A Foreigner's Journey Into The Night

Last nite got to see the all killer no filler triple bill of Night Ranger, Foreigner and Journey at the Sleep Train Pavilion. It had been raining hard and often over the past few days, but last night there was no rain. The show had a start time of 7pm, the pavilion was still sparsely populated when Night Ranger promptly took the stage.

Night Ranger set list:
Lay It On Me / Sing Me Away / High Enough / When You Close Your Eyes / Don't Tell Me You Love Me / Sister Christian / (You Can Still) Rock In America

Night Ranger opened with a heavy rock track from their recent Somewhere In Californa disc "Lay It On Me" which was a brilliant choice considering the crowd's hit heavy mood. Throw the new song on at the start before the audience has time to realize they don't recognize it! As bassist/vocalist Jack Blades, guitarist Brad Gillis and more recent addition guitarist Joel Hoekstra scampered, spun and tandem posed for the fans it became clear Night Ranger still worked a high energy attack. At least for guys their age.

Jack Blades made clear the Bay Area roots of the band while mentioning the last time they played this venue was in 1987 when they headlined with opening act Tesla (funny enough that was the last time I saw Night Ranger). This led to an enjoyable run through their early pop rocker "Sing Me Away". Then Blades said he was on the phone with Tommy Shaw the other day and Shaw insisted Night Ranger play Damn Yankee's power ballad smash "High Enough". Although I liked Gillis' guitar solo (it was great and nothing like Ted Nugent's original) the fact is that the song needs a high pitched singer like Shaw to pull it off. And it seemed kinda lame to include "High Enough" when Night Ranger had all those hits from the 7 Wishes record that wasn't played at all (including the Top 10 "Sentimental Street"). But they played it. Oh well...

Blades reminisced more about when Night Ranger played Day On The Green supporting Journey in '83 before bouncing into "When You Close Your Eyes".

It was time to rock again as Night Ranger barn stormed through their classic "Don't Tell Me You Love Me". Guitarist Joel Hoekstra started to wow me at this point with his blazing playing and easy camaraderie with Gillis. Blades told everyone they would be singing along a lot this evening and worked a little bit of The Eagles' "Hotel California" in the middle of "Don't tell Me You Love Me". Drummer Kelly Keagy got to walk out from behind his kit for a little - singing lead on that other power ballad classic "Sister Christian". That definitely got the sing along crowd, um, motorin, so the band broke out the red, white and blue guitars for "(You Can Still) Rock In America". Couldn't have been happier hearing Night Ranger dish out their best jams in rapid succession.

True to their rep, Night Ranger delivered a great set. Yet their opening act status meant no encore. Bummer.

After the normal stage reset for the next band on the bill, Foreigner jumped on stage. A lot of the audience had arrived by now and were ready to rock.

Foreigner set list:
Double Vision / Head Games / Cold As Ice / Waiting For A Girl Like You / Dirty White Boy / Feels Like The First Time / Urgent / I Want To Know What Love Is / Hot Blooded
encore: Juke Box Hero

I had read online that band leader and only remaining original member Mick Jones had not been touring due to his health. This meant a serious shortage of star power for Foreigner as both Night Ranger and Journey boasts three originals (defining original as being from the 80s lineups of these bands not necessarily founding members) to Foreigner's none. Zero. Zilch. Not even an original bass player (though ex-Dokken bassist Jeff Pilson is always great). The responsibility for driving this whole thing rested squarely on vocalist Kelly Hansen's shoulders.

Now lucky for me I saw Foreigner last year, so this time around I was prepared for Hansen's Steven Tyler stage presence and adapted to it easier. And I have to say Hansen pulled it off, leading the band with energy and powerful vocals. Even when Hansen's mic cut out during "Dirty White Boy" he handled it like a pro, going to the side of the stage to trade out mics and then picking up where he left off in the verse. Equally impressive, on one of the fast songs (don't remember which) Hansen sang a verse section while running a lap around the inner seating section without getting winded.

Foreigner also had the best staged show out of the three. Their usage of the background video screen was impressive with flashing lights and dynamic use of colors (except of "Juke Box Hero" where they decided to employ computer graphics from 1993 to show people with stars in their eyes). The dizzying box images on "Head Games" or the flames for "Hot Blooded" really got me. And for "I Want To Know What Love Is" the group brought out a local choir to handle the background vocals.

It was because of these factors that Foreigner got over the most with the audience. By the end of the set it was nearly a packed house (save the row in front of us, more on that in a minute) who were all kinds of Foreigner crazy. For me, the lack of original members of any kind was noticeable (I've seen Foreigner in '85, '99 and 2010) so while the performance was good it was hard to shake that tribute band feeling (maybe if they played something off Can't Slow Down it might have felt less that way). But I didn't feel like anyone else noticed, or maybe just didn't care. Thought it was funny some in the audience were bemoaning the lack of Steve Perry with Journey but nobody missed Lou Gramm. Why no love for Lou?

Another stage redress and Journey were on their way!

Journey set list:
Separate Ways / Ask The Lonely / Send Her My Love / City Of Hope - Only The Young / Faithfully / Guitar Solo / Stone In Love / Escape / Lights / Wheel In The Sky / Keyboard Solo / Open Arms / La Do Da / Be Good To Yourself / Lovin' Touchin Squeezin
encore: Any Way You Want It / Don't Stop Believin'

"Separate Ways" always makes a good set opener as Journey split the cool night air with that familiar synth intro. Guitarist Neal Schon literally kicked things off with a kick to the sky. Singer Arnel Pineda hit the stage and was still in good voice (although some of his high notes were boosted with an echo effect). They kept things rolling with an excellent take on "Ask The Lonely" as bassist Ross Valory mugged for the camera.

A nice set list surprise with the quiet ballad "Send Her My Love", it's been so long since I've heard it live I didn't recognize it at first. Pineda dug into the haunted sentiments and displayed an open sensitivity not seen since the Perry days. It was the musical high point of the evening for me.

Keyboardist Jon Cain addressed the crowd and did the usual "Are you ready to rock?!" stage patter garnering a strong audience response until he asked if we were ready to hear some new music. Think I heard some crickets chirping after Cain asked that question. "City Of Hope" was introduced as being about Manila in the Philippines, it's a pretty good song. Too bad the audience wouldn't even do the "tolerate the one new song" courtesy most bands get, they were stone dead silent throughout save for a guy two seats down from me booing. It was like watching a band perform in a vacuum. Journey must be getting this reaction a lot because "City Of Hope" cuts into "Only The Young" without a break in between.

Pineda got the lead vocal nod on "Faithfully" which was nice, I was expecting the mic to pass to drummer Deen Castronovo (who sounds more like Steve Perry than anybody) at this point. In fact Castronovo got no lead vocals this show, the first time I can remember that happening since...Arrival tour? It was good to see the vocals center on one guy again.

Neal Schon's guitar solo I can't recall exactly where it was in the set so I'm guessing it was here. It was as spectacular as always. "Stone In Love" amped up the fans, Castronovo's ability to beat the hell out of his drums really came across here. Also Arnel Pineda's familiarity with the material from touring is paying off as he came across earnestly during the all important "I've got dreams I'm livin' for" segment of "Escape".

"Lights" got the audience swooning in a waving sea of cell phones and bic lighters (I guess the stoners were good for something after all) before they crushed "Wheel In The Sky". Schon freshened up that charged guitar riff he kicks into towards the end and Cain showed off some likeably sloppy harmonica adding a bluesy charm.

Jon Cain then handed in a marvelous piano solo, probably the most extravagantly classical keys solo I've heard since Rick Wakeman. Predictably this led into "Open Arms".

Journey then blew my mind by pulling out one of my all time favorite songs of theirs that I've never heard from them live, "La Do Freakin Da". Well, really "La Do Da". This is late 70s rock at it's face melting best. Then it was back to the "dirty dozen" with "Be Good To Yourself" which was memorable because someone distracted Arnel Pineda to the point he missed the start of the second verse. I think he was laughing at someone in the front rows. Though it was technically a goof, the humor added to the positive messaging of the song.

"Lovin Touchin Squeezin" closed out the main set, a song I recently found out was inspired by a Sam Cooke song (thank you wikipedia). Just a bit of trivia I never knew. Na na na na boo boo, stick your head in doo doo.

I make it a point to leave before the final encore to beat the traffic. There was some opening guitar parts that sounded like the start to "Lay It Down" before they snapped into "Any Way You Want It". I heard that and "Don't Stop Believin" on the way to the parking lot. From the crowd noise those two went over big and sounded great.

Night Ranger rating:


Foreigner rating:


Journey rating:

Midnight Madness - New TV Season Edition

It's that special time of year when new tv series make their over publicized debuts and returning favorites make another run for ratings gold. Actors and actresses pushing their mugs onto the screen screaming "watch me!". Like how many times do I have to see Maria Bello's pretty face all bruised up as she rattles off tough cop nonsense? She's a good actress but this ad campaign doesn't ring true for me, seems forced. Her show could be great for all I know yet I don't have an interest in her program now.

Haven't posted in a little while so there's a bit of old news that doesn't really need addressing...but I'm goin' for it anyway!

Slippin The Secret Salahi - Wow, it's a real worlds collide moment when the guitar player of my favorite band gets involved in a real Real Housewives Of... moment by stealing a former RHWO D.C. cast member for himself. One of the crazy ones no less. On the upside, it's the most press Journey's gotten in a year or two. Downside? At best Schon comes off as an insensitive horndog. And then there were rumors Salahi was riding Steven Tyler's elevator too.

New Adventures In Hi Fi -is when R.E.M. should have stopped in my opinion, even though I enjoyed Accelerate and Collapse Into Now. I was offended that they kept going after Bill Berry split because they made a big deal beforehand about how if one of the four left the band would end and then it didn't. Not so offended I wouldn't listen to them, just thought R.E.M. was one of those "men of their word" kind of bands. Anyway, they've called it a day now. When they return hope Bill Berry is back. Didn't Berry go into farming or something?

X Factor - is booorrriiing

New Girl Now - watched the Zooey Deschanel tv show, she was as offbeat as ever too bad they made the supporting cast like male versions of her. Show has potential if it makes the guys more normal to make it less of a tightly focused personality fest (one guy is macho aggressive, another douchey and a third hyper sensitive). Oh wow, 2nd episode in and the aggro guy has been replaced with a more grounded character (was that Damon Wayans?). New Girl don't waste no time!

Rock Em Sock Em Robots - is what I think when I see commercials for Real Steel.
50/50 shot - my wife told me what she thinks this movie is about, still I gotta say this is the suckiest ad campaign for a film I've seen in awhile. All I get out of the tv adverts is a bunch of testimonials about how funny this film supposdedly is while all the scenes shown have a drab dour tone. The 3rd rock / Inception kid shaves his head and I don't get what's funny about that. Either this movie is so incredible that an advertisement can't convey what it's really about or it's about nothing of merit. A real 50/50.

Harvester Of Sorrow - the first sounds of the Metallica and Lou Reed team up have hit the net. And in honor of Spinal Tap all I can say is "Shit Sandwich".

Dreamin' - lovin the new Dream Theater video. truly awesome stuff.

What Happens In Vegas Stays On Blogger

Just came back from my first trip to Las Vegas. What an incredible trip it was! Three days of fun shared with my wonderful wife. And how else should I commemorate the trip than create a playlist of memories, another Playlist of Pooh!

Gram Parsons - Ooh Las Vegas

To get psyched up for the trip I thought I should listen to Ac/Dc's "Sin City" or ZZ Top's "Viva Las Vegas" but I never did, instead I played this song on my Ipod repeatedly in the week leading up to the trip.

Journey - Raised On Radio

We listened to the radio on the way to the airport, I had no idea that Steven Seaweed and his Hot Lunch program was still on the air. In high school I loved listening to that show on the now defunct KRQR radio station. The weed man wanted folks to call in requests with "radio" as the theme, I would have called this in if I had time to hear it before arriving at the airport.

The Beatles - Ticket To Ride

It was a long wait for our flight at the airport, it was delayed by about two hours. I have an extreme fear of heights and flying, so even though I watched plane after plane take off the runway without incident I was still going nuts. I tried to think of how many of my favorite entertainers have spent decades flying all over the world without problem. Or the other times I had been on planes and safely gotten from one place to another. Unfortunately, all these rationalizations didn't help much so my wife bought me a magazine about The Beatles to distract me.

Asia - The Smile Has Left Your Eyes


Our trip to Vegas was off to a bad start, the flight was delayed and then it took another 30 minutes for our shuttle to leave the airport because they were waiting for other passengers. Except they didn't tell us that, they sat us in the shuttle and left us there to the point we considered just walking to the hotel. Our hotel was The Luxor, a pyramid shaped place that reminded me of the Asia Alpha album cover.

Ohio Players - Love Rollercoaster

Once we dropped off our stuff in the room we decided to walk around. The New York New York section nearby so we went on the roller coaster. It was a great coaster with huge drops and loops throughout. Easily the best roller coaster we had been on in ages. My only problem was I rode the coaster wrong. How do you ride a roller coaster wrong? On this one you have to keep your head flat against the headrest or else it bounces between two neck bars like a ping pong ball. I didn't know that going in, the sides of my lower jaw are still sore. But what a great ride!

Sammy Hagar - I Love This Bar

We had a drink at a bar, I think it was called Diablo. There are tons of restaurant / bars on the Strip including Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo and another owned by Toby Keith. I was sort of interested in going to Cabo Wabo since Sammy Hagar is as close to a prophet / philosopher that I can think of in the world. But when I heard their music system pumping new wave music I thought "ehhh". In Sammy Hagar land there should only be Saint Sammy's jams on the speakers!

Quarterflash - Take Me To Heart

The next morning this song was running through my head for no apparent reason. Just seemed to fit the mood of relaxing opulence at The Luxor.

Bruce Springsteen - Atlantic City

Vegas is all about tourism, for many living there it is working in the service industry but for others it's sales and promotion. There is this place under construction called The Grandview which will eventually be 20 towers tall but only has six built right now. The Grandview has hired an army of blazer wearing folk to offer package deals of show tickets and gambling money in exchange for going through what I assume is a lengthy presentation to get you to buy into a timeshare at the new establishment. While the sales people are perfectly pleasant, they're planted like ant farms all over Mandalay Bay, The Luxor and The Excaliber making their repeated "Do you have any plans for a show this evening" or "How long are you in town" queries irritating beyond belief. I actually preferred the porn peddlers waving their leaflets in my face up and down the strip to The Grandview reps. At least those guys and gals understand my shaking my head and hands at them means "no" and don't try to overcome my objections. It doesn't quite fit, yet "Atlantic City" came to mind when dealing with these people. I don't blame the salespeople themselves they're just people trying to earn a buck just like me, but damn...

Bella Notte

We had a nice romantic gondola ride through an indoor area that is designed to be like Venice, Italy. The...I guess maybe they're called Gondalier? Anyway, the guy that moves the boat with a pole was friendly and an excellent singer. One of the songs he sang he prefaced as being from The Lady And The Tramp which was this tune.

Ray Lamontage - You Are The Best Thing

While spending time with my wife looking thru the mall stores, this song came on which fit the mood perfectly.

Kool & The Gang - Too Hot

Did I mention it is hot in Vegas? The temp was over 100 degrees every day until when we left, when it was a cool 97. Even at night you feel like you walked into a broiler. After walking much of the day we were exhausted and took a hasty cab ride back to our room for some rest. Then we met with some of my wife's relatives for a very pleasant dinner.

Queen - Body Language

Won't go into too much detail, I'll just say seeing provocative dancing to this song was the first time I enjoyed hearing this forgotten track. Thought "Body Language" overdid the dance angle of the band following "Another One Bites The Dust" in terms of Queen's music, but in this context it was the perfect tune.

She And Him - You Really Got A Hold On Me

In a rare quiet moment in this very exciting city, I sat down with my Ipod and listened to some She & Him while reading the hotel magazines. This song really popped when I heard it.

Duffy - Mercy

If there is a song The Luxor likes, it's definitely "Mercy". Heard this play throughout the hotel multiple times every day. It's amazing how these hotel / casinos are designed, they're like mini cities within themselves with tons of food, shopping and entertainment at your disposal (at a high price of course). Oh, if you're ever in The Luxor I recommend having the fried rice at Rice & Co. upstairs, it is insanely good!

The Heights - How do You Talk to An Angel?

It's my wife's birthday! We had a delicious breakfast at the Mandalay Bay, it was a fancy place with a great view of other buildings and palm trees. I had a Norway Benedict while she had smoked salmon with bagels. It felt like the setting for a scene in a tv show with rich people, like 90210. A wonderful time with my wonderful, beautiful wife.

Styx - Mr Roboto

After breakfast I took her to The Fremont Street Experience. The magazine in the hotel room promised shopping and art and a good time. What actually was there was old Las Vegas, the original Strip. The Fremont Street Experience was fascinating, a sort of land-that-time-forgot. A place that emphasizes the "loosest slots in town" and offer prime rib dinners for $4.95 on posters. The older casino / hotels retain much of the 70s style sense of glitz with tons of light bulbs flashing on signs everywhere. Signs you could easily imagine having held the names of legends like Sammy Davis Jr or Dean Martin at one point in time. There weren't many people there when we went, adding to a ghost town effect. When I told my wife the magazine said Fremont Street was 80s themed this year, she jokingly said that was the reason I took her there. The topic came up when "Mr Roboto" blasted on the Fremont St audio system while we looked at a kiosk selling 80s t-shirts saying something like "Vegas says Relax" (for those too young to remember, the 80s had a lot of "Frankie Says Relax" t-shirts. Right up there with oversized "Choose Life" shirts).

John Waite - Going to The Top

My wife has always wanted to go to France, so I took her to the Eiffel Tower in the Paris section of Las Vegas Blvd. The view was really awesome, I just wished my fear of heights could have subsided so we could have enjoyed it more.

Elvis Presley - Viva Las Vegas

In the early afternoon we made our way back to the Bellagio / Ceasar's Palace part of the Strip. It was there on a private balcony we witnessed the famous water fountain show at The Bellagio. Done to the tune of "Viva Las Vegas", it was truly a spectacular show. So glad we got to see this.

The Simpsons - Monorail

We rode the monorail back towards our hotel afterwards. I love monorails!

Black Crowes - Share The Ride

That evening we saw Cirque Du Soleil Ka which I will write a separate review on. Once that ended we tried to catch a cab back to the hotel, but the cab stand line was too long so we footed it. Before Vegas, I had taken maybe two taxi cab rides in my life. In Las Vegas it was a daily necessity. It is so hot outside you have to find other ways to get around. Most of the taxi drivers were friendly and amiable, others not so much.

Nearer My God to Thee

The next morning we went to see the Titanic exhibit at the Luxor. On the one hand, it may not have been a good idea to delve into one of the greatest disasters in modern travel on the same day as catching a flight. On the other hand, it was a well done exhibit. It is solemn, informative and involving. To see the personal effects of the travellers and remaining pieces of the ship is so sad. The recreation of the grand staircase is impressive. But what really stuck with me is the facsimile of the side deck at night, it makes you feel like you're really on a ship. A feeling of calm and beauty, unaware of the disaster looming before them. Violin music played in the background, which I believe included this song that may have been performed while the boat sank. After Titanic we walked over to the Shark Reef to see an impressive display of animals and sea creatures.

Gym Class Heroes - Cupid's Chokehold / Breakfast In America

To cope with the flying I had to drink a lot before the flight. While downing a beer this song played in the background at the bar, my wife hadn't heard it before so it caught her by surprise. I had to break the news that yes, even Supertramp is not immune to sampling. Can't say I dislike this tho, it's Supertramp with a modern beat.

Led Zeppelin - Fool In The Rain

We sat in rush hour traffic through San Francisco to get home. The radio played three Led Zep songs in a row, after "Fool In The Rain" we talked about our trip matching the cadence of the verses.

Smokey Robinson - Being With You

Thank you for the trip honey, I loved being there with you :)

Weezer - Memories

While driving to get some food today, the radio was all advertisements so I threw in the Weezer cd I had in the car. This song was perfect for the moment. All the memories make me want to go back there...

Journey Makes Believers Out Of All Of Us

"Don't Stop Believin" has had an interesting life, in the 80s it was an dominating rock anthem that many a Class Of '81 graduated to. But in the grungy alt rock 90s the song disappeared from view. The rock critic elite that had trashed Journey throughout their career was all too happy to see them go, until a sign of life flickered in 1998 thanks to an incredible string version used for the film The Wedding Singer. Since the turn of the century "Believin" has returned to its former glory, referenced by sports teams, movies and television series alike. It's become the theme song to a nostalgic view of modern optimism, maybe made more complex by chance than design but still there it is. And everyone wants a piece of it, in the last decade or so "Don't Stop Believin" has become a standard like "Strangers In The Night" or "If I Had A Hammer". So I spent tonight subjecting myself to a variety of cover versions so I can take a look at the song past Journey or Steve Perry.

There are a couple of basic ways to cover this song, I'll start with the best known one.

The Musical Take

What if all those streetlight people that were holding on to that feeling were to sing in unison while performing complex choreography? That question seems to weigh heavily on people's minds because two of the most popular cover versions of "Don't Stop Believin" is exactly that. The tv show Glee has the best known cover, going all High School Musical with zippy production and emphasis on a capella to accent the groove. It's not bad for what it is, I'm indifferent to it myself other than it brings recognition of the song to the young generation which is nice. The Broadway play Rock Of Ages uses the song as well for the big finish to their show. In both Glee and Rock Of Ages the tune is used as a sweeping gesture to bring a bunch of characters together to allow their moment to shine. While the musical take draws a lot of the rock muscle out of "Don't Stop Believin" I guess it isn't too different than hearing 25,000 fans in an arena screaming along with three or four beers in them. The Glee cover has caught on like wildfire with similar versions coming out from as unlikely places as Big Brother. Though when you get to the point where one or two people are making covers of the Glee cover, that goes a little too far. By the time you get to Alvin and the Chipmunks (who are autotuned to death, who thought of autotuning what is already understood to be a studio manipulated vocal?) it's game over.



The Full On Cover

Who dares to challenge the greatness of Steve Perry? Other than everybody with two turntables and a microphone? Can anyone sing this song better than the originator, he who gives life to magic, Steve Perry?? Don't give me no back talk, no. But a lot of people try and some do really well, even those that aren't officially sanctioned by Neal Schon and Jon Cain to do so under the Journey name. He who was nearly Steve Perry's replacement in Journey Kevin Chalfant does a good job of getting some Perry Power into his version. Tribute band singer Hugo has made a lifetime career out of being Steve Perry so ditto him as well. Plus the tribute band Evolution has this guy who even mimics the dress and mannerisms of Sir Perry. Where it gets interesting is Starship's Mickey Thomas covered it too, I always enjoy Thomas' vocals and got a kick out of his version. Wish I could say the same about American Idol's James Durbin tackling the arena rock classic, I enjoyed his performances generally but on tv he was to distracted by playing to the crowd to nail his vocal. Fans of Durbin must have felt the same as he was voted off the next night. Eric Dover (of Slash's Snakepit) had an OK take with his voice but the backing track seemed thin. His You Tube posting said he would go after anyone who makes a bad comment about his cover, it will be interesting to see if that's true. Fall Out Boy took a shot at it live, too bad the singer's voice failed him on the really high end. When it comes to the full on cover, the version with the most impact is Steel Panther's. A great balance of energy and knowing cheese, a mix they often do well.



String A Long

The Wedding Singer made the string arrangement of "Don't Stop Believin" a dream for people's nuptuals, except that version can't seem to be found anywhere. But there are string versions out there. Vitamin String Quartet had my favorite of the versions out there because it came closest to Wedding Singer with the slowed down tempo. Low Strung does a nice rendition too with a pace that's closer to the original. Still, it's that Wedding Singer version that everyone remembers fondly including me.



Dancing Machine

If Dance Dance Revolution taught me one thing, it's that I really can't dance. Other than that, DDR taught me that any song can be remade into a bleepin' and bloopin' electronica jam. The best of the dance covers was by some guy named Newton. It at least had a eurodisco feel to it. There were a few other versions I listened to but I'm not a big electronica fan so it all starts to sound the same after a bit.



Alt Rocka

We're getting into more painful territory as we get to Alternative Rock covers. Journey's slick arrangements and Perry-ized vocal style doesn't translate too well to the angsty mild punk pop of today. The best of what I could dig up was by somebody named Five Hour Flight Music, it was at least clean and entertaining. Another group called Flight 409 (what is it with alternative rock and flights?) has a singer that works in that current style what is it called - emo? I think he sounds emo. Doesn't work well for this song. I give them credit though for retaining the lurching drums. The biggest laugh I got out of this You Tube cruise is what's labeled a screamo cover. Funny stuff.



Odds & Ends

You'd think that would be all the covers right there...but wait! There's more! A group or person named Boyce Avenue has a pleasant piano ballad version that's pretty decent. There are also bluegrass and lullaby renditions that have a novelty to them. But my favorite of all the "Don't Stop Believin" covers is the a capella one done by Petra Haden. I guess her version influenced Glee's which takes some of the edge off, I remember when I first heard it how impressed I was with it's inventiveness. It's fantastic.



Which brings us full circle. There are tons more covers out there, I just don't have time to go through them all. The movie never ends, it goes on and on and on and on.

Dream After Dream

Rating:


Journey's new disc Eclipse is out and I got it this week, and I have found it their most addictive release since - wait for it - Frontiers. It is that good. I've played it four times over in the last 48 hours. But it is also gonna be a tough sell to a mass audience. I don't think many of the fans they won over with Revelation is going to like Eclipse. It's not a very romantic album. Not a lot of heartache and heart break here, which is what a lot of people like about Journey's music.

When it comes to Journey, people expect power ballads ("Open Arms", "Faithfully")and self empowerment anthems("Be Good To Yourself", "Don't Stop Believin"). On Eclipse Journey ditches the former and goes all in on the latter. Every song on the album depicts struggle against the odds and fighting to get to the top because as they are sure to tell you "Anything Is Possible" when you "Resonate" at the "Edge Of A Moment" in the "City Of Hope".

To be honest, I was really ready to not like Eclipse before I even heard it. I had read online about the uncommercial tact of the new album and when they had done this type of thing before on Red 13 or Generations the results kinda sucked. When I hit play on my Ipod for this sucker, I braced myself for a lot of non melodic jams with excessive guitar soloing.

So I was shocked, shocked I tell you, that the melodies are killer on Eclipse (like the dramatic "Chains Of Love" where the building chorus is awesome). And while there is a ton of guitar on this disc, I didn't find the solos excessive. Plus drummer Deen Castronovo gets a chance to really shine here, playing with both weight and dexterity. Arnel Pineda has settled into the frontman role nicely and sounds at home here. There is a very real prog rock edge to Eclipse with moments that deftly recall the Next / Infinity days ("Venus" and "Human Feel") combined with some slick choruses a la "La Raza Del Sol".

While Schon's unmistakable guitar and Cain's hooky choruses stamp the music as Journey, I was thinking about how much I like the album but not in the usual Journey way. Then as Arnel Pineda got near operatic singing over Jon Cain's classical sounding piano during "Tantra" it hit me: Holy Crap, Journey made a Dream Theater album. A really freakin' good Dream Theater album, I'm talking Images And Words era DT. Producer Kevin Shirley once produced a Dream Theater album so he definitely knows the territory. And it explains why Castronovo's drums has so much presence, he's got Mike Portnoy room to work with in the songs.

Some people might think I'm putting down Journey for sounding like DT but I'm really not. Regardless of whether the homage is accidental or intentional, this music goes to the heart of the type of music I love - 80s AOR with proggy overtones. It's not for everybody, I remember in high school being the only guy owning Toto's Isolation album let alone liking it, but this sound is definitely for me. I won't be surprised if Journey ditches this musical style by the next album, so I plan to enjoy it while it lasts.

"There Is No Journey Without Steve Perry..." (1998 - Present )

...Is the mantra of many a Journey fan since The Voice's dismissal in 1998. And who could blame those fans, in my entirely biased opinion Steve Perry is simply the greatest singer who ever lived in the history of the planet. And many fans like me became Journey fanatics thanks to his soulful, soaring vocals. However, I differ from some Perry fanatics in that when it comes to Journey I wasn't just a fan of Perry, but the whole band. Jon Cain's structured songwriting and cascading keyboards, Neal Schon's revved up guitar riffs and flamethrower solos, Steve Smith's understated and classy drumwork and Ross Valory's rock solid bass were other pieces of the Journey puzzle. Sure, Perry was a BIG PART of the successful phase of Journey's career but for me he wasn't all of it. And after Perry had solo success and the clout to stop Journey from rockin' anymore, I really saw Perry and Journey as two different entities from that point forward. Perry seems to want to do ballad after ballad after ballad and that's fine, he's great at it, but the Journey I became a fan of was a ROCK band. So I wasn't totally sad when Jon Cain and Neal Schon decided their wheel in the sky needed to turn a little longer with a brand new singer (even if it was kinda cold to kick a guy out because of a physical injury. It's not like they're a football team. But I bet Ross Valory was like "Yes! I'm not the one getting canned this time!")

Armaggedon Soundtrack (1998)

On the same movie soundtrack that Steven Tyler didn't want to close his eyes or fall asleep, Journey debuted a track ("Remember Me") with ex-Tall Stories singer Steve Augeri. How did I know it was Steve Augeri? The CD jacket told me so. I eagerly bought this disc just to see how Journey was going to sound and I was impressed with the cut. Augeri did sound a lot like Steve Perry except with more of a rock edge than r&b. Even though Deen Castronovo's heavy drums made them sound more like Bad English, I was happy that my favorite band was back and they were gonna rock again. I caught Journey in '99 on the Vacation's Over tour and when Steve Augeri took the mic at the start of "Separate Ways" I thought "Damn this guy is nailing it!". While Augeri didn't have as much energy as Perry did in his hey day, Steve mach 2 had plenty of cool moves and knew how to work the crowd well. By the end of the show I was sold that Augeri was a good pick.

Arrival (Japanese version 2000)

Journey hit the studio with producer Kevin "Caveman" Shirley, a guy who would come to produce a lot of their stuff from this point forward. I was plenty psyched to hear this new album, so much that my wife was nice enough to order it for me as an import. And so I heard the new disc and in the words of ex-member Randy Jackson, "They slayed it dawg." Though I was surprised that it didn't rock quite as much as I thought it would, there were still more rock tracks here than the prior two albums combined. "To Be Alive Again" and "Higher Place" blew me away, as well as the quiet piano ballad "Loved By You". Ditto the swaggering "I Got A Reason". Neal Schon had room to get all bluesy on "Livin To Do". And even the soft rock cut "I'm Not That Way" stood out. The only song I didn't like was "All The Things" because it was just too hard rock in this context. And I was lukewarm on the lead single "All The Way" because it seemed like a rewrite of "When You Love A Woman". But in one of the biggest bonehead marketing moves of the new century, they released Arrival to other countries ahead of America. In the age of Napster. D'oh!

Arrival (American version 2001)

With many fans downloading the album without the alternative of buying the CD domestically, Journey had to go back to the drawing board for the American release. I'm glad they did 'cause Schon used it as an excuse to punch up the Rock, adding new tracks "World Gone Wild" and "Nothing Comes Close" changing the character of the disc. My only complaint was the switch to a fade out at the end of "To Be Alive Again", I like that song better on the Japanese version. Saw them live again this tour and they were still going strong.

Red 13 (2002)

For their next release Journey went the EP route with the oddly titled Red 13. Which makes me think of Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men "Did you order the Red 13!!!" (I know, it was code red in the movie). Journey or probably Neal Schon wanted to get less commercial so the songs here aren't very catchy. Despite some good moments I didn't care for this disc. It just kinda bored me.

Generations (2005)

Two Captains. One Destiny. Wait, that's Star Trek. On Generations rumors abounded that Steve Augeri's voice was starting to burn out on Perry-esque high notes. The resulting album, Generations, fanned those flames by having a disc where every member sings lead at least once. This gave the album a multiple personality disorder with weird shifts in tone. It was also one of the laziest written things they had done. "Faith In The Heartland" sounded like u2's "Where The Streets Have No Name". "Knowing That You Loved Me" reminded me of a Boys II Men song. Schon sung "In Self Defense" was a retread from his '83 album with Jan Hammer. And the ZZ Toppish "Gone Crazy" with Ross Valory singing seemed like they had gone just that. Surprisingly, drummer Deen Castronovo came off good by sounding more like Steve Perry than Augeri ever did on the midtempo "A Better Life" (my favorite from this album) and rocked out "Never Too Late". By the time they hit the road more rumors spread about Augeri claiming he was doing an Ashlee Simpson miming to prerecorded vocals in concert. A surprise appearance by Steve Perry at the Hollywood Walk Of Fame induction ceremony led to a rash of "Is Perry back in?" theories. Eventually Augeri left to have throat surgery and was replaced by Jeff Scott Soto who had a good response from the fan base. Went to their concert where they were opening for Def Leppard on this tour. I thought Soto was OK but not great (though that W.E.T. album recorded later on was awesome) and had a stage presence that reminded me of Leroy from Fame (lots of hip shaking and exaggerated dance moves). The internet fan base seemed deflated when Soto was let go with the band stating they wanted a singer that sounded-how did they put it? Heritage? Legacy? I think it was Legacy. Anyway, it was code for someone who sounded more like Steve Perry.

Revelation (2008)

Journey surprised everyone (including the person they picked) when they revealed their latest lead singer selection was Arnel Pineda of the Phillipines. Pineda injected some much needed soul into the vocals making the band sound more like they did with Perry. They signed a big deal with Wal Mart and with Kevin Shirley back at the board recorded their best effort since Arrival. And it was here where the "There is no Journey without Steve Perry" mantra got really really LOUD. Like a small scale President Obama, Pineda was warmly received by many while a significant number of people questioned whether he should have any right to do the job at all. Until the release of Revelation I took a wait-and-see approach to Pineda, I wasn't sure if he was a great vocalist or great mimic (I posted this a few years back and got the most negative comments out of any post I ever did.) Revelation was a strong disc that convinced me Pineda's vocals could stand on their own merit and in a live setting he's pretty damn amazing. Running all over, leaping to prime DLR heights and unleashing wailing high note after high note with perfect accuracy, Pineda is a beast in concert. Seeing the band live with Pineda was fantastic. His minor short comings were shown on the Revelation companion disc of re-recorded greatest hits. Pineda sounded stiff (the opposite of how he sounds on the album of original material) in this setting and it didn't help that creatively there was no point to doing new versions. Nonetheless, Revelation was Journey's most successful album since 1996's Trial By Fire. They also got an Adult Contemporary hit with "After All These Years".

That brings us to the present. Journey's got a new album out called Eclipse. Just like the name of my favorite breath mints. Just got it this week, so I've decided to make the rest of this week Journey week on the blog. Though they piss off some fans, I'm glad Journey has decided to...corn ball drum roll please...don't stop believin'!

No Foolin' Around

Today is one of the best holidays known to man, April Fools Day. I tried to think of something funny to say or a vid clip that could fit, but came up empty. So here's an off the cuff playlist of songs with the word "Fool" in it. As Scotty once said, "Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Just for the hell of it, I'll call this feature the Playlist Of Pooh.

1. Def Leppard - Foolin'


2. Chris Rea - Fool (If You Think its Over)


3. The Beatles - Fool On The Hill


4. Foreigner - A Fool For You Anyway


5. Van Halen - Fools


6. Tesla - Mama's Fool


7. Elvin Bishop - Fooled Around And Fell in Love


8. Michael Bolton - Fools Game


9. The Cardigans - Lovefool


10. The Doobie Brothers - What A Fool Believes


11. Soul Asylum - April Fool


12. Styx - Fooling Yourself

And of course...

If anyone out there in cyberspace can remember other songs with the word "Fool" in it, feel free to let me know. I've had a beer and this is all I can think of.

Took a walk with my wife and mentioned this post, she listed a bunch of real obvious ones that I didn't remember.

1. Whitesnake - Fool For Your Loving
2. Robert Plant - Ship Of Fools
3. Foghat - Fool For the City
4. Steve Perry - Foolish Heart

Yep, I missed some of my favorites including "The Voice". Doh!

Giants Under The Sun

Quick, get me some Arena Rock on the radio before someone drowns!

Today's KRQR moment is brought to you by the fine website Melodic Rock, an online destination that has served old AOR fans like me since the 90's. Two bands have gotten a slight promotional push through this site and have songs I like plus another song I'm into right now, so those are the three clips for today.

First up is Giant aka that band that had that one hit ("I'll See You In My Dreams") before Kurt Cobain wiped them off the map. In one of those standard band reformations that plague classic rock groups, the rhythm section has banded together minus their key player (in this case guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Dann Huff) to lay claim to an established name. Such as it is, because if you don't own say Monster Power Ballads Volume Whatever, you probably have no clue who Giant is. Or if you're at the other extreme, you may know exactly who Giant is and have to get used to Terry Brock in place of Huff which isn't a bad trade per se. Either way can be a win or lose situation, in the end what it comes down to is the music. This song "Promise Land" is totally stuck in my head, with a nice girl on a beach themed clip. The combo of the pretty girl and streamlined AOR has me flashing back to early Baywatch when they would play an anonymous song while showing women running in slo mo. When I hear Brock go on about breaking barracades or taking things day by day or what have you, I am so totally ready to rescue a bathing beauty from drowning.

The group that is on Melodic Rock's main page right now is Serpentine, a band that quite frankly I know nothing about other than what's posted on that screen. The video is interesting, keyboard heavy arena rock with a lead singer that looks like Kid Rock. "Whatever Heartache" has an incredibly Steve Perry-esque vocal on it, which I am always a sucker for. Oh, and Sarah Silverman can bite me for talkin' trash about "The Voice".

Last up is a song I'm hooked on from W.E.T.'s album that I reviewed not too long ago. "If I Fall" is pure AOR glory, even if the chorus does slightly remind me of Journey's "Signs Of Life" from Arrival.

And that's it, the motherlode of modern arena rock. Thank you, Melodic Rock, for always providing the most up to date info on the bands that are important to me. Keep the fire burnin!

All The Right Moves

Jeff Scott Soto proves there's life after Journey with last year's album W.E.T.

Rating:

As much as I like Ywgnie Malmsteen's guitar playing, I didn't buy his stuff back in the day. Because of that, I am mostly ignorant of the work of singer Jeff Scott Soto. Soto first hit my radar when he joined Soul Sirkus, a Journey side project that changed names when Sammy Hagar quit. Eventually, this led to Soto replacing Steve Augeri as Journey's lead singer. I saw Journey with Soto in the lead singer spot that year and felt that while he was talented, he didn't seem like a clean fit (his voice seemed to push to hard to hit high notes and his stage presence was a little FAME dancerish, though he injected some much needed soul in the vocals). Apparently, Journey eventually felt the same and dropped Soto from the lineup.

This left Jeff Scott Soto a free agent again. To his credit, Soto didn't bash Journey and moved on with his life. And in moving on Jeff Scott Soto has recorded one of the finest AOR releases I've heard this century as a member of the supergroup W.E.T.

This band, made up of European AOR acts Work Of Art, Eclipse and Soto, has made an album that recaptures the excitement of early 80s Arena Rock. They leave no AOR cliche unturned, the insistent anthem rocker ("One Love"), the weepy power ballad ("Comes Down Like Rain"), the contemplative midtempo relationship drama number ("Running From The Heartache") and the high speed attitude frenzy ("Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is").

Has it all been done before? Yes. But what counts in AOR is passion and execution, something W.E.T. has in spades. So many aging AOR bands have felt the need to mature, change with the times or just sound tired repeating the past. Soto and crew tackle this music like it's brand new, free of irony or any musical advancements past 1982. Jeff Scott Soto in particular comes across as inspired, recalling Steve Perry or David Coverdale in his best moments.

This album gives me the same chills I would get buying a new AOR album in the mid 80s, when everything is familiar yet fresh. Better yet, Jeff Scott Soto proves that even if you get fired from Journey, you should never stop believin'.

The Design Of A Decade Pt 1: Devil Horns To The Sky!

The future is the past. The past is the future. Chickenfoot keeps arena rock alive in 2009!

The first decade of the 21st Century is almost over, makes me feel like I'm Buck Rogers living in this space age of microwave ovens and high definition sunglasses. And with any landmark of time there must be Best Of lists because hell, if you can't list things you like in an arbitrary order then why have an internet? So this is my list, in order of genre, of my favorite CDs of the past ten years. I wish I could say every album on my list is a flawless gem but I'm old, most new music (even by old artists) don't hit me like that. This is part 1 of a series that I'm naming after a Janet Jackson album because as she would say, what have you done for me lately?

We're at the stage of life for 70's / 80's rock bands to discover that sadly rock and roll does not come with a pension plan. As a result these groups keep chugging along on the road to make dough for their IRA. Or maybe they just plain love what they're doing and meant it all those years ago when they gave interviews saying "I'll play live til I die whether it's to 20,000 people or just one guy in the room." In any case, these road warriors hit the stage to rock out annually and occasionally release new material to keep things fresh. Here's my favorite Arena rock releases of recent past.

Rock The Half Sold Out Arena!

My favorite of all music genres headed up by my favorite band, Journey. The 21st Century era of this group will forever be in dispute because for some Journey begins and ends with Steve Perry. Though Perry is my all time favorite singer, I was a fan of the band as a whole which included Jon Cain, Neal Schon and Ross Valory and was happy to see them continue. Arrival (2001) is the best of the bunch with Steve Augeri on the mic, Journey rocked hard on cuts like "Higher Place", "To Be Alive Again" or the strutting "I Got A Reason". Naturally this had to be offset by soft soaring ballads such as "Lifetime Of Dreams" or "Signs Of Life". Only the "When You Love A Woman" rewrite "All The Way" feels like a misstep although it isn't bad. Augeri allowed the group to rock its hardest since the Escape / Frontiers era. After drafting Arnel Pineda a year ago, the bay area band recorded Revelations (2008) which brought back some needed soulfulness to the vocals (Augeri was a better rock belter, Pineda a better crooner). The strong mix of rockers and ballads continued with the high flying "Change For The Better" offset by the soft "Turn Down The World Tonight".

Recent Journey tour mates Heart and Cheap Trick both had good albums to back up their noise. Heart delivered Jupiter's Darling (2004) that found middle ground between their Zepified 70's persona and slick 80's model. Meanwhile, the Tricksters have spent decades trying to recapture their early magic with hit and miss results. On 2006's Rockford they hit the right balance of catchy power pop brilliance and power chord thunder.

Other early 80's survivor Loverboy strapped on the head bandanna one more time for Just Getting Started (2007). One of the few successful attempts to meld modern sensibility into an established 80's rock sound. The fired up title track has plenty of Loverboy's famous freewheeling fun, the bluesy "One Of Them Days" swings and the power ballad "The One That Got Away" is first class.

Shagadelic

The Hair Metal bands of the 80's have some renewed interest thanks to the Guitar Hero / Rock Band phenomenon. Still, no one is willing to reproduce their classic spandex pants with wall of hair look. Instead they opt for leather pants and a shaggy shoulder length hair cut that says "Hey, I'm old and won't look out of place shopping at Wal Mart but still know how to rawk!"

It took a band not from that era to hand down the truest (and at same time mocking) expression of this maligned art form: The Darkness. They came out of nowhere to throw down "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" establishing a heady mix of Queen and hair band euphoria. Their album Permission To Land (2003) backs up their hit tune with other material that is silly and playful in its excess. Too bad drugs and a delayed follow up caused them to crash and burn.

Whitesnake proved David Coverdale could still howl in the still of the night with the excellent Good To Be Bad (2008). Copying your own hits over again usually seems lame, in the hands of a master like Coverdale remakes of "Slow and Easy" or "Is This Love" (titled "Good To Be Bad" and "All I Want All I Need" respectively) are downright inspired. I got to see them live just before Coverdale's voice gave out, he rawked!

Marketing king Jon Bon Jovi spent much of this decade serving up streamlined pop rock to the masses with success. Although I liked the hit songs he's had lately, as a full album statement the disc I liked the most was the hitless Bounce (2002). I wish I could say this was a great album, it's just pretty good, yet as an album it blends the faster and slower material evenly and cleanly. Plus I love that title song.

It's A Long Way To The Top If You Want To Rock And Roll

Two bands that were virtual outlaws in their hey day compared to where they landed now are AC/DC and Metallica. AC/DC were shunned as being "Satanic" and represented all that was "evil" in rock music during the late 70's and early 80's. Raunchy sexism hammered down with a heavy guitar riff and a jolt of humor made them easy targets for God fearing parents wrath. How weird is it now, nearly 30 years later, you can buy AC/DC memorabilia at department stores and see little kids decked out in the Aussie band's branded merchandise? Times have changed making AC/DC classics like "Let Me Put My Love Into You" or "Let's Get It Up" tame by comparison.

AC/DC didn't do a whole lot the last ten years to necessarily earn this boon, though they did turn in the enjoyable Black Ice (2008). Black Ice had some catchy stuff such as the slick "Wheels" or the menacing title tune. I'd like to say 2000's Stiff Upper Lip was great as that was the disc that got me into the band beyond a casual interest. Just can't say that because too much of the CD has songs stuck in the same groove making it repetitive.

Metallica is another band that rocked so hard they couldn't get any recognition from mainstream media for the first third of their career. They managed to hit it big on their own terms initially, since the mid 90's they have continuously watered down their image to ensure lasting popularity. Even if it reeked of career move-itis, last year's Death Magnetic was the bay area thrashers throwback to basics CD. Lengthy songs, pummeling rhythms, spiraling solos and dog bark vocals came back with a vengeance. Admittedly some of Death Magnetic rings hollow, still I'll take this over most of what the band has done the last fifteen years any day. I have no favorite individual songs from this disc, I like it as a whole.

Oh Yeah!

The last CD I have under this style is 2009's Chickenfoot. The supergroup made up of half of Van Hagar (Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar), guitar god Joe Satriani and funky drummer Chad Smith cranked out shameless hard rock. Playing to their strengths, straightforward AOR performed with inspiration produces an adrenaline fueled feeling of power. Would have been nice if the songs were a touch better, what is here is good enough anyway.

That's a wrap on part one of this series, think I'll tackle the 90's stars next. Until next time, same Bat time, same Bat channel!

Dixie's Big Day Out

Today is the Dixie Dog's tenth birthday. My wife saw to it the Dog got to live in style, she had multiple walks, slept on our bed and best of all got to eat a McDonalds Angus Bacon Cheeseburger! So in tribute to our loveable Dixie dog, here's a Journey song with her name in the title - "Dixie Highway"!

Escape To Rich Mountain

The masters of the universe own the Number 1 slot on my 100 favorite Cd countdown.

We're finally here, at the end of my 100 Favorite Cds list! It only took a couple of years to get here. So this is it, the album that I've played more often in my life than any other album. I've worn out multiple cassettes and vinyl record copies of this album (well, not worn out vinyl I lent them to people and would get them back warped or dusty) because it's awesomeness has to be experienced more than once. I bought this tape after liking what I was hearing from this group's entries into the Top 100 songs countdown of 1982 with Casey Kasem aka the radio broadcast that changed my life. Plus, they were a local Bay Area band. It couldn't get better than that.

Number 1: Journey - Escape (1981)

1. Don't Stop Believin'

I read somewhere this was the cornerstone of the Journey songbook, truer words have not been spoken. Like Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger", Journey's anthem struck a chord with everyone who wanted to feel hope was alive in '82. The magnificent song structure is the stuff people like me have blogs for, the momentous beginning, the Neal Schon guitar ramp up, the lurching Steve Smith drums and that killer chorus of Jon Cain and Steve Perry's soaring above a heroic Neal Schon guitar line. Many high school classes of '81 and '82 used this song as their graduation theme and a snippet of this was featured heavily in their video game advertisement.

That's right, because Journey was the first band to have their own video game which I proudly owned and played on the Atari. The game itself kinda sucked and was confusing as hell. Still, hearing Atari-ized versions of Journey playing while you move the block shaped dude around flying barriers and fans was...well, it was. That advertisement is burned in my memory though. "The concert's over and now you must help the members of Journey past screaming fans and reporters" or something like that. Oh, it was promoters. It's an awesome awesome commercial.

As time passed I thought the song would just be the highlight of their career among Journey fans, but in recent times "Don't Stop Believin" has taken a second life. It's become a cultural staple as it's been adopted by sports teams and television shows for demonstrating the power of the human spirit (yes I over exaggerate, but it's frickin' Journey!). Once it was used in the last scene of the HBO series The Sopranos, it's exalted place in modern pop culture was sealed.

As a huge fan, I was pissed at the end of 1982 when music critic Joel Selvin included this song in his list of Top 10 worst songs of the year. He more or less said "Don't Stop Believin" was an excuse to show off Steve Perry's vocal range. In my angry retort 27 years later I would like to say - America is a free country and you Joel Selvin are welcome to express it under the freedoms we cherish as Americans. There, after all these years I finally said it. Take that Joel Selvin!

For me, the song is one of my all time favorite tunes. During the Steve Augeri era, the band had a different ending where it sped up like a locomotive that I thought was really cool. It is a song that does exactly what it says it's gonna do, inspire to keep on keepin' on...in the nnniiiiigggghhhhhttttttt!

And most importantly, when my later-to-be-wife wrote some of the song lyrics from "Believin" on a piece of paper at the place we worked at it drew my attention. Pretty lookin' and good taste in music. A win - win!

2. Stone In Love

A killer song about being "in the heat with a blue jean girl", you feel the rush of infatuation with it's choppy beginning to it's gliding end. The Time3 box set liner notes said this song started with Neal Schon playing some guitar on a tape and labeling it "Stoned In Love". I like to know a bunch of useless trivia about music, yet this piece has permanently placed an image in my mind when I think about this song.

Now the guy was probably just as likely to smoke pot with or without the afro I would assume, so I guess I'm profiling Neal Schon because of how he looked (damn hippie!). He didn't even look like this during the making of Escape. Oh well, I don't care. Tell it to the judge, Schon!

Anyway, Schon's chopped up guitar riff drove the main part of this song which kicks into a meaty bass line for Ross Valory. It's cool how the rhythm section punctuates the lyrics, it's Stone in luh-u-wuv duh duh, duhhhh! I always liked how this song broke down and then built back up to the smooth ending. Live, sometimes "Stone in Love" would segue into "Keep on Runnin". One of my all time fave double shots.

3. Who's Cryin' Now

The addition of new band member keyboardist Jonathan Cain greatly deepened the songwriting. With "Who's Cryin' Now" the band came up with their first clear cut shot at Adult Contemporary. Steve Perry tears it up given the slower pace needed for him to really emote. On the Greatest Hits Live CD when he hits the bridge Perry goes into this delicately modulated vocal (...when the heartache is oouuvver) that's 10 times better than the already outstanding recorded version. It's hard to believe now, at the time rock bands felt it was risky to show the sensitive side of their bic lighter hearts. The band nails this with it's dusky portrayal of romance on the rocks. And Neal Schon has said he's received compliments for his sad, sad guitar solo at the end (at least that's what I remember him saying in interviews after deliberately playing a similar solo for "Signs of Life" from the Arrival album).

4. Keep On Runnin'

Driving power rock from the guys who do it best, like a motorcycle flying down the street "Keep On Runnin" revs up and takes off. In some ways a sort of cousin to "Any Way You Want It", "Runnin" is about a fast beat and fired up anthemic chorus. For years I didn't bother to listen to the actual words (something about bustin' free from blue collar work, even now I'm not sure) because it didn't matter. Once that racing groove matched up with that flying chorus, I was hooked. In concert Jon Cain would play second guitar on this, freeing Schon up to fire off even more ridiculously hot solos.

5. Still They Ride

Jesse, how times have changed for you braw (sob). Journey goes back to working the sad groove with this sentimental, uh, journey about a guy named Jesse has outgrown his town. Do you know how bored you have to be to notice traffic lights keeping time? I actually had a friend named Jesse at the time, not that the song really related to him at all it was just one of those things where you hear a name in a song and think "Hey, I know someone with that exact NAME!". I don't think I ever mentioned this to him, since he was really sensitive about that whole Rick Springfield "Jessie's Girl" thing he got a lot of crap for (his nickname for Springfield was Dick Springfield for cursing him with that song).

Anywho, I liked how there was a lot of space in the song. Steve Perry delivers his best vocal, filled with nuance and longing. And the part where Schon goes from a stately solo to near shredding yet retaining the lonely dude in a car mood is magic. The 45 had this great cover of a ZZ Top kind of car driving on the road-because it's so lonely and sad on the road.

6. Escape

Journey is a band that likes to have a song with the album title (not all of them have it, but many do). "Escape" was the one with the cool little proggy bit. I can't help but get pumped up when I hear this jam as Steve Perry details fighting against...something vague...but it's holding him down man! You can't hold Steve Perry down!! He will escape you!!!

This song seemed to go in different sections that were pieced together giving it a panoramic effect. Jon Cain really shines in this one, his epic gliss at the intro and the synth stabs to enhance the rhythm break is genius. Seems like a good time to give credit to Cain for streamlining the band's sound (I don't think it was a coincidence that they got slicker after his arrival). While you can't hold Steve Perry down, my strongest memory of this song is my wife and I getting to high five Arnel Pineda during this ditty at a concert last year. Uh oh, I put the words Perry and Pineda in the same sentence. Let the haters begin!

Oh, and my second strongest memory was when my wife bought me a bootleg of the Houston '81 concert in the 90's before it was available for retail. The thrill of seeing the Escape tour in some form during the Clinton years was one of the best gifts I've had. Thanks Bunny!

7. Lay It Down

My least favorite song on the album, it took me a few years to get into it. A juke joint mid tempo rocker, it has that REO Speedwagon quality of packing a BIG rock performance into a slower burning song to create this effect of tightly controlled frenzy. Because it's my least favorite, it's the one I have the least to say about. So without much to say about "Lay It Down", let's take a moment to mention I thought at the time that Steve Perry played a big part of the muscle T shirt fad that happened at that time. In particular, the pink muscle T with black tiger stripes. After an exhaustive search of the internet, it would appear that I was wrong. No pictures seem to exist of this shirt which I thought I remembered so well. Guess I'm just getting old. I'm starting to remember crap that never actually happened. Maybe the shirt below was the one I was thinking of? I will say this though, I have my IPOD on shuffle and out of over 8000 songs this one popped on while I was typing this post. It's the spirit of Steve Perry at work (except of course, he's not dead. It's just a joke folks). Hey, and it does rock. La-la-la-la Lay It!

8. Dead Or Alive

On the other hand, "Dead Or Alive" is smokin'. Like a train coming off the tracks, this song starts fast and then gets faster and wilder as it goes. Really nice to have a total change of pace, this song about a hit man's life and demise is miles away from the rest of the album's romantic subject matter. My favorite part is when they mimic gunfire with blasts of rhythm after Perry sings "A heartless woman's thirty eigh-e-eigh-e-eigh-e-eight". Maybe the funnest song the Bay Area band ever did considering their usual repertoire. The only time I got to hear this live was when it was performed with Jeff Scott Soto on lead vox during the Def Leppard co-headlining tour. It sounded great. a real highlight to the show. Speaking of which, the clip linked above is from the band's legendary Day On The Green appearance at the height of their fame. I still remember the huge picture spread of the concert stage in the next morning's San Francisco newspaper (that picture is included in their box set booklet, so I know I didn't hallucinate that one!). When I say legendary I should probably say local legend, I missed both of the band's headlining Day On The Green concerts at the Oakland Coliseum :(

9. Mother, Father

At the time I first had the tape, this was my favorite song because it was very dramatic. Written with help on the music from Neal Schon's dad, "Mother, Father" had an almost movie-of-the-week feel wrapped in its melodrama of broken homes. It's sweeping orchestral quality brings class and power to the sad tale. On the live performance version included in their Houston live 1981 CD & DVD, it's a show stopper and when Perry hits that high note wail at the end "Mother Father" becomes almost operatic.

10. Open Arms

Though technically not the first of it's kind, "Open Arms" is sometimes credited as the beginning of the power ballad. Through all those ballads that would follow from other bands, none could match the intimacy of the original thanks to Jon Cain's great songwriting and Steve Perry's sincere delivery. Journey's biggest hit on the Billboard charts (it reached #2), it's success pushed Escape over the top and elevated the band to the status they've been at since. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if John Waite had not thought the song was so "syrupy" when Cain pitched it to him in The Babys. It's not like Waite had a problem singing ballads for his supper later in his career.

"Open Arms" has become a mini American Idol for Journey's lead singers as all of them must pass the litmus test of singing this song. There are a couple of comparisons on You Tube and it's fun to listen to the contrasting styles of the different vocalists though they are all working the same vocal style with the same arrangement. This is not a comprehensive comparison because I'm pretty sure Deen Castronovo and maybe Jeff Scott Soto sang "Open Arms" as well and are not included, but it's still fun. To summarize what the AI judges would say, Randy would say "You worked it out Steve Perry, you did your thing", Kara would say "whatever Randy just said but talking longer", Paula would say "I appreciate your heart, your spirit" and Simon would accuse them all of being karaoke singers even to Steve Perry himself. He's just a cheeky bastard that way.

I like all of the versions except for Deen Castronovo, not that he doesn't sound good (of all the singers to follow Perry, he sounds the closest to me to the original) but it just throws me off when the drummer starts singing in this band. For me, nothing tops seeing Perry live during the Raised on Radio tour. It just means more in the original text

Bonus Track. La Raza Del Sol

I call it a bonus track even though I don't think it was ever included with any printing of Escape. This song I found on the B side of the 45 to one of the singles back in the day. It's an interesting trip back to the band's Santana origins with a slightly Latin groove and of course, some lyrics in Spanish. Once it was included in the Time3 box set it became more available, up to then it was a rarity that many people didn't know about. I can see why it was left off in that it doesn't fit in well with the other songs on the record, but as an extra track tacked on the end it's awesome. When I would record the album to tape, I would throw this on the end for an extra kick.

Career wise, Escape is the album that changed Journey's successful rock band to mega stars. It's a peak the band would never reach again (though Frontiers got close). I followed everything this lineup of the band did as closely as I could with a Beatlemania like fandom back in the day. This is the most perfect record I've ever heard, obviously, and it's my favorite album of all time.