As the last remaining founder member of legendary rock band Journey, Neal Schon is revered as a guitar hero. But does he ever feel like he’s one of the last of a dying breed?
Schon addressed that question in 2012 when he delivered The Calling, a solo album filled entirely with instrumental guitar music.
In an interview with Classic Rock, he was asked if he saw the role of guitar hero as a dying art.
He replied: “I think it’s never dying, as long as there are guitar players out there aspiring to be great.
“The old-day guitar heroes, most of those guys are still with us. And the newer guys… I don’t know if I would call them guitar heroes, but there are a lot of excellent guitar players out there with amazing dexterity that can pretty much play anything – and quicker than the human ear could possibly hear!
“But that has kind of had its run, too, and now it’s back to point A, where you need more than just guitar thrills – you need an overall artistic statement. But you can still make a classic guitar record if you’ve got the songs.”
Schon was asked if that was how he saw The Calling – as a classic guitar record.
“Most of all, I wanted something that didn’t sound like everything else that’s been out there,” he said. “That’s why The Calling has a lot of different musical sides to it, which I’m really pleased with. It’s jammy, yet there’s a lot of melody to hold on to.
“There’s one song called True Emotion that’s a really deep and melodic classical blues with a lot of inspiration from Hendrix. I don’t think it sounds like an old song, though. It sounds like an old soul in a new place. I managed to find some great melody, and the guitar really sings.”
The Calling also saw Schon reunited with former Journey drummer Steve Smith.
“It was great playing with Steve again,” Schon said. “Making that record, we’d go in the studio with no music written down. Steve would lay down like eight bars on drums, and then he’d go out for lunch and I’d arrange a song around his drum loop just with one guitar. It was all on the spot.”
Schon also played bass on the album, and said of his dual role: “I had a lot of fun with that on this record. The guitar goes on first and then you put the bass to the guitar and have the bass walk around the guitar a bit.
“I’m not playing any flashy bass, but I’m definitely moving with the guitar. I played the solos on the record before I put the bass on, so the bass is really walking with the solo.”
He also worked fast. The whole of that album was recorded in just four days.
“Steve had to get in and out,” Schon explained. “He’s always on tour with his Vital Information project. So yeah, we did bang everything out.
"We did a lot of overdubs. And then I stayed to finish it. So all together I spent maybe two weeks on it.”
