Music Review - World Play by Soul SirkUS
- By Adrian Tallent
- Published 08/23/2009
- Reviews
- Unrated
Adrian Tallent
A former student of Spartanburg Technical College and overall geek, I enjoy listening to music, reading books, playing video games, and watching movies. Sometimes I write about them.
View all articles by Adrian Tallent
As Journey’s guitarist, Neal Schon contributes his soaring guitar licks to some of classic rock’s most recognizable and timeless songs. Even though Journey is popularly known for its ballads, any true fan of the band will tell you that they aren’t afraid to rock out on some of their songs. In reality, one doesn’t have to look very far if you want examples that Neal can rock. He served in Santana before his Journey days, and afterword, he engaged in various side projects even as Journey enjoyed their heyday, such as Bad English, Schon & Hammer, and stints with Hardline to name a few. Soul SirkUS’ “World Play” is Neal’s most recent collaboration attempt, and it is a perfect example of his setting aside the Journey sound to rock just that much harder.
Originally intended to be a collaboration with Sammy Hagar, Neal began assembling a band called Planet US in 2002, starting with Sammy Hagar on lead vocals, himself on guitar, Michael Anthony (also of Van Halen) on bass, and Journey drummer Deen Castronovo on drums. They later recruited the famous Joe Satriani as an extra guitarist, although Neal’s original choice was Slash of Guns ‘n’ Roses fame, who turned down the gig. Unfortunately, Neal had only written and recorded just two songs with Hagar before Van Halen decided to reconvene and the project fell apart. The songs “Vertigo” and “Peephole” were released separately, the first by Hagar on his “Cosmic Universal Fashion” album, the latter on “World Play”.
Even though only two songs had been completed with Hagar, Neal had lain down ideas for close to thirty tracks in anticipation of the collaboration; so needless to say, the guitarist was frustrated when conflicting schedules tore the superband apart. While some of the material would find new life on Journey’s 2005 release “Generations”, Neal decided to try forming another band as a vehicle for the rest of the unfinished material. Neal first sought out singer Jeff Scott-Soto based solely on his reputation with the AOR crowd, who lauded his work with bands such as Talisman, Takara, Axel Rudi Pell, and Yngewie Malmsteen. He then recruited Marco Mendoza, who had worked previously with Whitesnake. Deen Castronovo was the original choice for drummer, but he took ill shortly after recording, and Neal Schon recruited Virgil Donati to take his place, choosing to re-record the songs with Virgil’s input and write five new ones with him. It was this lineup that Schon took on tour in late 2005 to promote the album, which was available only through the band’s website. An international version was later released by Frontiers Records, and Neal now offers the album through Journey’s website store.
Being only a one-shot superband, Soul SirkUS broke up shortly after the tour, but Neal’s collaborative efforts were not without their legacy. Planet US would later result in Sammy Hagar’s forming supergroup Chickenfoot with Satriani, and Soto’s work in Soul SirkUS would result in his being tapped to replace then Journey singer Steve Augeri after vocal problems sidelined him during the latter half of the “Generations” tour. It remains to be seen if Neal will attempt another large scale collaboration effort in the future, but his chemistry with Soto has been proven, and he has long expressed a desire to produce an album with Sammy Hagar. A future Soul SirkUS could go in either direction.
Originally intended to be a collaboration with Sammy Hagar, Neal began assembling a band called Planet US in 2002, starting with Sammy Hagar on lead vocals, himself on guitar, Michael Anthony (also of Van Halen) on bass, and Journey drummer Deen Castronovo on drums. They later recruited the famous Joe Satriani as an extra guitarist, although Neal’s original choice was Slash of Guns ‘n’ Roses fame, who turned down the gig. Unfortunately, Neal had only written and recorded just two songs with Hagar before Van Halen decided to reconvene and the project fell apart. The songs “Vertigo” and “Peephole” were released separately, the first by Hagar on his “Cosmic Universal Fashion” album, the latter on “World Play”.
Even though only two songs had been completed with Hagar, Neal had lain down ideas for close to thirty tracks in anticipation of the collaboration; so needless to say, the guitarist was frustrated when conflicting schedules tore the superband apart. While some of the material would find new life on Journey’s 2005 release “Generations”, Neal decided to try forming another band as a vehicle for the rest of the unfinished material. Neal first sought out singer Jeff Scott-Soto based solely on his reputation with the AOR crowd, who lauded his work with bands such as Talisman, Takara, Axel Rudi Pell, and Yngewie Malmsteen. He then recruited Marco Mendoza, who had worked previously with Whitesnake. Deen Castronovo was the original choice for drummer, but he took ill shortly after recording, and Neal Schon recruited Virgil Donati to take his place, choosing to re-record the songs with Virgil’s input and write five new ones with him. It was this lineup that Schon took on tour in late 2005 to promote the album, which was available only through the band’s website. An international version was later released by Frontiers Records, and Neal now offers the album through Journey’s website store.
Being only a one-shot superband, Soul SirkUS broke up shortly after the tour, but Neal’s collaborative efforts were not without their legacy. Planet US would later result in Sammy Hagar’s forming supergroup Chickenfoot with Satriani, and Soto’s work in Soul SirkUS would result in his being tapped to replace then Journey singer Steve Augeri after vocal problems sidelined him during the latter half of the “Generations” tour. It remains to be seen if Neal will attempt another large scale collaboration effort in the future, but his chemistry with Soto has been proven, and he has long expressed a desire to produce an album with Sammy Hagar. A future Soul SirkUS could go in either direction.