MR

What do you think is Journey's hardest Rocking song ever?

I have several in mind, but I want to see how long it takes for someone else to name them before I list any.

The song can be from any era of Journey's music, as long as the song was officially released by Journey on an album.

So what are a few of the absolute heaviest songs Journey ever released?

"I'm Gonna Leave You"...

If not just simply for the intro (which Kansas obviously stole for "Carry On Wayward Son".... )

The bridge section is very Sabbath-ish...

Are you asking post-Eclipse or pre?
If you're thinking Perry-era, I'd throw out these few:
CHAIN REACTION
WHERE WERE YOU?
LINE OF FIRE
KEEP ON RUNNIN'

SP-era ... got to be something from Frontiers ... like Edge of the Blade

Pre-SP ... with the 70's prog rock style ... don't think anything was really hard rocking

Post-SP ... should be quite a few hardrockers, although I can't name even 1 because those songs are too obscure to me . I don't consider Higher Place or Heartland hardrockers, and My favorite SA song is Beyond the Clouds (ballad). My favorite AP song is Tantra, and that's not a hard rocker, either.

Depends on what you're considering hard rocking. Guitar shredding? Heavy drums? Fusion jam?
I was just listening to live versions of La Do Dae and Next from their 79 tour. Both of those live tracks sounded pretty effing hard to me!

State of Grace, World Gone Wild

1. Edge of the Blade
2. Rubicon
I think these two are the hardest rocking songs.

One More and Castle Burning

FamilyMan wrote:Are you asking post-Eclipse or pre? If you're thinking Perry-era, I'd throw out these few:
CHAIN REACTION
WHERE WERE YOU

Those were my first two thoughts from the Perry era.

My favorites (which means pre-Perry) are: Once you get through the lyrical/slow 1st half, Next & Of A Lifetime - build as they go and finish hard. Add Karma also from the Next album which is very Jimi Hendrix-esque. Also agree with the poster who mentioned I'm Gonna Leave You, which is a good early Journey submission as well. If you use the live version/middle -> end portion of Kohoutek it definitely should be noted also.

HM - She Makes Me Feel Alright, Stone In Love, Separate Ways, Edge Of The Blade, Be Good To Yourself, Can't Tame The Lion

I'll pass listing anything post-Perry. Maybe Never Walk Away

And while "She's a Mystery" begins as a classic love ballad, the ending is by far one of the heaviest and unexpected song codas Journey has ever recorded.

Message of Love

Stone in love

Many of you have named some of the top ones that I was thinking about. But there's one particular one that no one has named yet.
Remember, I said ANY ERA of Journey's history.

Some of the songs that have already been named by some of you that I have always considered to be among Journey's hardest Rocking songs are....

"Edge Of The Blade": In my opinion the hardest Rocking Journey song of the 1978-1986 time period.
"One More" and "Castles Burning": The two hardest Rocking Journey songs with Steve Perry in the band.

"She's A Mystery": Not one of the heaviest songs overall, but the jam ending is up there as one of the heaviest moments in any Journey song.

Some of the other songs that some of you have already named that are up there on my list as hardest Rockers are, in no particular order...
"She Makes Me Feel Alright"
"I'm Gonna Leave You"
"Where Were You"
"Line Of Fire"
"Stone In Love"
"Chain Reaction"
"World Gone Wild"
"State Of Grace"


However, there are a number of songs that none of you have named yet that I think are up there among the heaviest Journey songs ever released. I'll wait a little while longer, and then I'll name them after some of you have made a few more listings.

Remember, ANY ERA of Journey.

My vote is for Chain of Love off Eclipse and I Can See It In Your Eyes off TBF. Runner up is Edge of the Blade from Frontiers.

Edge of the Blade
Castles Burning
One More
Be Good to Yourself

The_Noble_Cause wrote:My vote is for Chain of Love off Eclipse and I Can See It In Your Eyes off TBF. Runner up is Edge of the Blade from Frontiers.

Except for the piano section at the beginning of "Chain Of Love," it is up there as one of the hardest Rocking songs by Journey.
"I Can See It In Your Eyes" is also up there.

I kept expecting to see someone name some of the Eclipse songs like COL, EOTM and Human Feel.

Edge of the Blade.
even my heavy metal friends give this song props. Gregg Rolie wanted a guy to scream and Perry does this well.

Alright. I'll name some songs that I expected to see named, but haven't.

"Hustler": Neal and Aynsley go absolutely ape-shit crazy on that song.

"Out Of Harms Way"

"Wildest Dream"

This one may not be as obvious to some of you? However, "Better Together" is in my opinion one of the hardest Rocking Journey songs of all. Listen to the jam at the end of the song. Especially to Neal's playing.

20. Chain of Love: If they get rid of the intro-part, this could be played on hard rock radio. That intro is repeated during the song so they don't really need it.

19. Out of Harm's Way: This song really rocks, but I wish it had different lyrics. It is too political.

18. I'm Gonna Leave You: I have to agree with others that this song rocks.

17. Remember Me: I think Journey needs to redo this song and make it even more hard rocking. They need to add more guitar to fill in the spaces.

16. Wheel In The Sky: This is a classic rocker. A lot of people who don't even like Journey like this song.

15. Any Way You Want It: This is Journey's fastest rocker.

14. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart): This, of course, is a solid Rocker with a solid chorus.

13. Chain Reaction: This song was huge in the 1980's, but it seems to be the forgotten rocker.

12. Of A Lifetime: I wish Journey would redo this song and increase the tempo of the song early to match the end.

11. Change For the Better: When this song gets going, it is rocking pretty good.

10. Mystery Mountain: This songs lyrics match how hard rocking it is.

9. Keep On Runnin': This is another lost hard rock classic.

8. One More: Trial By Fire needed more hard rockers like this.

7. Stone In Love: I love it when Neal's guitar meshes with Jon's piano at the end of the song. That is a classic jam.

6. Can't Tame the Lion!: Neal has a lot of fun on this one. Again, Trial By Fire needed more rockers.

5. Rubicon: This has a positive message while rocking hard.

4. Dixie Highway: People probably disagree, but I love the way Neal's guitar sounds on the Captured album.

3. Edge of the Blade: Most casual Journey fans haven't heard this song. If they had heard it, they wouldn't call Journey soft rock.

2. Escape: Journey is rocking close to their hardest ever. This song got a lot of radio play back in the 1980's around here.

1. Lay It Down: At one point, Steve Perry is sounding like a heavy metal singer hitting notes in a style nobody would expect from him.

JourneyHard wrote:20. Chain of Love: If they get rid of the intro-part, this could be played on hard rock radio. That intro is repeated during the song so they don't really need it.

19. Out of Harm's Way: This song really rocks, but I wish it had different lyrics. It is too political.

18. I'm Gonna Leave You: I have to agree with others that this song rocks.

17. Remember Me: I think Journey needs to redo this song and make it even more hard rocking. They need to add more guitar to fill in the spaces.

16. Wheel In The Sky: This is a classic rocker. A lot of people who don't even like Journey like this song.

15. Any Way You Want It: This is Journey's fastest rocker.

14. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart): This, of course, is a solid Rocker with a solid chorus.

13. Chain Reaction: This song was huge in the 1980's, but it seems to be the forgotten rocker.

12. Of A Lifetime: I wish Journey would redo this song and increase the tempo of the song early to match the end.

11. Change For the Better: When this song gets going, it is rocking pretty good.

10. Mystery Mountain: This songs lyrics match how hard rocking it is.

9. Keep On Runnin': This is another lost hard rock classic.

8. One More: Trial By Fire needed more hard rockers like this.

7. Stone In Love: I love it when Neal's guitar meshes with Jon's piano at the end of the song. That is a classic jam.

6. Can't Tame the Lion!: Neal has a lot of fun on this one. Again, Trial By Fire needed more rockers.

5. Rubicon: This has a positive message while rocking hard.

4. Dixie Highway: People probably disagree, but I love the way Neal's guitar sounds on the Captured album.

3. Edge of the Blade: Most casual Journey fans haven't heard this song. If they had heard it, they wouldn't call Journey soft rock.

2. Escape: Journey is rocking close to their hardest ever. This song got a lot of radio play back in the 1980's around here.

1. Lay It Down: At one point, Steve Perry is sounding like a heavy metal singer hitting notes in a style nobody would expect from him.

"Lay It Down" is one that I was also going to name. As is "Dead Or Alive."

Journey/Survivor wrote:Alright. I'll name some songs that I expected to see named, but haven't.

"Hustler": Neal and Aynsley go absolutely ape-shit crazy on that song.

"Out Of Harms Way"

"Wildest Dream"

This one may not be as obvious to some of you? However, "Better Together" is in my opinion one of the hardest Rocking Journey songs of all. Listen to the jam at the end of the song. Especially to Neal's playing.

I almost listed Hustler, opted for Karma

Wildest Dream is a good choice from Post-Perry

I don't get the Castles Burning choice, to me, it's just a Don Henley song sung by Perry - it sounds like the production is blowing it off the map, but I don't hear "hard rocking" by my definition. Good thread though.

MysteryMountain wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:Alright. I'll name some songs that I expected to see named, but haven't.

"Hustler": Neal and Aynsley go absolutely ape-shit crazy on that song.

"Out Of Harms Way"

"Wildest Dream"

This one may not be as obvious to some of you? However, "Better Together" is in my opinion one of the hardest Rocking Journey songs of all. Listen to the jam at the end of the song. Especially to Neal's playing.

I almost listed Hustler, opted for Karma

Wildest Dream is a good choice from Post-Perry

I don't get the Castles Burning choice, to me, it's just a Don Henley song sung by Perry - it sounds like the production is blowing it off the map, but I don't hear "hard rocking" by my definition. Good thread though.

"Karma" is one that I almost listed.

It's mostly Neal's guitar playing in the case of "Castles Burning." Especially his tone and the Wah-Wah he uses.

Journey/Survivor wrote:What do you think is Journey's hardest Rocking song ever?

I have several in mind, but I want to see how long it takes for someone else to name them before I list any.

The song can be from any era of Journey's music, as long as the song was officially released by Journey on an album.

So what are a few of the absolute heaviest songs Journey ever released?

Hard Rocking and Heavy songs are two different things to my ears. Some lists I see here have songs I would consider rocking, but not necessarily heavy. Maybe define the difference with a list of songs by other bands you consider to be both hard rocking vs. heavy?

Example: Led Zep's Living Loving Maid is hard rocking, but When The Levy Breaks is heavy. (to my ears anyway)

Having said that, I'm really surprised no one has LADY LUCK in their list.

STORY_TELLER wrote:

Journey/Survivor wrote:What do you think is Journey's hardest Rocking song ever?

I have several in mind, but I want to see how long it takes for someone else to name them before I list any.

The song can be from any era of Journey's music, as long as the song was officially released by Journey on an album.

So what are a few of the absolute heaviest songs Journey ever released?

Hard Rocking and Heavy songs are two different things to my ears. Some lists I see here have songs I would consider rocking, but not necessarily heavy. Maybe define the difference with a list of songs by other bands you consider to be both hard rocking vs. heavy?

Example: Led Zep's Living Loving Maid is hard rocking, but When The Levy Breaks is heavy. (to my ears anyway)

Having said that, I'm really surprised no one has LADY LUCK in their list.

I know that the question is kind of vague. I also saw some songs listed that I would say are Rocking, but not truly hard Rocking or heavy.

Lady Luck is one of my absolute favorites off of the Evolution album, because it is the hardest Rocker on the album, other than maybe AWYWI?

Hardest rocking= delivering a 100% full tilt nonstop ass kicking from start to finish- my top 5:

1. HUSTLER (definitely #1...my signature says it all)
2. She Makes Me Feel Alright
3. La Do Da
4. Line Of Fire
5. Edge Of The Blade

Message of Love has a rocking urgency to it that I feel most other Journey songs lack. Superb track.

Hustler wrote:Hardest rocking= delivering a 100% full tilt nonstop ass kicking from start to finish- my top 5:

1. HUSTLER (definitely #1...my signature says it all)
2. She Makes Me Feel Alright
3. La Do Da
4. Line Of Fire
5. Edge Of The Blade

Hustler was the #1 song that I had in mind when I started this thread. Although, there are some others that I feel come close. As I said, Neal and Aynsley go ape-shit crazy on Hustler. At it's heaviest points, it's almost impossible for a guitarist and drummer to play any heavier than that.

Archetype wrote:Message of Love has a rocking urgency to it that I feel most other Journey songs lack. Superb track.

Of course, in many ways, "Message Of Love" is a recycling of "Separate Ways." But I have always felt that Neal does some cool things on "Message Of Love." I love the way that he ends both of his guitar solos in the song!

JourneyHard wrote:16. Wheel In The Sky: This is a classic rocker. A lot of people who don't even like Journey like this song.

15. Any Way You Want It: This is Journey's fastest rocker.

Yeah, a lot of people that I know that are mainly into Hard Rock or Heavy Metal say that they love "Wheel In The sky."

"She's Gone Crazy" is also up there as one of Journey's fastest paced songs.

wow ... quite a few pre-SP songs you guys listed and described... just thought that era produced psychedelic, fusion rock. I have bootlegged copies of all 3 albums. Just remember mostly instrumental jam sets...not my cup of tea. I know there were a few songs I liked, always were fond of GR's singing. Gonna dig the cd's out and give a listen again.