{"id":14731,"date":"2015-05-20T01:00:11","date_gmt":"2015-05-20T05:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southeastofheaven.com\/?p=14731"},"modified":"2022-01-06T19:38:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-07T00:38:04","slug":"content-needed-the-album-by-album-challenge-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=14731","title":{"rendered":"The Album by Album Challenge: Journey (Part I)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Welcome to another \u201cAlbum by Album Challenge.\u201d For those that are new here, the \u201cAlbum by Album Challenge\u201d is where I take a band\u2019s entire discography and listen to every album in order of release from front to back. With my unforgiving and well-aged ear, I call it how I hear it. In some cases, I find that what I once thought was good is actually pretty crappy and sometimes crap manages to age into something pretty kick ass. And in some cases, face melting is still just good ol\u2019 face melting.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>This time around I tackled the discography of the legendary Journey. Ok, I know what you\u2019re thinking. You\u2019re probably thinking, \u201cBut Brainfart, Journey isn\u2019t metal.\u201d Well, this might be true but let me say this. Journey is a band with a long, vast history and a catalog of albums\/songs that are held in high regard within the metal community. Everyone from Exodus drummer Tom Hunting to legendary Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris has sung the praises of this band so I figured why the fuck not?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Keep in mind, when going into this challenge I knew next to nothing about Journey. My best friend James had been trying to turn me onto them for years so I finally caved and decided that if I was going to do it, I was going to do it right and start at the beginning and work my way through to the now. This is a two parter and part one will cover the self-titled debut on through the obscure Dream, After Dream album.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n<strong>Journey<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Release Date:<\/strong> April 1, 1975<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Good:<\/strong> Of a Lifetime, In the Morning Day, Kohoutek, To Play Some Music, Topaz, In My Lonely Feeling\/Conversations, Mystery Mountain<br \/>\n<strong>The Bad:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> The Indifferent:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you would\u2019ve played this for me back in the day and said, \u201cDude, this is Journey\u201d I would\u2019ve never believed you for a million years. Being that these cats were pretty much Santana without Carlos Santana, this album really has that kind of Santana feel. The song \u201cTopaz\u201d pretty much could be a Phish song and I mean that as a compliment as I can hear their influence on Phish. I just love that this album has so many layers and with each song it\u2019s like you\u2019re peeling it back to discover another.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zjc6DewAa2I\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>The songs are just fucking fantastic. \u201cIn My Lonely Feeling\/Conversations\u201d just may be one of the greatest fucking songs I have ever heard and Gregg Rolie just slays on this song . From the depths of prog with \u201cKohoutek\u201d to the radio friendly jam of \u201cThe Play Some Music\u201d, Journey really created a real classic piece of magic. Hearing this band like this makes it hard for me to even fathom why they would need to change or how they will change and evolve to the band they eventually became. It\u2019s like night and day but all I can say is that this album is fucking epic from start to finish.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Look Into the Future<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Release Date<\/strong>: January, 1976<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Good<\/strong>: On a Saturday Night, It\u2019s All Too Much, She Makes Me (Feel Alright), You\u2019re On Your Own, Look Into the Future, Midnight Dreamer, I\u2019m Gonna Leave You<br \/>\n<strong>The Bad:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> The Indifferent:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So this is definitely the album where the transition began. For some reason, I assumed that this evolution to a radio rock band would be a bit more gradual but this album totally takes Journey into a more radio friendly kind of sound without completely disregarding their style. This album reminds me of the shift in sound that is evident from Captain Beyond\u2019s debut album to the follow up Sufficiently Breathless. It\u2019s not a bad transition to be honest but it\u2019s a transition nonetheless.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5i38vu0HMvM\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>The first 2 or 3 songs of this album show just how Journey was stepping forward towards being a more song oriented rock band but still managing to maintain the sound and vibe that they set out with on their debut album. While this is the case, you also end up with songs like the absolutely mind-blowing title track (which was so fucking badass I had to jam it three times), \u201cMidnight Dreamer\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m Gonna Leave You.\u201d These three songs really embodied more of that \u201cjammy\u201d kind of sound while still managing to be accessible to a rock audience. This album, while not quite as spectacular as the debut is still a really solid album that is full of win. I can\u2019t wait to dive into this one again.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Next<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Release Date:<\/strong> February, 1977<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Good<\/strong>: Spaceman, People, Here We Are, Hustler, Nickle and Dime, Karma<br \/>\n<strong>The Bad:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> The Indifferent<\/strong>: I Would Find You, Next,<\/p>\n<p>Ok, so Next. First off, funny title for an album. Second, Journey must have been listening to a lot of Beatles or something because these songs have a serious Beatles flair to them. \u201cSpaceman\u201d, \u201cPeople\u201d, \u201cHere We Are\u201d all pretty much sound like they could be Beatles songs. This isn\u2019t a bad thing at all but it just kind of caught me by surprise as to how different this stuff sounds from the previous albums. I think I was expecting more of a transition into their more radio friendly stuff but it\u2019s like instead of moving that way they stepped to the left for just a bit.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9HAp-CsRsZ0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Just when I think I know where this album is going they come flying out with \u201cHustler.\u201d At first I didn\u2019t know what to make of this song but goddamn what an epic facemelter. The title track just didn\u2019t seem to do much for me and this was the song that a few people told me would blow me away. Can we also talk about how \u201cNickel and Dime\u201d is pretty much Rush\u2019s \u201cTom Sawyer\u201d? I mean, almost to a fucking \u201ct.\u201d I was astounded to hear this. Things that make you go \u201chm\u201d fo sho! All in all, this is a good album but it wasn\u2019t one that blew my mind like the previous two. This is one of those albums that I would own as a completest but I would be totally find with not hearing it again as well.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Infinity<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Release Date:<\/strong> January 20, 1978<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Good:<\/strong> Lights, Feeling That Way, Anytime, Patiently, Wheel in the Sky, Something to Hide, Winds of March, Can Do, Opened the Door<br \/>\n<strong>The Bad:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> The Indifferent:<\/strong> La Do Da,<\/p>\n<p>Talk about bold. The first song on Infinity features the \u201cnew guy\u201d (Steve Perry) on vocals. Gregg Rolie was still in the band at this point. I wonder what he was thinking. Anyways, all that to be said, that song is fucking amazing but I just don\u2019t feel like it makes a great opening song. \u201cFeeling That Way\u201d is a fucking spectacular song that features both Rolie and Perry on vox and I feel like this would\u2019ve made a much better opening song. Can we also take a moment to address the fact that \u201cWheel in the Sky\u201d is a fucking amazing song? I could listen to that one on repeat.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vg5vziU-qIs\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>This is without a doubt the transition album for Journey not only with Perry on vocals but the overall writing and performances seem to be setting the band on course to being the Journey that the world would come to embrace and love. What I love so much about this album is that while they are venturing into more radio friendly waters, they are still maintaining a lot of their more \u201cproggy\u201d influences which you can totally hear in \u201cWinds of March.\u201d All in all, Infinity is a fucking amazing record and one that that wears many masks. It\u2019s such a great listen and a really versatile album. My only complaint is that it could\u2019ve been sequenced better to create more of a flow. I will totally be revisiting this one without a doubt.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Evolution<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Release Date:<\/strong> April 5, 1979<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Good:<\/strong> Majestic, Too Late, Lovin\u2019 Touchin\u2019 Squeezin\u2019, City of the Angels, When You\u2019re Alone, Sweet and Simple, Lovin\u2019 You is Easy, Just the Same Way, Daydream, Lady Luck<br \/>\n<strong>The Bad:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> The Indifferent:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This album just completely blew my fucking face off. Matter of fact, in all honesty, I have to say that this is my favorite Journey album to date. Right off the bat, \u201cToo Late\u201d just put a lump in my throat so fucking big and just connecting with those lyrics had me tearing up a bit. I can\u2019t get over what a powerful fucking song it was. After that one I had to listen to it again. I also have to note that when I heard \u201cLovin\u2019 Touchin\u2019 Squeezin\u2019\u201d that I found myself really liking this song a lot. That song and \u201cSweet and Simple\u201d I just loved because I could hear Perry and Co. paying homage to the great Motown sound. \u201cSweet and Simple\u201d very well could\u2019ve been a Sam Cooke song and I loved that they found a way on both songs to show that influence and tip their hats.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DJjEFwlQgc8\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>The rest of the album is just song after song an absolute masterpiece. This is definitely a deep cut album and I\u2019m very pleasantly surprised by the complete absence of fluff. It\u2019s funny how I thought at one time \u201cLovin\u2019 Touchin\u2019 Squeezin\u2019\u201d was fluff but hearing it in this context totally changed my mind. Also, \u201cDaydream\u201d and \u201cLady Luck\u201d just may be two of the greatest album closers of all time. Those two songs back to back alone are worth owning this album. This album was such a surprise for me and I enjoyed the fuck out of it so much that I give it a 2nd listen. Yeah, it\u2019s that good and this is one that even the most casual Journey fan would find to be an outstanding album.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Departure<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Release Date<\/strong>: March 23, 1980<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Good:<\/strong> Someday Soon, People and Places, Precious Time, I\u2019m Crying, Good Morning Girl, Stay Awhile,<br \/>\n<strong>The Bad:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> The Indifferent<\/strong>: Any Way You Want It, Walks Like a Lady, Where Were You, Line of Fire, Homemade Love<\/p>\n<p>Ok, so I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s that Evolution was such a great fucking album and hard to follow or what but this album just really didn\u2019t do much for me. Those first two songs (Any Way You Want It and Walks Like A Lady) are just two of the lamest fucking songs and just started to put me in a foul mood. \u201cSomeday Soon\u201d and \u201cPeople and Places\u201d quickly lifted me out of that funk though. Those two songs are really great but they just didn\u2019t floor me like the songs from Evolution. \u201cWhere Were You\u201d is easily one of the most annoying songs I\u2019ve ever heard. Where was I? I was in the bathroom because I couldn\u2019t take any more of that song.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pH9THlPItQY\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>The two best songs on this album are \u201cGood Morning Girl\u201d and \u201cStay Awhile\u201d and I have to say that those two songs stuck out like sore thumbs on this album. They were so fucking good while being surrounded by songs that were \u201cgood\u201d and just flat out \u201cmeh.\u201d This album as a whole did nothing for me but \u201cGood Morning Girl\u201d and \u201cStay Awhile\u201d in my opinion are worthy of at least being put into a playlist just so they\u2019re not passed up. This album was a total let down for me coming off the heels of Evolution. Maybe that album was just TOO fucking good? Who knows but this one just kind of felt like a dud for me.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dream, after Dream<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Release Date:<\/strong> December 10, 1980<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Good:<\/strong> Destiny, Snow Theme, Sandcastles, A Few Coins, Moon Theme, When Love Has Gone, Festival Dance,<br \/>\n<strong>The Bad:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> The Indifferent:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So this was a really interesting album. While not really credited as a \u201cstudio album\u201d, I was told by James that this was one not to be skipped. Boy, am I ever fucking glad I listened to him. Dream, After Dream is a Journey album in the truest sense of the word but it\u2019s actually the soundtrack to the Japanese film Yume, Yume No Ato. This album reminds me a bit of how Pink Floyd did the soundtrack for the \u201cThe Zabriskie Point\u201d in that it\u2019s a fine mix of songs and small, bit instrumentals.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dTTmKcSerGY\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>What I love so much about this album is that coming right off the heels of the arena rock sounds of the Departure album, Journey went way back into their progressive roots to pull out some really amazing, complex instrumentals in addition to amazing songs with vocals as well. \u201cDestiny\u201d literally took my breath away as we see, once again, just what a monumental progressive vocalist Steve Perry was while \u201cSnow Theme\u201d is a gorgeous instrumental composed by bassist Ross Vallory. I cannot speak any more highly of this album other than to say that it is a really amazing listening experience. I do feel that it gets lost in the shuffle among the other Journey albums but on its own it\u2019s an album that I feel even the biggest of Journey haters could sink into and give much deserved props to.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>STAY TUNED FOR PART II COMING SOON!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to another \u201cAlbum by Album Challenge.\u201d For those that are new here, the \u201cAlbum by Album Challenge\u201d is where I take a band\u2019s entire discography and listen to every album in order of release from front to back. With my unforgiving and well-aged ear, I call it how I hear it. In some cases, I find that what I once thought was good is actually pretty crappy and sometimes crap manages to age into something pretty kick ass. And [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[277],"tags":[1367,1369,1366,1365,1314,1370,1362,674,1363,1368,1315,1364],"class_list":["post-14731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-news","tag-ansley-dunbar","tag-arnel-pineda","tag-gregg-rolie","tag-jonathan-cain","tag-journey","tag-larrie-londin","tag-neal-schon","tag-randy-jackson","tag-ross-vallory","tag-steve-augeri","tag-steve-perry","tag-steve-smith"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14731"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19522,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14731\/revisions\/19522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}