GREATEST HITS

It was 1988/1989, my freshman year in college. My musical tastes were mostly into the popular metal of the day such as bands like Poison, Van Halen, Motley Crue, and Def Leppard. My favorite band at that time was probably Metallica. I had just attended my first concert which was the Monsters of Rock which consisted of Van Halen, The Scorpions, Metallica, Dokken, and Kingdom Come. I was also just starting to get into progressive rock as it was about this time that I purchased my first Rush, Yes, and ELP albums.

Anyhow, as I mentioned it was my freshman year in college, I was working part-time and taking 4 classes in the afternoons or the evenings. In two of my four classes was Becky, a nice looking girl who was a year older than me, but had attended the same high school as me. Although we didn't really know each other well, we gravitated towards each other in the sea of unfamiliar faces within the classrooms. Being the consumate geek/nerd I quicky became pretty enamored with her, since most girls our age barely gave me the time of day. One conversation led to another and she tells me that her favorite band is Journey. Of course, I had heard of Journey and I liked Wheel In the Sky, but I wasn't really familiar with them. Although, they had had some pretty legendary free concerts a couple of miles from my home, before my time. Cars parked on the main streets. Drunk and stoned fans having sex everywhere. Fact or fiction, I don't know, but that was what I knew about Journey..

Determined to impress the girl, I ran over to the record store that weekend and lo and behold Journey had just released this Greatest Hits album. The first time I played this album was one of the most surreal listening experiences that I have ever had. As each song came on, I realized that I had heard it before and liked it. Of the 15 songs on the album, I knew and liked at least 10 of them. I just had no idea that they were all done by Journey. Years of casually listening to the radio without really paying attention. Anyhow, I was pretty excited that I'd be able to go back to Becky and tell her what I heard and that even though I hadn't realized it, I liked Journey too.

In the case that anyone has even read this review this far and is wondering whether our hero got the girl; he didn't. She had a summer job working on Mackinac Island and she wasn't interested in me because she had a boyfriend who lived up there. True or not I don't really know. We remained friends throughout the remainder of the semester, and then went our separate ways to new classes and the remainders of our lives. I have no idea whatever happened to Becky, but I have her to thank for helping me get through one semester of college towards earning my bachelor's degree, and a lifelong love of Journey.

Journey's Greatest Hits is another compilation that I absolutely love and found to be an excellent introduction into a band that I didn't know that I already knew. However, being that the music is mostly AOR and this is a prog site the best rating that I can give it is 3 stars. Some prog fans will like this, but many won't. It is good, but not essential.

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