Any Way You Want It

Still They Ride: Arnel Pineda resurrects the impassioned vocals and melismatic high notes that made Journey great.

After the end of Journey's last tour, there were many fans excited about the prospect of Jeff Scott Soto being the new lead singer of the band. Soto had credibility as an Arena Rocker (he had worked with Ygnwie Malmsteen!) and was a known quantity. I was mixed on Soto as lead singer, not that he couldn't sing but in performance I found him kind of Fame-ish. You know, like on the old TV show where high school students suddenly jump up during lunchtime and break into song while doing piorettes because they found out their sandwich was liverwurst instead of balogna. That whole "look at me, I'm talented" thing? Soto had that live. Sounded fine vocally, just did not care for his performance. I think I'm in the minority in this opinion about Soto, much of the fanbase was crushed by his sudden release from the band.

Journey found themselves singerless when The Sopranos use of "Don't Stop Believin" put the band at the forefront of pop culture again. Steve Perry was able to reap some press because, well, he's Steve Perry. But the rest of the band found themselves on the outside, unable to capitalize on the unexpected rush of publicity.

So Neal Schon turned to the internet to find a singer. I mean, people find spouses and cars and houses on the internet so why not a lead singer? Schon's persistence paid off and he was able to locate a singer from the Phillipines with a powerful Perryish voice - Arnel Pineda.

Pineda's introduction led to some backlash and "third world labor" jokes but to their credit, the band soldiered on with their choice. They recorded a new disc of music and have gone full throttle for trying to get that big comeback. Journey wrote in their classic Escape era style, signed a distribution deal similar to The Eagles with Wal Mart and have pressed hard to make their presence felt all over TV.

Now Journey's new CD, Revelation, is out and I've had the week to play it to death and check it out. And with that, lets tackle the first obvious question. Is Arnel Pineda the second coming of Steve Perry?

Well, the answer is sort of. In terms of his performance, Pineda definitely has powerful pipes and sings with more energy and swagger than Steve Augeri did (though I liked Steve Augeri as well). The band gives Pineda room not only to sing but to show some personality, the most they've allowed since the Perry era. And Arnel Pineda does show some star power vocally, but I think it does fall just short of superstar. But being discovered on You Tube and having a sad sack backstory has helped make up some of the difference in that department. He's gotten the band the most press it's received in years and people are talking about them on their own terms for the first time since...ever? And his perfomance is unquestionably committed and is able to overcome much of the obvious comparisons.

With that out of the way, what about the actual music on Revelation? Done with the experimentation of Red 13 and the hide-the-singer- tactics of Generations, Journey offers up their most straightforward offering since 2001's Arrival. In other words, it's Journey the way you remembered them when you were in high school or junior high watching The Greatest American Hero on tv and drawing funny faces on your Pee Chee folder during History class. Or maybe doing more exciting things than that. Hopefully.

Jon Cain and Neal Schon wrote almost all the music this time out, very little use of outside songwriters and none of the write by committee approach of the last album. The melodic rock rush of "Never Walk Away" or "Change For The Better" stick and move like their classic sound (think "Be Good To Yourself") with wailing vocals, hooky melodies and blistering guitars. With Journey, the money has been in the ballads and the group serves up some winners with "After All These Years" and especially on the quieter "Turn Down The World Tonight". Midtempo rock a la "Ask The Lonely" is there as well with the excellent "Where Did I Lose Your Love" even with it's curious drum bit taken from Prince's "Take Me With U". Journey even manages to make something new out of an older song, as "Faith In The Heartland" from the Generations album gets remade with a slower beat which thankfully strips a lot of the U2 out of it. Best of all, Pineda's vocal style allows the group to reintroduce some much needed R&B on "Like A Sunshower".

The only song that gets close to a misstep is "What It Takes To Win", just because the title and beat was more remiscent of Survivor than Journey. But no matter. While I didn't hear any song that would likely capture the public's imagination the way prior hits did, Revelation is a strong album that I like more and more every time I play it.

To give the most bang for the buck, Journey also re-recorded a lot of their classic hits known as "The Dirty Dozen" with Pineda. While Pineda is convincing in his vocal, nothing really new happens musically so I get bored with it after two songs. I still haven't played the whole thing, this disc only has value if you're not one of the 10 million people who bought Journey's Greatest Hits.

Another add on is a DVD shot of the band's show in Las Vegas, I think it was Pineda's first public performance with the band in the US. This was a treat, Pineda really can sing and Schon seems the most focused he's been in ages. I still get distracted when Deen Castronovo sings, even when he sings really well like on "Mother Father" here. The hits rerecordings and DVD are obviously meant to establish Pineda as the new Main Man and the DVD does succeed at that level.

Arnel Pineda has turned out to be exactly what the band needs and does show more of his own personality than I thought he would (or be allowed to). He allows Journey to deliver what their fans want short of an actual Perry reunion. With a little luck, fans will start believin' again even without "The Voice". And finally, after all these years, Neal Schon has someone in the band he can refer to as "the little guy". Journey is back and they're ready to play their music Any Way You Want It. Exclusive only at Wal Mart.

Journey "Never Walk Away" and "After All These Years"