MR

2 cents worth... LOVE the ROCK on this CD... HUMAN FEEL IS A GREAT SONG... RISE UP!!! 25 years ago, this would have been a hellish anthem... but its 2011... and well... it just wont happen... I get goosebumps when I crank the song in the car and that hasnt happen in a really long while... AP and the BAND really smoke on this song...

that said, the ballads are not the greatest... She's a mysterary is a great song, ruined at the end of it... by going somewhere, where it didnt need to go... I like someone... good tune... and the instrumental at the end is killer...edge of the moment is great.... as is city of hope... the rest just soso... tantera sucks...but thats just me...

I will say this is 15 times better than Revelations... which stunk... so I am glad they went away from their LEGACY/POP sound and went for something gutsy as Eclipse... lots of songs will keep in my playlist for awhile...

Popped in Revelation and seemed to skip over some of it but still enjoy the C.D. Popped in Eclipse and it's still as fresh as ever for me. I just really dig the style that Journey went with this time around and at the moment, I'd rather here Eclipse than Revelation over the sole purpose of Eclipse isn't like any other of their albums. Differed mood, feel and standard while still sounding like Journey and it just worked for me.

Actually like the end of She's a Mystery. Haven't cranked up a song like that in years. Kind of wish it would have just been an instrumental though. Nothing against Arnel, just seems a rockin' instrumental would have been better.

No surprise my opinion of this record falls somewhere in the middle . I agree the Journey train drove off the “formula” track, but also agree the songs still sounded like Journey. Any record that has Neal’s guitar-playing is going to sound like Journey (imo) just as I always feel ROR sounded like Journey, in spite of assertions otherwise. I also agree with posters who felt that AP was outstanding on this record, demonstrating a versatile singing style unlike the vocals heard in the last album. To me, he came into his own on this record, completely extinguishing the “perryism” mode, other than a few soaring high notes here and there.

Too bad he didn’t have better songs to sing. I mean, Neal forewarned that the band was going for a different creative sound, that they weren’t going to be concerned with “radio-friendly” hits, anymore. But, geez, don’t they at least want to make sure this album would appeal to the masses? Looking at the dismal sales, it would appear that all the new Journey supporters that Arnel brought over (propelled Rev to 2x(?) platinum) have not translated to Eclipse. Remember the theory put forth by jokesters/skeptics…that for every one fan buying Rev, Arnel’s Filipino fanbase bought 10, thereby padded sales numbers? Well, Eclipse sure needs that help, and poor Arnel sang his heart out here.

Admittedly, my taste in rock music leans toward pop, but so are 95% of the general public…pop stands for popular. As many have already stated, it’s not that these songs are all that bad…almost--if not all, have good moments leading in…just not enough sustained momentum. I’m no expert on music or songwriting, but it just seems lack of good song structure is the problem. Or, suddenly, Neal throws in his shredding acrobatics in there whether I think it fits the mood or not.

These 4 I like a lot:
Tantra…has a Broadway show-tune vibe to it. Arnel’s best vocal performance to date. Music not over-the-top, just the right elegance and grandiosity.
EOM…next best song…has a storytelling feel & lyrical continuity all the way to the end.
COH…catchiest song of the bunch…given their record history, I see why they chose this song as lead-in and released as 1st single. Song has grown on me…thought it was lightweight when we got first taste of it on yt video.
Resonate…could have been a great song…love how Arnel sang the opening stanza…really, throughout the whole song. Music high energy…builds and builds. But the flaw, to me, was they didn’t end the song right at around 4: mark when flow starts down and Arnel trails off. Oops…they start up again…Arnel sings chorus by himself, over and over (1 too many times).

The rest are okay…nothing special:
COL…starts of sounding like a DreamADream soundtrack...but just wanders off aimlessly. Don’t like the “chain…chain…chain” chants.
AIP…this must be JC’s uplift song…every J record must have at least one. DSB it ain’t, though.
SAM…long song…don’t have enough to hold my interest.
HF…don’t care for the “rising” shoutouts.
Ritual…sounds like they want to rock hard on this song, but singing and playing loud at warped speed don’t impress me.
TWLMC…don’t “get” this song.
Someone…ah, we have to wait all the way to the end to find at least a semblance of a J ballad. Neal tried his darnest slipping in the solos to complement the voice, but listening to A-N on a ballad just makes me miss S-N. After listening to this song, had to go find WYLAW to hear how a great ballad should sound like.

And that’s my 2 cents!

lights1961 wrote: She's a mystery is a great song, ruined at the end of it... by going somewhere, where it didnt need to go...

Really don't get this. The end makes the song. Without it, you have six minutes of pleasant, albeit aimless, acoustic strumming. "Human Feel" rocks too.

The_Noble_Cause wrote:

lights1961 wrote: She's a mystery is a great song, ruined at the end of it... by going somewhere, where it didnt need to go...

Really don't get this. The end makes the song. Without it, you have six minutes of pleasant, albeit aimless, acoustic strumming. "Human Feel" rocks too.

Agreed. Love the ending of SAM. Very late 70s rock feel to that tune.

How many threads do we need announcing how 'good' Eclipse is, when the people who announced they didn't didn't like it were told to STFU?

S2M wrote:How many threads do we need announcing how 'good' Eclipse is, when the people who announced they didn't didn't like it were told to STFU?

STFU!

I would be impossible for any fan to absolutely hate every single song on the album. You have to admit there is some great music on it,
if you are being entirely honest with yourself.

[troll mode= on]

Anyone who doesn't like Eclipse should have their ass shot off.

Journey could have brought out the most "Journey-sounding" album ever and I don't believe sales would have fared any better

youkeepmewaiting wrote:Journey could have brought out the most "Journey-sounding" album ever and I don't believe sales would have fared any better

They did do that three years ago. They also had a promotional blitz that made it more about Arnel than the actual music, sort of what happened with Susan Boyle's album a few years back when she sold six million records just for being who she is.
Also, three discs for 12 bucks, hard to beat that. A year later, a two DVD set for ten bucks is even more awesome. And you follow up that up with one disc wrapped in a recycled toilet paper roll for 10 dollars?
FAIL.

steveo777 wrote:

S2M wrote:How many threads do we need announcing how 'good' Eclipse is, when the people who announced they didn't didn't like it were told to STFU?

STFU!

I would be impossible for any fan to absolutely hate every single song on the album. You have to admit there is some great music on it,
if you are being entirely honest with yourself.

[troll mode= on]

Anyone who doesn't like Eclipse should have their ass shot off.

I don't hate every single track. I love She's a Mystery, just like I love Like a Sunshower.

S2M wrote:

steveo777 wrote:

S2M wrote:How many threads do we need announcing how 'good' Eclipse is, when the people who announced they didn't didn't like it were told to STFU?

STFU!

I would be impossible for any fan to absolutely hate every single song on the album. You have to admit there is some great music on it,
if you are being entirely honest with yourself.

[troll mode= on]

Anyone who doesn't like Eclipse should have their ass shot off.

I don't hate every single track. I love She's a Mystery, just like I love Like a Sunshower.

She's a Mystery is a good song. I love the way they opened it up at the end and rocked it out.

S2M wrote:How many threads do we need announcing how 'good' Eclipse is, when the people who announced they didn't didn't like it were told to STFU?

I must have missed this. People who said they didn't like it before the album came out, I believe, were the ones told to STFU.

Gideon wrote:

S2M wrote:How many threads do we need announcing how 'good' Eclipse is, when the people who announced they didn't didn't like it were told to STFU?

I must have missed this. People who said they didn't like it before the album came out, I believe, were the ones told to STFU.

Ummm....no. I heard 6 songs before the album was released. I think that is enough of a sample size to form an opinion. Fact is, the album ain't all that.

S2M wrote:Ummm....no. I heard 6 songs before the album was released. I think that is enough of a sample size to form an opinion.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't your posts towards Eclipse and everything related hostile before then? (If not, my mistake.)

S2M wrote:Fact is, the album ain't all that.

If I may borrow your eloquently put middle school phrase, "ummm....no."

Gideon wrote:

S2M wrote:Ummm....no. I heard 6 songs before the album was released. I think that is enough of a sample size to form an opinion.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't your posts towards Eclipse and everything related hostile before then? (If not, my mistake.)

S2M wrote:Fact is, the album ain't all that.

If I may borrow your eloquently put middle school phrase, "ummm....no."

I wouldn't say hostile. And I'm sure you would have had the same response if the stories were that Journey was going to put out a bluegrass album. You would make pre-conceived notions ahead of time. To me, and a WHOLE lot of other people, this direction is just as odd as a bluegrass release.

S2M wrote:I wouldn't say hostile. And I'm sure you would have had the same response if the stories were that Journey was going to put out a bluegrass album. You would make pre-conceived notions ahead of time. To me, and a WHOLE lot of other people, this direction is just as odd as a bluegrass release.

I'd say that's an exaggeration. Journey's a rock band; bluegrass is slightly more of a musical departure than, say, hard rock. I can cite many Journey songs that would fit comfortably on Eclipse.... how many bluegrass songs in their catalog can you name?

Gideon wrote:

S2M wrote:I wouldn't say hostile. And I'm sure you would have had the same response if the stories were that Journey was going to put out a bluegrass album. You would make pre-conceived notions ahead of time. To me, and a WHOLE lot of other people, this direction is just as odd as a bluegrass release.

I'd say that's an exaggeration. Journey's a rock band; bluegrass is slightly more of a musical departure than, say, hard rock. I can cite many Journey songs that would fit comfortably on Eclipse.... how many bluegrass songs in their catalog can you name?

Yep, all the shit ones.....

S2M wrote:Yep, all the spectacular ones.....

Corrected.

S2M wrote:To me, and a WHOLE lot of other people, this direction is just as odd as a bluegrass release.

Don wrote:

youkeepmewaiting wrote:Journey could have brought out the most "Journey-sounding" album ever and I don't believe sales would have fared any better

They did do that three years ago. They also had a promotional blitz that made it more about Arnel than the actual music, sort of what happened with Susan Boyle's album a few years back when she sold six million records just for being who she is.
Also, three discs for 12 bucks, hard to beat that. A year later, a two DVD set for ten bucks is even more awesome. And you follow up that up with one disc wrapped in a recycled toilet paper roll for 10 dollars?
FAIL.

Sorry that's what I mean. With the way the promotion has gone for the album etc etc, it doesn't matter what the music is inside

The_Noble_Cause wrote:

lights1961 wrote: She's a mystery is a great song, ruined at the end of it... by going somewhere, where it didnt need to go...

Really don't get this. The end makes the song. Without it, you have six minutes of pleasant, albeit aimless, acoustic strumming. "Human Feel" rocks too.

One thing I think people aren't aware of or forgot was Journey has a much longer song than this and kind of did something exactly like She's a Mystery. That song is Destiny from the "Dream after Dream" album. They have this strings heavy slow song where Perry cuts in after a long intro and some of the neatest layered vocals I've heard (when he sings the "Fly Away" part. Too bad the production values on the song was shit. Vocals overloaded or something when Perry sang "Destiny with broken hearts" and in one or two other parts. Anyways after the third chorus around the 5 minute mark, they not only shift moods, but the tempo shifts speeds into this rapid fire instrumental section, before dialing it back for a slow instrumental section at the 6:40ish mark with a solo that reminded me of a slow version of the outro from Who's Cryin Now. I can't envision Destiny finishing off with that out that instrumental anymore than I can envision She's a Mystery without it

Destiny can be listened to here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srj33dGszoU