***Forum Members Revelation Reviews***

[tammy]

I picked up the CD this morning and listened to the new music (might listen to the re-recordings, but highly doubtful & only watched part of the DVD - probably will watch once through, but love AATY on it). I think it is a very good album. But, let me get this out of the way as it was the first thing I noticed...TYPOS in the lyrics is not good to see! In songs, "where did I lose your love" and "what I needed".

Okay - I think "Where did I lose your love" is excellent. Just a really put together song...very Journey to me. Intro great (anyone else feel like it's gonna start "Easy Lover"? lol - one of my fave Phil Collin songs). Outro is great...drumming superb - love them drums, DC!

Also, really, really like "what I needed" but I have a few problems with the bridge...love the guitar solo but not the lyrics, melody after it - it seems as if the track changed and it loses me - I think it would've been better to stay in the melancholy mood of the song. Also, I can hear AP's accent much more on this song (I use headphones - was he tired?) and although not a bad thing it feels a bit off. But OMG on the last part of the chorus "hear me caaaalllliiin" - this is where I hear a very SP sound...love it. Dare I say this song feels a bit of a FTLOSM vibe - and makes me miss SP terribly right now. (hear me Steve P, love you, love your voice, your spirit, your emotion - please come back & sing to us.)

"After all these years" - love this song and I feel AP OWNS it.

"Like a Sunshower" - really like this one - just don't like the "yeah" at the very end...I have a problem with that, could've left it at oooohh. I like the melody much better than the lyrics.

"What it takes to Win" - I dig this song - surprisingly, since I'm not sports oriented or competitive, but it is so catchy. Arnel's voice is edgy and I like it.

"Faith in the Heartland" - I like the original better...it should've been left alone.

"Turn down the world tonight" - sounds better than I thought it would from the clips - it is growing on me - excellent piano, 'tho.

The other songs haven't grabbed me as such, although they sound good - just not exactly "me".

I hope they continue to create new songs - I just can't see them not - it would be a waste. So, yes, I really like this CD. I didn't think they would do it and so I was wrong.

[Centaure]

The album is good, but not as good as almost everybody seems to say. In fact I think that it is not above Arrival or Generations.
What I blame mostly the production. YES, the sound is good, the mix is good, but the performance sounds flat. A good producer should brings the best of everybody and try to fix all the part together to make it great. Here we have the usual dull Shirley production that I know him for. He is a nice guy but seems to like himself more and more...

I began to be skeptical of him during the Arrival time. When he did not want to have World Gone Wild on it. By pressure of the fans (thanks to Napster), we finally got it and guess what ? World Gone Wild is one the best song that Journey has recorded in the last 10 years. I did not understand his wish to have all the ballads on Arrival, leaving great songs like Sea of Emotion in the "cutting room". Who knows what other gems were left over ? I am also a Dream Theater fan and he produced Falling Into Infinity... who is one of the weakest DT album.

Anyway, here we have another Journey album produced by him.

Ok, it is not the end of the world, and a lot of fans seems to like what he does with the band. Just go listen to Radiohead's Ok Computer or Queen's A Night At The Opera to hear what a good production is. What I don't like the most on Revelation is that everything sounds the same. The "Oh so great" drum sound is good, but it sounds always the same on almost every tracks. Overall it miss a lot of punch to the songs. That is not what I call an outstanding produced album, fortunatly the sound is better than Generations, but at least Generations had some great vibe and experimentation.

NEVER WALK AWAY
Good song, the energy is here, Arnel shines on it. Sure one of the best song on Revelation, even if it does sounds to much like a bunch of already famoust songs. 4/5
LIKE A SUNSHOWER
Another good song, but it never seems to fly as it should, there is no peak, but I like the old style of it. The vibe is half there. 3.5/5
CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
I would love to hear the demo. Demo that Shirley could not understand... really ? Anyway the Shirley version is good, rocking, but I feel that it should have been an epic prog song. Love the ride sound from Deen. Great guitar solo. Arnel doesn't soar as he should, lack a bit of passion or sound fake. 3/5
WILDEST DREAMS
A very uptempo song is always a plus for me. This song is better live, but I am glad it is on the CD. Once again I cannot understand why I don't love it better than that. The distortioned vocal part is so bad. The end is a real jam, with no real emotion, but power. Could have been better. 3/5
FAITH IN THE HEARTLAND
Now this is the song that we can compare the production to another one. No surprise that the other version is a bit better. The original had an urgency to it and a cool vibe to it, now it sounds more newage than rock. Still, this is one of the best song written in the Augeri era and it is still not bad here. Schon add a couple of cool things, but Cain's work seem out of place. 3/5
AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
This is a beautifull ballad with some great hooks. Arnel shines on it. In the same league as When You Love A Woman and With Your Love. 4/5
WHERE DID I LOSE YOUR LOVE
A good song, mid-tempo rocker like Signs of Life, but to me the hooks are not big enough and it miss the urgency that the song need. Deen's drum fills are pretty cool. Almost a filler. 2.5/5
WHAT I NEEDED
Yes! I really like that one. Beautifull with powerfull chorus and hunting melody. Lot of great vocal acrobacies with a lot of emotions too. Why the other songs are not like that ? Killer guitar solo. Very theatrical. 4.5/5
WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN
I feel the same way for this song than for Where Did I Loose Your Love, not bad, just not the kind of rock songs I like. Arnel's vocals are different, but lack some passion. He sings very well but he is not that believable. 2.5/5
TURN DOWN THE WORLD TONIGHT
A nice ballad, should have close the album. The emotion is there, very well performed. 3.5/5
THE JOURNEY (REVELATION)
A big fan of Schon's solo and instrumental music in general. This one is a keeper, but I think it would fit better between two songs, not at the end of the album. By putting it at the end, it feels marginalized. Anyway the track itself is full of Schon's famous guitar playing and the melodies does feel like you are on a Journey with the band (even if the other members are quite quiet) 3.5/5

OVERALL : 3.36/5

BTW, Ross is too much in the background, we don't hear him enough.

[stevew2]

some one hit a bad note at 1:14 on Wheel .........

.man....jonathon cain looks dang cool holding an axe..... black shirt ... silver slacks.. dressed up... thats my style. .. love it .. JC looks cool with a strat or les paul...

Gay guys always look cool, they are into nice clothes, give him an axe or a Keytar makes him feel more manly

[Liam]

Guess I should've posted this here.....OOPS. Here we go...


Well...my mom bought it for me today to Make me feel better (I lost YET ANOTHER friend this past week due to her shooting herself) and it was a VERY sweet thing to do. Obviously she doesn't know the Journey back-story. ANYWAY...Sunshower is a REALLY gay song. Faith In The Heartland is awful and I still can't comprehend why they redid it.

Never Walk Away - Great track. I just wish they would've put this as a bonus track or something and have Jeremey take the lead on just this one as a special guest singer. AP's accent is VERY prevalent on this one.

Like A Sunshower - Like I said...GAY

Change For The Better - Decent song, but I hear a LOT of Van Halen's 5150 influence on the guitar tone (not that it's a bad thing). The one thing I really don't like on this one is the Halting one word pre-chorus. And I hear AP's accent on this one too which kills the song.

Wildest Dream - Cool song. Rockin', but too many keys. Should've stuck with 2 guitars.

Faith In The Heartland - AWFUL. The only thing redeeming about it is the "Live" ending.

After All These Years - A VERY good ballad, but I wouldn't rank it up there with Faithfully or even With Your Love, even though it does have the same feel as WYL.

Where Did I Lose Your Love - The BEST track on the album. Urgent and almost all in minor keys which I LOVE on almost any song. Only complaint is that the accent is still there in places.

What I Needed - Good lyrics, decent song structure...I'd give this one a 8/10.

What It Takes To Win - This one reminds me of The Police just for Neal's guitar reverb and tone. Not a bad song at all...just REALLY Police-ish.

Turn Down The World Tonight - Good ballad. I like it...but again, not in the same league with Faithfully or Open Arms. Reminds me of a mix between Loved by You and Knowing That You Love Me.

The Journey - I could take it or leave it. Doesn't even come close to equalling Neal's "Urban Angel" off I on U or anything off Electric World.

Let It Take You Back (Euro bonus track) - Not a bad song at ALL. The main guitar riff reminds me of some other song...but I can't seem to spit out the name OR band right this second. This should've been on this album worldwide in place of Faith In The Heartland.

All in all...I'll give this one an 85%. Don't ask how I calculated that...just work with me.

[Ridge]

We need a concert where the band plays all of these songs......this new stuff is amazing!

[Aaron]

I heard that. How the hell did that get the store? I was in the kitchen and though Jeezus, how the hell did that happen.

some one hit a bad note at 1:14 on Wheel .........

.man....jonathon cain looks dang cool holding an axe..... black shirt ... silver slacks.. dressed up... thats my style. .. love it .. JC looks cool with a strat or les paul...

[Melissa]

Started listening in the car to disc 2, got through the first 3. Liked OTY, sounds like the bass is more forward than the original, & I had the bass turned down too. Love Deen's drumming. Liked DSB too, definitely different though, bass sounds more forward again, love Deen's drumming again.

Now WITS, for some reason...drove me NUTS. Didn't like how it opens compared to the original, & by the time the 1st chorus was up I couldn't turn it off fast enough, lol. Not sure exactly why, just don't like it. Will listen to the rest later.

Of course I love the originals the most & always will, they are burned in my brain, but I was surprised to like OTY & DSB so far, just good other versions of great songs.

[Rhiannon]

We need a concert where the band plays all of these songs......this new stuff is amazing!

It's called the summer tour, tickets on sale now.

[The_Noble_Cause]

As usual I seem to prefer the songs everyone else bags on (Sunshower, What I Needed).

"Sunshower" is great.
It's a love song that rings earnest, unlike half the sappy bat mitzvah dreck found on "Arrival."
Like SoulSirkus, Neal is again writing and playing from the soul.

[The_Noble_Cause]

And I'm so proud of our bud Jeremey's part in writing the best Journey song since 1983...

Hyperbolize much?
NWA is total Journey paint-by-numbers.
While catchy enough, it doesn't possess half the originality of previous album opener "Higher Place."

You know how each time you make a photocopy of a copy it gets increasingly lighter until you're soon holding a pale shadow of the once vibrant original?
That's NWA.
The first time they copied "Be Good to Yourself" the result was the rocking summer anthem "To be Alive Again," then they copied it again and it became the somewhat derivatively enjoyable "Believe in Me," and now finally, its the wholly generic and disposable "Never Walk Away."

[StoneCold]

These new tracks are the bomb. Que'd the ones I hadn't heard before (no NWA, WD, FITH OR AATY) and put them on repeat.

The whole cd is great but I'm loving hearing the BRAND NEW tunes.

This is definitely better than Arrival. It was bloated, Ican't get through it without clicking past a couple songs.

Revelation is solid start to finish.

[YoungJRNY]

Gave a listen to it and got around to it around midnight of last night, mainly on the new material. Got my copy at Wal-Mart and immediately put 'er in the car and blasted it loud and clear, but had an agreement only to listen to the new ones in the car that I already heard (Never Walk Away, After All These Years, FITH, and a couple Re-Records.) I won't lie, Arnel's voice touched me in a way that it left me smiling from ear to ear the whole way home and gave little goosebumps to go along with it.

Got home, popped in the DVD and it instantly brought me back to VEGAS. What an amazing show. The DVD obviously allows you to see more of what was going down on stage, and I was pleasantly pleased with the production and sound of the new lineup. Very emotional.

Got around to the NEW SONGS around Mid-night and I was pretty much half-dead. I still gave a listen to the CD and almost every track stood out. Sunshower, Turn Down The World Tonight, What I Needed, What It Takes To Win, Change For The Better..

Turn Down The World Tonight was my INSTANT favorite right off the get-go and has a very catchy beat to it. Very happy with this track.

I was half in zombie state, so I didn't connect right away as much as I thought I would. Giving a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th listen today and I expect to be rocking out the next couple months with this beast in hand!

Overall, the people who are on the ropes on buying this CD, are missing out on the hype and NEED to be plugged in and pull the trigger. It's THAT GOOD.

[Escape Artist]

My lovely wife ran to Wallyworld and bought a copy for me very early yesterday, they weren't even out of the box so she made the stock girl get them. I asked her if there was any signage promoting the new Journey, nope as of yesterday nothing.

Listened to disc 1 all the way through for first time. WOW! I am impressed with Arnel and the direction on this, overall verdict is this CD is KILLER IMHO. Deen's drums stand out for the first time on any Journey record he has been involved in, Bravo! Neal's guitar is singing again... a clear head is helping it seems. I won't go into a breakdown of each song but I am digging everything except FITH, should have been left alone. For 11 bucks you can't go wrong with the package, the CD's are well produced and sound great to me.

I give the overall package a 9 out of 10 for value, sound, feel good factor and the best new material from Journey since Frontiers.

[conversationpc]

Hyperbolize much?
NWA is total Journey paint-by-numbers.
While catchy enough, it doesn't possess half the originality of previous album opener "Higher Place."

You know how each time you make a photocopy of a copy it gets increasingly lighter until you're soon holding a pale shadow of the once vibrant original?
That's NWA.
The first time they copied "Be Good to Yourself" the result was the rocking summer anthem "To be Alive Again," then they copied it again and it became the somewhat derivatively enjoyable "Believe in Me," and now finally, its the wholly generic and disposable "Never Walk Away."

I love it anyway.

[The_Noble_Cause]

I love it anyway.

I enjoy it too, but it's no classic.

[i]

....

[DrFU]

So nice to finally have the CD instead of sub-par pre-release versions of these songs.

Where Did I Lose Your Love is my favorite, by a lot...

Have to skip Faith in the Heartland; totally love the Stevie version, and this one doesn't do it for me.

Overall, great listening; thrilled to have new Journey, despite the shit 'n drama of the past couple of years. Or maybe more so because of it.

Opening night in Denver, here I come...

[zino]

First run through of Revelation I was very impressd. Watched part of the dvd and that was good to ! Cd blows away Generations and not quite sure about Arrival yet. I Liked Arrival. Was impressed by Arnel though !

Only negative was reading the Linear notes..Neal thanking all former members of the band...Im sure he wanted to thank Perry alright.
Perry gave him a horse in the race
Augeri put the horse back in the race
Soto saved the race

with any good promoting Arnel can win a race or two !!!


Its also pretty cool that DC thanks Augeri

[frfksakes]

It’s good. As a whole album, better than TBF and Arrival. It's best is as good as the best on Arrival, but not as good as the best on TBF (MOL, etc)

Great vocals, great, great musicianship.

By far, the best for me was Where Did I Lose Your Love. The rest is pretty good, …

BUT, for me, it is lacking that elusive Perry punch.
I can't define it, but I can feel it, and it's just not there.

And it's not just the vocals - it's also the melodic punch that Perry helped create in AWYWI, SW, WWY, ... etc
- How he could sometimes make the lyrics incidental, lol (like Ladoda, etc).

This is not a slight on Arnel - I have no doubt that there will be Arneloons for many years to come, lol.

But this album only makes me yearn more for the reunion that will never be.....

(&, broken record I know, but the note for note covers cheapen the new album, imo.)

i love that flavor of koolaid [/quote

Lol! me, too!

[lights1961]

my two cents worth... the only EMOTION on any song is after all these years...every other song is emotionless.. cant wait for Perry CD---my wife and i commented on it while giving first listen
while driving to lunch...where are the hooks??? Perrys emotion always won you over... Augeri and now Arnel doesnt have **THAT**or IT in the emotion catagory, think of Perrys first CD with Journey and you heard lights for the first time... WOW is what you get... hearing these songs... can take it or leave it... that said, if this makes the top10 tht would be cool. I LOVE THE INTRUMENTAL. Sunshower is an okay tune too, but never walks away i thought i would like more on the cd than the download... not really all that much...Neals playing is killer through out and deen kicks ass. anyway, first thoughts---maybe it will change as i give it a few spins... FITH is a HUH?? why not put that on the GH package its already been done... or even higher place???
thats it for now more later.

Rick

[ProgRocker53]

Never Walk Away... still like it. Vintage song. Good song, not the most original but very Journey and a good lead-off track. Background vox need work (sound too "small") but still a fun tune.

Like a Sunshower... LOVED IT LOVED IT!! Thought it'd be gay but it was very relaxing and "smooth." I heard some ORGAN in there too! Arnel's vocals were wonderful and this was truly a good track. Will be hard to top for me. Massively dug it!

Change For The Better... Love the nod to Arrival! The 5150esque guitar, and classic-feeling Journey rhythms/synths are INTENSE! I'm really digging Arnel's "husk." The start-stop feel is cool and the rhythm section is on fire. Great chorus! The synth breakdown was AWESOME!! One of the best things Cain has ever done, haha, and I'm serious! Gave it a Marillion/Dream Theater feel, which you all know I'm hot for. WHOA... Just when I thought the song was over.... it keeps going for two more minutes!! With a very "prog" feeling interlude... oh my gosh. I'm REALLY loving this song. Freakin' A. Neal and Deen are playing AMAZINGLY now that they're sober and it's really showing. The synths sound cool but not dated! Kind of an Escape meets Higher Place feeling yet wholly original.

Wildest Dream.... A Bad English meets Castles Burning feel. Arnel is winning me over. I do really like the chorus, it feels "held back," just like Deen's drumming. The vocals and drums both sound like on the verge of just BUSTING out, and I like that feel. Neal's riffs are HEAVY and I like it when he gets aggressive like that. Could do without Cain pawing his little piano riff right before the chorus. No guitarist sounds like Neal! Really, his tone is original and clear. Can never get enough of it. The "distorted" vocals come off a little better on this CD than on the download I listened to. Arnel's little "scream" is really giving him a bit of a vocal trademark. Whoa, did he go "c'mon"?! There's another Arnel trademark. FREAKING LOVED Deen's double-bass beat, and the laugh at the end... AGAIN, Cain, do you have to transpose yourself over every sweet drum solo or riff where you don't belong? Just do your Cain thing and be good.

FITH... (pretending I'm hearing it as a whole new brand new song). Arnel's vocals are good. Can't hear an accent at all. This is a great song, no matter what's changed on it... always will be great. Deen's drumming = . Man is a monster. I've always loved Neal's rhythm work on this tune... and Cain is putting down very tasteful synth. ALWAYS sing along to this chorus.... very catchy! In the bridge I DO like Cain's added piano. Deen, Deen, Deen... man... freakin' Deen. Kinda like the new solo by Neal too... I notice a little more whammy bar/bending going on? And a little tapping thrown in for good measure! Need to throw in some Ross props here, the bass work has been vintage Ross so far. Not exactly attention-grabbing but holds down the tone very well... like the man's work as always. DEEEEEEEEEEEEEN for the win. Freakin' DEEN.... and Cain's new keys don't exactly ruin the prog jam for me like the lo-fi download made me think they would. Actually kind of add a bit of texture to it. Have I fawned over Deen during this song yet? The man's a MACHINE!

AATY.... LOVE the guitar hook. One of the finest Journey ballads of all time, I believe. I'm not a big ballad guy at all but I really enjoy this song. Right up there with Faithfully and WYLAW in my personal Journey ballad rankings.. and Deen is bringing out his inner Smitty here. Cain's doing what he does best in this song... pawing some keys delicately and tantalizing my inner romantic. Makes me wanna fondle a girl with a rose in my teeth. This song could also hold up well covered in a country format, as much as I hate pop country this could go No. 1 with a Tim McGraw or Lonestar or Rascal Flatts covering it. Neal's solo... is what Neal is all about. Good God this guitar solo put a tear in my eye. SO touching.

Where Did I Lose Your Love... Holy Pride of Lions/Survivor, Batman! Albeit with better instrumentalists and a VERY good singer. A dark, broken rockin' Journey song in the vein of MoL, Separate Ways, and The Place in Your Heart. I don't wanna be the one to say it, but I will... the synths ARE very similar to the pattern used in the songs previously mentioned. Separate Ways Part Four? Hell, I like it though, give me as many Separate Ways as there are Land Before Time movies and I'll be happy. Ugh, actually, my dad just walked by singing "I still love you girl, I really miss you girl...." LOL. Not as derivative as NWA but not the most original tune on the disc. Very enjoyable though. Hey have I mentioned Deen is a freakin' awesome drummer yet in this I'm-reviewing-as-I-listen post? The ending of this song was.. dare I say it... proggish...

What I Needed.... This song feels.. DIRE. Urgent, if you will, even if it's slower. Chorus didn't really come out and get me, but I'm sure this will build to some epic crescendo. Not once so far in this disc have I thought "Gee, Arnel sounds like Perry" or "Man, Arnel's doing his best attempt to rip off Perry." Not quite the epic crescendo I expected but a decent Neal solo... Not a bad ballad at all, doesn't stand out too much but it's not gay like alot of other post-Perry and TBF ballads.

What It Takes To Win... YES! YES!!! Neal's guitar has a very... BITING feel to it. You don't have to shred to put MENACE into your riffs... I don't care how tailor-made-for-Rocky this may sound, it WORKS, and makes me want to pick up wrestling once again just by listening. I wish this song was around for my warm-up mixes back when I wrestled and played football. I have a feeling alot of my friends will dig this one. How odd that one of Neal's most restrained and tasteful solos, comes in one of the songs where I most expected him to melt my face right off with a sickening solo. GREAT tune.

Turn Down The World Tonight... MEATLOAF?! I knew Arnel could do dead ringers (pun intended) for alot of vocalists but not the Loaf. I LOVE this tune. I'm totally down for overly theatrical songs with vocal acrobatics. DUDE SERIOUSLY HE RIPPED OFF MEAT LOAF MORE THAN PERRY ON THIS RECORD!! Diggin' Cain's piano here too. Weird that I hate ballads but massively dug most of the balladry on this Journey record. NEALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!! FREAKIN NEEEEEEALLLLL!!! I WANNA PARTY WITH YOU NEEEEEEEEEEEAL!!! P.S. Arnel sounds like Meat Loaf on 75% of this song.

Captain Friga's Tea Party.. er... The Journey (Revelation).... VERY Trial By Firesque. Combine this with Colors of the Spirit and you have a SONG baby! What's there to say? I'm a Neal freak and a prog freak so naturally this song is REALLY appealing to me. Sounds like they took an outtake from the I on U sessions and threw it on here, with some actual instruments, but that's not a bad thing at all. I love listening to Neal caress my ears gently with his surreal guitar work. Deen's sick. Straight sick. This is a beautiful song. Will become an all-time Journey favorite for me, I'm sure.

First Impression:

KICK ASS RECORD. Can't rank it in the canon just yet but it will be UP THERE for me. They really exceeded expectations with this disc and I'm won over completely. Soaring melodies, catchy hooks, instrumental virtuosos jamming it up, great vocals and a little experimental flair. NICE stuff....

....and now on to the re-records.....

[YoungJRNY]

Giving more listens I'm falling more in love with it, even better than ARRIVAL and I LOVED ARRIVAL. As I listen I'm liking Change For The Better each second it's playing. I can see myself putting this track on in mid summer...90 degees, and windows down with this blasting in the backround. This track gives off a "own world" feeling and has that temp of something out of Van Halen...maybe JUMP. A Feel good song. Each song is growing more and more on me.. even though I like Wildest Dreams it is the weak link for me as of right now..it might change later on with a few more listens.

[Matthew]

my two cents worth... the only EMOTION on any song is after all these years...every other song is emotionless.. cant wait for Perry CD---my wife and i commented on it while giving first listen
while driving to lunch...where are the hooks??? Perrys emotion always won you over... Augeri and now Arnel doesnt have **THAT**or IT in the emotion catagory, think of Perrys first CD with Journey and you heard lights for the first time... WOW is what you get... hearing these songs... can take it or leave it... that said, if this makes the top10 tht would be cool. I LOVE THE INTRUMENTAL. Sunshower is an okay tune too, but never walks away i thought i would like more on the cd than the download... not really all that much...Neals playing is killer through out and deen kicks ass. anyway, first thoughts---maybe it will change as i give it a few spins... FITH is a HUH?? why not put that on the GH package its already been done... or even higher place???
thats it for now more later.

Rick

Yes - I'm with you on this Rick. I'm sitting here listening to this record and I feel completely unmoved. I want to love it but this combination of empty bombast and chord changes you can predict a mile off are making this a tough album to listen to all the way through. Some good moments - for example Cain and Schon's work on Turn Down The World Tonight and Let It Take You Back (good to hear the Hammond again) - but come on....this is solid AOR at best...but there's nothing extraordinary or soulful or surprising here.

(God...I'm listening to the chorus of What It Takes To Win...the cliches here would have made me groan even back in 1989...)

Has everyone here forgotten how exceptional this band used to be? It seems so...

[Barb]

my two cents worth... the only EMOTION on any song is after all these years...every other song is emotionless.. cant wait for Perry CD---my wife and i commented on it while giving first listen
while driving to lunch...where are the hooks??? Perrys emotion always won you over... Augeri and now Arnel doesnt have **THAT**or IT in the emotion catagory, think of Perrys first CD with Journey and you heard lights for the first time... WOW is what you get... hearing these songs... can take it or leave it... that said, if this makes the top10 tht would be cool. I LOVE THE INTRUMENTAL. Sunshower is an okay tune too, but never walks away i thought i would like more on the cd than the download... not really all that much...Neals playing is killer through out and deen kicks ass. anyway, first thoughts---maybe it will change as i give it a few spins... FITH is a HUH?? why not put that on the GH package its already been done... or even higher place???
thats it for now more later.

Rick

Wow. I feel exactly the opposite. I hear a lot of emoting from Arnel in Sunshower, What I Needed and several other songs. That's one of the things that strikes me about him singing the older material too. He doesn't just mouth the words; I see emotion there.

[conversationpc]

my two cents worth... the only EMOTION on any song is after all these years...every other song is emotionless.. cant wait for Perry CD---my wife and i commented on it while giving first listen
while driving to lunch...where are the hooks??? Perrys emotion always won you over... Augeri and now Arnel doesnt have **THAT**or IT in the emotion catagory, think of Perrys first CD with Journey and you heard lights for the first time... WOW is what you get... hearing these songs... can take it or leave it... that said, if this makes the top10 tht would be cool. I LOVE THE INTRUMENTAL. Sunshower is an okay tune too, but never walks away i thought i would like more on the cd than the download... not really all that much...Neals playing is killer through out and deen kicks ass. anyway, first thoughts---maybe it will change as i give it a few spins... FITH is a HUH?? why not put that on the GH package its already been done... or even higher place???
thats it for now more later.

Rick

Yes - I'm with you on this Rick. I'm sitting here listening to this record and I feel completely unmoved. I want to love it but this combination of empty bombast and chord changes you can predict a mile off are making this a tough album to listen to all the way through. Some good moments - for example Cain and Schon's work on Turn Down The World Tonight and Let It Take You Back (good to hear the Hammond again) - but come on....this is solid AOR at best...but there's nothing extraordinary or soulful or surprising here.

(God...I'm listening to the chorus of What It Takes To Win...the cliches here would have made me groan even back in 1989...)

Has everyone here forgotten how exceptional this band used to be? It seems so...

This is the most exceptional the band has been on any studio work since '83 and to say that Arnel has no emotion on all the songs but one is ridiculous. Just because YOU don't hear it, doesn't mean it is isn't there. I don't think it's the second coming but it's much more consistent than ROR, TBF, Arrival, and Generations.

[Since 78]

my two cents worth... the only EMOTION on any song is after all these years...every other song is emotionless.. cant wait for Perry CD---my wife and i commented on it while giving first listen
while driving to lunch...where are the hooks??? Perrys emotion always won you over... Augeri and now Arnel doesnt have **THAT**or IT in the emotion catagory, think of Perrys first CD with Journey and you heard lights for the first time... WOW is what you get... hearing these songs... can take it or leave it... that said, if this makes the top10 tht would be cool. I LOVE THE INTRUMENTAL. Sunshower is an okay tune too, but never walks away i thought i would like more on the cd than the download... not really all that much...Neals playing is killer through out and deen kicks ass. anyway, first thoughts---maybe it will change as i give it a few spins... FITH is a HUH?? why not put that on the GH package its already been done... or even higher place???
thats it for now more later.

Rick

Yes - I'm with you on this Rick. I'm sitting here listening to this record and I feel completely unmoved. I want to love it but this combination of empty bombast and chord changes you can predict a mile off are making this a tough album to listen to all the way through. Some good moments - for example Cain and Schon's work on Turn Down The World Tonight and Let It Take You Back (good to hear the Hammond again) - but come on....this is solid AOR at best...but there's nothing extraordinary or soulful or surprising here.

(God...I'm listening to the chorus of What It Takes To Win...the cliches here would have made me groan even back in 1989...)

Has everyone here forgotten how exceptional this band used to be? It seems so...

This is the most exceptional the band has been on any studio work since '83 and to say that Arnel has no emotion on all the songs but one is ridiculous. Just because YOU don't hear it, doesn't mean it is isn't there. I don't think it's the second coming but it's much more consistent than ROR, TBF, Arrival, and Generations.

100% Agree

[Matthew]

This is the most exceptional the band has been on any studio work since '83 and to say that Arnel has no emotion on all the songs but one is ridiculous. Just because YOU don't hear it, doesn't mean it is isn't there. I don't think it's the second coming but it's much more consistent than ROR, TBF, Arrival, and Generations.

And equally just because YOU do doesn't mean it's there either. This is all utterly subjective...

And Dave please...do you really think Arnel's performance comes anywhere near Perry's on ROR? Now that was exceptional.

I take your point though about the consistency. No stinkers on Revelation - all perfectly competant throughout. But no truly amazing moments....

[Matthew]

TURN DOWN THE WORLD TONIGHT
A nice ballad, should have close the album.

Agree with this...and it's the best song since TBF.

[Monstrock]

Wow! This is their best album since Frontiers, hands down!!.

[conversationpc]

And equally just because YOU do doesn't mean it's there either. This is all utterly subjective...

And Dave please...do you really think Arnel's performance comes anywhere near Perry's on ROR? Now that was exceptional.

I take your point though about the consistency. No stinkers on Revelation - all perfectly competant throughout. But no truly amazing moments....

As for the vocal performance, since there are apparently more effects added to Perry's vocals on ROR, it's somewhat difficult to tell whose performance is better. Besides that, I didn't say it was better.

As for amazing moments, I think "Change for the Better", "After All These Years", and "Where Did I Lose Your Love" are nearly as good as anything the band has done. Also, as formulaic as "Never Walk Away" is, it is nearly their equal.