CAPTURED

Journey is just one of those bands that can generate very strong, fan-boy level of enjoyment... or groan filled, nausea inducing levels of syrupy sweet distaste. As one of the first rock bands that I fell in love with during my adolescence, for me Journey music is mostly filled with good memories. While only their early releases qualify as fusion, and therefore just prog enough to make it to this site, Captured is still a solid a showcase of the band's talent for crafting excellent pop-rock songs with all the right combination of hooks and melodies and feel-good memorability to make it a great live purchase for fans of the band.

The setlist covers the three albums from the band's middle period (1978-1980). This means there's no "Don't Stop Believing" or "Faithfully," which may make it more appealing to prog fans. I consider this to be one of the best periods of Journey's output: they're still crafting good old fashioned rock and roll, but with a high level of polish and approachability. Highlights from Infinity and Departure are the clear winners. The band plays quite well, with Schon being the obvious standout, though not so much that he steals the show. Greg Rolie's piano are very strong throughout; while he never gets much solo duty on these songs, the tones of his keyboards are easily heard throughout thanks to a nice production. Ditto for Ross Valory's bass; he even gets a groovy solo during the vamp of "La Do Da." Fans of the group will be interested to know that Captured features two songs not heard on other albums... bonus!

The band plays extended versions of a few of their tunes, such as a second solo verse in "Lights," and chorus extension in "Walks Like a Lady." Overall though these are very clean versions of songs so don't expect many "wow" live moments. Captured's production shows the band playing very tightly, doing what they do best. If you're into Journey, that's a good thing. If you aren't, this probably won't change your mind unless you're open minded about their '70's output.

Setlist: 3 - Instrumental Performances: 3 - Lyrics/Vocals: 3 - Stage/Energy: 3