Journey drummer Deen Castronovo recently joined Ultimate Classic Rock for an interview and explained how Arnel Pineda avoided being a clone of Steve Perry.
The most commercially successful period of Journey was between 1978 and 1987. At the time, Steve Perry was the band’s lead vocalist, and they released a series of hit songs that ended up being top-sellers. Moreover, the albums ‘Escape’ and ‘Frontiers’ took Journey to the top of the charts. Following the album titled ‘Trial By Fire,’ Steve Perry decided to leave Journey.
After he departed from the band, Steve Augeri joined the band as his replacement. Augeri worked with Journey between 1998 and 2006, and Jeff Scott Soto replaced him for a brief period. After Soto, Arnel Pineda joined Journey in 2007, and he has been working with the band since.
In June 2020, Neal Schon announced that Journey is working on a new album. On June 24, 2021, they released ‘The Way We Used To Be’ as a single, and in July 2021, Deen Castronovo rejoined them as a second drummer. Journey announced their upcoming album ‘Freedom’s release date as July 8, 2022, and released the single ‘You Got The Best Of Me’ on April 26.
Speaking to Ultimate Classic Rock, drummer Deen Castronovo said that ‘Freedom’ won’t have a typical Journey sound like their previous records. He then praised Arnel Pineda’s vocals in the album, saying he has a bluesy and thick voice. According to Castronovo, Pineda has now found his voice, and he is not a ‘Steve Perry clone.’
In the interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Deen Castronovo said the following:
“I love this stuff. It’s not your typical Journey music or ‘Escape,’ ‘Frontiers,’ or even ‘Revelation.’ There are songs on there that I was listening to and going, ‘Who is that singing?’ I did. I forget what the song was, but I thought that doesn’t even sound like Arnel because he took it to a different place.
I never knew that he could sing like that. He had that really bluesy, thick, and syrupy blues thing. He’s really come into his own. It sounds amazing. He’s definitely not the Steve Perry clone. He’s made this stuff his own.”
Below, you can listen to Journey’s new single, ‘You Got The Best Of Me.’
