No surprise my opinion of this record falls somewhere in the middle
. I agree the Journey train drove off the “formula” track, but also agree the songs still sounded like Journey. Any record that has Neal’s guitar-playing is going to sound like Journey (imo) just as I always feel ROR sounded like Journey, in spite of assertions otherwise. I also agree with posters who felt that AP was outstanding on this record, demonstrating a versatile singing style unlike the vocals heard in the last album. To me, he came into his own on this record, completely extinguishing the “perryism” mode, other than a few soaring high notes here and there.
Too bad he didn’t have better songs to sing. I mean, Neal forewarned that the band was going for a different creative sound, that they weren’t going to be concerned with “radio-friendly” hits, anymore. But, geez, don’t they at least want to make sure this album would appeal to the masses? Looking at the dismal sales, it would appear that all the new Journey supporters that Arnel brought over (propelled Rev to 2x(?) platinum) have not translated to Eclipse. Remember the theory put forth by jokesters/skeptics…that for every one fan buying Rev, Arnel’s Filipino fanbase bought 10, thereby padded sales numbers? Well, Eclipse sure needs that help, and poor Arnel sang his heart out here.
Admittedly, my taste in rock music leans toward pop, but so are 95% of the general public…pop stands for popular. As many have already stated, it’s not that these songs are all that bad…almost--if not all, have good moments leading in…just not enough sustained momentum. I’m no expert on music or songwriting, but it just seems lack of good song structure is the problem. Or, suddenly, Neal throws in his shredding acrobatics in there whether I think it fits the mood or not.
These 4 I like a lot:
Tantra…has a Broadway show-tune vibe to it. Arnel’s best vocal performance to date. Music not over-the-top, just the right elegance and grandiosity.
EOM…next best song…has a storytelling feel & lyrical continuity all the way to the end.
COH…catchiest song of the bunch…given their record history, I see why they chose this song as lead-in and released as 1st single. Song has grown on me…thought it was lightweight when we got first taste of it on yt video.
Resonate…could have been a great song…love how Arnel sang the opening stanza…really, throughout the whole song. Music high energy…builds and builds. But the flaw, to me, was they didn’t end the song right at around 4: mark when flow starts down and Arnel trails off. Oops…they start up again…Arnel sings chorus by himself, over and over (1 too many times).
The rest are okay…nothing special:
COL…starts of sounding like a DreamADream soundtrack...but just wanders off aimlessly. Don’t like the “chain…chain…chain” chants.
AIP…this must be JC’s uplift song…every J record must have at least one. DSB it ain’t, though.
SAM…long song…don’t have enough to hold my interest.
HF…don’t care for the “rising” shoutouts.
Ritual…sounds like they want to rock hard on this song, but singing and playing loud at warped speed don’t impress me.
TWLMC…don’t “get” this song.
Someone…ah, we have to wait all the way to the end to find at least a semblance of a J ballad. Neal tried his darnest slipping in the solos to complement the voice, but listening to A-N on a ballad just makes me miss S-N. After listening to this song, had to go find WYLAW to hear how a great ballad should sound like.
And that’s my 2 cents!
