GREATEST HITS 2

The readers of PA probably know JOURNEY generally better than I do. This US band must be one of the most maligned ones in our database, alongside the more or less similar case of STYX. Great album covers and stinkingly commercial music, if you allow this cruel generalization. I have passively always "known" this band - and I'm aware that it was founded by two SANTANA members, keyboardist Gregg Rolie and guitarist Neal Schon, in the mid-seventies - but I have never listened to any of their album, nor do I actually remember any of their song (so that "knowing" is VERY passive indeed!). Nor have I very positive exceptations of this compilation. It excludes the early years that are favoured by prog-minded listeners and concentrates on the early eighties. BTW, allmusic.com rates the albums of this period higher than the first ones, but they have a whole different approach to popular music than us progheads.

There's no hiding the fact that this music is very commercial and eighties-sounding (hard / power) rock for large audience. It's not any surprise that they were very popular in the USA; if they hadn't been, that would have been against natural laws. This would have suited perfectly to the teenage parties of the time. Masculine power rock, music for crowds to have good time with, drinking beer or other alcohol. The obligatory ballads are represented too: now, go and ask your secret object of your infatuation for a slow dance!

Maybe it helps that I was a teenager in the eighties, for listening to this CD was a sort of positive, to some degree maybe even refreshing experience, as I generally never listen to this kind of commercial American hard rock. I was afraid I couldn't stand an hour of this, but I did! Songwriting is actually pretty good within this genre (nothing to do with prog, that should go without saying), and the production is faultless, not sounding terribly outdated as a lot of music of the early eighties does today. The emphasis in sound is on keyboards that aren't bad at all.

Maybe in Finland JOURNEY haven't been so popular. TOTO's hits like 'Rosanna', 'Hold the Line' and 'Africa' can still be heard on radio, why I don't remember any JOURNEY hits? Now, I wouldn't care of your horrified? thoughts if I gave three stars (as I considered) to this music which is clearly more hated than loved in this site. But objectively thought, this is not a bad compilation. It is of course sad (from our point of view) that it doesn't have anything predating 1978, when vocalist Steve Perry joined the group. But the real target audience hardly misses the early, proggier stuff at all.

Well. Since this IS a prog site, two stars will do... But seriously, this is a good selection of this particular kind of music of that era.