It was during Perry’s tenure that Journey became the classic rock monster that most audiences remember, either fondly or derisively, depending on where they stand on the operatic power ballad. Perry eventually launched a solo career in the mid-1980s, however. Since then Journey has had to make do with various lead singers, most of whom suffered from unfavorable comparisons with Perry. Until now.

The band’s current world tour is in support of their new album “Revelation,” the band’s 14th and the first to feature Pineda on vocals. “Revelation” debuted at a surprising No. 5 on the “Billboard” charts, sold a whopping 107,000 copies in its first week and is now poised to go gold in the US. It’s a premium package with one disc of new songs, a bonus disc featuring remakes of the band’s greatest hits with Pineda singing lead, and a DVD.

(Another DVD, titled “Journey with Arnel Pineda live in Chile” and featuring Pineda’s photo prominently on the cover, is already a brisk seller in Quiapo’s pirate stalls—an indication of the singer’s newfound status in his homeland.)

“When was the last time an Asian singer joined an American rock band?” asks Pineda. “I expected that some would freak out, some would get angry. One reason our concerts are sold out is that Americans are very curious how I’m going to pull it off, how I’m going to sound live.

“Covering the greatest hits is a medium to prove that I can do the greatest hits as well as the new songs,” he explains. “Not to embarrass Steve Perry—for me he’s still the voice of Journey. But since he’s gone, Journey has to move on. The diehard fans have to realize that if they really love Journey, they have to be happy that this phenomenon happened and has opened up an exciting new path for Journey. It’s a new era for (the group).”

There is something of the fanboy still in the 40-year-old Pineda, a former Manila street urchin whose one-of-a-kind voice proved to be his ticket out of poverty. He is clearly still in awe of the rock gods at whose altar he worshipped back when he was fronting cover bands in Olongapo, Manila, Hong Kong and Singapore as a journeyman musician.

Only now, he’s one of them.

Pineda’s back story

By now, everyone should be familiar with Pineda’s back story: it’s been told and retold enough times, not only in the music press, but in GQ, Vanity Fair and even Time, a modern-day parable of faith and perseverance rewarded.

Born in 1967, Pineda was thrust into Manila’s mean streets at age 12 when his mother died of a heart condition, and the family was left adrift. His younger siblings were taken in by relatives, but Arnel was left to fend for himself. Often going hungry, he slept on the streets, in Luneta, and in a neighbor’s backyard, and worked odd jobs collecting scrap and selling newspapers to survive.

Music provided a way out when, at age 15, he joined his first band, Yjoz. Throughout the ’80s, Pineda sang with a more professional outfit called Amo, covering FM staples such as Heart’s “What About Love,” Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Journey’s “Separate Ways.” Amo won several “Battle of the Band” contests and played long stints in Olongapo and Manila.

In the ’90s, Pineda fronted various incarnations of Amo, recorded an album, and spent much of the decade as a typical working Pinoy musician in the Asian circuit, enjoying long stints in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. He briefly got into drugs, which nearly cost him his voice. He went home, cleaned up, and resumed work. He even recorded an eponymous solo album, which unfortunately went nowhere.

In 2005, Arnel formed the Zoo, which promptly became one of Manila’s top cover bands, doing everything from Air Supply and Kenny Loggins to Aerosmith and, yes, Journey. Zoo released their first album “Zoology” in 2007 (since re-released in the wake of Arnel mania). Meanwhile, a diehard Zoo fan started posting videos of the band’s live performances on YouTube.

The rest of Pineda’s story is something out of the movies. In fact, it’s already a movie: 2001’s “Rock Star,” in which Mark Wahlberg plays a journeyman singer plucked out of obscurity to replace the temperamental lead singer of a megaplatinum metal band called Steel Dragon.

Last year, after lead singer Jeff Scott Soto left Journey, the band found itself scouting for a replacement yet again. Guitarist Neal Schon was surfing the Internet when he came upon Arnel’s YouTube videos.

Hearing Arnel for the first time reportedly made the hair on his arms stand on end. Within days he had tracked down Pineda, who at first refused to believe that it was the Neal Schon on the phone, inviting him to audition as Journey’s new vocalist.

Of course, Pineda nailed the audition, and life has not been the same for him since. Not only has he been on the road from day one, a lot of the attention is now focused on him.

“I don’t let it go to my head,” he tells me. "That’s why people are amazed, saying that I don’t have a trace of ‘LSD’—Lead Singer’s Disease—yung egoistic, mayabang talaga (really conceited). And I don’t have any plans of getting there. It’s just work at the end of the day. What’s important is to make people happy, and to get through a show without making mistakes, although of course sometimes I do make mistakes. I’m only human.”

So far, he adds, he hasn’t succumbed to the temptations of the road either.

“I’m over that,” he says. “Maybe if this happened when I was 20 years old, I would be high right now talking to you. But as I said, I’m living like a monk now.

“Besides, I’m very committed to my partner back home,” he adds, referring to the mother of their three-year-old son. Pineda’s family has chosen to remain in the Philippines, where they keep largely out of the limelight.

“I’m more of an OFW than a rock star,” he says of his current situation. “I’m just like you guys—I’m working.”

By Eric S. Caruncho
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 10:43:00 09/03/2008

Type your content here...