Journey back with a new voice

U.S. melodic rock legends Journey are set to appear at Wolverhampton Civic Hall with their third singer in three years.

New lead singer Arnel Pineda, replaces Jeff Scott Soto, who parted ways with the band earlier this year after stepping in for Steve Augeri, who had to leave the band in 2006 for medical reasons relating to his voice.

Pineda was discovered by Journey guitarist Neal Schon when he saw him on YouTube singing Journey songs with his band, The Zoo, in his native Phillipines, creating an almost perfect copy of the band's legendary singer Steve Perry - the original voice behind the massive international hits Don't Stop Believin', Who's Crying Now, Faithfully and Open Arms.

Journey were propelled back into the mainstream after Don't Stop Believin' was chosen to play out the very last scene in the final ever episode of The Sopranos, and that may be one of the key reasons that Pineda was drafted in to help fully recreate the classic Journey sound.

Schon said he wanted someone new to the music business and so he started trawling YouTube. After seeing Pineda singing Faithfully he knew he had found the perfect frontman.

He says: "I was frustrated about not having a singer, so I went on YouTube for a couple of days and just sat on it for hours.

"I was starting to think I was never going to find anybody. But then I found The Zoo and I watched a bunch of different video clips they had posted."

"After watching the videos over and over again, I had to walk away from the computer and let what I heard sink in because it sounded too good to be true. I thought, "He can't be that good", but he is that good - he's the real deal and so tremendously talented.

"Arnel doesn't sound synthetic and he's not emulating anyone. I tried to get a hold of him through YouTube and I finally heard from him that night, but it took some convincing to get him to believe that it really was me and not an imposter."

Pineda, for his part says: "It's so exciting to sing with one of the best bands in the world. It'll be a lot of hard work on my part and I'm actually looking forward to the scrutiny I'll get from the hardcore Journey fans.

"I know they'll expect me to sound exactly like 'the voice' (Steve Perry), but that will never happen. I know there's only one Steve Perry in this world."

Fans can make their own minds up with the release of a new CD, Revelation, featuring 12 new songs and 11 Journey classics re-recorded with Pineda singing.

Their British tour includes a concert at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Sunday June 22.

Tickets are £38.50. Visit www.wolvescivic.co.uk, www.ticketline.co.uk and www.bookingsdirect.com

By Ian Harvey