GREATEST HITS

Journey´s first compilation brings out only the hits, as the title honestly indicates. It is really for the ones who want to get the radio friendly material and the great pop songs of the late 70´s to the mid 80´s. Journey was a much maligned band for its chart success, but they were quite a talented bunch from the very start. While there is little prog here, it is also clear the band had the technique, the background and the songwriting ability to be reckon as something that went beyond the current pop hits of the time. Their prog leanings were much more evident on their first works, but it left a strong mark even at their most commercial stuff anyway. I had to admire those guys (who also were very good live). Neal Schon is a fine guitar player, has his own style and knows how to play good without too much showing off. And Steve Perry is one of the great singers of the 20th century.

I´d call this album good, simple and straight. It does not show the best of the band, though. They had much more to offer. If you´re looking for a more complete overview of Journey (Steve Perry era only) I recommend you get The Essential Journey or, in the case of rareties, the Time3 boxset. Greatest Hits is maybe the cheapest to buy, but is limited to the obvious, more well known songs. 2,5 stars.

I DID IT FOR THE GIRL.

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.

Greatest hits sets really aren't my thing. I prefer to explore the proper studio albums of the artist to see if there's any little known gems that I might like. I also don't really care for bands or songs that have been massively overexposed by the mainstream culture, and this version of Journey happens to be one of those bands. Steve Perry's voice has become ridiculously grating to my ears to the point where I can barely stand it anymore. Couple that with the tune selection here as nothing more than cheap radio hits with little instrumental highlights that get old before they're even over. There's really nothing progressive about anything here, so if you want to hear anything musically stimulating, just pass this one up.

'Greatest Hits' - Journey (Compilation)

As far as the general public is concerned, this is a fantastic collection of Journey's best known moments during their career. Songs like 'Separate Ways' and 'Don't Stop Believin' are represented here, and offer a good dose of (albeit commercial) rock that this prog listener can even appreciate. There's no contest as to whether or not the band (during this phase) was an arena rock band, but nontheless, Journey was and is a talented band with a penchant for writing good, catchy songs.

I daresay that this is the definitive greatest hits collection of the band, but it would have been nice if their progressive phase (being mainly their first album) was represented here, although I can certainly see why it wasn't included. While it's probably showing the band at it's instrumental peak, many people would prefer to have something so different from the rest of the band's catalog left out.

Don't expect prog here, but you can expect some good rock songs and a handful of ballads thrown into the mix.

In early eighties, still as schoolboy,I listened Journey and even loved some their songs ( never-full album, because they never had full strong album even then for me).So, I found almost all these songs there ,in their first compilation. No chances to hear there something from their very early jazz-rock albums, only AOR hits ( what is writen on cover).

Looking from now ( and when listening that CD with improved sound), music is melodic, energetic and very simple. I still like vocal and acoustic piano in few places, and some melodies still sounds nostalgic for me. But nothing really good about music - you will hardly find any prog there. Let say, their golden hits dated bad.

Only good thing there is they still sound better than in their new albums ( of 21 century). Vocal and melodies of old songs are still attractive in moments.

Generally, can't see why someone could be interested in that album. For heavy fans only. 2,5 points.

As a teenager, I wore this Journey compilation out because it contained a healthy portion of Journey's most beloved classic rock hits. It easily encouraged me to acquire several of their studio albums, which I found contained few really excellent tracks that were not included here. The album opens with one of my favorite Journey songs (because I certainly couldn't choose one), "Only the Young," which was featured on the 1985 film Vision Quest. As compilations go, this is an exceptional one, highlighting the best of Steve Perry-era Journey (and to be frank, what came before him was a different band altogether). At barely over an hour, I would have liked to have seen a few of the Gregg Rolie-led compositions during Steve Perry's lengthy tenure, as I've always felt the two singers provided a remarkable contrast with each other. Namely, I would have liked to have seen "Feeling That Way" and "Anytime," which, considering the radio airplay that one still gets today, would have been an obvious choice. I also think the rather unnoticed gem from Departure, "Someday Soon" would have made a fine addition. However, the merits of this semi-career-spanning compilation far outweigh its flaws, and for anyone who wants a nearly perfect sample of the glory days of Journey, one need look no further.

Journey is a band that normally is not considered a prog band, sometimes people even don't consider them a rock band, but well, sometimes labelling is merely subjective and what people should do is to enjoy the music they like without making comparisons and strict categorizations. Now that I found that they are here in the archives (I had completely forgot it) and that I've been a bit nostalgic listening to old records, I wanted to write a few words about this compilation album.

A "Greatest Hits" release might sum up the band's most successful tunes, which does not necessarily mean those are their best compositions, but might be some iconic songs that people around the world identify and love. This 1988 release is a perfect example of commercial success which gathers some rock tunes and some ballads that people from all ages and eras could enjoy, which makes it even a timeless record, because not matter where or when you play it, there will be people excited singing those songs, having memories and also introducing the band to others. I don't play it frequently, I actually don't listen to Journey frequently, but when I do, I tremendously enjoy singing songs such as "Separate Ways", "Open Arms" and of course "Don't Stop Believin'" among others.

So well, I think this release is actually worth it, pretty nice for those who like the band and a nice introduction for those who are not familiar with Journey's music. For that, despite there only a 5% of prog rock here, I wanted to review it and want to recommend it to those nostalgic minds who enjoy AOR.

Enjoy it!