Is this the greatest AOR / Melodic rock album ever made? Journey were floundering until the arrival of Steve Perry. They were this great bunch of muso’s who could jam with the best of them, but they were lacking in the songwriting department. With Perry’s arrival, the songs became shorter and more melodic, and with his voice they were onto a winner. It was not until the departure of founding member, Gregg Rolie, and the arrival of Jonathan Cain from the Baby’s, that everything finally was in place. So the answer to the initial question is, YES!
Every moment on this record is pure gold – and that includes the ballads! The band could live off of the royalties from Don’t Stop Believin’ alone. It’s such a huge song that has been used so many times on various tv shows, movies, and commercials, but it’s not the best song in the album. I’m not sure any vocalist out there can put as much feeling and emotion into a song as Steve Perry can, but with Open Arms he puts his everything into that song. On Mother Father he reaches his peak for pure emotion alone, and its my favourite track on the album – and I hate ballads.
Schon has been reeled in somewhat on this album, so there is not so many of his rambling shred style solos (I love Schin’s playing by the way). The emphasis is on total melody, and the album is lifted because of that. Yet another in the series of every home should have one.
10/10 from The Grooveman.
