Gens track revue from a different angle.

[SF-Dano]

I am sure a track by track rating of the Generations song's has been done before. However, what I would like to see in this thread would be your track by track review not comparing the songs with Journeys back catalog, but with other music that is released in the genre. Granted, when comparing Generations with Journey's other work, it doesn't not rate near the top, IMO. But, if this were the first time you heard this band and could only compare with other bands of the same genre, where would you rank the tunes on a scale of 1-10 Just curious

Remember be honest to the scenario.

My rankings:

FITH - 9
TPIYH- 9
ABL - 9.5(Just something about this song I love)
EG - 7
Bfly- 4
Believe - 4
KTYLM - 6.5
OOHW - 8
ISD - 8
BT - 7
GC - 6.5 (Not Journey , but never heard Journey in this scenario remember)
BTC - 4
NTL - 9

When I look at it this way, (more songs above a 5 and most a 7 or above) this albums seems pretty good to me, not great but good. It is only when stacked agains Journey's other songs and albums does Generations fall short. Again, just curious.

[Enigma869]

God bless you for thinking so highly of Generations. I've always felt as though it was as awful of a piece of work as Journey has put out. I think there were two tracks on the entire cd I could tolerate. Hopefully, going forward, the guys of Journey will be intelligent enough to leave the voices of Cain, Neal, and Ross off of ANYTHING with the Journey name on it! It's simply inexcusable to have any of those three guys singing lead for Journey!


John from Boston

[ArnelRox]

I'll play & I'm being honest going by my initial reactions to the album.

FITH - 5 (grew on me a bit after listening a few times but still not a great song)
TPIYH- 3
ABL - 9 (only song I really liked after first popping in the CD)
EG - 1
Bfly- (10) (yes minus 10 - worst song I ever heard, boring as hell)
Believe - 1
KTYLM - 1
OOHW - 4 (good guitar)
ISD - 1
BT - 1
GC - (5) (minus 5 - terrible song but not as bad as Butterfly but still thought it sucked)
BTC - 1
NTL - 1

Sorry Dano. Only 2 songs get 5 or over from me. Only one song I really thought was worthwhile.

[Melissa]

leave the voices of Cain, Neal, and Ross off of ANYTHING with the Journey name on it! It's simply inexcusable to have any of those three guys singing lead for Journey!

So you approve of Deen's singing though, right? lol (Just curious, I personally LOVE Deen's voice. )

[SF-Dano]

I'll play & I'm being honest going by my initial reactions to the album.

FITH - 5 (grew on me a bit after listening a few times but still not a great song)
TPIYH- 3
ABL - 9 (only song I really liked after first popping in the CD)
EG - 1
Bfly- (10) (yes minus 10 - worst song I ever heard, boring as hell)
Believe - 1
KTYLM - 1
OOHW - 4 (good guitar)
ISD - 1
BT - 1
GC - (5) (minus 5 - terrible song but not as bad as Butterfly but still thought it sucked)
BTC - 1
NTL - 1

Sorry Dano. Only 2 songs get 5 or over from me. Only one song I really thought was worthwhile.

Hey, I appreciate your honesty and if that is the way you rate the tunes under the given scenario, than I can respect your opinion. As I said above, just curious to see if anyones opinion of the tunes and album overall would change if any comparison to past Journey music were removed. Thanks for participating.

[NealIsGod]

My rankings:

FITH - 9
TPIYH- 10
ABL - 8
EG - 6
Bfly- 5
Believe - 6
KTYLM - 7
OOHW - 10
ISD - 9.5
BT - 6
GC - 8 (I like it when bands take risks)
BTC - 8
NTL - 8

[Matthew]

Assuming that most melodic rock albums released now are second-rate compared to the glory days of the genre...I'd give "Better Life" a 9....and "Place In Your Heart" a 7.....FITH a 6....and the rest 5 except for "Gone Crazy" which gets a generous 1.

[ArnelRox]

Niggy & Matthew: u guys LIKE Butterfly enough to rate it a 5? A 5? Really? Wow.

(Someone really should let Augeri know Matthew's rating of Butterfly! So far, Matthew ranks up in the top 10 of his worst critics on here!)

[SF-Dano]

leave the voices of Cain, Neal, and Ross off of ANYTHING with the Journey name on it! It's simply inexcusable to have any of those three guys singing lead for Journey!

So you approve of Deen's singing though, right? lol (Just curious, I personally LOVE Deen's voice. )

Not trying to bash you Melissa, but remember in this "what if" scenario this is the first Journey album and it came out in 2005 so you have only other past and present bands of this genre (ie Styx, REO, etc) to compare it with.

[Matthew]

Niggy & Matthew: u guys LIKE Butterfly enough to rate it a 5? A 5? Really? Wow.

(Someone really should let Augeri know Matthew's rating of Butterfly! So far, Matthew ranks up in the top 10 of his worst critics on here!)

I gave all those tracks a five because they seem so utterly average, bog-standard AOR tracks - and I can't even be bothered to summon up the energy to hate them.

I know SF doesn't want us to rate the old Journey albums - but to put my ranking of Butterfly in context...I'd give almost every track on "Escape", "Frontiers" and "ROR" a 10.

Mmmm...according to this logic that would mean that Butterfly was - say - half as good as Don't Stop Believin...which is far too much of an accolade....

So...can I adjust my rating? I'd hate to lose my place in the Top Ten Worst Augeri Critics chart.

[Red13JoePa]

FITH - 10
TPIYH- 10
ABL - 8
EG - 9
Bfly- 7.5
Believe -8
KTYLM - 7
OOHW - 9.5
ISD - 8
BT - 8.5
GC - 7.5
BTC - 6
NTL - 8

[Melissa]

leave the voices of Cain, Neal, and Ross off of ANYTHING with the Journey name on it! It's simply inexcusable to have any of those three guys singing lead for Journey!

So you approve of Deen's singing though, right? lol (Just curious, I personally LOVE Deen's voice. )

Not trying to bash you Melissa, but remember in this "what if" scenario this is the first Journey album and it came out in 2005 so you have only other past and present bands of this genre (ie Styx, REO, etc) to compare it with.

Oh I know, not taking it as a bashing, lol. I was just laughing about the comment to never let Cain, Neal, or Ross sing, it was funny to me, that's all.

[ohsherrie]

This is the way I hear it. Some good songs that I enjoy hearing. Some that I don't mind so much. Some that I just don't bother with.

FITH - 7
TPIYH - 6
ABL - 5
EG - 4
B'fly - 4
Believe - 3
KTYLM - 5
OOHW - 8
ISD - 3
BT - 5
GC - 0
BTC - 3
NTL - 6
TPOTF - 6 (I know this isn't really on it)

[NealIsGod]

This is the way I hear it. Some good songs that I enjoy hearing. Some that I don't mind so much. Some that I just don't bother with.

FITH - 7
TPIYH - 6
ABL - 5
EG - 4
B'fly - 4
Believe - 3
KTYLM - 5
OOHW - 8
ISD - 3
BT - 5
GC - 0
BTC - 3
NTL - 6
TPOTF - 6 (I know this isn't really on it)

Ah, OOHW rates an 8 with you. I am liking you more and more each day.

[ohsherrie]

This is the way I hear it. Some good songs that I enjoy hearing. Some that I don't mind so much. Some that I just don't bother with.

FITH - 7
TPIYH - 6
ABL - 5
EG - 4
B'fly - 4
Believe - 3
KTYLM - 5
OOHW - 8
ISD - 3
BT - 5
GC - 0
BTC - 3
NTL - 6
TPOTF - 6 (I know this isn't really on it)

Ah, OOHW rates an 8 with you. I am liking you more and more each day.

I really like that song. I think they should play it on their UK tour next spring.

[Matthew]

This is the way I hear it. Some good songs that I enjoy hearing. Some that I don't mind so much. Some that I just don't bother with.

FITH - 7
TPIYH - 6
ABL - 5
EG - 4
B'fly - 4
Believe - 3
KTYLM - 5
OOHW - 8
ISD - 3
BT - 5
GC - 0
BTC - 3
NTL - 6
TPOTF - 6 (I know this isn't really on it)

Ah, OOHW rates an 8 with you. I am liking you more and more each day.

I really like that song. I think they should play it on their UK tour next spring.

Don't encourage them, Sherrie....

[conversationpc]

• Faith in the Heartland = 10
• The Place in Your Heart = 7
• A Better Life = 7
• Every Generation = 6
• Butterfly (She Flies Alone) = 6
• Believe = 7
• Knowing That You Love Me = 6
• Out of Harms Way = 7
• In Self-Defense = 5
• Better Together = 6
• Gone Crazy = 4
• Beyond the Clouds = 6
• Never too Late = 9
• Pride of the Family = 5

Overall, that's an average of 6.5

[ohsherrie]

This is the way I hear it. Some good songs that I enjoy hearing. Some that I don't mind so much. Some that I just don't bother with.

FITH - 7
TPIYH - 6
ABL - 5
EG - 4
B'fly - 4
Believe - 3
KTYLM - 5
OOHW - 8
ISD - 3
BT - 5
GC - 0
BTC - 3
NTL - 6
TPOTF - 6 (I know this isn't really on it)

Ah, OOHW rates an 8 with you. I am liking you more and more each day.

I really like that song. I think they should play it on their UK tour next spring.

Don't encourage them, Sherrie....

Come on Matt, just imagine Jeff putting his power and passion behind those words. It would be fabulous, probably at least a 9.

[Matthew]

This is the way I hear it. Some good songs that I enjoy hearing. Some that I don't mind so much. Some that I just don't bother with.

FITH - 7
TPIYH - 6
ABL - 5
EG - 4
B'fly - 4
Believe - 3
KTYLM - 5
OOHW - 8
ISD - 3
BT - 5
GC - 0
BTC - 3
NTL - 6
TPOTF - 6 (I know this isn't really on it)

Ah, OOHW rates an 8 with you. I am liking you more and more each day.

I really like that song. I think they should play it on their UK tour next spring.

Don't encourage them, Sherrie....

Come on Matt, just imagine Jeff putting his power and passion behind those words. It would be fabulous, probably at least a 9.

Sherrie - I actually have to see this show - so let's compromise - how about they play OOHW on their American tour in 2008 and get Deen to sing "A Better Life" in London in 2007?

[ohsherrie]

Sherrie - I actually have to see this show - so let's compromise - how about they play OOHW on their American tour in 2008 and get Deen to sing "A Better Life" in London in 2007?

OK, I'll take that deal.

[EclipticJourney]

FITH - 8
TPIYH- 7.5
ABL - 7
EG - 9
Bfly- 9
Believe - 5
KTYLM - 9.5
OOHW - 7.5
ISD - 4
BT - 8
GC - 6
BTC - 6.5
NTL - 7

Total 94/130
Average 7.23/10

[*Laura]

It was pretty hard to stick with the scenario of hearing Journey for the "first time",but I tried focusing on the songs as part of the present musical *environment* so to speak...
Personally,I need to listen several times to an album to decide if it can become something I would enjoy listening on a regular basis.
Unfortunately,there are not many albums that do that for me.
Anyway.

The first listen of Gens would reveal that Journey is an AOR band with a certain edge,but not with too much identity.
The material "tells" me they were looking for something musically but couldn't decide what it was.
Also,the fact that there are several lead singers on the album takes away from the unity of the material.

FITH - 9 (good choice for an album opener)
TPIYH - 8.5
ABL - 9.5 (interesting and beautiful change after the first 2 rockers;this would be the moment when I would think "There's more to the guitar player than smoking solos")
EG - 6
Butterfly - 8 (makes me think this band has a lot of melodic potential)
Believe - 4 (wanna skip)
Knowing That...- 7
OOHW - 7 (waited for the next rocker,but didn't match the first 2 ones)
ISD - 6.5 ( 2005-ish rock?Come on.)
BT - 8
GC - 5 (it wasn't necessary,ISD was enough)
BTC - 7
NTL -7

All this if this would have been the very first Journey album for me.

So,let's say 3 stars out of 5.

[SF-Dano]

Well so far, given the scenario, it seems as though Gens comes out as a fair to good album (not great) in this small group. So I guess the album is only a "disaster" when compared with the rest of the Journey catalog.

[ohsherrie]

Well so far, given the scenario, it seems as though Gens comes out as a fair to good album (not great) in this small group. So I guess the album is only a "disaster" when compared with the rest of the Journey catalog.

Journey can't be but so bad.

[The_Noble_Cause]

So far BTC is woefully underrated.
If any writing chemistry ever developed between Neal and Augeri, this is the only song u could ever tell.

[Granny]

I give the whole album a 6 overall...only liked 5 songs on the entire album...sorry

[tammy]

Faith in the Heartland -- 4
The Place in Your Heart -- 4
A Better Life -- 10 (this one grabbed me right off the bat & reminiscint of Journey w/SP)
Every Generation -- 4
Butterfly (She Flies Alone) -- 4 (I like the lyrics, personal, but not the melody or lack thereof)
Believe -- 6
Knowing That You Love Me -- 4
Out of Harms Way -- 4
In Self-Defense -- 4 (Is that SP in the background or Deen?)
Better Together -- 4
Gone Crazy -- 2
Beyond the Clouds -- 9
Never too Late -- 9
Pride of the Family -- (never heard it)

I haven't listened to this CD in many months...I guess I am just happier being "stuck in the past"...

[Classic Rock]

leave the voices of Cain, Neal, and Ross off of ANYTHING with the Journey name on it!

So I guess you don’t like the harmony vocals they provide on the studio and live albums? Even Steve Perry needs background vocals! I guess you don’t like that gem on Departure: People and Places?

[Jeremey]

FITH - 8
TPIYH- 8
ABL - 7
EG - 6
Bfly- 1
Believe - 1
KTYLM - 4
OOHW - 9
ISD - 5
BT - 5
GC - 3 (Sounds like a novelty song)
BTC - 7

I wrote a review last year after first listening to this that basically cooked my goose at backtalk (lots of "those that can can, those that can't, review" smartass comments. I still think the review holds up to the numbers posted above.

Edit: Link to the original review:
http://www.journeytributeband.com/generationsreview.htm

[Enigma869]

leave the voices of Cain, Neal, and Ross off of ANYTHING with the Journey name on it! It's simply inexcusable to have any of those three guys singing lead for Journey!

So you approve of Deen's singing though, right? lol (Just curious, I personally LOVE Deen's voice. )

Not trying to bash you Melissa, but remember in this "what if" scenario this is the first Journey album and it came out in 2005 so you have only other past and present bands of this genre (ie Styx, REO, etc) to compare it with.

Oh I know, not taking it as a bashing, lol. I was just laughing about the comment to never let Cain, Neal, or Ross sing, it was funny to me, that's all.

Hi Melissa...

I'm glad my comment amused you That said, I was completely serious about that comment! Neal, Jon, and Ross do not have voices to be singing lead on anything, let alone anything with the name "Journey" on it! These guys play instruments for a reason! Leave the singing to people who actually have singing ability! I've heard better vocals in karaoke bars, over the years! To address your Deen question...I'm very okay with Deen singing lead on anything. He's proven he is a VERY competent vocalist.


John from Boston