FRONT PAGE NEWS~Generations Tracklist and Artwork

[jrnyman28]

Check out the front page of www.melodicrock.com for the Artwork and track listing of "Generations".

One Neal track, One Jon track, One Ross track, Two Deen tracks, Eight Steve tracks. Interesting that the Bonus track is a Jon track. I love the fact that two songs are ALL Steve Augeri!! "Butterfly" and "Believe" are written by Steve Augeri!! One song looks like a leftover from Arrival with the help of Jack Blades. Not sure about Ross' track and who Kim Tribble is, but I seem to racall her name on Arrival as well. But the rest is all Journey!

Now, for the artwork. I am a little disappointed in it. I know that several of the artists from BT were asked to submit artwork and I have already seen one of those. Journey went to an outside source. And it is NOT Prarie Prince, as had been suggested earlier. I heard the band did not like the direction his artwork was going. But this cover looks like they took part of the "Captured" scarab and put it on an astronomy picture. Plus, the Journey logo looks rather plain. The cover does bring together the past with a future reference, but it seems a little simplistic.

So, I am very excited about the music, less thrilled about the cover. I think that is fine, it is about the music!

Thoughts?

[RubyTequila]

WOW!!!

[Guest]

Once again, nice post 28.
I don't really think the cover has a whole lot to do with how an album sells....I do like this one. I've seen some of the artwork at BT and I'm several of them would have been equally as good.
No biggie to me. The White Album was a pretty fair piece of work by the Beatles, remember...

[Hippie]

The White Album was a pretty fair piece of work by the Beatles

And of course, let's not for the cover for Tap's Smell the Glove !

"I think the question is, 'Can this album be any blacker?' and the answer is...'No' "

[NealIsGod]

I googled Kim Tribble, and it seems HE is a country artist. Is this the same Kim Tribble, or is there another one?

[/url]http://www.bboogie.com/Warner_Chappell.htm[url]

I love the cover! Disappointed that one of the Deen songs will not be on the US version of the CD. Wonder why that is? Can't they swap it with the Ross-sung tune? (sorry, Ross!)

And a BIG thanks to Andrew for consistently being the first one in the world with Journey news. What would we do without you?

[The_Noble_Cause]

This is all GREAT news! Can't wait!
Two minor objections though...

(1) I think the cover is horrible. As Jrneyman28 already said, looks like they took a scarab-beettle symbol (an uninspired one at that) and threw it ontop of my astronomy textbook. Just looks cheap and lazy (and extremely derivative of captured). I never for a second thought Christopher's work would turn out better than what Journey would chose. Oh well. Just keep reapting to yourself, it's the music that counts.

(2) The song which Andrew said is amazing ("it's never too late") WON'T be on the U.S. release for us yanks. Gosh darn it!

Otherwise, I can't wait!

[jrnyman28]

This is all GREAT news! Can't wait!
Two minor objections though...

(1) I think the cover is horrible. As Jrneyman28 already said, looks like they took a scarab (an uninspired one at that) and put it on the cover of an astronomy book. Just looks cheap and lazy. I never for a second thought Christopher's work would be better than who Journey chose. Oh well. It's the music that counts.

(2) The song which Andrew said is amazing ("it's never too late") WON'T be on the U.S. release for us yanks. Gosh darn it!


Otherwise, I can't wait!

NC,
It's Never Too Late is track 12 on the release.

[The_Noble_Cause]

NC,
It's Never Too Late is track 12 on the release.

Yeah, maybe for our fellow Journey lovin fans overseas, but as Andrew clearly states "the US band version will not feature It's Never Too Late."

[NealIsGod]

Guess the first one who gets that tune in digital format can share it with the rest of us!

[jrnyman28]

NC,
It's Never Too Late is track 12 on the release.

Yeah, maybe for our fellow Journey lovin fans overseas, but as Andrew clearly states "the US band version will not feature It's Never Too Late."

You're right, I missed that! But I will be getting this import version of "Generations" since I don't have to buy the US version!

[NealIsGod]

I can't wait to hear the new CD. Counting down the days...

I was thinking, maybe if Journey would have give Steve Perry a break during the ESC4P3 and Frontiers eras by having other band members sing once in a while (and cut back on the relentless touring) maybe he would not have burned out so quickly (both emotionally and vocally) and quit the music biz. Plus, Journey would have had more of a true band feeling, instead of a "Perry and his back up band" feeling, which is what I think happened during the ROR album. I think it's a good move to help preserve Augeri's voice and let other band members step out into the spotlight, especially Deen. I'm NOT trying to start a Perry-Augeri battle, just offering an opinion.

[The_Noble_Cause]

I think it's a good move to help preserve Augeri's voice and let other band members step out into the spotlight, especially Deen.

Unfortunately, it seems so to preserve the current democratic environment within the band, Deen only has ONE track on the album (U.S. release) just like all the other members. I can understand why they'd want to do this. This way, there is equilibrium within the group. No one member can be seen in any way as encroaching on or vying for Augeri's role as frontman. But hey, Deen's got the vocal talent and I think he deserves to shine (perhaps moreso than the others). If it came down to it, I would have easily preferred the Deen track over Ross's. Easily.

[NealIsGod]

Me, too, TNC. Night Ranger had great success with Jack Blades and Kelly Keagy each singing several songs. I think Augeri and Castronovo blow them away vocally. It's nice to have democracy in a band, but if Deen sounds better singing a song than Ross, Neal or Jon, why not let him sing it? If the Deen song gets great reaction from the fans, maybe they will let him sing more on the next Journey album.

[jrnyman28]

Me, too, TNC. Night Ranger had great success with Jack Blades and Kelly Keagy each singing several songs. I think Augeri and Castronovo blow them away vocally. It's nice to have democracy in a band, but if Deen sounds better singing a song than Ross, Neal or Jon, why not let him sing it? If the Deen song gets great reaction from the fans, maybe they will let him sing more on the next Journey album.

I was thinking the same thing...
IF there is another jOurney studio album, there is the chance to have Steve and Deen sharing the bulk of the songs like NR.

This is just one CD, there is still a future for the band, we'll see how it goes from here.

[yak]

Double WOW!

I'll be buying the album for the music inside its cover. People basically don't care about artwork; they'll look at the band name and buy the album!

As long as it says Journey...I'm there.

[yak]

Double WOW!

I'll be buying the album for the music inside its cover. People basically don't care about artwork; they'll look at the band name and buy the album!

As long as it says Journey...I'm there.

[The Fly]

Actually if an album has great art people are more likely to pick it up in a store just to check it out as oposed to bad art. I know when I was young I bought the first "Boston" album without hearing a note. I loved the art and it turned out to be a great CD as well. Sure it's about the music but I think the package can be inportant too.

[NealIsGod]

[quote="ScarabMan"]Actually if an album has great art people are more likely to pick it up in a store just to check it out as oposed to bad art. I know when I was young I bought the first "Boston" album without hearing a note. I loved the art and it turned out to be a great CD as well. Sure it's about the music but I think the package can be inportant too.[/quote]

Good point, but in this day and age, I feel cover art and liner notes are a lost art. When we were young, albums were big and the art jumped out at you. Now, CD jewel boxes are so small, you have to pick it up and look closely to notice the art (at least, I do!). The important thing is that the name JOURNEY is big, and it receives promotion in stores and on rock stations, something Arrival never got.

What will be the first single? I am betting on Gone Crazy, since the world is awaiting Ross' vocals! LOL

[jrnyman28]

I agree that the name is very important and that many people will buy it simply for that. But then, they could have done a little more with the name, the font is boring and plain...dare I say 'generic'.

Album art certainly is a lost art because of the scale, but there still is so much you can do. And the artwork WILL grab attention, even before the name. And Journey needs that. They need to attract attention even before the name does. There are still a lot of people out there who do not "know" the whole Journey story. And even if they ARE aware of Arrival...that was FOUR years ago. A band that was gone for so long, then takes another FOUR years to put out a follow-up CD NEEDS to CAPTURE consumer's attention. I am not sure this cover does that.

This cover is basically a good cover for those of us who have been following Journey. But as a 'reminder' to the rest of the world I think it falls short.

I have now seen Wavid's, Christopher's AND Hacker's artwork and I cannot fathom WHY Journey went the way they did. Even though I did not feel Wavid's artwork was 'right' for the cover, I think it was far better. Even though I don't usually like Christopher's scarab work, he had a much better cover design. Hacker's work struck me a little too reminiscent of the past in some ways, but when you compare it too the "Captured" inspired scarab I can't argue that it was wrong. And I still think it is better than this cover. I like the idea of the cover: a scarab in space. But it all could have been done so much better.

IMO

[NealIsGod]

I have now seen all three artists' covers, and have to say I like Christopher's stuff the best, esp. the modern egyptian and red/yellows covers. I do not care for Hacker's covers at all, esp. the fonts. They were too similar to the cover of Evolution, but not as attractive. Wavid's is good, I like it better than the actual cover.

[Fernando Ramirez]

I really like the cover. I agree with NEAL IS GOD that CDs don't give you much of a chance to do something cool with the artwork, 'cause they're so damn small.

But try to think of what this will look like in the marketplace. It reads very well from a distance. It looks a hell of a lot different than most other releases out there. Go to the record shop and look around. Especially at the shelves where all the cds are beside each other. Which one will really stand out? Look at Andrew's main page, down the left side. Which CD covers really stand out? It seems like a lot of them use muted colors. Anything with a great amount of detail is lost in the wash, unless you hold the thing up to your face. Journey's new cover has warm colors.. it's very SCI-FI (which is very popular now), the ship is in "warm" colors.. and the fonts are big and easy to read from afar. Very smart design, in my opinion. I like the drawing of the scarab... I like that they're re-using it as a theme.

It's not poster material, but it does what it's supposed to do. Personally, I like the artwork. I can't wait to see the whole package... see what the design is like: the back of the cd, the inside traycard, the booklet, the cd itself, the space behind the cd... it's all part of the design.

[jrnyman28]

You bring up some good points FR!

[NealIsGod]

When you look closely at the new cover, there are a lot of details that tie in with the creation definition of "Generations". The background behind the scarab appears to be swirling, like a planet is being created. The little flashes of light, to me, appear to be the creation of lives descending from the scarab ship. Life is being "generated" by the scarab. These are things that I really didn't notice until giving the cover a good, long look. Anybody else see it this way, or is it just my perception?

[The_Noble_Cause]

When you look closely at the new cover, there are a lot of details that tie in with the creation definition of "Generations". The background behind the scarab appears to be swirling, like a planet is being created.

Yeah, I wasn't sure what exactly I was looking at. I'm still not. Below the scarab it appears to be the curvature of the earth or some formed, existing planet. But the rest of the planet looks very indistinct and murkey as if it's surrounded by space dust or something. Maybe you are right and the scarab is building a planet and we are looking at it mid-progress or in-flux. Kinda cool. Up to this point I had really just chalked it up to lousy design work. In fact, I still do.

Damn you, Richard Mace!!!

[The_Noble_Cause]

The little flashes of light, to me, appear to be the creation of lives descending from the scarab ship.

Yeah if look closely, it does appear that those star-like formations of light which at first glance appear to be just circulating around the beetle's head, are actually headed downwards towards the planet.

Similarly, the lazer beam isn't pointed upwards as it appears, but rather it's facing directly towards the planet.

Neat.

[Fernando Ramirez]

Yeah if look closely, it does appear that those star-like formations of light which at first glance appear to be just circulating around the beetle's head, are actually headed downwards towards the planet.

Similarly, the lazer beam isn't pointed upwards as it appears, but rather it's facing directly towards the planet.

Neat.

The hilarious thing is I showed it to my wife after I posted my positive reaction to it... and she said she hated it! Her main crit was that she couldn't tell what was behind it.. just a "glob."

Looking closer at it, it doesn't seem to have been done at a high enough dpi. I see the "jaggies" on the fonts, and on some of the scarab's lines.
But upon closer inspection, I agree with Noble and Nealisgod that there's a story behind it. I do like the light formations. Maybe these are the former members and current members of Journey. Perry would be the highest one of those, off to the right a bit. It's him for me, anyway. And as Noble said, the laser is pointed down. It looks like another planet is being formed by the scarab out of the old planet. So maybe it's deeper than we thought.

Somebody posted some pics of another artist from BT... and those drawings were pretty cool, too. But I didnt like his scarab.. it was too skinny. This scarab looks fatter, healthier... it's more like the classic Journey scarab.

[yak]

I like Christopher's stuff a lot also.


You all have good points about the cover, especially the fact that a CD is so small now. Also the fact that somebody new might pick up some catchy artwork, but if they aren't familiar with the artist on the cover I don't know that the artwork will get them to buy something.

I have a collection of vinyl albums, and there was some great stuff to look at on the covers and on the inside as well. Remember the Captured double album? I used to very much appreciate the artwork on an album; now I look for the artist's name, and then will check out the artwork.

I think the Journey name stands out on the CD. I also think that the way it's handled and promoted can make a big difference. It should go into stores. Maybe they should have some big posters put up in the stores, announcing the album. When you walk in, you see it. Of course the record industry is now geared toward the flavor of the month.......they don't care about established groups who still put out great music. A shame, because they are missing a whole target audience that's out there. Not everybody wants a white thug or a blond hoochie.

[Eric]

I like it more and more everytime I see it.