Journey

[executioner]

I know we have some Journey fans around here and I would like to know your overall feel of the new album "Eclipse" I think its their best since "Frontiers", and too be honest I can't put it down.
I know some fans don't like them because Steve Perry is no longer with them but Arniel has really becomed a seasoned singer since the first album a couple years back and has put his own great mark on the band.
The best tracks on the album are:

1. City of Hope
2. Chain of Love
3. Anything is Possible
4. Resonate
5. Human Feel
6. To Whom it May concern

All these songs(except for Human Feel) have that classic Journey Vibe.

[cndfogie]

I love the album. I think it is some of Neal Schon's finest work. It is the first Journey album that isn't trying to be a classic Journey copy while still maintaining their sound.

[rexreed]

It is such a good album that I can't even begin to say what I like best, just kidding I can. From Tantra on I really dig it, the first half is growing on me. Schon just secretes great hooks. I'm still not sold on Deans drumming- maybe I was spoiled with Steve Smith but I always feel like Dean's charts are a little to metal for Journey- he pounds the heads all the time. Not as bad as Robert Sweet though....

[Jan]

I was never a huge fan of Steve Perry's voice but I really liked Journey back in the day....loved the music. I liked that he could sing high and loud, but just wasn't crazy about the sound of his voice, so I think this guy sounds as good as SP. I've only listened to the first 2 songs and I like both of them alot!

[executioner]

I'm a huge Journey fan and I will tell you that "City of Hope" and "Chain of Love" is probably top 5 Journey songs of all time.

[executioner]

It is such a good album that I can't even begin to say what I like best, just kidding I can. From Tantra on I really dig it, the first half is growing on me. Schon just secretes great hooks. I'm still not sold on Deans drumming- maybe I was spoiled with Steve Smith but I always feel like Dean's charts are a little to metal for Journey- he pounds the heads all the time. Not as bad as Robert Sweet though....

Yeah you can tell that Deen is a rocker at heart and seems to overdue it at times, and at the same time Steve Smith was just so smooth and great, but at times his playing was so smooth that it would go unnoticed.

[brent]

Dean used to play with Shout in case some did not know.

[rexreed]

I didn't know that about Dean and SHout. The thing about Shout for me was, they were gone before I ever heard of them. I seem to remember people referring to Shout as "Legendary" but it had only been a couple years since they stopped being a band and as far as I knew they only had 2 albums, so how exactly were they legendary? After the fact I listened to their stuff and some of it is really awesome, but it seems like NO one remembered them. Their albums had some signs of good production, at least to me, but the sound was a little light on the low end.

[Muleya]

Wow...I'm surprised by all the love for the new album. Personally I'm a little disappointed. I've been a Journey fan since Escape came out in 1981...it was the second rock album I purchased...and while there are some good songs on Eclipse, it's not what I was hoping for.

I think Revelation is their best since Frontiers...there's only a song or two on there that I skip past when listening, the rest is very solid IMO. Revelation also convinced me that Journey can still write good ballads, with After All These Years and Turn Down the World Tonight (the latter especially)...almost on par with Faithfully and Who's Crying Now. And most of the rest of the album just rocks!

So based on Revelation my expectations were pretty high for Eclipse...especially with the name and album graphics clearly drawing inspiration from Escape...and it doesn't quite deliver like I had hoped.

There are a number of great rockers on Eclipse, though...City of Hope, Chain of Love, Anything is Possible, Resonate, Edge of the Moment are all pretty solid. And I like She's a Mystery. But I'm not sure that any rank in my top 10 Journey songs...maybe top 20, but even sure about that.

And Tantra is disappointing...musically it's okay, but it saddens me a bit that Jonathan Cain is now a subscriber of the "all roads lead to God" theory...he seemed to have some semblance of a Christian faith before. Kinda ruins the song for me a little bit...

The rest of the album seems like filler to me, much the way half the Arrival album felt to me...or most of the Generations album! But who knows, maybe over time I'll feel differently. I remember thinking Raised on Radio, with the exception of the radio hits, was a fairly mediocre album back in the day, but I really enjoy the whole thing these days!

[mkepethead]

The first 3 songs are the best.

[gman]

Ken Tamplin has two long clips on youtube from a 2010 Shout reunion in Germany. Not the best audio, but really tight stuff. I guess it's just Ken and Chuck with a different drummer and bass player, but still good stuff.

[executioner]

I liked Revelation but doesn't seem to flow like an album, and IMO most songs style wise just don't seem to fit together; it might be due to fact the most of the songs(according to Neal) were b-sides written in the 70's & 80's and were meant for other albums but were rejected by Perry and record execs has being filler songs.
I think Eclipse is the best complete album they have done in a long time; Frontiers & Trail By Fire being my other top favorites.

[executioner]

Dean used to play with Shout in case some did not know.

I always thought Shout was a band with no meat; their low end was nonexistent.

[brent]

Ken's "sound" IS unique to say the least. He has always loved a very layered and fake snare sound too. I never have liked triggered drums.

[rexreed]

The fake snare is really my only complaint. I've always enjoyed the layered vocals and the fact that he likes to use various tricks (like the frequent panning) but man oh man those drums are horrible. I think the Tamplin album and Magdallan used real drums.