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I was really inspired by this Journey cover "Don't Stop Believin'" by Petra Haden from purplepez.vox.com, that it had me digging up some other covers of their most famous songs.
I briefly mentioned that Journey had a new Filipino singer called Arnel Pineda (who they discovered him on youtube) on the Terrordactyls article - ONLY because the Terrordactyls last release was on Don't Stop Believin' Records (who's owner is an obvious Journey fan).
You must think I'm hip to this music called rock and roll, but to be honest, my ears and eyes aren't everywhere. I didn't know Petra Haden's name, but I have always loved that dog., The Rentals[W♥M], and The Decemberists[W♥M] (most of these bands were featured on W♥M).
What cracked me up about this "Don't Stop Believin'" cover is that Haden exposed herself as being a huge fan of pop music. Towards the end of the song, she started singing Wilson Phillips' "Hold On" (oh don't you worry: I've gots the Wilson Phillips post coming up♥♥♥).
Rise Against's "Any Way You Want It" cover appeared on their Revolutions Per Minute (2003) album as a hidden track.
If you've never heard of Rise Against, they are a hardcore punk band based out of Chicago. My brother's a big fan of them, as well as their previous incarnation, 88 Fingers Louie... so they're obviously famous.
True to punk, the song is made shorter, but much harder and faster than the original and... But still, for some reason, I don't know, I have this craving for Burger King (the fast food industry have tainted this song forever!)
Randy Crawford brought a different interpretation to Journey's "Who's Crying Now". I get the impression that she's singing as if she's vengeful or something as she's singing "I wonder who's crying now?"
This song appears on her Through The Eyes Of Love (1992), but beyond that I don't really know much about this jazz/R&B singer.
The most interesting thing I've read about her is that she had a smash hit song called "Street Life" with The Crusaders in 1979 (the song stayed on the jazz charts for 20 weeks).
I have her greatest hits and the majority of the hits are actually cover songs. There's an interesting interpretation of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". It definitely didn't sound like Dylan ever wrote the song after you've heard Crawford jazz and soul version.
Lorrie Morgan brought a country feel to "Faithfully", I believe this song featured her husband, Keith Whitley, on pianos.
Apparently there was a bit of a controversy revolving around Whitley, who was a renowned alcoholic. After a long weekend of drinking with friends, he was discovered dead at the age of 34 from alcohol poisoning. According to wikipedia, the coroner report stated his blood alcohol level was .477.
Ironically, a film project entitled Forever Yours, Faithfully is being developed. It's about Lorrie Morgan and Whitley's battle with alcoholism.
Anyway, back to Morgan, "Faithfully" appears on her best-selling album, Something in Red (1990).
"Open Arms" cover song was a huge success for Mariah Carey, which went to #2 on Billboard's Pop Singles Chart.
Her version is definitely R&B... in some way very drastically different than Journey's origin. I hate to say it, but doesn't she sound like she's struggling or something ?
This single was taken from her album Daydream (1995). The reason why she ended up doing this cover was because she had employed Journey's drummer, Steve Smith and bassist Randy Jackson to play on some of her earlier recordings.
I would have to admit, I LOVE André Matos metal version of "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)". Check out that shredding!!! It sounds very retro/70s sounding. I love it.
Anyway, the other thing you must know is that Matos is from São Paulo, Brazil, which makes this cover even more incredible.
He was very excited to announced that he's signed to major label Universal in 2007 for Time To Be Free which was released last October. His music is now distributed to Europe, Russia and Japan... so expect to hear more from this guy in the future.
You can find out more about him on www.andrematos.net.
Kelly Hansen contributed "Wheel in the Sky" to the Journey Tribute album. Hansen is probably best known for being the singer and songwriter in this metal band called Hurricane.
By the late 90s, he's joined Unruly Child, which didn't last very long. He went back to the reformed Hurricane, before leaving that to join Foreigner in 2003.
Surprisingly, Hansen's cover isn't drenched in metal... it sounds very power-rock and seems faithful to the original song.
I'm sure I'm missing some other covers and/or less popular songs, but I just wanted to spotlight the more famous songs. These few Journey songs are the essential songs (you all know and love them).
Well, that's all I have, I hope you enjoy this very special Cover Lover post.
Don't stop believin'!
01/22/2008 23:59:54 vu my♥posts 
www.journeymusic.com
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