Journey - Revelation

Anyone got this yet? I went in with pretty low expectations after their last two crappy releases (The EP and decidedly patchy Generations) but it is absolutely awesome. Arnel Pineda sounds incredible and the new songs are just classic Journey (with a couple of exceptions but hey, every Journey album has duff tracks) I ordered the new albums by Opeth (Amazing!), The Music (Out next Monday) and Journey and to be honest the Journey one was more out of duty than expectation but it has been a most welcome and unexpected surprise.

If you like Journey at all, go out and get this, you will not be disappointed.

I went out and bought it the day it came out. As of right now it's only available at Wal-Mart stores but will be made available in other countries soon. Arnel is pretty solid, though I still am not convinced with the live performances. The new songs are ok. Never Walk Away is just Be Good To Yourself Part 2. They even put a track already featured on Generations, "Faith In The Heartland". They couldn't write another new track to put on there? I'm not quite convinced yet. Some of the new stuff just sound like they could have been b-sides from Generations. There are very few high points. Now, the re-recorded hits are very cool to listen to. To hear the hits re-mastered is pretty awesome. It's just a good effort by the band. If you like Journey, you should be at least satisfied and if not, have another batch of songs for your collection.

Ryan

You're welcome to your opinion obviously but I couldn't disagree more. I think the second disc is just a waste of time. It's been done purely for monetary reasons and while they are decent impressions of their classic songs, the originals canot be beaten as Pineda, whilst being an outstanding new singer for them, is not Perry, who is one of the greatest vocalists of all time.

I also thought Generations was mostly shite apart from 3 songs (The best of which being Faith In The Heartland) so I cannot agree with your comment that these new songs are not good enough to be on that record. I, like you, do not understand the need to re-do Faith In The Heartland on the new record. I can only assume that they felt such a great song was wasted on such a poor record as Generations and they felt it deserved to be heard by more people and with a better production by Kevin Shirley.

Generations did actually feel like a b-sides album with so many songs sung by different members of the band and so few with that classic Journey sound. Yes, Never Walk Away is reminiscent of Be Good To Yourself but that is no bad thing. Many of the other songs are very reminiscent of classic Journey but that's why the album is so good, it actually sounds like a Journey album and in my opinion it is their best since Frontiers (And I consider both Raised On Radio and particularly Arrival to be good records)

It debuted number 5 at the Billboard 200.

I purchased Journey's new album "Revelation" and I must say that being a hardcore Journey fan, I really do enjoy listening to Arnel Pineda. I am a professional writer, so I tend to review upcoming albums that are due to be really hot, etc. I have yet to review it but plan on it shortly.

Journey is a band, and even though there were people who only went to Journey concerts to see Perry, I think it should be noted that many bands have changed over the years. The classics belong to the Journey franchise, and surely when we all listen to them, we hear Steve Perry's voice singing them, but Journey moved on and they found someone who isn't trying to be like Perry (arguable?), and he even stated that in numerous press conferences, etc. Although I have to say that anyone listening to Arnel Pineda can vouch with me that he is trying his best to sound like Perry because Neal Schon said they wanted to return to their original sound- which was what? Steve Perry in a nutshell.

Now I am not saying that Pineda is going to live in Perry's shadow... Okay I am a little bit, but any singer taking on the lead role of the band that Perry pretty much lead to stardom is going to have to feel a little bit of pressure due to Perry's legacy- it's just the way it is unfortunately. I am a Journey fan, and when I go to a Journey concert, I go to see the entire band, not just the lead singer. It's great that Schon and the band found a lead singer that sounds a lot like Perry, but they are obviously going to try and be exactly how they were back in the 70s and 80s. If you think about it, Neal is sitting on top of a goldmine right now, and when I zoom in closely on Neal on stage, I can see it in his eyes, he puts a lot more into his performances than he did when Soto was the lead singer.

The "classics" album was redone very well, although I thought they could have waited a bit longer. Even the best technology could not mask Arnel's accent totally, which is not that big of a problem anyway seeing that his accent will gradually change as he hangs around people who speak English. I don't mind his accent, but you can definitely hear it in the songs he sings. Some people were upset at the fact that many of the hits were redone, simply because the one and only Perry made them what they were, which is totally true. I am 50/50 in that argument as the album is nowhere near the quality of the original, but it's good enough to listen to. Perhaps they could have just left this untouched? Comments anyone? Please.

Now onto the new album. I think it's great. I have no complaints what-so-ever regarding the new album. I have been over-playing the album and the two songs that stand out most to me are "Never Walk Away" and "After All These Years", but there really isn't a bad track on the album in my opinion. Seeing that it did very well it's first week, I think it's going to continue to do well. Great job by Journey and Arnel for his sensational vocals and the band's superb work.

As for the DVD- it was totally rushed. I DEFINITELY think this should have been filmed at another time. Arnel just began taking on the lead role of Journey and he is performing a 15 + song setlist in front of a large crowd that is being filmed to be recorded onto a DVD? Even though he did a stunning job, I couldn't understand a lot of the songs due to his accent. If the DVD waited a few months, Arnel's accent would be a lot better, therefore making the DVD a lot better. I hope they make another DVD, because all of the other DVDs: 1.) came in a better case and 2.) weren't rushed like this one- at least I don't recall any other ones being rushed. When Journey filmed their DVD with Augeri on lead vocals, it was spectacular. I like that one 100 x better than the recent one.

Let's not rush this Journey, you guys aren't that old, and it's quite obvious that you don't have much patience. Just relax and enjoy the gift of Arnel Pineda, because you certainly lucked out, that's for sure. I can't wait until you come to Jersey, because I will be attending the PNC show, and I will be up front- so put on a great performance! =)

Regards,

Jason F.

I was not saying that the album was bad if this is where we are headed, because it really isn't. It's hard for some bands to stick to what they are good at, and they do a good job. For an album only being sold at wal-marts to crack the top 5?!?!?! That's rather impressive!

Ryan

My copy is on its way. Can't wait. I decided to buy it after hearing "Never Walk Away". It doesn't matter if it's Be Good To Yourself part 2, better rip off a good old song and make a good copy of it, instead of 'experimenting' and coming up with turd!

Yeah most definitely! But you need to also put into play that Walmart is a rather large chain- one of the largest, so it was a smart move on Journey's part to sell their upcoming album "Revelation" at Wal-Mart. When I bought my copy, I went in the next day and they were all gone. The album is doing very well and I am happy for the whole band. Besides "the voice" himself, Pineda was the missing piece of the puzzle. There will be good things to come for Journey. This tour, once it reaches the states, will be one of the hottest things to happen this summer. Journey will be playing venues reaching 25,000 + in capacity, so we shall see how they do attendance-wise although I don't think they will have any problems selling out the venues they will be playing.

I am really glad the band found a frontman that can perform with such intensity as well as hit those really really high notes that many singers cannot even touch. Yeah.. I'd say that's a pretty nice gift!

Regards,

Jason F.

*Cough*The Eagles*Cough*
Anyway, I'm not that big of a Journey fan. I will pick it up to hear the new tracks, but the whole "re-recorded" thing strikes me the wrong way.
I have no problem with bands who still play old songs with new members, but to re-record them seems cheap to me. Maybe I'm nuts.

No you're not. I am also against rerecording old songs. But at least in this case, the CD is a bonus, so you can consider it as a freebie.

Some other bands who had the gall of rerecording AND selling their old materials are Anthrax and Twisted Sisters. I am glad both flopped.