Journey's "Dead or Alive": Hidden Progressive Rock Brilliance - Part 3

 In 1981, when their Escape album hit the record stores, Journey had already established themselves as pop icons, with the FM radio regularly transmitting “Any Way You Want It”, “Lights” and “Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'”.  But Journey hadn’t completely abandoned their progressive roots, nor had their musician’s skills eroded in any way, as shown by the 8^th cut on the Escape album, "Dead or Alive".
 I remember learning the guitar part to "Dead or Alive" in the late 80's, and I’ve always loved it.  But it wasn’t until this year, when I had an idea to re-arrange it, that I really delved into the other parts of the song. It was then I realized what a hidden gem of progressive rock this song actually is. 
Part 1
Part 2

Unfairly Effortless - Steve Perry's Vocals

Like the guitar part, I've known the vocal part and sung along with Steve Perry for years.  Prior to delving into this analysis, my impressions of the vocal was that from a technical perspective, this song is one that didn't particularly highlight Perry's well-known vocal capabilities.  I had programmed the drum part, recorded the bass and guitar parts, and added the piano part - I decided that I might as well and go ahead and record a scratch vocal track.  Now, I would never even begin to put myself anywhere near Perry's echelon of vocals, but I can carry a tune and have a decent range.  When I tried actually recording the vocals though, yet again I gained a new respect for Steve Perry as an incredible singer and musician.

During the verses, the melody is actually doesn't span a large range of notes. The melody fits with the mood and energy of the song by being staccato and syncopated throughout the verse. This is actually much more difficult than it sounds, particularly at the tempo and note range, yet Steve makes it sound effortless. Perry's timing is impeccable and it is easy to hear that he started out as a drummer with his attention to the rhythm and accuracy.  The chorus, with a two-part harmony, has some of that classic Journey arena rock sound.  On the studio cut, it sounds to me that Perry is singing both the harmony and melody. On the live version from a 1981 concert, Cain and Schon are taking the lower harmony parts.

Just so one doesn't forget that we are dealing with a vocalist of nearly superhuman capabilities, Perry ends the last chorus with an octave-and-a-half vocal glissando, ending on E above middle C.  Steve had used this type of styling previously such as on Infinity's Can Do.  Whereas in Can Do the technique comes off a little corny, in Dead or Alive it works to great effect, clicking up the energy one more notch as the song burns toward the finish line.  The uniqueness of this last vocal line stands out from the pop norm, also adding to the progressive rock nature of the tune.

Lastly, it is worth mentioning that the topic of this song has nothing to do with summer nights, falling in love, romance, making rock music, dancing, or drugs.  That alone separates it from 99.9% of 80's pop music!

Epilogue - Outlaw

I mentioned way back in part 1 that the impetus for this analysis came from an idea I had to create cover or homage to the song.  I had been practicing guitar, and happened to have a clean sound on the amp. I played the lead line of the song, with a bit of a swing feel and thought "this song might sound pretty cool as a country-rock shuffle."  So, once I had analyzed and mimicked all of the parts, I rearranged things a little, added a swing feel, slowed the tempo slightly, and changed up the instrumentation, turning the song into an instrumental, that certainly had some stylistic influences from another of my musical heroes, Steve Morse.  Check out the final version here.  Comments welcome!

Journey's "Dead or Alive": Hidden Progressive Rock Brilliance - Part 2

 In 1981, when their Escape album hit the record stores, Journey had already established themselves as pop icons, with the FM radio regularly transmitting “Any Way You Want It”, “Lights” and “Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'”.  But Journey hadn’t completely abandoned their progressive roots, nor had their musician’s skills eroded in any way, as shown by the 8^th cut on the Escape album, "Dead or Alive".
 I remember learning the guitar part to "Dead or Alive" in the late 80's, and I’ve always loved it.  But it wasn’t until this year, when I had an idea to re-arrange it, that I really delved into the other parts of the song. It was then I realized what a hidden gem of progressive rock this song actually is.
Part 1

All About the Bass

80’s pop rock and arena rock are notorious for having very simple quarter or eight note basslines that basically just pump the root note of each chord. While Dead or Alive takes this approach somewhat in the vocal sections, Ross Valory on bass keeps it interesting with little bass fills that fit the song well. He also reminds us that he is no average bass player by doubling the tricky guitar line of the “part A” motif.  From my perspective, this puts the bass well into the “progressive” category from my perspective.

Guitar, Guitar, Guitar

Just after the opening drum fill, Neal Schon announces that this is clearly a rock-guitar driven song, with his aggressive "Part A" riff. Amidst the odd time signature, the line seems to flip and turn around yet still groove.  Melodically it is rooted in the E mixolydian scale, with the flat 3rd adding the blues-rock, or maybe even a country-influenced, vibe.  Upon listening closely, it is so impressive how impeccable Neal's timing and ability to inflect notes is on this song, while cooking away at a 190ish BPM. And then there's the guitar solo. Neal constructs the solo using several of his signature riffs and patterns.  The solo has a nice melodic arc and creates excitement throughout.  Near the end as he rips through a blistering lick high on the neck, he uses the whammy bar to great effect, coaxing a vocal-like "Whaa-Whoo" out of his instrument.  Then finishes the solo with an tri-tone sounding riff that ends on a C, which should be dissonant to the A blues/mixolydian that the solo section is in, but instead works as a beautiful flat 7 that resolves to the D major of the chorus.

During the outro part, during the 7/4 section, Neal's accenting of the top note G is crucial to keeping the groove driving hard before finally coming to a breathless stop on the Hendrix-esque E7#9.

Jonathon Cain on the Keyboards

At the time of the Escape album, Jonathon Cain had just joined Journey, replacing founding keyboardist Gregg Rolie.  Cain is credited with co-writing every tune on the Album, but on "Dead or Alive" the keyboard part is quite sparse, mostly accented octaves in the higher register which fills out the spectrum nicely, and a few finger-slides that echo back to Jerry Lee Lewis era rock.  I have no idea how the song really came together in the studio, of course, but I imagine something like this:  Jonathon is familiar with the Journey hits, and knows that Neal is an incredible guitarist.  They have been playing and jamming together for a bit and maybe even recorded a couple of the other Escape tunes.  One day Jonathon walks into the studio and hears Neal, Ross, and Steve Smith jamming on the song that will become "Dead or Alive.  Damn. How am I supposed to keep up with that?!? Jonathon thinks to himself.  "Hey guys, that sounds really great.  Umm, I'm going over there to help Perry with the lyrics, 'kay?"  To be fair, Jonathon is no slouch and on the subsequent Frontiers album created some of the most definitive synth riffs of the 80s; but I think it would have been incredibly intimidating to be in the same room with these guys in 1980/1981.

In the concluding Part 3, we will touch on Steve Perry's vocal part, highlight that this song didn't just live in the studio, and I'll share my homage to the song, which started this whole analysis in the first place...

Journey's "Dead or Alive": Hidden Progressive Rock Brilliance - Part 1

The rock band Journey is known by most for straightforward 80’s rock anthems like “Don’t Stop Believin’” and Steve Perry’s love-it-or-hate-it soaring vocals.  They have been derided as a sellout or a commercial rock band.  Most people are unaware of their jazz-rock fusion origins, where on their first few albums you were likely to catch several instrumental tracks, guitar-keyboard solo trade-offs, odd time-signatures, and lengthy tunes – hallmarks of progressive rock.  In 1981, when their Escape album hit the record stores, Journey had already established themselves as pop icons, with the FM radio regularly transmitting “Any Way You Want It”, “Lights” and “Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'”.  But Journey hadn’t completely abandoned their progressive roots, nor had their musician’s skills eroded in any way, as shown by the 8^th cut on the Escape album, "Dead or Alive".
I started playing guitar in 1984, and Journey’s Neal Schon was (and continues to be) one of my heroes.  I remember learning the guitar part to "Dead or Alive" in the late 80's, and I’ve always loved it.  But it wasn’t until this year, when I had an idea to re-arrange it, that I really delved into the other parts of the song. It was then I realized what a hidden gem of progressive rock this song actually is.

Part 1

Song Structure

Okay, so I kind of already had this one for free, since I’ve known the guitar part for so long.  I always appreciated the emphasis on the different instrumental sections of the song, along with the typical verse/chorus sections.  This is how the song is structured:

So what is so progressive about this structure?  For starters, there are more instrumental sections than vocal sections.  But more importantly, the variations in the sections really emphasize the progressive nature of the song. The “part A” motif is played several times, but each time there is a variation. It is played through up a fourth the third time, and then leading into the solo, the structure is abbreviated, as well as a final quote to finish the song like it started, creating nice symmetry.  Another really subtle variation -  a single extra beat is added when the “part B” section is reprised near the end of the song.

Tempo, Timing and Drums

This whole journey (ha!) started when I thought I’d just whip up a midi drum track for my new arrangement.  Shouldn’t be too hard, I already know the guitar part, right?  Oh, so wrong.  After my initial underestimation, I sat down and brought my analysis skills to bear.  My approach was to create a MIDI track that I could A|B compare with the original track and to the best of my ability add each part of the drum kit mimicking Steve Smith’s performance.  I set up the track, matched the initial tempo, and…kept getting out of synch.  I realized that the original recording certainly wasn’t performed to a click track.  It took some effort, but eventually I recreated the tempo - they look something like this: 

Although the changes are subtle, part of the energy of the recording is the organic “breathing” of the tempo, which shifts a few percent throughout the recording.

Even though I had learned the guitar part long ago, it wasn’t until I was transcribing the drums that I had to really figure out the time signature.  Both instrumental sections are far from a straight 4/4.  Like iconic progressive rock groups such as Kansas or Genesis, Journey has several songs that feature odd time signatures. Dead or Alive has its roots in straight, quick 4/4, but the “part A” motif is a little all over the place.  Here’s how I ended up mapping it out:

The “Part B reprise” section near the end of the tune is in 7/4, but to my ear wasn’t obvious since it seems to flow and groove without seeming that different in feel from the rest of the song.  Part of this is accomplished by the drum patterns themselves.

Steve Smith took a “four to the floor” approach on this song, the same as he did to the iconic “Don’t Stop Believin’”, with the kick drum pulsing out every quarter note.  This approach can serve to obscure odd beat measures since the kick drum doesn’t change like it would in a standard 1-3 approach.  Smith is locked-in with the syncopation of the guitar and bass parts throughout the song, emphasizing the accents.  The other thing that I really appreciated about the genius of Smith’s playing on this song was how he consciously varies the looseness of the hi-hat, creating more energy as the end of a section approaches.

In the next installment, we'll explore the bass, guitar and piano parts of this song...
Part 2