Don’t give up on us

[Gideon]

A preview of Don’t Give Up On Us is on Journey’s social media page. The track will be released on 6/7. It sounds very close to Separate Ways.

[Journey/Survivor]

It sounds very close to Separate Ways.

That should make a lot of fans happy if it sounds like Classic Journey.

Of course, they already somewhat recycled SW with Message Of Love.

[Andrew]

It's Separate Ways 2. Fans will love. Sounds great too.

[JourneyHard]

Hold on. I thought Neal was adamant about none of the songs sounding like any previous Journey song.

[Gideon]

The first 20 seconds sound like a more modern Separate Ways, but the rest of the song reminds me more of Where Did I Lose Your Love.

Pretty good, but mix issues aside, I think You Got the Best of Me is still the standout single. This one is either second or third after The Way We Used to Be. Let It Rain does nothing for me at all.

[DK23]

This song is the best single so far imo. Great, nostalgic chorus and Arnel does so well throughout the song.

[Lerxst101]

This song is the best single so far imo. Great, nostalgic chorus and Arnel does so well throughout the song.

I’m really enjoying it as well. No need to have the SW intro and break. Song would stand on its own.

And how can the mix for this sound different (better) than YGTBOM?! So much better.

[Monker]

IMO, they should not have made the intro a direct rewrite of SW. It would have been better with something more original instead of intentionally mimicking SW. That intro does not sound like SW2 to me, it sounds like a rewrite of SW that results in a lesser quality vibe going into the first verse...the intro to SW is very catchy and now iconic...this just isn't. It also does not help that Perry already helped redo SW for the Stranger Things trailer (it was not in the show itself, BTW). This would have been the perfect first single if the intro was different.

The rest of the song is pretty good...probably my favorite so far. I think it could be sped up a little bit...maybe leaning more into "Ask the Lonely" than SW.

[Onestepper]

At first glance I like it. A calmer, mellower Separate Ways. Which isn't a bad thing,

[schonfan]

Don’t get the synth opening. Song is really catchy. Would be probably 3rd or 4th best song on revelation. Guitar solo sounds like he wasn’t even trying. Vocals are muddy

[danielb]

Shame if the album gets released with this mix... The song itself is the best out of the ones they have released so far.

[JourneyHard]

From the first 12 seconds, it sounds more like Message of Love than Separate Ways, but then I hear the rest of the song and it stands on its own.

[Eric]

IMO, they should not have made the intro a direct rewrite of SW. It would have been better with something more original instead of intentionally mimicking SW. That intro does not sound like SW2 to me, it sounds like a rewrite of SW that results in a lesser quality vibe going into the first verse...the intro to SW is very catchy and now iconic...this just isn't. It also does not help that Perry already helped redo SW for the Stranger Things trailer (it was not in the show itself, BTW). This would have been the perfect first single if the intro was different.

The rest of the song is pretty good...probably my favorite so far. I think it could be sped up a little bit...maybe leaning more into "Ask the Lonely" than SW.

I thought Perry called the guy and told him how much he liked it? I didn’t realize he had anything to do with it?

[jrnyman28]

From the first 12 seconds, it sounds more like Message of Love than Separate Ways, but then I hear the rest of the song and it stands on its own.

This track is more SW3 since MOL was SW2. I hears SW in the intro but more of the song reminds me of MOL. Still, a very recognizable Journey sound.

[Onestepper]

After listening to it several times, while I still like it, the ending to me is just a garbled mess. Not sure what they were going for at the end, but maybe they didn't care. Solid release though.

[LtVanish]

Man the mix and mastering is so bad, you can really hear how bad in this song especially. It's quashed to death, muffled sound I hate it. Shame.

[Monker]

IMO, they should not have made the intro a direct rewrite of SW. It would have been better with something more original instead of intentionally mimicking SW. That intro does not sound like SW2 to me, it sounds like a rewrite of SW that results in a lesser quality vibe going into the first verse...the intro to SW is very catchy and now iconic...this just isn't. It also does not help that Perry already helped redo SW for the Stranger Things trailer (it was not in the show itself, BTW). This would have been the perfect first single if the intro was different.

The rest of the song is pretty good...probably my favorite so far. I think it could be sped up a little bit...maybe leaning more into "Ask the Lonely" than SW.

I thought Perry called the guy and told him how much he liked it? I didn’t realize he had anything to do with it?

No, Perry called the guy to find out what he was doing to the song. Perry heard an early cut, not the final cut, and liked what he heard. Then they started talking about isolating his vocals and some of the technical things they did to discect the song into individual tracks. This intrigued Perry because he did not know they could do that. In that conversation, Perry said he did not normally approve of such uses of his songs. But, after the talk he wanted to know more about how they did what they did, and he made suggestions for changes...including bringing the vocals up in the mix at certain points (which I find ironic with all the complaint about the vocal mix in the Freedom singles). After it was done, Perry said this is how he originally wanted it to sound like...and inferred he liked this version more than the Frontiers version. And, he asked what they could work on next because he liked working with them and the final product so much.

[Monker]

After listening to it several times, while I still like it, the ending to me is just a garbled mess. Not sure what they were going for at the end, but maybe they didn't care. Solid release though.

I think they were trying to do what Perry did with that angelic high note bit at the end of "Wheel In the Sky". In this case, you are right, the production and vocal mix makes that affect (ie: Arnel doing his high note over Neal's guitar) unrecognizable and ineffective. Funny how Infinity, released almost 45yrs ago, was produced better than Freedom,

Actually, Perry also did the same at the end of "Mother Father", about 40yrs ago...and the Freedom stuff is no where near sounding as good as Escape.

[jrnyman28]

Funny how Infinity, released almost 45yrs ago, was produced better than Freedom,

Until you consider budget...

[Onestepper]

After listening to it several times, while I still like it, the ending to me is just a garbled mess. Not sure what they were going for at the end, but maybe they didn't care. Solid release though.

I think they were trying to do what Perry did with that angelic high note bit at the end of "Wheel In the Sky". In this case, you are right, the production and vocal mix makes that affect (ie: Arnel doing his high note over Neal's guitar) unrecognizable and ineffective. Funny how Infinity, released almost 45yrs ago, was produced better than Freedom,

Actually, Perry also did the same at the end of "Mother Father", about 40yrs ago...and the Freedom stuff is no where near sounding as good as Escape.

Yeah it sounds like you are correct.

[danielb]

Perry was a master at conveying lyrics, in addition to having the Voice. Thus, his singing became storytelling. Arnel sounds like he's singing from Cain's lyric sheet, without really grasping the lyrics. Which is probably not far from the truth.

That's a rather big disadvantage when you're supposed to be carrying the tune and fronting the band.

And it makes them sound bland and dare I say it, like a run of the mill melodic rock band signed to Frontiers Records, rather than the top dog.

[ebake02]

I’m digging the song but the muddy mix ruins it like it did the other singles.

[Mikele]

Perry was a master at conveying lyrics, in addition to having the Voice. Thus, his singing became storytelling. Arnel sounds like he's singing from Cain's lyric sheet, without really grasping the lyrics. Which is probably not far from the truth.

you are correct IMO, that's the biggest trouble of both last single and YGTBOM. You need to push that lyrics to another level
Production is totally fine with me, from what I heard on the PC

[Archetype]

So far 3/3 singles are low-average at best with horrible production quality. What a disaster.

[Monker]

So far 3/3 singles are low-average at best with horrible production quality. What a disaster.

Actually, there were four singles...
The Way We Used to Be
You Got the Best of Me
Let It Rain
Don't Give Up On Us

Not that your point changes...I'm sure you would say 4/4 misses.

I think the biggest disaster is the "Freedom" tour ended before the album was even released. Well, that and the fact that the lineup kept changes early on. The "Freedom" tour should have been called something else and then schedule a tour for the summer for "Freedom".

[Eric]

I enjoyed all 4 and am excited for the full album.

It was great hearing “You got the best of me” live and I’m looking forward to hearing more new on the summer date I’m going to.

[Archetype]

So far 3/3 singles are low-average at best with horrible production quality. What a disaster.

Actually, there were four singles...
The Way We Used to Be
You Got the Best of Me
Let It Rain
Don't Give Up On Us

Not that your point changes...I'm sure you would say 4/4 misses.

I think the biggest disaster is the "Freedom" tour ended before the album was even released. Well, that and the fact that the lineup kept changes early on. The "Freedom" tour should have been called something else and then schedule a tour for the summer for "Freedom".

Totally forgot about TWWUTB. I guess that says something too.

[Journey/Survivor]

I enjoyed all 4 and am excited for the full album.

It was great hearing “You got the best of me” live and I’m looking forward to hearing more new on the summer date I’m going to.

Out of the 4 songs I've only heard YGTBOM, and that was strictly a live performance of it when I saw the band in May. I loved the live performance of it.

I'm looking extremely forward to the album, and I'm doubting that I will wind up agreeing with the strong criticisms of the songs that I've read here in the Journey forum.

If I wind up agreeing with the criticisms I won't hesitate to express that on here. But I think some people on here have been taking every opportunity possible to bash the band.

[Monker]

I enjoyed all 4 and am excited for the full album.

It was great hearing “You got the best of me” live and I’m looking forward to hearing more new on the summer date I’m going to.

Out of the 4 songs I've only heard YGTBOM, and that was strictly a live performance of it when I saw the band in May. I loved the live performance of it.

I'm looking extremely forward to the album, and I'm doubting that I will wind up agreeing with the strong criticisms of the songs that I've read here in the Journey forum.

If I wind up agreeing with the criticisms I won't hesitate to express that on here. But I think some people on here have been taking every opportunity possible to bash the band.

Well, if that's the case, I'm going to repeat my critiques:

TWUTB : I thought this was a pretty mediocre song. It is "OK", but it just didn't do much for me.

YGtBoM - I thought this was a better song, a better single. But, the mix and how the vocals are produced kinda ruined it for me.

LIR - Sounds more like Bad English, or a Sammy Hagar song, than a Journey song. In the olden days, it could be a "B" side to a single, or just an album track....but it's simply not a good single. It's the type of song that would be on the "B" side of Frontiers, not the "A" side where the singles are.

DGUOU - The song is the best released so far. It should have been the first single - especially with "Separate Ways" getting attention from "Stranger Things". However, I don't like the rip-off of Separate Ways in the intro....they could have done something more original. Also, the ending is a bit off, because of the production. The mix and vocal production is still bad. Still the best song so far, but it could have been so much better.

The biggest flaw is the mix and vocal production. If that were spot on, YGtBoM and DGUOU would have been very good songs and singles...but they feel a bit off because of the quality of the production.

Also, just to add something new, I don't hear any big influence from Narada and not too much of a change with Randy's bass...it's obviously Randy, but the over-all sound has not changed THAT much. Neal's talk made it seem like a huge change was coming...it just seems a bit exaggerated at this point. Steve Smith and Ross could have played these songs and they wouldn't sound much different.

[JourneyHard]

I enjoyed all 4 and am excited for the full album.

It was great hearing “You got the best of me” live and I’m looking forward to hearing more new on the summer date I’m going to.

Out of the 4 songs I've only heard YGTBOM, and that was strictly a live performance of it when I saw the band in May. I loved the live performance of it.

I'm looking extremely forward to the album, and I'm doubting that I will wind up agreeing with the strong criticisms of the songs that I've read here in the Journey forum.

If I wind up agreeing with the criticisms I won't hesitate to express that on here. But I think some people on here have been taking every opportunity possible to bash the band.

I agree. I am excited to hear the whole album. I haven't heard it yet, but I hope it isn't full of ballads. Journey needs just one ballad on this album. Just make one ballad that is really good. I hoped they worked on it for two years. Then it will stand out from the other songs. But I fear we will get six ballads and they will all be bland.