Arnel Pineda is a Filipino singer/songwriter who is most famous for replacing Steve Perry as the lead singer of Journey. He actually has a pretty cool story. He grew up in the Philippines and spent time bouncing around between different bands, performing both original songs and cover songs from the ‘70s and ‘80s. A couple of those songs ended up on YouTube and caught the attention of the remaining members of Journey and they asked him to audition for the band. They flew him out to California, he had a two-day audition, and he got the gig. Arnel Pineda is a great singer. He has pipes. He sounds exactly like Steve Perry. But I feel bad for him because he is not Steve Perry. He never will be Steve Perry. He is just doing a form of glorified karaoke. That’s not music, that’s not art. It’s hollow and it shows.
Critically Rated at 6/17
Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young
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