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Trial
By Fire (©1996 Columbia)
Close your eyes and imagine it’s 1986. Journey was a musical force to be reckoned with. They were a veritable hit machine, at home playing the rockers, and of course the ever sucky power ballad. Fast-forward to 1996 and the boys are back together for the first time in a decade, including drummer Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory. The old farts try their hand and catching lightning in a bottle twice. And you know what? They picked up where they left off. Sure time has moved on without them, but there are plenty of fans out there who snapped this up, and put them once again into platinum territory. Steve Perry proves again he’s a singer’s singer. Neal is as brilliant as ever. From the opening track the band is announcing their intention to not fade away quietly. Musically they aren’t cutting any new ground, which is great. Although there are too many mid-tempo songs. But they aren’t kids anymore so I guess they’re allowed to mellow a little. The hidden track wasn't buried deep enough, since it was still found. What a way to end an otherwise fine album. Journey as a reggae band? Yeah, it's as good as it sounds. Sadly this didn’t mark the return of the band. Steve’s health problems would mark his retirement from the band, leaving us with an impressive body of work. Reviewed March 12, 2002 |
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As a Journey fan I bought this album sight unseen. It had been a number of years since the last one, so I was curious. Let me start by saying I’m not going to make very many cracks about Steve Augeri, their new vocalist. Although when I first looked at the booklet I thought Kenny G had joined the band. He does sound a fair bit like the other Steve (Gee, what a surprise). For all I know he was cloned from Steve Perry’s dandruff. This is almost a Bad English album now that drummer Deen Castonovo is on board. The album starts off with the very promising "Higher Place". But after fifteen songs, I’m almost ashamed to say that less in this case would have been more. The songs are okay, even good at times, but there’s nothing special here and I can rarely listen to the whole thing. My biggest complaint is the sound quality. The album was produced and mixed by Kevin Shirley the same guy who helmed Trial By Fire, so how come this one is such a bass heavy muddy mess? It’s unlistenable at times. Where are the brilliant highs and crisp clear vocals? The liner notes boldy state - WARNING: THIS MUSIC HAS BEEN SPANKED FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT – I thought you only get spanked when you’re bad … Or if you’re into fetish stuff. Some pretty good songs are buried as a result. Overall a big disappointment from one of my favourite bands. They should have called this one Departed. Reviewed March 12, 2002 Additional November 2005 Well, I was certainly feeling a little pissy when I wrote this one. To prepare myself for Generations I thought it would be cool to compare it to Arrival. I know I made a huge stink about the muddy aspects to the album, and it is a bit thick, but I tried to ignore that, and lo and behold this is a really solid album - it was certainly better than the shit kicking I gave it a few years ago. |
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Call me late for dinner.
Here I am once again bellying up to the bar for another helping of rehashed Journey. “Why?” You may be asking. “Why not?” I sheepishly reply. This is Journey after all, once an unstoppable behemoth juggernaut of blazing guitars, catchy hooks, and sappy ballads. Over the years the USS Journey has become something of a ghost ship where every so often little snippets would catch you off guard and give you the musical shiver the Journey of old used to frequently deliver. I guess this is where the phrase Journeyman comes from. Although Generations has nothing new to offer in the way of kick you in the nuts standout tracks, it is a pretty solid rock album.
Now that I’ve taken my critical dump on the guys let me bring up the pluses here: There is a sense of musical camaraderie and cohesiveness on Generations. Everyone gets a shot at taking a turn behind the microphone - which isn't always a good thing - let's just say that Neal is a better guitar player than he is a singer - although he's a better singer than Jeff Beck or Joe Satriani. The big surprise was Deen Castronovo – man he has a great set of pipes … although he too falls into the Steve Perry clone category. Ross Valory manages to channel a bit of John Lee Hooker on “She’s Gone Crazy”.
This won’t go platinum, or gold – and for those who can’t get past the loss of Mister Perry this will only strengthen their convictions. However, Journey was always about the songs, and at the centre of the songs was Neal Schon. He’s still there, but we all know times stands still for no man - and most of the band's audience has moved on long ago.
At its worst Generations is a tired retreat that only manages to capture an echo of their past glory. At its best Generations is a hold out against the ever changing musical landscape, where the musicians have all drawn their line in the sand and will continue to play their own brand or rock and roll as long as there’s an audience willing to listen.
Reviewed September 13, 2005 |
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[Disc 2] [Re-Recorded Versions] 1: Only The Young 2: Don't Stop Believin' 3: Wheel In The Sky 4: Faithfully 5: Any Way You Want It 6: Who's Crying Now 7: Separate Ways 8: Lights 9: Open Arms [ 10: Be Good To Yourself 11: Stone In Love DVD 1: Sky Light 2: Any Way You Want It 3: Wheel In The Sky 4: Lights 5: After All These Years 6: Never Walk Away 7: Open Arms Prelude Open Arms 9: Mother Father 10: Wildest Dream 11: Seperate Ways (Worlds Apart) 12: Faithfully 13: Don't Stop Believin' 14: Be Good To Yourself This is a strange release. It literally includes everything but the kitchen sink. Here in North America the package contains two discs and a concert DVD - all for $12 bucks (Canadian at Wal-Mart). I really didn't have any intention of picking this up, I mean really another Perryesque singer - this time Neal picked this one off of Youtube. I mean really - I'd had enough, Journey had turned into a charachature of itself, whoring it's once proud name to make a buck. So what happened? I decided to give it a chance, mainly because I was hearing some good things about the disc from people who usually have a pretty good ability to call bullshit when they hear it. Although Andrew at Melodicrock.com's review was so glowing I thought he was overdoing his meds. Anyway I listened to the first disc a couple of times, and was pretty impressed. The new guy had that Perry tone, but the songs were being sung by him and were his to interpret his way. Based solely on the music, I'd stack this up with anything the band had done before. Alhough why the guys felt they had to put in "Faith in the Heartland" is a bit of a mystery - it's a good tune, and was one of the highlights Generations. What cemented the deal for me was the live DVD. In fact if you're kind of on the fence over whether or not Arnel Pineda can actually pull off the gig, watch the concert first. Yeah, he's a bit wild eyed at times, but my goodness he can sing, and the blending of the old and new material works really well. The disc of covers is a bit of a brain twister overall - Journey covering Journey? The band practically recreates note for note eleven of their past hits with Arnel front and centre - and he pulls it off. If you're firmly in the Perry camp, this this is insult to injury. For all that though I have to say, if you're a fan of Journey, then this is something you do need to get your hands on. It will indeed be revelation (oh come on, how could I resist). Overall I'd put Revelation ahead of the "reunion" album back in 1996. This is classic Journey, and Neal is a good as ever (better in many respects). In fact the whole band has found another gear - the only downside is that it isn't 1986 anymore. Reviewed November 4, 2008 |
1:
Message of Love 2: One More 3: When You Love a Woman 4: If He Should
Break Your Heart 5: Forever In Blue 6: Castles Burning 7: Don't Be Down
on Me Baby 8: Still She Cries 9: Colors of the Spirit 10: When I Think
of You 11: Easy to Fall 12: Can't Tame the Lion 13: It's Just the Rain
14: Trial by Fire 15: Hidden Track 
1:
Higher Place 2: All The Way 3: Signs Of Life 4: All The Things 5: Loved
By You 6: Livin' To Do 7: World Gone Wild 8: I Got A Reason 9: With
Your Love 10: Lifetime Of Dreams 11: Live And Breathe 12: Nothin' Comes
Close 13: To Be Again 14: Kiss Me Softly 15: We Will Meet Again
1:
Faith In The Heartland 2: The Place In Your Heart 3: A Better Life 4:
Every Generation 5: Butterfly (She Flies Alone) 6: Believe 7: Knowing
That You Love Me 8: Out Of Harms Way 9: In Self-Defense 10: Better Together
11: Gone Crazy 12: Beyond The Clouds 13: Never Too Late
[Disc
1] 1: Never Walk Away 2: Like A Sunshower 3: Change For The Better 4:
Wildest Dream 5: Faith In The Heartland 6: After All These Years 7:
Where Did I Lose Your Love 8: What I Needed 9: What It Takes To Win
10: Turn Down The World Tonight 11: The Journey (Revelation)