Post by KittyKat - RIP Luciano on Apr 19, 2004 17:31:27 GMT -5
Maybe Sat will get off my back for a little bit! 
Journey - Look Into The Future[/color]
[glow=red,2,300] Track Listing: On A Saturday Night (4:01) / It’s All Too Much (4:06) / Anyway (4:12) / She Makes Me (Feel Alright) (3:12) / You’re On Your Own (5:55) / Look Into The Future (8:12) / Midnight Dreamer (5:13) / I’m Gonna Leave You (6:59)[/glow]
Musicians:
Gregg Rolie – Keyboards, Vocals
Neal Schon – Guitar, Vocals
Ross Valory – Bass, Vocals
Aynsley Dunbar – Drums
This album combines the best of pop, hard rock, and progressive rock. It has the intensity of some of the best hard rock and the melodic sense of the best pop. Like other prog rock a single song on this album may encompass multiple styles, starting out slow and spacey, then building into an intense hard rock style. Unlike a lot of progressive music, that I tend to dislike actually, these songs are very accessible.
In total contrast to the clap-along feel-good Journey pop music that most people know, the first couple of Journey albums were all about straddling a line between the psychedelic era of rock that they were coming from (Santana), and the newer wave of “heavy metal”.
Journey released their sophomore effort in January 1976, less than nine months after their good, yet poor selling debut. This album continues in much the same direction as their first but stands a cut above because of the more focused effort overall.
This was Journey back when, as my dad says – “The star of this band was still Neal Schon’s Les Paul”, and for a little while longer the group would still be known for their instrumental prowess, and not for their frontman.
There’s some outstanding playing and singing on this album. There’s Gregg Rolie’s lion like voice, Neal’s amazing guitar work, and Ross Valory and Aynsley Dunbar combine their efforts to create a masterful rhythm section.
The highlights of the album include:
- the amazing title track with Schon’s best guitar solo ever and at 8 min could arguably be called their “Stairway To Heaven”.
- a spirited remake of George Harrison’s "It’s All To Much". Although I haven't really heard George's version too much to make an accurate comparison.
- The first cut, "On A Saturday Night," has Rolie pounding the ivories much like Elton John rock songs of the same era like “Benny & The Jets”
- The fifth track "You’re On Your Own” has often been criticized for “borrowing” a chord riff from the Beatles “I Want You, (She’s So Heavy)" but my dad has always argued that it’s more just reminiscent of the style. You can listen and decide for yourself I guess.
- Maybe call it karmic payback for the stolen Beatles chords but the album’s finale, "I’m Gonna Leave You” has a section of melody that would be lifted in whole by Kansas on their tune, "Carry On Wayward Son."
Who knows where Journey would have gone were it not for the decisions to add Steve Perry to the lineup and to commit themselves to a specific musical direction rather than continue as a band in search of itself. There’s outstanding musicianship demonstrated in the first three albums, but relatively little growth in between. (My dad would kill me for saying that!) There's no denying Perry's talent or the wisdom of bringing him in, and it is almost certain that Journey wouldn't have achieved the success they did without him. But I definitely have a special place in my heart for their first three efforts, this one in particular, because they remind me of my dad and summers at my uncle’s Solomon Island house and a whole bunch of other nostalgia.
Journey - Look Into The Future[/color]
[glow=red,2,300] Track Listing: On A Saturday Night (4:01) / It’s All Too Much (4:06) / Anyway (4:12) / She Makes Me (Feel Alright) (3:12) / You’re On Your Own (5:55) / Look Into The Future (8:12) / Midnight Dreamer (5:13) / I’m Gonna Leave You (6:59)[/glow]
Musicians:
Gregg Rolie – Keyboards, Vocals
Neal Schon – Guitar, Vocals
Ross Valory – Bass, Vocals
Aynsley Dunbar – Drums
This album combines the best of pop, hard rock, and progressive rock. It has the intensity of some of the best hard rock and the melodic sense of the best pop. Like other prog rock a single song on this album may encompass multiple styles, starting out slow and spacey, then building into an intense hard rock style. Unlike a lot of progressive music, that I tend to dislike actually, these songs are very accessible.
In total contrast to the clap-along feel-good Journey pop music that most people know, the first couple of Journey albums were all about straddling a line between the psychedelic era of rock that they were coming from (Santana), and the newer wave of “heavy metal”.
Journey released their sophomore effort in January 1976, less than nine months after their good, yet poor selling debut. This album continues in much the same direction as their first but stands a cut above because of the more focused effort overall.
This was Journey back when, as my dad says – “The star of this band was still Neal Schon’s Les Paul”, and for a little while longer the group would still be known for their instrumental prowess, and not for their frontman.
There’s some outstanding playing and singing on this album. There’s Gregg Rolie’s lion like voice, Neal’s amazing guitar work, and Ross Valory and Aynsley Dunbar combine their efforts to create a masterful rhythm section.
The highlights of the album include:
- the amazing title track with Schon’s best guitar solo ever and at 8 min could arguably be called their “Stairway To Heaven”.
- a spirited remake of George Harrison’s "It’s All To Much". Although I haven't really heard George's version too much to make an accurate comparison.
- The first cut, "On A Saturday Night," has Rolie pounding the ivories much like Elton John rock songs of the same era like “Benny & The Jets”
- The fifth track "You’re On Your Own” has often been criticized for “borrowing” a chord riff from the Beatles “I Want You, (She’s So Heavy)" but my dad has always argued that it’s more just reminiscent of the style. You can listen and decide for yourself I guess.
- Maybe call it karmic payback for the stolen Beatles chords but the album’s finale, "I’m Gonna Leave You” has a section of melody that would be lifted in whole by Kansas on their tune, "Carry On Wayward Son."
Who knows where Journey would have gone were it not for the decisions to add Steve Perry to the lineup and to commit themselves to a specific musical direction rather than continue as a band in search of itself. There’s outstanding musicianship demonstrated in the first three albums, but relatively little growth in between. (My dad would kill me for saying that!) There's no denying Perry's talent or the wisdom of bringing him in, and it is almost certain that Journey wouldn't have achieved the success they did without him. But I definitely have a special place in my heart for their first three efforts, this one in particular, because they remind me of my dad and summers at my uncle’s Solomon Island house and a whole bunch of other nostalgia.
