Ok, I'll give my review, since I know everybody is waiting for it. Well, maybe not, but I'll give it anyway since I heard the CD.
First, I don't think the CD vs YouTube makes that much difference. The over all sound is better, clearer, sharper. But, it doesn't really change the issues with the mix. There are some songs where the bass and drums are so loud in the mix that they are very near "booming" and they roll over Arnel's vocals. Most of the songs have "background" vocals louder than Arnel's LEAD vocal...which is annoying. Some songs are hard to hear Arnel's vocals well enough to really understand the lyrics, which is also annoying.
So, song by song:
Together We Run: Good intro with the piano and Arnel's vocal. Then the chorus hits and the chorus is impossible to really understand. The high "run, run, run" doesn't work well for me. The rest of the song is sorta rinse and repeat. It's a pretty good song, except the chorus being messed up. Neal sounds good.
Don't Give Up On Us: Already commented a lot on this. The Separate Ways intro just feels out of place. The bass/drums are too loud and almost booming. The guitar solo is pretty generic. The end with Arnel doing his adlib high notes over the guitar doesn't sound good. It drags on too long, too...it should be at least 30sec shorter. It's a good song that suffers from bad mix and production.
Still Believe In Love: A pretty boring ballad. I think I can hear Arnel being tuned, but not often. Good Neal solo. This almost sounds like a Neal solo where they slammed lyrics on top of it. I would rather have heard it as a Neal instrumental...the lyrics and vocals are extremely boring for me.
You Got the Best of Me : Already talked about this. Bass/drums are to loud and almost booming. Background vocals are in front of Arnel's lead during the chorus making it hard to understand Arnel. Again, it's a good song but misses the mark due to the mix/production.
Learn to Love Again: A ballad...Jon keyboard intro, Arnel's vocal sounds good. This is the first Journey song I can honestly say sounds like an Air Supply song. Not sure how I feel about that, but it's true. It's an OK ballad and they did a lot of things right here...not over complicating things, the bass/drums are not too loud, Arnel sounds good, Neal restrains and has a good solo but doesn't dominate things. There's a lot of room for everybody to have some space. The only other complaint is that it is about 1min too long.
The Way We Used To Be: Meh, not this song again
It's OK, a "good enough" song. Bad timing for the single release. It fits in well with the album and the other songs. I just don't hear it as something being above average or special in any way.
Come Away With Me: Meh. I can see where they were going. The album needed a rock song at this point. But, this reminds me of the Babys, TBH. They should have tried again with something else and put this on the back burner. In the end, it's just a song for Neal to rock on.
After Glow: Meh. The background vocals overwhelm the lead vocals again. Booming bass. This song suffers so much from the mix that it is very hard to listen to.
Let It Rain: One of the worst songs Journey has ever released.
Holdin' On: Worst song Journey has ever released. Journey trying to be Led Zepplin, and Arnel trying to sound like Robert Plant. It is horrible, and the mix makes it even worse. My God, give me "Homemade Love" or "Back Talk" instead of this. If I wanted this, I'd listen to Greta Van Fleet, not Journey.
All Day and All Night: A better rocker, but still suffering from booming bass overwhelming Arnel's vocal...which is too bad because he does some unique singing. The background vocals sound like crap here, too...and louder than the "lead" vocal. This is probably the rocker they needed....but the mix destroys it.
Don't Go: Background vocals too loud from the start. Bass and drums too loud. It's an OK song otherwise.
United We Stand: Booming bass...background and lead vocals seems about the same volume, better. Generic guitar by Neal. Arnel sounds better than I remember when I first heard this song.
Life Rolls On: I hate the intro to this song. The bongos, or whatever percussion that is, is fucking annoying and unnecessary...they should have been dropped. Arnel sounds great in the intro though. When Neal kicks in, the song is much better. It should have started that way instead of all of the Hawaiian noises. Other than that, this could be the best song on the album.
Beutiful As You Are: I suppose this is the epic ballad...starts out like an Air Supply song. Then it picks up into a Journey song after that first verse...Unfortunately, it suffers from the mix/production with the booming bass/drums affect the vocals and making it hard to listen to. The background vocals are too loud again...I get tired of it and give up even trying to understand what Arnel is singing. I could do without the showcasing towards the end, too.
Over all, I like this album better than Eclipse and Revalation. I said this before, this should have been the follow up to Revelation. If they could have sat down in the studio recording together and had a real producer, Freedom could have been an epic album. As it is, it gets in its own way far too often. Overall, I'd give it 7.5/10...if production were better, I'd give it 8.5/10, at least.
But seriously, I wish it had more guitar!
