Revelation / Journey (2008)

1. Never Walk Away

2. Like A Sunshower

3. Change For The Better

4. Wildest Dream

5. Faith In The Heartland

6. After All These Years

7. Where Did I Lose Your Love

8. What I Needed

9. What It Takes To Win

10. Turn Down The World Tonight

11. The Journey (Revelation)

12. The Place In Your Heart

"Generation" was little disappointing, and another tragedy came. Steve Augeri left the band due to illness. He had to leave the band during tour. The band continued the tour with Jeff Scott Soto. Then, it was announced that he was appointed to be officially the singer of the band. Nevertheless, he left the band after the tour. All of Journey fans worried about their future. After a while, I heard a strange news. It was announced that Journey chose a new singer, but the new vocal is a Filipino. I could not believe what I saw. Nothing against Filipinos, but I could not believe that one of the biggest American band picked a singer from Philippines. However, when I watched the band's performance at TV show on YouTube, I could not believe what I saw even more. The new singer just sounded like Steve Perry. Steve Augeri really matched with the band, but Arnel Pineda was totally on a different degree. I was stunned. Since that moment, I was really looking for the new album.

This album was solely distributed through Walmart. Right after it was released, I went there to purchase the record. It was much better than what I was expecting. The sound has the mood of "Frontier" and "Escape" era. When I heard track 1, I knew this album would be great. Every song in this album reminds me of their golden age of 80's. They had written another great ballad which should be added on their masterpiece, track 6. This song is comparable to "Open Arms" or "Faithfully". Track 7 became one of my favorite Journey songs. It is a great dramatic rock tune. They also played two songs from the last album. They picked the best tracks from it. Even though, I liked the original version, it is really interesting how the voice of Arnel Pineda matches better to the songs. Journey has returned stronger than ever!!

☆☆☆☆☆

Generations / Journey (2005)

1. Fain In The Heartland

2. The Place In Your Heart

3. A Better Life

4. Every Generation

5. Butterfly (She Flies Alone)

6. Believe

7. Knowing That You Love Me

8. Out Of Harms Way

9. In Self-Defense

10. Better Together

11. Gone Crazy

12. Beyond The Clouds

13. It's Never Too Late

The departure of Steve Perry was a great loss for the band. Nevertheless, they proved that their music is still unchanged and strong with their new singer Steve Augeri and the last album. "Arrival" went beyond my expectation, I was really looking forward to the new album when the band announced that they would release one.

At the beginning, it was a dramatic opening with track 1 and 2. These two songs really reassured me how Steve Augeri matched with this band. Then, it goes to track 3, and I posed for a moment. The voice did not sound like Steve Augeri. I checked the notes in the jacket, and Deen Castronovo was credited as a lead singer for the song. I realized each members took lead vocals in at least one song. This album was very irregular. But, I really liked track 3 as well (surprisingly, he did pretty good job on track 13 too). However, the problem was from track 4. After that, the melody lines were not very attractive. The melody has always been their core essence of the sound, but it is very weak in this album. The ballad, track 7, was not bad, yet the album is restrained overall. 

The only relief is that Neal Schon's guitar play keeps high tension in this album. But, this album taught me that how vocal melody lines were important for this band. If this is a new band, I would be pretty impressed, but in this band's standard, I have to rank this album low...

☆☆

Arrival / Journey (2001)

1. Higher Place

2. All the Way

3. Signs of Life

4. All the Things

5. Loved By You

6. Livin' to Do

7. I Got a Reason

8. With Your Love

9. Lifetime of Dreams

10. Live and Breathe

11. Kiss Me Softly

12. I'm Not That Way

13. We Will Meet Again

14. To Be Alive Again

Arnel Pineda became a celebrity since he became a singer of Journey. His voice won the hearts of Journey's fans. That was one great "Cinderella story".  Steve Perry is the original singer that has the established status. Still this day, I am hoping that he will come back and join the band someday. Well, for the most of Journey's fans, it seems like that the fact that there was another singer who were a member of the band and made two albums with them between Perry and Pineda. His name was Steve Augeri. I have been having the feeling that the most people either forgot or are neglecting that the fact the he was the singer of one of the most popular band in the world.

This was the first album that Steve Augeri sang with the band. Most people even don't know that this album existed because of the commercial failure. The album peaked at #56 on the Billboard 200. It was the worst chart position since 1978. Of course, I don't say this album was the best Journey's album. However, I have to say that this album is in Top 5 list of my Journey discography. The quality of the songs doesn't yield to no other great albums such as Escape and Frontiers. The album contains full of Journey essence. It has good catchy melody, beautiful ballads, and cool up-tempo rock songs.

Steve Augeri's voice is not as similar as Pineda's to the original singer. But, it really matches with the band and does not destruct ears. In the lead single, "All The Way", you can hear everything you expect from Journey, beautiful Piano intro, heart-aching vocal, and cool guitar solo. It also has some good rock songs such as "Higher Place" and "Signs of Life". This album also has one of my favorite ballads, "Kiss Me Softly". This song reminded me of "Who's Crying Now" and "Still She Cries" (Trial By Fire). It has one of the most beautiful chorus.

Anyways, I really wish that this album will be more recognized and receive right evaluation and reviews. If you like Journey, please please listen to this album. You won't regret paying some money to have this masterpiece. 

☆☆☆☆☆