Being a Journey fan is one thing. Being a fan of their career after Steve Perry's departure is another thing. Both seem to come with some explaining to do, especially if the majority of the music you listen to is worlds away from corporate rock. Well, I've always liked Journey's classic material and have enjoyed most of the band's output post-Steve Perry and Steve Smith. Going to the lengths that I did to hear the band's most recent album, I think about why in the world I did go to all those lengths.
The newest incarnation of the band includes Arnel Pineda on lead vocals. Out of the three singers the band has had since Steve Perry, Pineda sounds closest to Perry. Not to diss Steve Augeri (who did a fantastic job) or Jeff Scott Soto (great singer, but he just didn't sound right with Journey), but Pineda does the job right. He hits those high notes with ease and is a natural. The new Journey material doesn't offer anything new per se, but at this point, I expected strong, poppy tunes along with power ballads. Revelation offers no surprises, and that's fine by me.
The deal is, the only way you can purchase a copy of Revelation is through Wal-Mart. Yes, the same place that refuses to carry albums with "Parental Advisory" stickers and, for a while, carried only full-screen editions of DVD movies. And why in the world would I go to a place like this? Well, my Journey fandom outweighs those details. Besides, Revelation comes with a bonus disc of newly-recorded Journey classics with Pineda on vocals along with a DVD of an entire concert. And all for twelve bucks. I was sold, and I haven't regretted the decision.
Once again, saying all this stuff with a straight face may very well make people question my taste in music. Moreover, my credibility becomes questionable. Especially for those that hated Journey at the height of their commercial popularity, liking Journey now is worse than ever. Well, as I've said before many times before, be honest with yourself and don't be afraid to say you love what you love, no matter how un-hip it may seem. If I really wanted to impress people, I'd only talk about the hip bands I'm listening to while I also rocked out to stuff that's older, from a year ago to thirty years ago. Well, that sense of secrecy still doesn't jive with me.
The newest incarnation of the band includes Arnel Pineda on lead vocals. Out of the three singers the band has had since Steve Perry, Pineda sounds closest to Perry. Not to diss Steve Augeri (who did a fantastic job) or Jeff Scott Soto (great singer, but he just didn't sound right with Journey), but Pineda does the job right. He hits those high notes with ease and is a natural. The new Journey material doesn't offer anything new per se, but at this point, I expected strong, poppy tunes along with power ballads. Revelation offers no surprises, and that's fine by me.
The deal is, the only way you can purchase a copy of Revelation is through Wal-Mart. Yes, the same place that refuses to carry albums with "Parental Advisory" stickers and, for a while, carried only full-screen editions of DVD movies. And why in the world would I go to a place like this? Well, my Journey fandom outweighs those details. Besides, Revelation comes with a bonus disc of newly-recorded Journey classics with Pineda on vocals along with a DVD of an entire concert. And all for twelve bucks. I was sold, and I haven't regretted the decision.
Once again, saying all this stuff with a straight face may very well make people question my taste in music. Moreover, my credibility becomes questionable. Especially for those that hated Journey at the height of their commercial popularity, liking Journey now is worse than ever. Well, as I've said before many times before, be honest with yourself and don't be afraid to say you love what you love, no matter how un-hip it may seem. If I really wanted to impress people, I'd only talk about the hip bands I'm listening to while I also rocked out to stuff that's older, from a year ago to thirty years ago. Well, that sense of secrecy still doesn't jive with me.
Comments