Steve Perry has arrived!! The Voice Of Rock makes his debut on Journey's 4th cd Infinity. And from the first note of the first song you can tell that this is a different band. A band focused and with a mission. Finally Neal Schon had someone who could match his high soaring guitar. And they were a match that no other band could top.
Infinity starts with a slow number about there hometown San Francisco, Lights. Songs like this would be the future of the band on the radio. Lights was the best way to start off the new direction. Lights showcases both Perry and Schon, and shows what makes this band click now.
Perry shines on other songs to, the classic Wheel In The Sky, love his sky high vocal over Schon solo in the song.
La Do Da, Patiently, and Winds Of March again is a showcase for Perry. But Can Do and Opened The Door are the low part of the cd, and almost bring back the feel of the first three cds.
Perry isn't the only Singer in the band. Rolie is still around, and shares leads with Perry on Feeling That Way and Anytime. Shame Rolie is reduced to this, because he is a good singer, it was just the direction the band was going in was not going to get them fame.
Production at times is a little heavy, and the new remasters only bring theses shortcomings more to the forefront.
Evolution-1979 (B-)
Journey's cd saw yet another member change, this time Dunbar is gone on drums and Steve Smith comes in. Smith makes a big improvement in the sound and direction of the band. The music becomes tighter, giving the music more focus and direction. So the two Steve's have made a big impact on the music.
Evolution starts of with the regal instrumental Majestic. A great opening for the cd, just wish this song could have been longer. Then moves quickly into Too Late, a song about getting a new start before you can't. Reminds me a little of the Lights mood, and kinda of weird the cd first full song is in the same mood and tone. But it is a good song, and the new drummer is very apparent.
Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin is a staple Journey song. The song has a great beat, Neal has good lick, and Perry pours the emotion into the song. The na na na...chorus ending usually has a room full people singing with, even now almost 30 years later. The live version I must say is even better, so catch the band in concert when you can.
Now the cd slips for me with the rocker City Of The Angels. It just never goes anywhere, to me just a noisy mess of a song. The same When Your Alone (It Ain't Easy). Again loud, but for what reason. I do not like Neal's guitar in this song. And Perry too seems to be loud just to be loud.
But thankfully, the next song brings the cd back in line. Sweet and Simple is just that, and Neal and Perry seems to be at a perfect match. Lovin You Is Easy, is an ok song, but the cd brings next a Rollie and Perry duet (for lack of a better word), that rocks. And is better than the two they did together on the last cd, INFINITY.
But again the cd fails to keep up the pace, and the closing last 3 songs are mediocre and best, Do You Recall, is the better of the last three. Daydream and Lady Luck are just poor songwriting.
Production is better on this cd. If the songwriting had been a little bet better, it would have put it on the same level as INFINITY. I guess the main difference between the two are, INFINITY had more songs that were better, and EVOLUTION had some that were very good, but also had so that were very weak. So I give the advantage to INFINITY.
Departure-1980 (B)
DEPARTURE is keyboardists Greg Rollie's last recording with the band. And the band turns in a tighter performance than on any previous cd. The cd starts off with a bang, Any Way You Want It is a very driven song. Driven by high powerful vocals, hard riffs that drive the music home, a pounding bass line, and mixed into this is some great keys by Rollie.
The next song Walks Like A Lady changes pace to an almost R & B feel, and Ross' bass and Smith's drums bring out the best of the song, and again some good keyboard work by Rollie. And speaking of Rollie, this is probably his best work to date. But that doesn't save the next to songs, which fall flat.
Someday Soon even with the great vocal work, is a no show. And People And Places is just boring.
Thankfully the cd picks up again and Precious Time kicks it back into gear, and Where Were You slaps it into overdrive. DEPARTURE is Journeys hardest rocking cd to this point. They have gotten away from the jazz rock of the early cds. And each cd sells more and more. One of the things that has helped the band to this point is the one two combination of Schon and Perry combo, with a little Rollie thrown in. And a good example of this is I'm Crying.
I'm Crying is big, bad, loud, overexerted, and awesome!!!! The song is just Perry at his best, with rest of the band following along. Neal axe work is menacing and haunting at the same time. Best song on the cd.
In The Line Of Fire is another good fast paced rocker. This song is a ball of energy that is set to explode.
But the cd slows with the instrumental Departure, and goes into the vocal showcase Good Morning Girl, another example of why Perry is "The Voice of Rock". This is followed by the ballads Stay Awhile, which is a very nice laid back song, showing the possibility of future songs like Faithfully and Open Arms.
But the cd ends on a sour note with Homemade Love. A sort of boogie woogie song that goes nowhere.
This cd is on the level of INFINITY, but the production at times seems hollow and shallow, taking away at times from the music. But musically, this was there best to this point.
Captured-1980 (B+)
Journey's live cd CAPTURED is a great name for the cd. They have captured a true Journey concert, they show the band how they really are, fun and rocking. They take you on a ride that is easy to get into. Not only is Journey hyped on this cd, but the fans are too.When I listen to a live recording there are things I listen for. 1) how does the band sound, does it sound like the band on the studio cds. 2) What new things do they bring to the songs. 3) Are the songs at least as good as the original. 4) How do they interact with the crowd. 5) And how raw or polished the sound is.
CAPTURED succeeds on just about every level. Just about every song on this cd is as good as the original. With a few surpassing the original. Line Of Fire, Lights/Stay Awhile, Walks Like A Lady, Lovin Touchin Squeezin, and Wheel In The Sky all surpass the original. Any Way You Want on this cd is one of the few live versions of the song that come off good, they nail it here.
Do You Recall and Dixie Highway are the downers on the cd. Rest of the songs are good and tight. Perry is in true form vocally, and he knows how to work a crowd. Neal a good short solo, and on the record and tape there is a good Ross/Smith instrumental.
The whole concert has a very live feel to it, and makes for a great listen.
The new song, The Part's over (Hopelessly In Love) starts out one way then about midway thru changes beat and direction, as the songs lyrics slides to another take on the song. This works good too. Rollie plays on the concert part, but a studio musician feels the keys on the new studio song. Over all the best cd of the Rollie era.
Escape-1981 (A+)
Escape is my favorite Journey cd, and my second favorite cd of all time. Only Styx' The Grand Illusion stands in front of it. Journey is also keyboardist Jonathan Cain's first cd with the band. This cd is a harder rock album of all the previous cds by the band. The cd also has 3 top ten hits and 2 other songs make the top 40. The cd was also the bands first #1 cd. Even to this day, the cd still makes the top 10 on the catalog charts.
There is not a bad song on this cd. There is no filler on this cd. There is nothing but great music on this cd. Neal Schon and Steve Perry have never sounded better together, and haven't sounded this good since then. This whole cd was magic.
Open Arms is the power ballads of all power ballads. Some say it was the song that started power ballads, I would put that up for debate. But one thing you can't debate is the power of this simple love song. No wonder it sat at the #2 spot for 6 weeks. Steve's vocals soar on this song.
Still They Ride is another prime example of Steve's vocals. They bring this song to life, and Neal's guitar work on this is stunning. Still They Ride is one of my all time favorite songs by the band.
Don't Stop Believin' is my all time favorite Journey song, and at one time probably half of the free worlds. This song still charts today. It is hard to ignore, with it piano intro, Steve's tenor, and Neal's fiery guitar hook, all of this within about a minute into the song. And the song just keeps getting better.
One of Neal's best solos is one Who's Crying Now, fantastic. But I must say this is one of the very few "hit" Journey song's I'm tired of nowadays. It is still a great song, always will be, but it has grown old to me. I can only listen to it maybe once or twice a month now.
Rest of the cd is just awesome, to the opening riffs of Stone In Love to it's angelic guitar ending. Every song has something special about it. Lay It Down has Perry vocals soaring higher and higher and Neal throws down. I could just keep going on about the songs on this cd.
Cain present is quickly felt, the keys are now more of a lead instrument and less of a background instrument. More piano is present too. Rest of the band has never sounded better. And Rock has never sounded better.
Frontiers-1983 (A-)
Journey's 1983 cd is a another rocker from the band. The hit their stride with their last cd ESCAPE, and keep it going here. There are plenty of well known songs on this cd, Faithfully, Separate Ways, Send Her My Love, and After The Fall. The first two are songs that are recognized within the first two seconds of the song. The first is a strong uptempo rocker, with some of Jonathan's best keyboard work. And Faithfully is another Cain showcase.What is also a nice surprise is the no charting songs. Edge Of The Blade has a good guitar lick running in it, and this song jams. Trouble Child has some of drummer's Steve Smiths best work, and does Trouble Child.
Rubicon is an ok song, and I really don't care for the title track. But over all this is a great cd.
Also a very nice surprise is on the re release of this cd, they included the two songs that were suppose to original be on it, Only The Young and Ask The Lonely. This cd could have been on the same level with Escape, if the record companies had played there cards right.
Raised On Radio-1986 (B)
RAISED ON RADIO is either an ok soft Journey cd, or Steve Perry's greatest solo cd. Either way it is a good cd. ROR has a lot of hits on the cd. And the hits are the strong points of this cd. Be Good To Yourself is a nice little rock song that is in the classic Journey vein. WithI'll Be Alright out You is my favorite song off the cd, and has a more rhythm and blues fell to it, with nice guitar work in it from Neal. Girl Can't Help It has some of Perry's best vocals on the cd, and the song has nice pacing through it. Suzanne is the least liked of the hits for me. Why Can't This Night Go On Forever is my second favorite song off the cd, and has Perry's best vocals on the cd. But it is once you get past the hits that the cd starts to fail. The hits sound more like Journey music, the album cuts sound more like Perry's solo work.Positive Touch has a nice bouncy beat to it that is helped along Jon's piano, but other than that the song is flat. The title track is gibberish. It Could Have Been You has Neal doing some catchy guitar work, but the song goes nowhere. Rest of the songs are good, but good for Journey is what other groups wish for, but for Journey, it is just not good enough.
Greatest Hits-1988 (A+)
Of all the Greatest hits cds out there from this group and all the other groups in the world, this is my favorite hits package! Period, THE END. Anything that has been been to top 40 radio for the group, has just about made it. From start to finish, this cd stays cranked up. All of the Perry ear hits are here. Plus the then no album hits by the band Ask The lonely and Only The Young.
his cd was released again after Trail By Fire to include the top 10 hit When You Love A Woman.
Time 3-1992 (A-)
Great cd! All the top 40 plus a lot of rock radio and fan favorites not on the Greatest Hits cd are here. Plus about 11 or so unreleased (at least at the time this came out) songs. Most are pretty good. Stand outs from those songs are Good Times, Natural Thing, La Raza Del Sol, and Liberity. Plus a few that should have stayed unreleased With A Tear, Only Solutions, and Into Your Arms. Everything from the beginning to the end in the late 80's is here.Trail By Fire-1996 (C-)
In 1996 Journey came roaring back onto the scene. The cd went to #3 and they had a hit single with When You Love A Woman. I listened to this cd a lot. Back then I thought the cd was THE BOMB, now I realise it is just A BOMB.This cd starts out hard and fast with one of their best rockers in years, Message of love. What is there not to like about this song. It also has one of the coolest intro to any song, Journey or other band.
One More is a more modern day rocker that uses Perry raspier voice to good effect. Neal is just awesome on this one.
When You Love A Woman slows things down, but still keeps the cd very alive. This song ranks up there with some the all time Journey ballads. Perry and the band sound great.
But I see now days that after this 1-2-3 punch the cd just falls apart. Back in '96 I guess I was just ready for a new Journey cd, that Perry singing the phone book would have been good.
Castles Burning tries to recapture the fire of the first two songs, but instead of being a blaze, it is just a lot of smoke with not much heat. Perry sounds good, and Neal's playing is good, but this song is just missing something. Maybe direction, since it really goes nowhere. I guess the same could be said for most of the cd. They never reach the strike of the first 3 songs, or the magic of their former cds.
It's Just The Rain and Still She Cries could have been so much better. But as far as rest of the songs I have not mentioned, really they are not worth mentioning.
Greatest Hits Live-1998 (B-)
When this cd first came out I loved it. But now after listening to boots (there are alot better out there than this) and a lot of other concert shows, I find this rather a BIG dissapointment. The notes say recorded from two different shows. You can tell too, by the audience noise. The sticker also said (at the time I bought it) Journey's biggest hits recorded live on their comback tour. The problem with that was Trail By Fire was their comeback cd and they did not tour off of it. And the songs are from the Frontiers tour.Band and Perry both sound good, but this is not Journey at their best.
Live in Houston 1981: The Escape Tour-2006 (A)
A 2 disk speical, 1 cd and 1 dvd. A lot better set that the above Graetest Hits Live cd. The band is hot and Perry has never sounded better. Whether they are playing the slow songs or the fast ones, the band is hot!! A very good snap shot in time of the band at the top of their game.
The Essential Journey [Limited Edition 3.0]-2008 (A-)
Nothing new here just cover everyhting that Perry was invloved in. Th orginal version of this cd was 2 disks, but after the live Houston cd, they went with 3 cds. It all good and worth picking up.
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