I've been told the latest Journey album has no ballads. To be honest, that comes across to me as unlikely as there not being a keyboard solo on a Rick Wakeman album, or Prince releasing an album with no songs about sex. It just seems impossible. Journey have, if not made, at least advanced their long career upon classic ballads like “Open arms”, “Faithfully”, “Still they ride” and of course “Who's crying now”. To hear that they released an album without a single ballad sounds, well, hard to believe. But so the reviews I've read would have me believe, and they should know, having heard the album, while I haven't.
Up to now, that is.
So, let's find out if they know what they're talking about then.
Eclipse --- Journey --- 2011 (Nomota LLC)
“Eclipse” is Journey's first new album in three years, their second with new vocalist Arnel Pineda, and the first on which he sings a collection of totally new songs. 2008's “Revelation” --- although I have yet to hear it --- consisted of a mixture of new songs and re-recordings of old ones, so this is the first time Pineda has a chance to impress and shine on his own merits, though of course he'll always been compared to previous Journey vocalists, most notably the great Steve Perry.
Although it's now been fifteen years since Perry and the band parted company, the man casts a long shadow, and even though Steve Augeri was the singer for two albums since Perry's departure, he was and always will be compared to “classic” Journey, and Perry's is the name that will be forever the yardstick by which he, and any subsequent pretenders to his throne, will be judged. It's not fair, but that's just how it is. Perry was frontman for Journey for so long that it's hard to forget him, and few Journey fans ever will. For them, there will never be another Steve Perry.
And so there should not be, but Pineda will probably carry the albatross of Perry's reputation around his neck for a long time, trying to prove himself to the dyed-in-the-wool Journey fans. He's already won over many of them from the last album and from gigs, but there's work to do yet. This album is his chance to perhaps throw off the shackles history has weighed him down with, and become once and for all his own man, not just the
new singer for Journey, but simply Journey's singer.
The album opens strongly, with a good rocker, Neal Schon at his best, and there's no doubting the power and talent inherent in Pineda's voice, though whereas Steve Augeri sounded uncannily like his predecessor, there's a whole different sound about the guy from the Philippines, and he's eager to stamp his own identity on the band, and on the album. “City of hope” is a great opener, laden with the usual hooks you expect in Journey songs like “Faith in the heartland”, “Girl can't help it” and “Separate ways”. Jonathan Cain's keyboards take something of a backseat here, as Schon stands centre stage alongside Pineda, introducing the new Journey album with a grand flourish and a powerful punch.
“Edge of the moment” has an opening riff that sounds so close to “Separate ways” it's frightening, but it soon settles down into its own song, another rocker with some great guitar from Schon. The tracks on this album are longer than normally expected on a Journey album, with all but two of them breaking the five-minute barrier (one is 4:57, so we won't count that as below the marker) and several over six, while two come close to the seven-minute mark. When “Chain of love” is introduced on sweet synth and dreamy piano, you think here we go, here's the first ballad, but after Cain's “Tubular Bells”-like intro, Schon's growling guitar shoulders its way in like an uninvited party guest, and Deen Castronovo's drums pound out a rhythm that turns the song into a hard rock cruncher. Also one of the longer songs on the album, it's quite a surprise, evolving as it does, and Pineda's vocals are stretched on the song, and not found wanting.
Since Perry left, Schon and Cain have exercised a pretty tight control over the songwriting on Journey albums, and Pineda had no input at all into “Revelation”. Here, he co-writes two tracks, one of which also credits Erik Pineda --- his brother? --- but the rest are firmly helmed by the guitarist and the keysman. And they know, as we already are aware, how to write damn fine songs! “Tantra” again opens with soft, mellow piano, a gentle vocal from "the new guy", and surely
this has to be a ballad? Well... there's strong guitar, thumping drums, but I would have to say this still keeps to the format of what I would consider a ballad. Okay, it's not “Faithfully”, but it's certainly a slower song. Yeah, I'd have to call this a ballad, even if it is a power one. Knew there had to be one in there.
Then, after a brief interlude (you know what Ade Edmondson said in
Bottom: “Yeah, well, you gotta put something in for the girls, don't ya?") we're off with a mid-paced rocker, though “Anything is possible” is still kind of in mid-ballad territory, a slowish beat, impassioned vocal and a very anthemic chorus. Damn good workout by Schon as the song comes to its close. Next up is “Resonate”, which opens with guitar feedback, spacey synth then melodic guitar as Pineda keeps it fairly low-key. I wouldn't go so far as to call this a ballad, no, but it's not a rocker either. Quite guitar-led really, as is the vast majority of the album, Journey opting for a harder, rockier edge to their previous outings.
“She's a mystery”, the first song on which Pineda gets to show his songwriting skills, is almost acoustic, quite jangly and boppy, with some very nice proggy keyboard from Cain --- nice to hear him getting in on the action properly! Near its end the song morphs into a hard crunching rocker, then Cain and Schon trade licks all across “Human feel”, while Castronovo goes nuts on the drums. Things finally speed up again with “Ritual”, with almost a brass feeling to Cain's keyboards, and Pineda really sounding like he's enjoying himself.
The other song on which Pindea --- well, the two Pinedas --- has songwriting credit comes across really as another ballad. “To whom it may concern” smoulders and simmers just below the boil, with powerful guitar and emotive piano, and excellent, soulful vocal from Ardel Pineda, as well as really effective backing vocals. This has all the hallmarks of being a future classic, and certainly I could see it being shouted for at Journey concerts. Urgent, dramatic keyboards from Cain really paint the soundscape, and Pineda is probably at his best on this track. Take note guys: this guy can write! Although I of course don't know how much input he had into this song --- and as he's a vocalist I assume it was mostly on the lyric --- the difference this and the other song he co-wrote make to the album is considerable, and not to be ignored. Perhaps we'll see more of his songwriting on the next album.
The band get rockin' again then with “Someone”, the closest we've come to a throwback to the days of “Escape” and “Frontiers”, or even “Raised on radio”. Great keyboard melody line and exuberant piano from Cain, with Schon's guitars keeping just a little more to the shadows but certainly there. The album ends on an instrumental, as if Schon means to confirm that he is in charge. “Venus” is composed solely by him, and it's a great little closer to the album, a kind of coda if you will. Does come across as more the end-part of a song though than a full piece in its own right. Nice though, very dramatic and epic.
Of course, a less kind reviewer would say this is a prime example of Cain and Schon shutting Pineda out, reminding him that he's the new guy and that Journey is built around the two of them. But I wouldn't be so crass.
This album has been hailed as a classic, a masterpiece, best Journey album since “Escape” and so on. I'm not so sure. It's certainly a great album, but does it rank up there with “Frontiers” and “Escape”? Or my all-time favourite, “Arrival”? I've heard efforts from Journey that are just as good, to be honest. “Generations” is a great album, as is “Trial by fire”. The songs are pretty much without exception excellent on “Eclipse”, but are they better than on other albums? Are there any future classics lurking in there, waiting to be discovered?
Maybe “To whom it may concern”, but even then it's just a really great song, and lacks the pedigree and punch of the
real classics we all know from this band. One thing is certain though: Ardel Pineda has definitely stamped his authority as vocalist on this album, and though he may technically still be seen as something of an outsider, he's moving closer to getting into the sanctum. It may not be too long before people are saying “Yeah, but he's no Pineda!”
Both Steves, Perry and Augeri, are tough acts to follow, but on “Eclipse” I think Pineda has proven that not only can he follow these former stars of Journey, but he can make himself a star and lead this band to new heights. Eclipse them? Perhaps that's asking too much, but I feel confident, from his performance on this album, that he can once and for all step out from underneath their rather long shadows.
TRACKLISTING
1. City of hope
2. Edge of the moment
3. Chain of love
4. Tantra
5. Anything is possible
6. Resonate
7. She's a mystery
8. Human feel
9. Ritual
10. To whom it may concern
11. Someone
12. Venus