Eclipse - Your Reviews

[Jana]

Hey, I'm digging this record for the most part but to the people that see ROR as Perry's album (including myself), Eclipse can be painted with the same brush concerning one member dominating a release because Neal has his stamp all over this puppy.

I'm not saying Arnel doesn't have the ability but he is put in check on a lot of the tunes here, the exception being Tantra where he gets to have a lot of oohs and aahs in the latter part of the song.
I was just expecting him to go a bit wild like Coverdale and other hard rock singers this time around.

I doubt Arnel has that in him. He's not that kind of singer. Arnel is more a crooner, which reminds me of the comments Rollie made about Perry joining the band on behind the music. I think Arnel sounds fantastic on this album, and wouldn't want him doing the Coverdale thing. Not that it isn't cool, it is! But it's not how Journey does things.

I agree. Arnel sounds fantastic. My fear when they said it was hard rock was, one, Arnel's Journeyesque pure tenor vocals wouldn't appear on the album, and they're there and stunning with also his huskier vocals. And, two, I thought Neal might just shred, but his playing is so melodic. Neal is still my hero.

Love this album. And Chain of Love is as great as I imagined.

Chain Of Love is the winner for a lot of people. I know Journey were saving Tantra to wow everyone later but they blew their wad by letting COL hit youtube, it's a great cut.

I still don't get why they put out City of Hope as a single. I really like the longer version on the album, but there are so many songs on here that are more single-worthy than City of Hope, and instantly catchier. Resonate to me is single material (it has everything) and Someone, Edge of the Moment, Chain of Love, etc.

[Don]

Hey, I'm digging this record for the most part but to the people that see ROR as Perry's album (including myself), Eclipse can be painted with the same brush concerning one member dominating a release because Neal has his stamp all over this puppy.

I'm not saying Arnel doesn't have the ability but he is put in check on a lot of the tunes here, the exception being Tantra where he gets to have a lot of oohs and aahs in the latter part of the song.
I was just expecting him to go a bit wild like Coverdale and other hard rock singers this time around.

I doubt Arnel has that in him. He's not that kind of singer. Arnel is more a crooner, which reminds me of the comments Rollie made about Perry joining the band on behind the music. I think Arnel sounds fantastic on this album, and wouldn't want him doing the Coverdale thing. Not that it isn't cool, it is! But it's not how Journey does things.

I agree. Arnel sounds fantastic. My fear when they said it was hard rock was, one, Arnel's Journeyesque pure tenor vocals wouldn't appear on the album, and they're there and stunning with also his huskier vocals. And, two, I thought Neal might just shred, but his playing is so melodic. Neal is still my hero.

Love this album. And Chain of Love is as great as I imagined.

Chain Of Love is the winner for a lot of people. I know Journey were saving Tantra to wow everyone later but they blew their wad by letting COL hit youtube, it's a great cut.

I still don't get why they put out City of Hope as a single. I really like the longer version on the album, but there are so many songs on here that are more single-worthy than City of Hope, and instantly catchier. Resonate to me is single material (it has everything) and Someone, Edge of the Moment, Chain of Love, etc.

Someone could have been top 40 hit back in the 80s but now, where does it go to get played? What stations beside satellite will put that kind of song into heavy rotation?

[Jana]

Hey, I'm digging this record for the most part but to the people that see ROR as Perry's album (including myself), Eclipse can be painted with the same brush concerning one member dominating a release because Neal has his stamp all over this puppy.

I'm not saying Arnel doesn't have the ability but he is put in check on a lot of the tunes here, the exception being Tantra where he gets to have a lot of oohs and aahs in the latter part of the song.
I was just expecting him to go a bit wild like Coverdale and other hard rock singers this time around.

I doubt Arnel has that in him. He's not that kind of singer. Arnel is more a crooner, which reminds me of the comments Rollie made about Perry joining the band on behind the music. I think Arnel sounds fantastic on this album, and wouldn't want him doing the Coverdale thing. Not that it isn't cool, it is! But it's not how Journey does things.

I agree. Arnel sounds fantastic. My fear when they said it was hard rock was, one, Arnel's Journeyesque pure tenor vocals wouldn't appear on the album, and they're there and stunning with also his huskier vocals. And, two, I thought Neal might just shred, but his playing is so melodic. Neal is still my hero.

Love this album. And Chain of Love is as great as I imagined.

Chain Of Love is the winner for a lot of people. I know Journey were saving Tantra to wow everyone later but they blew their wad by letting COL hit youtube, it's a great cut.

I still don't get why they put out City of Hope as a single. I really like the longer version on the album, but there are so many songs on here that are more single-worthy than City of Hope, and instantly catchier. Resonate to me is single material (it has everything) and Someone, Edge of the Moment, Chain of Love, etc.

Someone could have been top 40 hit back in the 80s but now, where does it go to get played? What stations beside satellite will put that kind of song into heavy rotation?

Probably true. But Resonate and Edge of the Moment would have been great singles, to me.

[Andrew]

100%??? Absolutely ludicrous. This is an ok release at best. A 100 rating would mean that EVERY SINGLE SONG is an absolute classic.

Yep...you got it!

[Andrew]

There ARE a few fillers on W.E.T.
But there aren't any on Forevermore

I think Drew trying his darndest to get back to good graces with the Journey camp....

And that will do what exactly for me Mr. BahHumbug? I was generous with Forevermore. I nailed both ratings.

[Andrew]

Will this score be like the Madden curse? Has any album Andrew rated 100% ever hit platinum, or even gold?

Not in this scene or current state of the world!!!!!!!!! I reckon maybe 5 albums in 15 years of reviewing have done that! (2 of them Journey!)

[Glenn]

After many complete plays, I think I can give an honest review.

I won't give it a 100, but not far below.

For ME, I got the type of Journey record I have been waiting to hear since Frontiers.

The only track I'm not really into is Anything Is Possible.

I also think the world has more than enough Journey ballads. So, I wasn't really looking forward
to the ones on this record. Well, I found myself thinking that these here are, if I'm going to be subjected
to a ballad, then these are the types I choose to hear.


I came into this expecting to be a bit let down after all the hype, but I really wasn't.


Comparing this cd to past Journey cd's is pretty much fruitless (Except maybe Rev) so I won't.

The band should be proud...There was a lot of heart, and hard work put into this...And it shows.

Did not like the radio edit of COH, like the full version.

Edge, Resonate, COL, Someone, Ritual, Human Feel are my favs while She's A Mystery grew on me. Tantra and To Whom It May Concern are not my style, yet I like the style of them much more than the Jon Cain Wedding Album (all ballads off of Arrival), Generations (wow, in hindsight, that album pretty much blows save for a couple of songs), and Revelation.

So before any jack-offs tell me I'm an idiot, starts mentioning that Perry is the next best thing to God, Augeri wore the best leather pants, this opinion is based on what I wanted to hear, and what I heard.



Note: To this day, I will always wish I could have heard what a JSS Journey would have been like with new material....But I won't...But this cd works and works well!

(if anyone wants to float me the JSS recording of Greatest Hits Live, I'd sure be thankful).

[Saint John]

Still haven't procured the goods. Fuck all of you that have with a giraffe cock.

[Behshad]

Still haven't procured the goods. Fuck all of you that have with a giraffe cock.

[Gideon]

Naturally, the most scrutinized aspect of Eclipse will be the vocals. It is my conclusion that Arnel Pineda delivers the goods quite well—in fact, excellently. His power and range are evident throughout each and every song; hitting notes with such sharpness and strength that is uncommon. Now, with that said, it is also my duty to report that the singing is not flawless. To my ears, Arnel’s diction is not only present, but is in fact more prevalent at spots than it was on Revelation. Likely, this is a result of Eclipse’s “unrestrained” vibe: Arnel’s unleashing and, to echo another poster, “crashing along, sounding great, but sometimes falling.” Comparisons between him and Perry will continue ad nauseum, but a much more interesting (and appropriate) comparison is with Soto. The material from the album is in Soto’s wheelhouse. Vocally, I firmly believe Arnel’s got Soto beat in terms of technical capabilities—he can hit much higher notes and sustain them much longer. On the other hand, Soto has the control in his favor. He understands English far better, the subtleties and nuances that Arnel misses. Do I think Soto would have sounded better? Not necessarily; much of the songs’ vocal strength comes from range—range that, even on W.E.T., Soto lacks. 8/10.

The true strength of Eclipse, like Trial By Fire, is its musicianship. Barring the pre-Perry albums and the possible exception of TBF, this is the best the guys have ever played. Some feared that Neal’s thirst for dominance in the conceptual and creation stage would overpower the other three musicians in the band, but fear not: It isn’t so. In fact, the great irony of Eclipse is that it is very much a group effort. Deen is naturally prevalent due to the heavier nature of the album, but Ross registers loud and clear on my sound system with surprisingly powerful bass lines. Neal’s prodigious talent, like Arnel’s great vocals, is evident throughout the album. Jonathan Cain might have bitched about how little he had to do on Eclipse, but his hand is all over this damn album—to the album’s benefit. Sure, there aren’t as many outright piano riffs (with the most notable exception being “Chain of Love”), but he’s visible with synthesizers and rhythm guitar everywhere. In fact, it’s some of his most tasteful playing. Jon, STFU, you’re here and you sound fantastic. 9/10.

Lyrically, I consider Eclipse something of a triumph amongst Journey albums. Perry and, to a much greater extent, Cain are true masters of creating a fine pop song. But Neal’s push has Cain spreading his wings and branching out into other topics. Despite what many might think, “Human Feel” is, in my opinion, a lyrical triumph in which love/romance takes a backseat to a polemic against the digital age. Great stuff. Is it perfect? No. Are there still dull moments? Absolutely. But the ambition by Cain and Schon is to be commended. 7/10.

Production-wise, I’ll let the whiz kids handle it. To my ears, it sounds as good as any album they’ve ever done, bar Trial By Fire. 9/10.

The rock-to-ballad ratio is terrific: 9 rockers to 3 ballads. If you want to get technical, you can count “Anything Is Possible” as a mid-tempo rocker, but it’s still an impressive achievement for Journey. The honest revelation here, though, is that the album doesn’t rock quite as hard as we were assured it would be. “Chain of Love”, “Edge of the Moment”, and even “Resonate” all rock quite loud and quite hard—it impressed some of my grunge/metal loving buddies—but others are just moderate rockers, most notably “City of Hope” and “Anything Is Possible”, which come off more like anthems than outright rock songs. It’s definitely the hardest rocking Journey album, but that doesn’t mean it’s truly heavy in the grand scheme of things. 7/10.

Conclusion: Many promises were made about this album by many people. The reality is that nothing about this album is perfect. Nothing about any album is—Journey, no Journey; Perry, no Perry; whatever. But the band took some gambles and most of them paid off. The core promises—that this album would be both heavier and good—are definitely fulfilled. Could Journey have pulled something off like this with Perry? Yes. Vocally, Arnel isn’t doing anything here that Perry couldn’t have done (in his prime). Even in the songwriting department, Perry’s melodic sensibilities could have furthered the songwriting process. The real question, as posed by Gunbot, is would they? Based on what I know about the man behind the Voice: No. Perry was experimental by nature, but his area of expertise and preferred genre was pop and Motown. Even Trial By Fire—their greatest triumph with Perry in virtually every area—was bogged down with ballad after ballad after ballad after ballad. Eclipse’s strength is that it is Neal-directed, Jon-created, and played by all and I’m not sure Perry would have been fine with that.

With their previous catalogue in mind, Eclipse is quickly becoming a favorite. Will it unseat Trial By Fire? Overall, no. But it can hold its own against or defeat outright any other album in their catalogue. Here’s to hoping that the cookie-cutter ballads and neutered-rockers are a thing of the past!

Score: 40/50 = 80%

[RedWingFan]

100%??? Absolutely ludicrous. This is an ok release at best. A 100 rating would mean that EVERY SINGLE SONG is an absolute classic.

Yep...you got it!

So you're saying 25 years from now Eclipse is going to hold up as well as Hysteria?

If you were to review Escape now would that also get 100?

[VirgilTheart]

I don't know if I'll give Eclipse an 100% myself or not, but I can certainly say that whatever the score, it's probably a 95% or higher.

Anyways, as I've said in the past, I don't put the Perry-era material on a throne, since I have not the slightest bit of nostalgia to influence my views on the singer or the albums. The material from that time era is memorable, but by no means was Steve Perry the Vocal God so many folks make him out to be. In fact, for the past two weeks or so, I'd decided that Arrival was almost certainly the band's best album yet.

Until now, that is.

You see, I knew not long after comparing and contrasting the three main noted Journey singers (Perry, Augeri and Arnel) that Arnel was the best fit for the band, for my ears at least. However, while I like Revelation a lot and listen to it a lot, I'm fully aware that the band had done better in the past. However, I was hopeful that the band would crank it up a notch on the next album, since this time the band would be writing music with Arnel's voice in mind (and hopefully Arnel bearing some song-writing credits on the album as well). Well, my prayer was answered, and the result is very much how I had envisioned it would be like.

And thus I have discovered what I personally consider to be Journey's tour de force: Eclipse.

I'm not sure yet what my favorite song off the album is, but currently it's between 'Tantra', 'Chain of Love', 'Edge of The Moment', 'Resonate' and 'She's A Mystery'. The last one, by the way, bears the single best moment off the album: when the song turns heavy and Arnel and Neal do a vocal-guitar trade-off of epic proportions. And that's also a highlight of Arnel's vocal performance of the album and what he's accomplished in Journey so far. In fact, I'm pretty sure he hits his highest note yet in a Journey song at that last "SHE'S A MYSTERY!!!" shriek.

And while I don't think too much of the song in its entirety, I must also say that the chorus in 'To Whom It May Concern' is another album highlight for me. Really powerful vocals there, in my opinion. So the two songs that Arnel was involved in writing both had really notable moments, with She's A Mystery being a much better success between the two.

This leads me to suggest that for the next album, Arnel, Neal and Jonathan need to all sit down and write the music for the album together. And preferably the trio should follow the direction of Eclipse in the sense of a more rocking and guitar-driven album that seems to be more focused on making great music than making big bucks. That is really the only way I could see them surpassing this wonderful album.

Anyways, while I know most won't agree with me, I do consider this to be the band's best work. The music's solid on the most part (weakest links for me are 'Human Feel' and 'Ritual' and even then they sound decent), and while some won't like the band's attempt to make deeper lyrics this go-around, I personally accept and welcome the change. And while this is undoubtedly Neal's album, I actually think that in some ways, the star of this album is Arnel. In a manner not unlike how Samwise Gamgee is the secret hero of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings instead of Frodo Baggins, Arnel really shows what he's got on this album. His voice, which I personally consider to be my personal favorite for Journey, is absolutely terrific on this album and his pipes are golden.

... You know what? I'll give the album a 97% for now. Any changes on that score will most likely be going up.

[Andrew]

100%??? Absolutely ludicrous. This is an ok release at best. A 100 rating would mean that EVERY SINGLE SONG is an absolute classic.

Yep...you got it!

So you're saying 25 years from now Eclipse is going to hold up as well as Hysteria?

If you were to review Escape now would that also get 100?

I'll let you know in 25 years.

Escape would sure get 100....absolutey.

[Jana]

Giddy is back?

[portland]

Giddy is back?

I thought the same thing....the gates have been opened!

[Gideon]

If I had to rank the tracks, it would probably be....

1. Resonate
2. Chain of Love
3. Edge of the Moment
4. Anything Is Possible
5. Ritual
6. To Whom It May Concern
7. She's A Mystery
8. Tantra
9. City of Hope
10. Human Feel
11. Someone
12. Venus

[steveo777]

Gideon? Wow! Hi!

[Gideon]

Hello, devoted fans.
It has been a long two years. I've been visiting ever since City of Hope was released onto the 'net. Andrew's been kind enough to resuscitate this account, since we've long-since patched things up.
I'm not sure how active I'll be, but I'm fairly certain my conduct will be different.

[RedWingFan]

I didn't read the whole thread, but RIP did you get it for 4 bucks?

Nope, he buys them for $10 and sells them for $4 Thats one way to become a millionaire real quick ( if you started of as a billionaire that is)

[YoungJRNY]

Still haven't procured the goods. Fuck all of you that have with a giraffe cock.

Same here, dude. Fuckin' SUCKS seeing all the reviews. But you know what, waiting and finally playing that SONOFABITCH in the cd-player will be a huge payoff, guaranteed.

[Don]

Hello, devoted fans.
It has been a long two years. I've been visiting ever since City of Hope was released onto the 'net. Andrew's been kind enough to resuscitate this account, since we've long-since patched things up.
I'm not sure how active I'll be, but I'm fairly certain my conduct will be different.

Will Deacon be joining us too?

[Gideon]

Still haven't procured the goods. Fuck all of you that have with a giraffe cock.

Same here, dude. Fuckin' SUCKS seeing all the reviews. But you know what, waiting and finally playing that SONOFABITCH in the cd-player will be a huge payoff, guaranteed.

If I were you two, I'd just cave and get the mp3s. I fully intend on buying a copy or two of the album when it hits the stores, but I could not withstand the temptation.

[Rick]

Still haven't procured the goods. Fuck all of you that have with a giraffe cock.

Same here, dude. Fuckin' SUCKS seeing all the reviews. But you know what, waiting and finally playing that SONOFABITCH in the cd-player will be a huge payoff, guaranteed.

If I were you two, I'd just cave and get the mp3s. I fully intend on buying a copy or two of the album when it hits the stores, but I could not withstand the temptation.

Travis, maybe, but Saint John has no idea how.

[Gideon]

Hello, devoted fans.
It has been a long two years. I've been visiting ever since City of Hope was released onto the 'net. Andrew's been kind enough to resuscitate this account, since we've long-since patched things up.
I'm not sure how active I'll be, but I'm fairly certain my conduct will be different.

Will Deacon be joining us too?

I doubt it.
But I have nothing but good things to say about you (for the immediate future, anyway )... since it's my understanding that you're the reason he (but more importantly, I) am listening to the album at all right now.
I plan to start a religion in your honor.

[Saint John]

Still haven't procured the goods. Fuck all of you that have with a giraffe cock.

Same here, dude. Fuckin' SUCKS seeing all the reviews. But you know what, waiting and finally playing that SONOFABITCH in the cd-player will be a huge payoff, guaranteed.

If I were you two, I'd just cave and get the mp3s. I fully intend on buying a copy or two of the album when it hits the stores, but I could not withstand the temptation.

Travis, maybe, but Saint John has no idea how.

Fuck you, Rick, you accurate bastard!

[Gideon]

Fuck you, Rick, you accurate bastard!

Aren't you like 6'5" and 280lbs.? Go find a guy my size and kick his ass until he gets it all squared away for you.

[Saint John]

Fuck you, Rick, you accurate bastard!

Aren't you like 6'5" and 280lbs.? Go find a guy my size and kick his ass until he gets it all squared away for you.

lol ... just 6'3 and 225, but as harmless as could be.

[Gideon]

but as harmless as could be.

Perry's psychiatrist would probably disagree.

[Rick]

but as harmless as could be.

Perry's psychiatrist would probably disagree.

[Don]

For the record, the digital tracks are of the highest quality so the experience will not be diminished sonically. The only thing you're missing is that cheap cardboard sleeve they decided to use this time.