Journey...in my opinion
Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 5:50 amI love Journey....I have to start with that so you have a good idea that I am not here to bash or belittle the band or any of its members past or present.My opinions are just that...my opinions and are not meant to be taken as gospel or to try and "convert" you to my way of thinking about the band.
OK..now that my disclaimer is out of the way I can get down to business.
I became a Journey fan in 1980 at the age of 13. I had just bought the Departure album and was blown away.I became an instant fan and went out and bought Infinity and Evolution and listened to that trilogy of musical genius till I knew all the tunes and could sing along.I loved it all!!
In 1981 I eagerly bought Escape when it came out and was shocked to see that Gregg Rolie had left the band.I was concerned as I listened to the album the first time but I quickly adapted to the musical direction and thought ..hey this is pretty good! I was also pleased when Frontiers rolled around and thought it was a nice continuation of the 80's Journey sound.All was peaceful and harmonious in my little Journey world.Then......
Raised on Radio......Raised on Radio.....what had happened to the rock band I loved?This wasn't Journey..this was Journey lite !! What had happened to all the melodic rock songs?Who stuck all these ballads and candy pop songs on my Journey album?Where were Ross and Smitty?Why did my head hurt so bad...lol
I think you get the picture that I am not a fan of Raised on Radio.I have nothing against any of the songs that are on it..in fact they are all good songs.My problem is that instead of Journey sounding like a rock band that could really nail the pop/ballad they had turned into the pop/ballad band that tried to do an occasional rock song.To me that was a huge difference! I was not at all pleased by the new musical direction and could only wait for the next release and hope for the best.
Well...it was a long wait and when I finally got my hands on Trial By Fire I was pleasantly surprised with the results even though I thought the rock/uptempo songs were still too few to be found.Little did I know that rocker to ballad ratio was the least of my Journey related worries at that time.
The fiasco that followed has been well discussed and documented and all I will say on the matter is that if the musical direction of ROR and TBF were the bands future with Steve Perry then it was time for a change.
I welcomed the addition of Steve Augeri and was pleased when I saw them in concert in 98.I thought his voice complimented the band and was a good fit.
I got Arrival and was pleasantly surprised by the musical direction.I thought they were back to being a rock band and I liked it.I thought there were some good songs as well but was surpised that more of the songs were not penned by the Schon/Cain/Augeri combo.I thought that it may appear more on the next release as writing songs is a chemistry thing that can take some time to develop.
The next 2 releases (Red 13/Generations) did indeed contain more songs from that combo and while again I thought there were some good songs and that both were good releases I still thought that the band had not hit its stride musically again.
Boom....another change.Enter JSS....I have to say that I am upbeat and hopeful that this change will be what is needed to give Journey that little extra something musically.I think that JSS has a great voice and while a little different from Steve P or Steve A I still think it compliments the band musically.
What really excites me most is the prospect of future music from the band.I am really stoked to hear some new Schon/Cain/Soto compositions and really believe that they are poised to return to that great melodic rock sound that I love.I welcome the addition of JSS and think that the best is yet to come !!!
OK..now that my disclaimer is out of the way I can get down to business.
I became a Journey fan in 1980 at the age of 13. I had just bought the Departure album and was blown away.I became an instant fan and went out and bought Infinity and Evolution and listened to that trilogy of musical genius till I knew all the tunes and could sing along.I loved it all!!
In 1981 I eagerly bought Escape when it came out and was shocked to see that Gregg Rolie had left the band.I was concerned as I listened to the album the first time but I quickly adapted to the musical direction and thought ..hey this is pretty good! I was also pleased when Frontiers rolled around and thought it was a nice continuation of the 80's Journey sound.All was peaceful and harmonious in my little Journey world.Then......
Raised on Radio......Raised on Radio.....what had happened to the rock band I loved?This wasn't Journey..this was Journey lite !! What had happened to all the melodic rock songs?Who stuck all these ballads and candy pop songs on my Journey album?Where were Ross and Smitty?Why did my head hurt so bad...lol
I think you get the picture that I am not a fan of Raised on Radio.I have nothing against any of the songs that are on it..in fact they are all good songs.My problem is that instead of Journey sounding like a rock band that could really nail the pop/ballad they had turned into the pop/ballad band that tried to do an occasional rock song.To me that was a huge difference! I was not at all pleased by the new musical direction and could only wait for the next release and hope for the best.
Well...it was a long wait and when I finally got my hands on Trial By Fire I was pleasantly surprised with the results even though I thought the rock/uptempo songs were still too few to be found.Little did I know that rocker to ballad ratio was the least of my Journey related worries at that time.
The fiasco that followed has been well discussed and documented and all I will say on the matter is that if the musical direction of ROR and TBF were the bands future with Steve Perry then it was time for a change.
I welcomed the addition of Steve Augeri and was pleased when I saw them in concert in 98.I thought his voice complimented the band and was a good fit.
I got Arrival and was pleasantly surprised by the musical direction.I thought they were back to being a rock band and I liked it.I thought there were some good songs as well but was surpised that more of the songs were not penned by the Schon/Cain/Augeri combo.I thought that it may appear more on the next release as writing songs is a chemistry thing that can take some time to develop.
The next 2 releases (Red 13/Generations) did indeed contain more songs from that combo and while again I thought there were some good songs and that both were good releases I still thought that the band had not hit its stride musically again.
Boom....another change.Enter JSS....I have to say that I am upbeat and hopeful that this change will be what is needed to give Journey that little extra something musically.I think that JSS has a great voice and while a little different from Steve P or Steve A I still think it compliments the band musically.
What really excites me most is the prospect of future music from the band.I am really stoked to hear some new Schon/Cain/Soto compositions and really believe that they are poised to return to that great melodic rock sound that I love.I welcome the addition of JSS and think that the best is yet to come !!!
A few disagreements? Probably, after you've been around a while, but anyone whose first post is that friendly and respectful should do fine. Welcome. 
and great post too!!
"sometimes i send in a check payment without signing it , that could buy us some time".............."or, when the creditors call we pretend we are the cleaning woman,, hello.. no here kruger"