Arnel’s Journey

Pardon the pun.  The title doesn’t denote possession of the band.  Hahaha.

Over at my former office, my colleagues opened an intranet e-mail thread about creating own songs as better than just playing covers.  A friend who occupied the workstation next to mine even remarked that cover bands/musicians lacked talent (really?).  I kept silent, not wanting to argue on the floor.  Well, now that Arnel Pineda is with the famous American band Journey, this just proves that doing covers isn’t necessarily a crappy thing; in fact, it paid off for Arnel — and I guess for many others too.

If you were an actor, it would be like doing impressions.  With music, you learn from playing covers (not necessarily in a performance — could be in your bedroom), then take your knowledge to new heights.  I believe all the great guitar players started copping someone else’s riffs/lines and then developed their own signature stuff.

The last time I saw the dude personally was when we alternated at Camelot Hotel’s Dungeon Bar in Quezon City in 1986 or 1987.  I was with a showband that played everything from Broadway (ugh!) to Starship, and we wore identical clothing (C-O-M-B-O, man!).  Arnel was with the rock band Amo.  Yes, I remember very well the way he sang Chaka Khan’s "Through the Fire" in the original key that Ms. Khan sang it.  That dude Arnel definitely has the pipes!

Well, from his days playing at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor to taking the stage with Journey at Santiago, Chile, it sure was some voyage for Arnel.  I can’t wait for June when their album comes out.

Here’s Arnel and Journey doing "Separate Ways."