It features 11 new songs ("Faith in the Heartland" was previously recorded with Steve Augeri), 11 re-recorded greatest hits (all featuring Pineda) and a DVD (North American version only) featuring the current lineup's March 8, 2008 concert in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Three singles penned by Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain were released to radio: the distinctively Journey-sounding "Never Walk Away," "Where Did I Lose Your Love," and the power ballad "After All These Years."
If you haven’t been keeping track of this kind of stuff, let me begin by saying that the new Journey release “Revelation” finds the band stronger than ever with their new and fourth singer. Yes, I did say fourth, as Steve Perry left for good after the brief touring for “Trial By Fire” and was replaced by Steve Augeri. He would record two albums with the band before blowing out his voice and finding himself replaced by former Yngwie Malmsteen front man Jeff Scott Soto, who after the cited “musical differences” was replaced by newcomer Arnel Pineda. Are you still with me? Good, let’s continue along then. According to press, Arnel was found on YouTube.com singing Journey covers with his band and the voice he demonstrated having made the bands hierarchy decide that he was the perfect person for the role. The new album would be a colossal effort that was sure to impress even the most doubting of fans who wonder how the group can continue in good conscious without Perry or even Augeri. To those people I have to say when you get an earful of how Arnel sings you will be impressed enough to give the guy a chance. With “Revelation” the band has chosen to not only give you a full album of new music, but also an additional CD of re-recorded, or “re-visited” classic numbers as done by the bands roster of 2008 and a full length concert DVD that covers both worlds. Given the scope of the release I have broken it down into a few sections to make more sense of it.
CD1: “The New Album”:
I have read a lot of bulletin boards and sites that are all incensed about the band moving on without Steve Perry and to them I say “get over it” as the singer made his decision years ago and a band cannot be expected to sit waiting idly for any one member to decide what the fate of the whole band is to be. I admit that this sounds rather tough but it should be noted that I was a huge Perry fan. Moving on I had to admit that I found issue with the way Steve Augeri was dismissed and I never got to enjoy them with Soto which I would have liked the chance to do yet it was not time to review the past but instead see just how this new guy Arnel would work within the structure of one of the world’s greatest bands. To be brutally honest I can say to everyone who is wondering about it themselves that he is absolutely fantastic. His pitch, his range, and the overall inflections of his voice on the bands newest material make songs like “Never Walk Away” and “Faith In The Heartland” instantly affects you and become your newest favorites from the group. Musically this is a big sounding release and one that can be considered a true successor to the blockbuster “Frontiers” if one needed to draw a comparison. I had no problems with “Raised On Radio” but to some that was only a so-so album. Schon never ceases to amaze me with his abilities on the guitar and while I had at one time pined for Steve Smith on the drums I am sure glad that Deen Castronovo is on board because he not only rocks as a drummer but is a powerful vocalist in his own right. The album is strong in its song-writing all around and probably would have done well as a single disc release based on the aforementioned tracks and other winners like “Where Did I Lose Your Love” and “Wildest Dream”. There is am ample supply of quality rockers here as well as the touching ballad that the band perfected with their classics “Faithfully” and “Open Arms” so long ago. “After All These Years” is the track that continues the bands success in delivering such a moving number. As soon as the first CD completed, I ran it through once again and then loaded it onto my Zune Player so I could listen to it all the more while running errands or travelling to work. They could have ended it here but instead opted for the revisiting of their hits.
CD2: “Classics Re-Recorded”:
Only The Young, Don’t Stop Believin’, Wheel In The Sky, Faithfully, Any Way You Want It, Who’s Crying Now, Separate Ways (World’s Apart), Lights, Open Arms, Be Good To Yourself, Stone In Love.
*** Depending on your mindset or the overall level of curiosity about Arnel and how he sings might have you playing the second CD before the first to see. However, if you are one who truly started at the beginning you would have most likely listened to what I am calling “Chapter 1” of the new release first and while impressed with the music and vocals on it, probably found yourself saying “yeah this new guy is good but how will he handle the older classics that I love so much”. If this was your question then I can once again say that he would handle these numbers like the most seasoned professional and not only mesh perfectly with melodies you have known for ages, but also do the songs justice with numerous levels of true respect for their legendary status. The second CD is one that might be hard for the hesitant ones to take since the perception given by a band who re-records their songs is that they are moving on from what you know and loved but I think in this case they wanted to give you an idea of what to expect from them in concert. I liked how they chose to give you a full CD of this material as opposed to just a handful of tracks. Arnel clearly hits all the right notes as he delivers “Don’t Stop Believin’” and “Separate Ways” with apparent ease and even goes way back into the bands catalog for “Lights’ and “Wheel In The Sky” (two personal favorites of my own). They would have really sold me faster had they included “Lovin, Touchin’, Squeezin’” or “Still They Ride” but in truth they couldn’t re-record every single number they had to please everyone. Despite that small reservation I was really, really impressed and will let you know that I was one of those fans who chose to play this CD first as opposed to their new songs. The re-do’s are not much different from the originals in the musical sense and all of them find Schon, Cain, Vallory and Castronovo playing at their best.
Disc 1
1. "Never Walk Away" (Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, Jeremey Hunsicker) - 4:19
2. "Like a Sunshower" (Schon, Cain) - 4:29
3. "Change for the Better" (Schon, Cain) - 5:52
4. "Wildest Dream" (Schon, Cain) - 5:02
5. "Faith in the Heartland" (original version from Generations, 2005) (Schon, Cain, Steve Augeri) - 6:18
6. "After All These Years" (Schon, Cain) - 4:10
7. "Where Did I Lose Your Love" (Schon, Cain) - 5:02
8. "What I Needed" (Schon, Cain, Arnel Pineda) - 5:28
9. "What It Takes to Win" (Cain, Schon) - 5:23
10. "Turn Down the World Tonight" (Cain, Schon) - 4:56
11. "The Journey (Revelation)" (Instrumental) (Schon) - 5:25
12. "Let It Take You Back" (bonus track on the European and Mexican releases) (Cain, Schon) - 4:59
13. "The Place in Your Heart" (bonus track on the Japanese release; original version from Generations, 2005) (Schon, Cain) - 4:45
Disc 2 (Re-recordings featuring Arnel Pineda)
1. "Only the Young" (original version from Vision Quest soundtrack, 1985) (Cain, Schon, Steve Perry) - 4:14
2. "Don't Stop Believin'" (original version from Escape, 1981) (Cain, Schon, Perry) - 4:55
3. "Wheel in the Sky" (original version from Infinity, 1978) (Schon, Diane Valory, Robert Fleischman) - 5:01
4. "Faithfully" (original version from Frontiers, 1983) (Cain) - 4:47
5. "Any Way You Want It" (original version from Departure, 1980) (Schon, Perry) - 3:25
6. "Who's Crying Now" (original version from Escape, 1981) (Cain, Perry) - 5:16
7. "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" (original version from Frontiers, 1983) (Cain, Perry) - 5:27
8. "Lights" (original version from Infinity, 1978) (Schon, Perry) - 3:16
9. "Open Arms" (original version from Escape, 1981) (Cain, Perry) - 3:22
10. "Be Good to Yourself" (original version from Raised on Radio, 1986) (Schon, Cain, Perry) - 4:29
11. "Stone in Love" (original version from Escape, 1981) (Schon, Cain, Perry) - 4:27
Journey
- Arnel Pineda – lead vocals
- Neal Schon – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Ross Valory – bass, backing vocals
- Deen Castronovo – drums, percussion, backing vocals
- Jonathan Cain – keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Kevin Shirley – producer, mixing
- John Neff – engineer
- Justin Pintar – mixing assistant
- George Marino – mastering
Notes
Released: June 3, 2008
Recorded: 2008 Studio The Plant in Sausalito, California
Genre: Hard rock, arena rock
Length: (Disc 1): 66:08
(Disc 2): 48:39
Label - Nomota LLC (US) / Frontiers (Europe) / Universal (rest of Asia)
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