Eclipse review - classic metal

[Don]

http://pitriff.com/news/classic-metal/i ... ag/journey

Journey
ECLIPSE

Chris Akin

I respect Andrew McNeice of MelodicRock.com a great deal. In fact, I consider Andrew to be one of my very few friends in the rock journalism world. I think what Andrew does for the melodic, AOR genre (a genre, which quite frankly I love) is vitally important because without the power of MelodicRock.com backing a lot of these bands, I simply think this genre would die. More than any other style of rock and metal, I think a great deal of bands that get signed and sell releases in that genre do so because of Andrew and his tireless work to publicize the Lionsville, Tall Stories and like bands of the world. I really do believe that. With this said though, there are times when Andrew's fanboy attitude really, really is painful to read. Now, anyone that has ever visited MelodicRock.com knows that Andrew McNeice's favorite band in the world is Journey. Why not, right? Great band, great history, great songs. Even haters of corporate rock will admit than an album like ESCAPE is pretty damn good. That said though, there's a time for being a fan and a time that it just sounds silly. I read this on his PERFECT review of the new Journey - ECLIPSE. "This is a classic album. Journey or otherwise, this is a masterpiece of musical genius. It joins Escape and Frontiers as classic ground breaking albums in Journey history." Simply, I just couldn't agree less with Mr. McNeice on this one.

ECLIPSE is solid, without a doubt. "A masterpiece of music genius" - not even close. My read on ECLIPSE, for whatever it's worth, is far different. I think that far too many times people mistake longer songs with musical intellect instead of what it truly is, which is a lack of discipline to write tight, concise moments of musical explosion that grabs the listener for a few minutes before releasing them. If done correctly, a short great song will almost demand that you run out and purchase the full album so that you can have that experience again and again. There's a reason why every poll of the top 50 songs of all time is always filled by songs that, 95% of the time, are shorter than 5 minutes in length. For ECLIPSE, Journey has all but done away with their ability to write short, memorable songs with big, memorable hooks. Instead, ECLIPSE is a mish mosh of somewhat pompous songs that simply don't accentuate the sound that people have grown to love and expect from Journey. Songs like "Chain Of Love" are a prime example. Is it a decent song - sure. But it's just too long and orchestrated for what you want to hear from Journey. This band was dead on in their writing for their last album, REVELATION, and just so focused elsewhere on ECLIPSE. "Tantra" is one of the worst songs in the band's history; a big, operatic almost Queen-like number that simply doesn't fit their defined style.

Musically, they sound fine to be fair. Arnel Perry or Steve Pineda or whatever his name is (Arnel Pineda) does his imitation of the greatest singer ever well once again. He shines on "Anything Is Possible" and "City Of Hope". On the latter, he sounds like he's having fun for one of the few times of the album. That's another whole issue of this release. It's darker than you would expect, or want from a band like Journey who's job is to create feel-good anthems. Songs like "Resonate" just seem to have a dark, desperate feel to them (this one seems to have a positive message, but the tone and the vocal delivery are just empty of positive energy).

Without any question, ECLIPSE is the Journey album that Neal Schon has wanted to record for a very long time. This album is one of the most guitar intensive albums of the band's history, and you have to assume that's all Schon. His solo in "Anything Is Possible" and his big riffs on "Edge Of The Moment" are as full as anything he's done within Journey. In many ways, the playing leans a touch more stylistically to what he did with Soul Sirkus than past Journey releases.

PITRIFF RATING - 65/100 - Hardly a masterpiece, ECLIPSE sits firmly next to releases like RED13 and GENERATIONS in my assessment of their catalog, far behind simpler yet far more appealing releases like RAISED ON RADIO, TRIAL BY FIRE, REVELATION and ARRIVAL. I think I understand what they were going for here, but I'm just not feeling it. I wish I was because this was the singular release i was really anxious for this year. Expectations not reached.

[yulog]

Overall this is pretty acurate.

[youkeepmewaiting]

Man some people just don't get tantra. Skip the first thirty seconds if you must.

[slucero]

Dead on review.. EXACTLY how I felt upon listening to Eclipse...

[Andrew]

Chris is great...top bloke.

I added this comment:

Hey Chris, love your work too buddy!
But I do feel the need to comment here. No issue with how you feel about this album, nor what anyone else thinks. Always knew it would be a heavily debated title.

Just the fanboy comment mate. You've said similar before and again, no issue with that generally - but in this case I'm going on record to say that Journey aren't my favourite band...I'd rate 10 others ahead at least. But they are a band I have a lot of time for.

That said, for those artists I am a fanboy of, I think I hold them in such regard that I always expect the very best from them and if anything, put them under more scrutiny than some others.

And all my favourites have at one time at least, been on the receiving end of a negative review...as they should have done better - Harem Scarem, Toto, Rick Springfield to name a few.

I honestly didn't know what to expect of this Journey album, but when I heard it was blown away.
Personally and for my love of moody records - this album really hit the spot and still does.

If it's good in my mind I'll say so....fan boy or not

Cheers mate,
Andrew.

[WykkedSensation]

Pretty much spot on review.

[koberry]

http://pitriff.com/news/classic-metal/itemlist/tag/journey
For ECLIPSE, Journey has all but done away with their ability to write short, memorable songs with big, memorable hooks. Instead, ECLIPSE is a mish mosh of somewhat pompous songs that simply don't accentuate the sound that people have grown to love and expect from Journey.

That's another whole issue of this release. It's darker than you would expect, or want from a band like Journey who's job is to create feel-good anthems. Songs like "Resonate" just seem to have a dark, desperate feel to them (this one seems to have a positive message, but the tone and the vocal delivery are just empty of positive energy).

[/i]

This is someone who just doesn't get the band. How is it anything on the second half of Frontiers is a "feel-good anthem"?

Edge of the Blade
Troubled Child
Back Talk
Frontiers
Rubicon

To me, Journey is about the deep cuts, not the 2-3 radio-friendly songs each release. Not that I don't love the sing-alongy tunes. Give me some Just the Same Way, Stone in Love, Faithfully anytime (pun). But to lambast the band for delivering music that's really not that big of a departure from their collective body of work shows that he's never really scratched below the surface of this band's catalog.

[YoungJRNY]

Am I the one going nuts? People act as though Journey put out an album that has nothing but unflattering guitars and whaling drums associated with heavy metal and those grunt frontman that seem to never make sense. I hear Journey ALL OVER THE PLACE in Eclipse, just a darker-mood with rockier guitars. The vocals are still there, Cain is still present and Deen is a monster. Still sounds like Journey to me I respect everyone's opinion on the matter. Taste is something for everything. For me, I love how this album gives the listener multiple times to listen to the album straight through to get some stuff and the kind of direction the band wanted to articulate. Do I enjoy other albums and efforts more-so than this? Of course, but I also enjoy the efforts on this album more-so than others as well.

[Behshad]

Am I the one going nuts? People act as though Journey put out an album that has nothing but unflattering guitars and whaling drums associated with heavy metal and those grunt frontman that seem to never make sense. I hear Journey ALL OVER THE PLACE in Eclipse, just a darker-mood with rockier guitars. The vocals are still there, Cain is still present and Deen is a monster. Still sounds like Journey to me I respect everyone's opinion on the matter. Taste is something for everything. For me, I love how this album gives the listener multiple times to listen to the album straight through to get some stuff and the kind of direction the band wanted to articulate. Do I enjoy other albums and efforts more-so than this? Of course, but I also enjoy the efforts on this album more-so than others as well.

Youre listening to Eclipse with biased ears. and since you're enjoying so much , more power to you. But why would it even matter to you how much others {don't} enjoy it.

[yulog]

Am I the one going nuts? People act as though Journey put out an album that has nothing but unflattering guitars and whaling drums associated with heavy metal and those grunt frontman that seem to never make sense. I hear Journey ALL OVER THE PLACE in Eclipse, just a darker-mood with rockier guitars. The vocals are still there, Cain is still present and Deen is a monster. Still sounds like Journey to me I respect everyone's opinion on the matter. Taste is something for everything. For me, I love how this album gives the listener multiple times to listen to the album straight through to get some stuff and the kind of direction the band wanted to articulate. Do I enjoy other albums and efforts more-so than this? Of course, but I also enjoy the efforts on this album more-so than others as well.

I would just enjoy it and don't worry about the others views. The one thing i noticed when eclipse came out is there really was not a lot of people who have come out to say they liked it maybe 20-25, there are many regulars who are either skirting whether they like it or not even replying at all. I think a lot of people just didnt want to say they didnt like it initially because they thought SteveO would stroke out . I think your going to see more and more people start to come out of the woodwork and say they dont like the cd.

[Greg]

Definitely a spot on review! Thanks for finding this, Don!

[Eric]

Tantra is a gorgeous song...absolutely beautiful. For a band that recorded "All the Way", "Loved by You", "Butterfly", "Positive Touch", "Backtalk"...Tantra couldn't possibly be their worst song anyway.

[NoMoreTails]

This is someone who just doesn't get the band. How is it anything on the second half of Frontiers is a "feel-good anthem"?

Edge of the Blade
Troubled Child
Back Talk
Frontiers
Rubicon

To me, Journey is about the deep cuts, not the 2-3 radio-friendly songs each release. Not that I don't love the sing-alongy tunes. Give me some Just the Same Way, Stone in Love, Faithfully anytime (pun). But to lambast the band for delivering music that's really not that big of a departure from their collective body of work shows that he's never really scratched below the surface of this band's catalog.

I would think that anyone who liked the second side of Frontiers (except for the lyric/vocal portion of BT) as well as One More would surely appreciate the heavier, darker portion of Eclipse. If Escape were released today I believe many would say the two or three heaviest songs didn't sound like Journey.
A review like the one above seems to come from someone who is comparing Eclipse to the Greatest Hits, rather than comparing it to their collective body of work.
Eclipse is exactly what I was hoping for, except there is actually more pop --AIP, Someone--than I had hoped, but they have grown on me. The ones that many seemed to think were the "growers" were immediate for me. Journey have finally done what they should have done immediately post-TBF, go where the music leads them rather than conform to what is "expected" of them.

[Michigan Girl]

Songs like "Resonate" just seem to have a dark, desperate feel to them (this one seems to have a positive message, but the tone and the vocal delivery are just empty of positive energy).

Yep ...it's what I hear, did not like this song!!

This is a very fair review, good for the people
who love it, and for those of us who like parts of it ...
Certainly noone thought this would be embraced by the
world ...or even all Journey fans?!?!

PITRIFF RATING - 65/100 - Hardly a masterpiece, ECLIPSE sits firmly next to releases like RED13 and GENERATIONS in my assessment of their catalog, far behind simpler yet far more appealing releases like RAISED ON RADIO, TRIAL BY FIRE, REVELATION and ARRIVAL. I think I understand what they were going for here, but I'm just not feeling it. I wish I was because this was the singular release i was really anxious for this year. Expectations not reached.

Don't know anything about Generations or Red13, but totally agree w/^^^^the rest!!!
Except Revelation ...this sits in front of Revelation ...yikes, don't let me get caught fibbing!!

[Red13JoePa]

This dude seemed to have more of an agenda to knock, and differ with MR.com than actually critique the music.


Doubt he even listened to the whole thing, but it's good pub for this site

[The_Noble_Cause]

I thought Andrew's fav band was TOTO.

[ebake02]

Why do people still hold up Raised on Radio to be this awesome masterpiece? Aside from 1 or 2 songs, I think it sucks. It's nothing but cheesy soft rock crap.

[Michigan Girl]

Why do people still hold up Raised on Radio to be this awesome masterpiece? Aside from 1 or 2 songs, I think it sucks. It's nothing but cheesy soft rock crap.

Why would anyone think this is?!?

Looooove, ROR ...love it!!!! Good to hear many others do too!!

[Toph]

http://pitriff.com/news/classic-metal/itemlist/tag/journey
For ECLIPSE, Journey has all but done away with their ability to write short, memorable songs with big, memorable hooks. Instead, ECLIPSE is a mish mosh of somewhat pompous songs that simply don't accentuate the sound that people have grown to love and expect from Journey.

That's another whole issue of this release. It's darker than you would expect, or want from a band like Journey who's job is to create feel-good anthems. Songs like "Resonate" just seem to have a dark, desperate feel to them (this one seems to have a positive message, but the tone and the vocal delivery are just empty of positive energy).

[/i]

This is someone who just doesn't get the band. How is it anything on the second half of Frontiers is a "feel-good anthem"?

Edge of the Blade
Troubled Child
Back Talk
Frontiers
Rubicon

To me, Journey is about the deep cuts, not the 2-3 radio-friendly songs each release. Not that I don't love the sing-alongy tunes. Give me some Just the Same Way, Stone in Love, Faithfully anytime (pun). But to lambast the band for delivering music that's really not that big of a departure from their collective body of work shows that he's never really scratched below the surface of this band's catalog.

Interesting point. I think you nailed it. If you are a fan of the second side of Frontiers, you'll like Eclipse. If you think they f*cked up by replacing Ask The Lonely and Only The Young with Troubled Child and Back Talk, you probably aren't in the ECLIPSE camp. Definitely a seperation of the Journey fan base - either you like the 2nd side of Frontiers, Red 13, Generations, Eclipse Journey or you like Frontiers side 1 Journey. And there will be some that like jazzy Raised On Radio Journey. To each their own. But no doubt that Eclipse is definitely in the same vein of the less popular/less mainstream Journey releases.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Horrible review. This critic spends more time reviewing Andrew's opinion than detailing his own. Funny how RollingStone says "Tantra" is one of the few Journeyish sounding tracks on the cd, while this critic says it doesn't fit their defined style. I don't know what Journey's "defined style" is, but I know that Tantra is in keeping with it. Contrary to what the reviewer says, the band's job is NOT "to create feel-good anthems" - never has been. You get maybe one or two of those per album. With the exception of "Human Feel" and "Edge of the Moment", most of Eclipse's choruses are hooky and have all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. He talks about "Chain of Love" like it's some meandering prog Dream Theatre track, when it's still very much a straightforward simplistic rocker. Of all the songs, only "EOTM" really makes your ears perk up and go "this is Journey??"

[Eric]

Why do people still hold up Raised on Radio to be this awesome masterpiece? Aside from 1 or 2 songs, I think it sucks. It's nothing but cheesy soft rock crap.

While I listen to it more than Pre-Perry releases because of IBAWY and BGTY, it certainly isn't a record to be proud of. When I'm introducing Journey to people - this aint coming out.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Why do people still hold up Raised on Radio to be this awesome masterpiece? Aside from 1 or 2 songs, I think it sucks. It's nothing but cheesy soft rock crap.

Awful. "Eyes of a Woman", "Happy to Give", "Once You Love Somebody", "It Could Have Been You" - none of this is remotely Journey sounding, even with Perry on vox.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Tantra is a gorgeous song...absolutely beautiful. For a band that recorded "All the Way", "Loved by You", "Butterfly", "Positive Touch", "Backtalk"...Tantra couldn't possibly be their worst song anyway.

Typical hyperbole from a crummy writer. Anytime you read a variation on "worst movie ever" or "worst song", you know your dealing with a rank amateur desperate for attention.

[Red13JoePa]

Horrible review. This critic spends more time reviewing Andrew's opinion than detailing his own.

Bingo.
And his propping up of perry's pet albums ROR and TBF make his writeup fail the smell test.

[Arkansas]

Am I the one going nuts? People act as though Journey put out an album that has nothing but unflattering guitars and whaling drums associated with heavy metal and those grunt frontman that seem to never make sense. I hear Journey ALL OVER THE PLACE in Eclipse, just a darker-mood with rockier guitars. The vocals are still there, Cain is still present and Deen is a monster. Still sounds like Journey to me I respect everyone's opinion on the matter. Taste is something for everything. For me, I love how this album gives the listener multiple times to listen to the album straight through to get some stuff and the kind of direction the band wanted to articulate. Do I enjoy other albums and efforts more-so than this? Of course, but I also enjoy the efforts on this album more-so than others as well.

Youre listening to Eclipse with biased ears. and since you're enjoying so much , more power to you. But why would it even matter to you how much others {don't} enjoy it.

Yep, people hear a Schon guitar and subconsciously hear Journey. Same with Cain & pieces of Pineda. All these individual parts on Eclipse sound like Journey, but the songs themselves do not. So, YoungJRNY, you do hear "Journey ALL OVER THE PLACE in Eclipse", but never really in any one focused place.


later~

[Arkansas]

Man some people just don't get tantra. Skip the first thirty seconds if you must.

I think you're making the reviewers point. There are far too many disjoints. There aren't just a dozen or so songs on this album. There are a number of different pieces. You shouldn't have to skip any of them, however, and other threads agree, the listener has to edit the songs themselves to find what they like.

If anything this album should be called 'Buffet' - you can go grab the different portions of songs that you like, and make your own album.


later~

[The_Noble_Cause]

Yep, people hear a Schon guitar and subconsciously hear Journey.

Nobody pops in "I on U" or "Late Nite" and mistakes it for Journey. Many of the songs on Eclipse sound like Journey becuz (suprise, surprise!) they are written by the songwriting core of Cain/Schon. Even in Bad English their songs retained a certain Journey feel. The album takes a few risks, but they didn't throw the baby out with the bathwater by any stretch.

[conversationpc]

Why do people still hold up Raised on Radio to be this awesome masterpiece? Aside from 1 or 2 songs, I think it sucks. It's nothing but cheesy soft rock crap.

Awful. "Eyes of a Woman", "Happy to Give", "Once You Love Somebody", "It Could Have Been You" - none of this is remotely Journey sounding, even with Perry on vox.

Yeah, it's basically a Perry solo album melded with a Journey album. Out of that list, though, I do like "Happy to Give".

[Deb]

Am I the one going nuts? People act as though Journey put out an album that has nothing but unflattering guitars and whaling drums associated with heavy metal and those grunt frontman that seem to never make sense. I hear Journey ALL OVER THE PLACE in Eclipse, just a darker-mood with rockier guitars. The vocals are still there, Cain is still present and Deen is a monster. Still sounds like Journey to me I respect everyone's opinion on the matter. Taste is something for everything. For me, I love how this album gives the listener multiple times to listen to the album straight through to get some stuff and the kind of direction the band wanted to articulate. Do I enjoy other albums and efforts more-so than this? Of course, but I also enjoy the efforts on this album more-so than others as well.

Youre listening to Eclipse with biased ears. and since you're enjoying so much , more power to you. But why would it even matter to you how much others {don't} enjoy it. :)

True dat! We all have different preferences, glad you enjoy the hell out of it Travis. Who cares if somebody else doesn't love it too. Heck, when it comes to Mr. Big.........Talk to the hand. Any questions? Consult the middle finger.

[youkeepmewaiting]

Man some people just don't get tantra. Skip the first thirty seconds if you must.

I think you're making the reviewers point. There are far too many disjoints. There aren't just a dozen or so songs on this album. There are a number of different pieces. You shouldn't have to skip any of them, however, and other threads agree, the listener has to edit the songs themselves to find what they like.

If anything this album should be called 'Buffet' - you can go grab the different portions of songs that you like, and make your own album.


later~

Personally though I don't mind the first part of that song. But what I mean is to me once the songs kicks in it is journey...journey with a MASSIVE sound