MR

Since the "big day" is upon us, I figured why not keep all the reviews this release is definatly going to get, in one thread instead of having 1000 threads about the same thing. This will save the clutter in the forum.

Fire Away!

I see reviews are flooding in

Probably haven't got to the store yet to get the damn thing....

I'm going after work.

Hello everyone!!! Long time, no see. I ran by Wal-Mart this morning, and all I can say is WOW! I have heard the first five songs, and they are all incredible. They have really changed the end of FITH. It has a lot of piano towards the end where Neal's awesome guitar solo was. Sounds pretty cool, though. Heard Only The Young, and really liked that version as well. Gonna watch the DVD tonight. Great to be back!!

jrnysc wrote:Hello everyone!!! Long time, no see. I ran by Wal-Mart this morning, and all I can say is WOW! I have heard the first five songs, and they are all incredible. They have really changed the end of FITH. It has a lot of piano towards the end where Neal's awesome guitar solo was. Sounds pretty cool, though. Heard Only The Young, and really liked that version as well. Gonna watch the DVD tonight. Great to be back!!

Nice reading from you again, thanks for stopping in to offer a few thoughts.

My only complaint is FITH. Why on God's green earth would you put a shitty song on two albums? Other than that I think I like every song on the album...with WDILYL, NWA, WIN, WITTW, WD and CFTB, really standing out. The 2 ballads...AATY and TDTWT are really, really good. This album is superb. Great packaging, a cool DVD and lyrics as well. Someone be sure to read them to stevew2.

I'm trying to listen right now. Unfortunately one of my dogs is barking like a lunatic (village workers trimming trees behind my house) and I just got a new assignment for a project I'm working on. I'll have to turn the CD off so I can concentrate on work. So far, I'm really enjoying the CD (new tunes) and Arnel's voice sounds fantastic! The accent is only slightly annoying, and I think Arnel hit this one out of the park!

This is top quality stuff for 11.88. I did notice a difference in sound qualilty, but both are good. I personally like the re-records so far. A little difference to listen to.

Is FITH on the live dvd?

Wow. Holy crap. This is the best Journey record since Frontiers.

No it's not the best since Frontiers...Arrival is better than this. But I digress...again...personal opinion. Sorry,....wasn't tryin' to jump on ya.

They extended Wheel In The Sky, concert style, loved it!

I must agree I think this is the best since Frontiers, and I think 11 songs is a perfect amount. 15 or 16 songs gets kinda tiring to me after a while. Too much filler material.

Saint John wrote:Great packaging, a cool DVD and lyrics as well. Someone be sure to read them to stevew2.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Liam wrote:No it's not the best since Frontiers...Arrival is better than this. But I digress...again...personal opinion. Sorry,....wasn't tryin' to jump on ya.

I agree with 7 Wishes...Best since "Frontiers".

Finally got my copy this morning after hitting 2 separate WallyWorlds.
The first one said they hadn't got their shipment yet and, in the second one,
the girls at the electronics checkout were blasting the re-records
When I walked up with my copy they started fawning over Arnel and
couldn't believe "Journey was back w/o Steve Perry!!!"

I told them, "You do realize this is Journey's 3rd singer since Perry
left and that they've released 2 1/2 albums with one of the other singers???"
Complete Deer-In-The-Headlights look!

Anyhoo, popped it in the car right away and...
Holy-Fucking-Shit!

Completely blown away! I said I'd hold my opinions on Arnel
close until I heard the new material and heard him Live 2-3 weeks
into the tour but... Journey has hit a complete Home-Run with this guy!
This album is packed with some of the best music Schon/Cain have written
since the Escape/Frontiers era. EVERYONE sounds amazing (Thanks Caveman!),
there is a distinct 80's vibe running throughout (mostly Cain's synths) and
some of the emotion Arnel and these songs throw at you literally
had me teary eyed at times!
I know that sounds pretty gay but it happened!
Tears of joy and disbelief that
Journey was Back with a vengeance!

And for those of you that don't understand why FITH was redone, listen to it more.
When it was released on Generations I thought it was one of the best Journey song
recorded since Frontiers and, this time around, it's even better. No knocks on Augeri
because his performance on the original was stellar! But the production on this version
makes it even better!

That leads me to my only negative thought...
I wonder how good Jeff would've sounded on material of this quality.
Same goes for Augeri; I bet he would've sounded incredible singing
songs written this good! THIS should've been Generations, not the
half-assed slop we got.

Anyhoo, KUDOS to Arnel and Journey!!!
You kicked my ass today and I thank you!!!
Now I'm off to cook up that big, steaming bowl
of Crow I'm gonna have for lunch!

I think Journey has hit this one a mile. The music and vocals are spot on. The sound is like a 30 plus year band should sound like, and you can tell Neal being sober has only made him better. There is a difference I cannot explain in his guitar playing, especially some of the solos. Very smooth guitars throughout. Awesome job by all band members. They should be proud today.

conversationpc wrote:

Liam wrote:No it's not the best since Frontiers...Arrival is better than this. But I digress...again...personal opinion. Sorry,....wasn't tryin' to jump on ya.

I agree with 7 Wishes...Best since "Frontiers".

Arrival's better, Generations is close, TBF is better too.

Honestly, the new stuff is a lot weaker than I expected. NWA, AATY and a couple other solid tracks. Sunshower's this album's "Butterfly" - every album needs one I guess. Big Disappointment. The instrumental's a waste of time, Turn Down the World Tonight is a little too light, though I like the somber ending note.

I'm very disappointed in the drum sound in the mix - expected more punch. Not Deen's fault.

The redo of FITH is a disgrace and I truly feel badly for SA - he did this so much better and, I'm sorry, IS the better vocalist. Arnel's very good, and perhaps fits the "dirty dozen" better (though that remains to be seen) - maybe he's more "legacy sound." But he's trying to wail like Perry on the new stuff, and the "grit" so many are describing sounds like a thin voice straining to me. Noone has the depth of Perry, but Arnel's got less than Augeri in that regard.

I just get the feeling that this is less a rebirth or new era dawning than it is a last gasp and throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. Especially with some recycled material.

As for the GH, whatever. Arnel struggles on the early Perry stuff, does very well with the mid 80's stuff except for SW.

All in all, certainly worth the sticker price but I expected better new stuff. A lot better. Arrival kills this album.

While I respect everyone's opinion, there are some facts that don't lie. Wal-Mart is sold out of this cd online on day 1. This new material has been pr'd pretty dog gone well in comparison to anything else they have done. The musicianship on this album is superb, and The Caveman has done a marvelous job with the sound. While I like em all, this one blows Arrival and Generations away overall IMO, and will sell as many as both combined probably. Lastly, all but a couple of the reviews on Wal-Mart's site as of this morning were a perfect 5. This is good stuff. Still haven't decided which version of FITH I like better, but right now I'm thinkin the Generations version. I do like the new twist at the end, however.

jrnysc wrote: Still haven't decided which version of FITH I like better

I have...neither.

Big J wrote:

conversationpc wrote:

Liam wrote:No it's not the best since Frontiers...Arrival is better than this. But I digress...again...personal opinion. Sorry,....wasn't tryin' to jump on ya.

I agree with 7 Wishes...Best since "Frontiers".

I just get the feeling that this is less a rebirth or new era dawning than it is a last gasp and throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. Especially with some recycled material.

I think they are making this their re-birth. They are doing with this material what should be done to sell it. Get on tv. Get on the radio. Don't hide and act like you don't exist. People are also bent out of shape as to them re-recording some classics. Let me give you a possible reason. It wasn't so long ago, a lot of people, even many here, were accusing them of false advertising because they were using Perry lyrics on the classics when they were advertising tours, etc. Well. They fixed it. They now have those songs with Arnel at the helm. That argument has now been drowned. Good move on their part IMO.

Big J wrote:Sunshower's this album's "Butterfly" - every album needs one I guess. Big Disappointment.

They're both lyrically saccharine, but that's not unprecedented when it comes to Journey.
I'm with others, I think Neal is channeling a definitive Infinity-vibe here.
It's great to hear him back writing something melodic, yet understated like "Good Morning Girl."
"Butterfly" seemed half-baked both lyrically and musically.

Big J wrote:The redo of FITH is a disgrace and I truly feel badly for SA - he did this so much better and, I'm sorry, IS the better vocalist.

I like both versions. Was really surprised to hear some Augeri vocal touches being copied to a tee. Including the opening war cry. That's not cool.

jrnysc wrote:Well. They fixed it. They now have those songs with Arnel at the helm. That argument has now been drowned. Good move on their part IMO.

They had all those songs re-recorded with Augeri as well.

Saint John wrote:

jrnysc wrote: Still haven't decided which version of FITH I like better

I have...neither.

You also don't like Patiently, the archetype for all future Schon/Perry collaborations.
Of course there's never any accounting for taste, but your view of what Journey should be sucks.

The_Noble_Cause wrote:

Saint John wrote:

jrnysc wrote: Still haven't decided which version of FITH I like better

I have...neither.

You also don't like Patiently, the archetype for all future Schon/Perry collaborations.
Of course there's never any accounting for taste, but your view of what Journey should be sucks.

Patiently is garbage. Plain and simple. Grandstanding, morose pigeon shit. Decapitate the song's first minute or so and you might have a point. Til then, clam up.

Saint John wrote:

The_Noble_Cause wrote:

Saint John wrote:

jrnysc wrote: Still haven't decided which version of FITH I like better

I have...neither.

You also don't like Patiently, the archetype for all future Schon/Perry collaborations.
Of course there's never any accounting for taste, but your view of what Journey should be sucks.

Patiently is garbage. Plain and simple. Grandstanding, morose pigeon shit. Decapitate the song's first minute or so and you might have a point. Til then, clam up.

I absolutely LOVE both of those songs. You suck, Saint John!

Saint John wrote:Patiently is garbage. Plain and simple. Grandstanding, morose pigeon shit. Decapitate the song's first minute or so and you might have a point. Til then, clam up.

Grandstanding from whom exactly?
Neal and Perry's instruments are intertwined in a delicate tango.
If anything, those are the types of songs the band should try to get back to.
Luckily, "Like a Sunshower" is a high return to form.

Definitely the best record since Frontiers !!!

I'm listening to it right now at work (during lunch time)

I can see 3 or 4 top 40 singles easy if this CD will be promoted well.

Great to see the guys put out a CD of this quality...it's been awhile

I'll have this CD (both disks) in my player for awhile ...

Disc 2 had some interesting (albeit slight) changes from the original tracks (arrangement) it was nice to hear them done a little differently.

That's my 2 cents...

I've already got my tickets for the St Louis concert in September...