and Carlos Santana.