New ranking of Journey albums

[Abitaman]

https://www.loudersound.com/features/ev ... worst-best

Augeri do better on this list. But all the lost leave out Red 13.

[Journey/Survivor]

https://www.loudersound.com/features/every-journey-album-worst-best

Augeri do better on this list. But all the lost leave out Red 13.

I strongly disagree with their rankings of the albums and a lot of their comments on certain songs, and they were insulting to Gregg Rolie's singing.

[ebake02]

I still argue that Arrival should be ranked a lot higher than where these lists always put it. Raised on Radio should be lower too, it’s basically a Perry solo album.

[JourneyHard]

I agree Arrival has a lot of great songs, but it has too many ballads. Freedom shows you how to do a double album correctly. It has a few ballads which stand out.

And Gregg Rolie can sing extremely well. In fact, I want to hear Gregg Rolie sing some of these songs on Freedom. I can envision him doing an awesome job. Some of these songs would fit his voice well.

[Onestepper]

Mixing Journey albums with Perry's is dumb in terms of rankings.

Throw this list in the trash. Not worth the digital paper it's written on.

[Journey/Survivor]

Mixing Journey albums with Perry's is dumb in terms of rankings.

Throw this list in the trash. Not worth the digital paper it's written on.

Comparing Journey's first 3 albums with all of the albums from Infinity on is too apples and oranges of a comparison, also.

[Monker]

I still argue that Arrival should be ranked a lot higher than where these lists always put it. Raised on Radio should be lower too, it’s basically a Perry solo album.

I agree. Arrival is far better than any of the post Perry CD's, including all of these with Arnel. I would also say that "Higher Place" is the best song to come out of the post-Perry era.

Yes, ROR is ranked too high. "Look Into the Future" is ranked FAR too low. The last Perry album is ranked FAR too high...and the solo albums should not be there anyway. It's like they knew Escape would be #1 and everything else was randomly picked.

[Monker]

I agree Arrival has a lot of great songs, but it has too many ballads. Freedom shows you how to do a double album correctly. It has a few ballads which stand out.

Arrival was not a double album. Technically, Freedom isn't either...since it is released on ONE CD.

The "too many ballads" argument is cliché at best now. It is the only post-Perry Journey CD that I crave to go back and listen to. Revelation may have been a hit but I have not listened to it in years, and don't care to. Freedom has a few songs that I really like but it is so badly produced that I don't care if I hear them again or not. Eclipse has a few songs that I still like but as a whole, it isn't Journey to me.

It seems that Journey jumped the shark with Arrival...everything else was below it and they could never get that quality back.

[youkeepmewaiting]

There's many good moments on everything that's been released since Perry left but for me Arrival is head and shoulders above the rest as a full album (too many ballads or not)

It's the last time all of the band seemed 100% motivated, full of ideas and something to prove. It's the last legitimate Journey album for me, the last one that felt relevant.

[JourneyHard]

Here is my personal ranking of Journey albums:

16. Raised on Radio: Needed three more rockers and then it could have been in the Top Ten.
15. Trial By Fire: Too many ballads.
14. Generations: The band seemed distracted by other projects.
13. Next: The band was caught in between fusion rock and trying to go mainstream.
12. Arrival: Again. Too many ballads.
11. Revelation: A great start of the Arnel era.
10. Journey: Great Fusion Rock album.
9. Look Into The Future: This was the first of the Fusion Rock albums that I bought. So, it holds a special place for me.
8. Departure: Awesome album.
7. Eclipse: Needs some knit-picking things changed and it could be Top Five.
6. Infinity: Now, we're getting into the cream of the crop.
5. Evolution: Again. I bought this before Infinity. So, it holds a special place for me.
4. The Storm: This band had three member of Journey in it. That's more than they have now. So, it counts. I know there is a second storm album, but I won't include that one. The first one was classic.)
3. Frontiers: Several ballads, but plenty of rockers!
2. Escape: DSB is overplayed and knocks this one down to number two for me.
1. Freedom: Call me crazy, but I am loving the new album. It has 15 songs and NOT all the ballads of Trial By Fire and Arrival. Just do the math, and you will see it must be number one. Quantity plus quality makes it the best Journey album.

[Onestepper]

Having 15 songs on an album does not make Freedom worthy of being the best album, given their catalog of work. That's ridiculous. Especially given some of the production issues around the release that is very well noted. It's a solid release. But that's about it for me.

Escape ultimately is their most balanced work, along with the quality of song writing and production, it's always going to be my top album from the band. I'm not as hard on Raised on Radio as some, even though I view it now more as a Perry solo album. I think the Generations, Red13 (EP) era was just completely forgettable. Generations did nothing for me.

The thing about rankings is that they are like a-holes. Everyone's got one.

[youkeepmewaiting]

Putting Freedom number 1is completely bonkers

[Journey/Survivor]

Freedom is not my #1 favorite Journey album. But if it's JourneyHard's favorite, then he or she is certainly allowed to list it first.

Funny thing, i have a friend who constantly complains about the production of most albums that have come out over the last 20 years regardless of who the artist is.

Earlier tonight I asked that friend of mine if he had listened to Freedom yet. He said that he has given it one listen all the way through so far. I asked him what he thought about the production, and he said that it's fine. He prefers the production on the Infinity through Raised On Radio era better, but didn't hate the production on Freedom as much as he hates the production on the majority of albums that have come out over the last 20 years.

[Monker]

Freedom is not my #1 favorite Journey album. But if it's JourneyHard's favorite, then he or she is certainly allowed to list it first.

That is true that it is all personal opinion.

However, he constantly dismisses albums he doesn't care for with "too many ballads". But, then he ranks Infinity as "cream of the crop". The FACT is that Infinity is one of the most ballad heavy of Journey albums. HALF of the songs are ballads: Lights, Opened the Door, Something to Hide, Winds of March, and Patiently. Not only are they ballads but some are some of the slowest. syrupiest, lyrically lovey dubby, ballads Journey has ever produced. So, if slow ballads are such a negative thing, Infinity should be towards the bottom of any list, even below Arrival.

Like I said, "too many ballads" has become cliche. It has really lost its meaning nowadays because it has become an excuse to hate on an album rather than give a valid critique. Infinity should be towards the top of any list because it has outstanding musicianship, vocals and writing. Sometimes I think it is better than Escape. It is a monster of an album regardless of how many ballads are on it. The same is true about Arrival.

For example, I would rather listen to "Kiss me Softly" than any of the ballads done by Arnel. It is a unique sound and vocal that Journey had not done before, or since. The same with "Livin To Do"...it is an incredible bluesy ballad that really has not seen its equal since Arrival. They are impressive songs and deserve to be looked at as more than one word, "ballad".

[Eric]

Like I said, "too many ballads" has become cliche. It has really lost its meaning nowadays because it has become an excuse to hate on an album rather than give a valid critique. Infinity should be towards the top of any list because it has outstanding musicianship, vocals and writing. Sometimes I think it is better than Escape. It is a monster of an album regardless of how many ballads are on it. The same is true about Arrival.

For example, I would rather listen to "Kiss me Softly" than any of the ballads done by Arnel. It is a unique sound and vocal that Journey had not done before, or since. The same with "Livin To Do"...it is an incredible bluesy ballad that really has not seen its equal since Arrival. They are impressive songs and deserve to be looked at as more than one word, "ballad".

Livin To Do and Kiss me Softly aren't the ballads that those of us bemoan from Arrival. "All the Way", "Loved by You", "Lifetime of Dreams" and "With your Love" are the culprits. Pick ONE of these and drop the rest and its a better album. None of those can hold a candle to the Arnel era ballads. Much better. All the Way is cringeworthy.

[Eric]

Putting Freedom number 1is completely bonkers

I, too, would currently rank it #1. But I always rank the new album #1 the first few months after its out. It will not beat Infinity, Escape and Frontiers once the dust settles.

Freedom is a wonderfully diverse record that sounds like Journey but branches out some as well. It gets better each listen. Like Eclipse. Arrival and Revelation were immediately more likeable but don't have the re-listen value for me.

[Gideon]

#1. TBF
#2. ECL1P53
#3. Escape
#4. Frontiers
#5. Arrival
#6. Departure
#7. Evolution
#8. Raised on Radio
#9. Revelation
#10. Freedom

TBF is still the GOAT. Best musicianship, best songwriting, best production, best musical range and variety of songs. SP's vocals are still good but not to the extent he overshadows the others, it feels like a true ensemble between all 5 players. The only real detriments are not enough rockers and I wish SP sounded as strong as he did on ROR or even FTLOSM.

[Journey/Survivor]

Alright, I'll attempt to rank the Journey albums. But some of them are almost too close to call.

I will NOT compare the first 3 albums with the albums that came after them because it's too apples and oranges to me.

Ranking the first 3 albums on their own, I guess that I would go?........
#1 Journey
#2 Next
#3 Look Into The Future
............................................................................................................................................

From the Perry through Pineda era, but not including Dream After Dream because it is also too apples to oranges of a comparison. I guess that I might go with?........
#1 Frontiers
#2 Escape (in a virtual tie with Frontiers)
#3 Eclipse
#4 Departure
#5 Infinity
#6 Generations (I know that will shock many of you that I have it that high)
#7 Revelation
#8 Arrival
#9 Trial By Fire
#10 Raised On Radio
#11 Evolution

I'm not ranking Freedom yet because I like to wait a year or two before I rank a new album. I do suspect that Freedom will rank ahead of at least 5 or 6 of the albums in a year or two, maybe more?

[Journey/Survivor]

Ranking the 3 full length Steve Perry solo albums.

#1 For The Love Of Strange Medicine
#2 Street Talk
#3 Traces
...............................................................................

Ranking the Bad English albums

#1 Bad English
#2 Backlash
..............................................................................

Ranking The Storm albums

#1 The Storm
#2 Eye Of The Storm
..............................................................................



Can I rank Perry's Traces album sixth out of his three solo albums?

[Onestepper]

#1. TBF
#2. ECL1P53
#3. Escape
#4. Frontiers
#5. Arrival
#6. Departure
#7. Evolution
#8. Raised on Radio
#9. Revelation
#10. Freedom

TBF is still the GOAT. Best musicianship, best songwriting, best production, best musical range and variety of songs. SP's vocals are still good but not to the extent he overshadows the others, it feels like a true ensemble between all 5 players. The only real detriments are not enough rockers and I wish SP sounded as strong as he did on ROR or even FTLOSM.

I have a love hate relationship to TBF for some reason. I agree that musically it's masterful at times. I think Cain really shined on that album,. But far too sappy for me. I think some of the tunes are just uneven, and honestly, it kinda just sounds like another Perry release. Example #1 is that I literally hear no background vocals that aren't just straight Perry doing what Perry does now with all of his backgrounds. I'd still put it top 5 or 6 in their releases though.

[Art Vandelay]

I'm going to be the odd man out here and say that Journey's Greatest Hits is my favorite album of theirs. No, it doesn't have any new material on it. And once you become familiar with their catalogue you may say that there are other songs that should have been included. However, this wasn't just a record label's half-assed attempt to slap together a 'best of' album. It was a well thought out compilation that is also one of their most successful selling albums.

It was their first album that really brought the band to my attention. Sure, I knew who they were growing up and I remembered their most popular hits being played on the radio and their videos on MTV. But I was kind of young to appreciate them in their heyday. I had just turned ten in 1983 when they played JFK Stadium...just a few blocks away from my house. I vaguely remember hearing them from my front steps.

It was the Greatest Hits album that really sucked me in. I've played out multiple copies of it on tape and own it in various forms of CD and vinyl as well. It's the playlist and song order that I'm most familiar and happy with. It's perfectly balanced, in my opinion.

It's also the album that influenced me to dig deeper into their catalogue to learn what else they were about. After becoming familiar with the band as a whole and individually, I then started to dig in to hear their influence. That's what inspired me to appreciate Motown (Perry) and jazz (Smith).

While I have a love for many of their albums, it's hard for me to rank them individually. They each have their own vibe and their own place and time. But it's the Greatest Hits that I can listen to any time. To be that much of an influential album, how can I not rank it number one?

Trial By Fire would be my second favorite, because it was the first album of new material that I was able to anticipate and appreciate when it was released. It was released at a time in my life when new things were happening for me (my first 'real' job, getting engaged, feeling grown up). It was a soundtrack to a special time in my life.

[Monker]

Livin To Do and Kiss me Softly aren't the ballads that those of us bemoan from Arrival. "All the Way", "Loved by You", "Lifetime of Dreams" and "With your Love" are the culprits. Pick ONE of these and drop the rest and its a better album. None of those can hold a candle to the Arnel era ballads. Much better. All the Way is cringeworthy.

So, you have complaints about 4 out of 12 songs on Arrival. Only 1/3 of the songs. Like I said, Infinity is half ballads. Escape has 3/10 songs as ballads and nobody says that has too many. The bottom line is it is a bullshit argument. If you don't like them, skip them

"All the Way" is not any more "cringe worthy" than "When You Love a Woman" or "After All These Years". They are all similar in tone and sound.

[jrnyman28]

"All the Way", "Loved by You", "Lifetime of Dreams" and "With your Love" are the culprits. Pick ONE of these and drop the rest and its a better album. None of those can hold a candle to the Arnel era ballads. Much better. All the Way is cringeworthy.

Those four ballads are definitely too similar and almost generic. But I think the sequencing really let those songs and the album down. May not be “too many” the track list makes it feel so.

While Infinity may be too ballad heavy they are far more unique and creative ballads and the flow of the album supports them.

For me TBF is THE album with too many ballads. Even though many are unique and creative they are not balanced out with strong upbeat rock tracks. So much excitement around the album but it felt like 5 individuals playing, not a band, and sounded closer to Neal’s soft-jazz solo albums rather than Journey.

As much as I hate to admit it, I love ballads. But there is more to it than just a good song, and more is not necessarily better. Perry’s strength was his emotive delivery which serves ballads so well. Couple that with Jon’s strength writing them, Journey ended up leaning on ballads too much. So fans of the rock Journey felt under-served. This lead to the catch-all criticism of “too many ballads”…

[Eric]

Livin To Do and Kiss me Softly aren't the ballads that those of us bemoan from Arrival. "All the Way", "Loved by You", "Lifetime of Dreams" and "With your Love" are the culprits. Pick ONE of these and drop the rest and its a better album. None of those can hold a candle to the Arnel era ballads. Much better. All the Way is cringeworthy.

So, you have complaints about 4 out of 12 songs on Arrival. Only 1/3 of the songs. Like I said, Infinity is half ballads. Escape has 3/10 songs as ballads and nobody says that has too many. The bottom line is it is a bullshit argument. If you don't like them, skip them

"All the Way" is not any more "cringe worthy" than "When You Love a Woman" or "After All These Years". They are all similar in tone and sound.

There are actually 16 songs (including I'm not that way) and I love the Arrival. I do skip those 4 songs routinely, although Lifetime of Dreams sometimes sticks for me. My point wasn't about Arrival not being great... it was explaining the complaint some of us have with specific type of bubble gum ballads. Infinity has NO bubble gummers. "Livin to Do" is kinda as heavy as it gets and I would never put that in the ballad bucket.

"All the Way" is slightly more cringe worthy than those two songs, but none of those 3 would be songs I would showcase to someone unfamiliar with Journey or if I were trying to show them who Journey live or who they are now.

[Gideon]

#1. TBF
#2. ECL1P53
#3. Escape
#4. Frontiers
#5. Arrival
#6. Departure
#7. Evolution
#8. Raised on Radio
#9. Revelation
#10. Freedom

TBF is still the GOAT. Best musicianship, best songwriting, best production, best musical range and variety of songs. SP's vocals are still good but not to the extent he overshadows the others, it feels like a true ensemble between all 5 players. The only real detriments are not enough rockers and I wish SP sounded as strong as he did on ROR or even FTLOSM.

I have a love hate relationship to TBF for some reason. I agree that musically it's masterful at times. I think Cain really shined on that album,. But far too sappy for me. I think some of the tunes are just uneven, and honestly, it kinda just sounds like another Perry release. Example #1 is that I literally hear no background vocals that aren't just straight Perry doing what Perry does now with all of his backgrounds. I'd still put it top 5 or 6 in their releases though.

Yeah, that's fair.

Don't get me wrong, TBF veers too often into easy listening for my preferences too... it's just that even when it does, they're stellar compositions. "It's Just the Rain," "Still She Cries," "Don't Be Down On Me Baby" are moody and sonically impressive. Compare that to most of Traces, which is a snooze fest.

"When I Think of You" is probably the only song I'd describe as sappy, but the guitar solo and everything that comes after elevates it above Air Supply schlock. Plus, SP apparently wrote it about his late mother, so the song hits harder for me now since my mom (who was a huge Journey fan) died 4 years ago at age 49.

The only shitty song on the album imo is "Baby I'm a Leavin' You."

On the other hand, when TBF rocks, it rocks hard and with complexity. I mean, right out the gate, the drums and bass on "Message of Love" and "One More" are beyond anything we got even on ECL1P53. "I Can See It In Your Eyes" slams, so do "Castles Burning" and, to a lesser extent, "Can't Tame the Lion."

[Journey/Survivor]

#1. TBF
#2. ECL1P53
#3. Escape
#4. Frontiers
#5. Arrival
#6. Departure
#7. Evolution
#8. Raised on Radio
#9. Revelation
#10. Freedom

TBF is still the GOAT. Best musicianship, best songwriting, best production, best musical range and variety of songs. SP's vocals are still good but not to the extent he overshadows the others, it feels like a true ensemble between all 5 players. The only real detriments are not enough rockers and I wish SP sounded as strong as he did on ROR or even FTLOSM.

I have a love hate relationship to TBF for some reason. I agree that musically it's masterful at times. I think Cain really shined on that album,. But far too sappy for me. I think some of the tunes are just uneven, and honestly, it kinda just sounds like another Perry release. Example #1 is that I literally hear no background vocals that aren't just straight Perry doing what Perry does now with all of his backgrounds. I'd still put it top 5 or 6 in their releases though.

Yeah, that's fair.

Don't get me wrong, TBF veers too often into easy listening for my preferences too... it's just that even when it does, they're stellar compositions. "It's Just the Rain," "Still She Cries," "Don't Be Down On Me Baby" are moody and sonically impressive. Compare that to most of Traces, which is a snooze fest.

"When I Think of You" is probably the only song I'd describe as sappy, but the guitar solo and everything that comes after elevates it above Air Supply schlock. Plus, SP apparently wrote it about his late mother, so the song hits harder for me now since my mom (who was a huge Journey fan) died 4 years ago at age 49.

The only shitty song on the album imo is "Baby I'm a Leavin' You."

On the other hand, when TBF rocks, it rocks hard and with complexity. I mean, right out the gate, the drums and bass on "Message of Love" and "One More" are beyond anything we got even on ECL1P53. "I Can See It In Your Eyes" slams, so do "Castles Burning" and, to a lesser extent, "Can't Tame the Lion."

I know that you said that it's been 4 years, but I'm sorry for your loss. 49 years old was far too young to pass away. And too young for you to have lost her.

I just turned 50 years old this year, and I lost my father when I was 25 years old. And that was too early to have lost him.

[youkeepmewaiting]

I always skipped When I Think Of You until I read what it was about, now I listen to it every time - it's amazing how much that song turned around for me.

Still She Cries is Journeys greatest ballad