I always found the two Schon/Hammer albums quite unusual. At the time, Journey were bigger than a big thing on a big train to big town, and to disappear and squeeze this project in seemed a bit off to me. I thought that maybe these songs would be leftovers from Journey, but no, these were all originals composed by Schon, Hammer, and bass player Colin Hodgkinson.
There are five tracks with vocals which Neal sings. He has a very distinct voice that may not be to everyone’s taste, but I think it fits the music really well. Let’s face it, if you bought this album you were either a Journey die hard or you wanted to hear Schon rip it up – I fall into the latter category. He can really rip with the best of them, and the solo on I’m Down is right up there as one of the best solo’s he’s ever laid down. It’s a monster piece of playing and I absolutely adore it.
The album itself is the best of the two albums they did, and Wasting Time is a killer song with a superb solo thrown in. There are some oddities like Hooked On Love that don’t work, but on the whole this is an enjoyable album and it’s worth buying for THAT solo alone.
8.5/10 from The Grooveman.
