Generations Review

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Generations Review

Postby amaron » Tue Oct 04, 2005 9:12 am

Finally... they start to come in.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... 0qoa9aeijv

3 1/2 stars out of 5.

Bound and detirmined to carry on post-Perry, Journey toured with replacment/sound alike Steve Augeri doing a fine job mimicking the original parts for the greatest hits, and finally coming into his own on the new material. Then from out of nowhere Perry re-emerged from his exile for Journey's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, which in turn started the appropriate internet forest fires ablaze with speculation that Perry was going to return to the Journey flock yet again for an album and tour. Alas, these rumors were smoldered by time, but not before Perry and company also won recognition from Charlize Theron and Hollywood for their use of the Journey anthem "Don't Stop Believin'" in the movie Monster. So sans Perry, Generations finds the band continuing onward with Generations. As Journey albums go, this isn't anywhere near the genius that the dream team of Schon/Cain/Perry brought forth in their heyday, but it certainly isn't their worst work either. Augeri has finally grown beyond being a soundalike for Perry and adds his own distinct flourishes to his delivery, though there are moments you could swear the band is just playing one large practical joke and it really is Perry in the vocal booth. This time around, Augeri isn't the only one doing vocal duty; it's a whole band thing. Each member takes a turn singing a song, and the results are painfully mixed. Drummer Dean Castronovo is another convincing Perry soundalike, but Neal Schon and bassist Ross Valory come up short. Of course singing isn't Schon's forte, as his signature blistering solos return and will testify to on many of these songs (including a nod in one solo to his memorable ending guitar solo on "Who's Crying Now"). The band remains in finer form than ever, and of course will see another successful series of concerts sell out by mixing the old with the new. It's just a shame that Augeri didn't get a chance to really spread his wings and shine on Generations as much as he's capable of, and if the album's closer "Never Too Late" is any indication, he just might make the lead vocalist spot his own after all.


AMG recommends The Place in Your Heart, Better Life, and Never Too Late as track picks.

Only problem... Deen is on vocals for NTL. Are they that similar?
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Postby Rockindeano » Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:18 am

How can you really take this guy seriously, when he cannot even spell the drummers' name correctly..Call that ticky tack, but hey, if I was his editor in chief, I'd grill his ass....

Hey stupid, it's Deen, not Dean...
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Re: Generations Review

Postby jrnyman28 » Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:25 am

Augeri has finally grown beyond being a soundalike for Perry and adds his own distinct flourishes to his delivery, though there are moments you could swear the band is just playing one large practical joke and it really is Perry in the vocal booth.


Of course singing isn't Schon's forte, as his signature blistering solos return and will testify to on many of these songs (including a nod in one solo to his memorable ending guitar solo on "Who's Crying Now"). The band remains in finer form than ever, and of course will see another successful series of concerts sell out by mixing the old with the new. It's just a shame that Augeri didn't get a chance to really spread his wings and shine on Generations as much as he's capable of,



Great comments!!

and if the album's closer "Never Too Late" is any indication, he just might make the lead vocalist spot his own after all.


Trying to decide if this is a GOOD mistake or a BAD one...
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Postby linnie_villa » Wed Oct 05, 2005 8:18 am

Pretty good review :)

The band's abilities were never doubted in my book.
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Postby amaron » Wed Oct 05, 2005 8:51 am

Rock'ndeano wrote:How can you really take this guy seriously, when he cannot even spell the drummers' name correctly..Call that ticky tack, but hey, if I was his editor in chief, I'd grill his ass....

Hey stupid, it's Deen, not Dean...


I picked Allmusic specifically because they are a brutally honest site that tends to review that way.

And a lot of people make the 'Deen' and 'Dean' mistake. :P
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Postby NealIsGod » Wed Oct 05, 2005 8:52 am

amaron wrote:
Rock'ndeano wrote:How can you really take this guy seriously, when he cannot even spell the drummers' name correctly..Call that ticky tack, but hey, if I was his editor in chief, I'd grill his ass....

Hey stupid, it's Deen, not Dean...


I picked Allmusic specifically because they are a brutally honest site that tends to review that way.

And a lot of people make the 'Deen' and 'Dean' mistake. :P


Neil, Dean and John are awesome! :twisted:
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Postby SuiteMadameBlue » Wed Oct 05, 2005 9:54 am

Here's another review from Lords of Metal site - LOL

90/100

http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showreview.p ... 71&lang=en

Journey - Generations
Frontiers Records

file under Hardrock/AOR

Richard V.: Ever since the release of records like 'Escape' and 'Frontiers' Journey is considered the crème de la crème of the AOR genre. Journey stands for a full sound, good compositions, nice hooks, wonderful vocal harmonies, catchy choruses and heavenly guitar playing. After the departure of singer Steve Perry they have long searched for a replacement and found one in former Tyketto singer Steve Augeri. Their voices and reach however don't differ much. 'Arrival' was the first collaboration and that album certainly didn't disappoint anyone, but was rather smooth. On the second full cd with Augeri the band proves they still can strut the stuff.

'Faith In The Heartland' opens the album majestically; a full sound, great guitar playing and beautiful vocal harmonies. 'The Place In Your Heart' continues the strong opening and the third song, 'A Better Life' with drummer Deen Castranova as lead vocalist is even better. 'Generations' turns out to be a treat for AOR fans. Every band member sings at least one song, Jonathan Cain (keyboards) in 'Every Generation', guitar player Neal Schon in 'In Self Defense' and bass player Ross Valory in 'Gone Crazy'. Albums on which every band member sings at least one song are rare. The only ones I can remember are 'Love Gun', 'Alive II' and 'Dynasty' by Kiss.

Not all voices fit the band; Ross Valory's voice is rather hoarse for Journey and doesn't go well with the music. Sure it provides variation, but also breaks the flow of the album. Best song is 'Out Of Harms Way' that is dedicated to the soldiers in Iraq. A wonderful up-tempo tune with a great ending that without doubt is among the best songs Journey ever wrote. Thankfully 'Generations' has a bit more edge than the mellow 'Arrival' and that is a welcome change. Because producer Kevin Olsen (also responsible for 'Frontiers' and 'Escape') did a fine job, the conclusion is that 'Generations' is a highlight in the band's oeuvre. Some twenty years after their major successes Journey is still on top of their genre, a considerable achievement and way better than the hopelessly overrated Soul Sirkus.

'Generations' will not be released in the USA, but every concertgoer will get a free copy after the concert. A nice move with disastrous results as hundreds of copies can be found on the Internet. The Italian label Frontiers - that got her name from the Journey album with the same title (!) - releases the cd in Europe and adds (very wisely) a couple of excellent bonus tracks.

Rating: 90/100 (details)
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Postby SuiteMadameBlue » Wed Oct 05, 2005 9:56 am

There's a ton of reviews, just Google and you'll come across a lot. I love the heavy metal sites that gave a review - LOL

Here's another one.

4 1/2 out of 5

http://www.metal-temple.com/review.asp?id=1151

Official website
Frontiers Records


Faith In The Heartland
The Place In Your Heart
A Better Life
Every Generation
Butterfly (She Flies Alone)
Believe
Knowing That You Love Me
Out Of Harms Way
Self-Defense
Better Together
Gone Crazt
Beyond the Clouds
It’s Never Too Late (Bonus Track)
Neal Schon - Guitar & Vocals (lead vocals on ’’Self-Defense")
Jonathan Cain - Keyboards, Vocals & Guitar (lead vocals on "Every Generation")
Ross Valory - Bass & Vocals (lead vocals on "Gone Crazy")
Steve Augeri - Vocals
Deen Castronovo - Drums & Vocals (lead vocals on "A Better Life" & "It’s Never Too Late")


It’s quite difficult to write down the impact of this band on what we - the last years - refer to as Melodic Rock. I guess none needs further explanations anyway, ’cause - in such circumstance - your musical taste lies miles ahead from the so-much-misunderstood (even by the majority of such fans these days) genre of AOR (acronym for Adult Orientated Rock). If I could only ’catch’ the smile of Frontiers Records’ boss (the band’s new ’associate’), since both the name and 80% of the roster of this label are proud to exist due to the worldwide ’stretch’ of Journey’s music the last - at least - 27 years (even if the band exists for 30+ years; see ending note).

"Generations" - another one word title for this multi-million selling U.S. quintet - marks the band’s second full length studio album with ex-Tall Stories frontman Steve Augeri (the first one being 2001’s "Arrival"). I like this man’s voice, he’s in a Steve Perry singing mode and he cries his heart out when performing live. It’s sad that this vocalist joined Journey in a slow "journey" of their - so far - career. Well, the way was shown after the "Raised On Radio" (1986) album, when the band called it quits with Schon and Cain forming (one of my all-time faves) Bad English with the essential John Waite (ex-The Babys). With the "weak" "Trial By Fire" (1996) effort - mainly because its many slow moments, added by Perry’s feeble performance - no colorful day would rise up and the replacement of ill Perry (with Augeri) seemed inevitable. "Arrival" was fresh-sounding and, it’s the truth, Journey toured a lot to promote it. Still, the "Red 13" (2002) mini-LP was a little bit weird, due to its music in perspective, and the future was "fuzzy" for these pioneers of night-driving Rock...

"Generations" makes its entrance through the main door! Even if I couldn’t imagine it happening so early (in terms of ’volumes’), Frontiers IS the label that should set this album out for circulation! Apart from that, yet, let’s deal with the music: Opening with the interesting riff of "Faith In The Heartland" it’s obvious that there’s fresh air in the band. Well, it’s been four years since their previous ’full’ album and a new - continuously ’upcoming’ - label can place the right motive. And what would this be? The return to the successful "Escape" (1982) and "Frontiers" (the album - 1983) era of tunes like "Separate Ways" and "Don’t Stop Believin". Don’t expect to ’catch’ this vibe from the very beginning - Schon and Cain are one genius and surely know the art of covering the good ol’ ’formula’ in endless combinations of notes and sounds - but I feel this is the basic factor in this album.

It’s interesting that all band members sing - at least - one song. Castronovo’s "A Better Life" is not that notable (even though he reminded me of Perry), whereas "Every Generation" finds Cain in a great mood! Schon’s "In Self-Defense" runs smoothly and "Gone Crazy" is simply far away from the general ’spirit’ of the album. The basic singer, Steve Augeri, is simply excellent, with full passion and a certain scope to "drive" the band upwards. "Out of Harm’s Way" - dedicated to the U.S. troops - presents a frenzied Schon guitar work, while, from the remaining tunes, "The Place In Your Heart" became my personal fave (this fuckin’ 80’s vibe) and both "Butterfly..." and "Knowing That You Love Me" are pretty good ballads.

"Generations": surely not a classic album but I think better than "Arrival". More ’hardrocking’, more ’focused’ and - surely - less experimental. If you feel safe with this, just enjoy it!

(A note, to make things straight: Journey - prior to Perry’s arrival in 1977 - had already released three interesting ’jazzy’ Rock albums; check 1975’s "Journey" first chance you get...)
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