There are a number of rock bands from the 80s that deserve the title of “major,” and Journey is certainly one of them. This album sort of sums it up – the songs, the band members, everything. Not to sell Arnel Pineda short – he’s a fine singer and front man – but Steve Perry was “the Voice,” no dispute. It’s Perry’s voice, I think, that became the band’s identity. The band was pretty much anchored throughout its history, though, by lead guitarist Neil Schon. Rhythm guitarist George Tickner, Jonathan Cain on keyboards, Steve Smith on drums, and Ross Valory on bass joined Perry and Schon as the line-up for most of the ‘80s, when the band had its greatest success.
And now to the music. There’s not a less than strong track on this album. The big hits are here – “Wheel in the Sky,” “Open Arms,” “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’,” and my favorite, “Separate Ways.” The sound is, quite frankly, manufactured – the band went through several changes in personnel and direction in the 1970s until it came up with a sound akin to Foreigner and Boston (and any number of other bands from the period). It’s Perry, I think, along with Schon’s guitar work, that made the difference.
The sound, like that of most of the ‘80s bands, is rich, dense, heavily textured, with accents popping up to lend definition. One of Journey’s strengths, very much in evidence on this collection, is their ability to maintain that sound without becoming repetitive – the songs are not carbon copies of each other, but they are unmistakably Journey.
This is one of two albums I had on CD – I seem to remember having more on vinyl, lost in a messy break-up years ago – which are now MP3s. No matter – it’s the music that matters, and this is quintessentially the music of the ‘80s.
My favorite:
(Gods, that is so '80s!)
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