Originally posted January 24 2014 in The Playlist of Life
Generations - Journey - 2005 (Sanctuary)
The second and last album to feature "Steve Number Two",
Generations is a fine Journey album that suffers from a few bad tracks but overall is one of the best I've heard. It also is the one which affords every bandmember a chance to sing, though as usual the Schon/Cain songwriting partnership rules the roost, apart from two songs which Steve Augeri writes. The Perry fanboys will tell you it didn't sound the same, but for my money Augeri was almost a clone of the original vocalist to the point where I found it hard to remember it wasn't Perry singing. But then, maybe that's just me. Nevertheless of the later Journey albums I found this to be one of the best, and the release of
Eclipse in 2011 has not changed that view.
You couldn't really have a better start than "Faith in the Heartland", with swirling synth from Cain and then slowly rising guitar courtesy of Schon before he really breaks through and percussion from Deen Castronovo powers in with a a big yell from Augeri and a solo from Neal as the song takes off. A big punchy rocker, it's far removed from the "limp" ballads Journey have sometimes become unfairly typecast as producing, although I like those ballads, which is why I rate
Arrival as my alltime favourite Journey album. Stirring vocal harmonies and chugging guitar make this song a great introduction to a really good album. Things keep rocking then with "The Place in Your Heart", with great guitar and thundering drums, a real sense of urgency and desperation in it. A great screaming solo from Neal Schon too.
We hear Deen Castronovo for the first time singing on "A Better Life", and to be fair he's not half bad: maybe they should let him sing more. It's more a mid-paced song than the previous two, and then Jonathan Cain tries his hand in what is more or less the title track, the burning "Every Generation". With a nearly breathless vocal and sliding guitars, solid percussion and later some really rock-and-roll piano from the man, it's a great title track with a message that reaches out across the years and down into history. It's Steve Augeri's turn to try his hand at songwriting now, and "Butterfly" is a nice little piano ballad, though in fairness it's nothing the Cain/Schon combination could not have written between them, or even separately. Still, a good first effort, and his second isn't bad either. It follows directly on the heels of this, and though he's joined in the writing by Tommy De Rossi it's a brilliant little rocker, full of drama and energy with a great keyboard riff from Cain running through it. Maybe a little repetitive if I'm honest but otherwise very impressive.
Cain shows us how it's done next with one of his many ballads, and "Knowing That You Love Me" has that laidback lazy guitar Neal Schon can get such a handle on, with a swaying waltzy rhythm and one of those choruses with more hooks than a fishing tackle box, stuffed with emotion and heartfelt feeling. I do admit, that when Journey shine the brightest is in their carefully crafted ballads, and this is up with the best of them. Back rocking then with the anti-war "Out of Harm's Way", a small sense of the classic "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" to some degree, but it has great drama and energy in it. Sadly this is where the album begins to slide badly, as the next three tracks are I feel very much below par, kicking off with "In Self-defense", where even the added writing talents of alumnus Steve Perry can't save this song. The vocals of Neal Schon certainly don't help; honestly, it's like something Motorhead or Tank would write. Not quite as bad is "Better Together", but with a disjointed guitar performance from Schon it just comes across as a cross between Kiss and Bon Jovi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxFWdZopnTY
That leaves us with the crapweed in the bouquet, the truly awful "Gone Crazy", on which you'd have to think Journey have done just that. WIth, I should add, Ross Vallory on vocals. He really should stick to playing the bass. What is it about this album? Was there an unspoken agreement that everyone would get a turn singing? I mean, I've heard Tico Torres sing for Bon Jovi and he's bad, but Vallory is pretty damn close to that bad. The song's also terrible, so nothing much to report here. Good guitar work from Schon but it's not my bag at all. It's all over the place and just not the sort of thing I expect from these guys. At least the album ends well though, on a lovely soft dreamy ballad. "Beyond the Clouds" does its best to recover the earlier quality that shines through this album and mostly succeeds. It's just a pity that not only are there three bad tracks on it, but Journey have seen fit to group them together, which only serves to thrust their poor quality into the light, rather than allow them pass by unremarked.
TRACK LISTING
1. Faith 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 Harm's Way
9. In Self-defense
10. Better Together
11. Gone Crazy
12. Beyond the Clouds
Despite the rough bunch near the end, this is still a very strong Journey album, and it's an interesting experiment, to allow everybody sing, though I doubt they allowed Ross Vallory another turn! After this Steve Augeri cried off with a throat infection and had to be replaced on Journey's world tour, whereafter he was replaced by Arnel Pineda, and a new chapter began in the band's history. For my money though, this was the last truly great Journey album, despite the unkind remarks above. It followed on directly from my alltime favourite (which surprises many people)
Arrival and was in its turn followed by
Revelation, the first to feature the new singer and later by
Eclipse, much praised but not by me.
In many ways, an era ended with the departure of Steve Augeri, just as it did with his predecessor, and personally I feel Journey lost something with the exit of both vocalists. Pineda has proved a capable replacement, but I've just always had this feeling that Journey would never be the same without either of the Steves, and for me, this is where the journey, to a great extent, ended.