NEXT

While not terrible, this last of the early Journey albums fails to accomplish what either of its predecessors did-- engage the listener with either technically interesting jams or catchy melodies. From the moment the opener, the vacuous Spaceman, starts up, the listener while be hard-pressed to keep a good attitude. This set of songs comes across as very contrived-- an attempt by the band to find some sort of commercial success; the sad thing is that even Neal Schon's stellar guitar work falls to pieces, sounding very processed and detached. Filler follows filler, in what becomes a laborius collection of music to get through.

Next is definitely the weakest of this set of albums, and should be avoided except by fans who really grooved with Look Into the Future. Not quite a 1-star stinker-- but close.

Songwriting: 1 Instrumental Performances: 2 Lyrics/Vocals: 1 Style/Emotion/Replay: 2