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Faith in the Heartland and Place in your Heart have good ideas and have excellent musicianship and passionate choruses, with the latter sounding suspiciously like U2. These songs proving that Journey still know how to capture your attention right from the start. A Better Life is the vocal offering from Dean Castranova (what a bleeding name), the song suits the bands style perfectly. The next song Every Genration is awful,it has that uninspiring and mind numbingly insipid piano riff that they seem to get away with on every album. Its the worst song on the album. Its song by Jon Cain, the Keyboards player, its not Journey at their best, in fact it sounds nothing like Journey.The album could have done without it. That same piano riff is seriously starting to bore me, even piss me off.Original Keyboardist Greg Rolie would never have been guilty of such blatant repeatativeness.Jon Cain is a genius on the ivories, classically trained in fact.It bewilders me how his playing keyboards with Journey has become so bland and uninspiring. Remember this is the man responsible for the greatest piano riff in rock (probably), I refer to Dont Stop Believin of course.
Then its back to hard rock again, Out of Harms Way which switches the mood brilliantly. I wish there were more songs like this on the album as it has Journey rocking with forceful yet consumate ease. In Self Defense is another up-tempo heavy song, in evidence here is Neal Schon showing off his mastery of the guitar with some great riffing and lead work. The band keep it in the same mood with Better Together a modernist piece with influences as strange as bubble-gum punk. This song has some great moments in it, with sweeping guitars and keyboards with a fine texture and a polished feel to it. Gone Crazy is blues driven rocker with some excellent guitar parts. Unfortunately it has Ross Valory singing on it, not a good idea, great music though. Steve Augeri has been so under used on this album, which seems strange as he was employed for his vocal talents. Beyond the Clouds has got heart and soul, played and sang to dramatic effect with Augeri seriously singing his socks off. Bonus Tack on the album Never too late comes with a multimedia bonus video track. This song is reminiscent of the Frontiers album, a nice mid tempo rocker with great guitar work in it.
Overall this is a better album than Arrival and a lot more meatier too, less balladry is a point in case. Diehard fans would be impressed with this outing, well produced and arranged with eighties Journey producer Kevin Elson with Mike Frazer (Aerosmith, ACDC) assisting in the engineering department. If I am honest this certainly is not the classic Journey material that I am used to.It may not be as revolutionary as Departure, Escape and the Frontiers albums.But it is still one of the best melodic hard rock albums of the past few years.They are still the kings of melodic rock, everyone else pales in comparison. You owe it to yourselfs to go out and get this album. Journey still make all other pretenders for their crown look lack lustre and insipid. I still think this line-up have yet to produce their classic album, but if Generations is anything to go by they are well on their way to achieving this. REVIEW BY PETER McALLISTER
Journey are:
Neal Schon, Lead and Rythm Guitars, Lead and Background Vocals, Jonathan Cain, Keyboards, Rythm and Acoustic Guitars, Harmonica and Lead and Background Vocals, Steve Augeri, Lead and Background Vocals, Rythm and Acoustic Guitars, Dean Castranova, Drums, precussion and Lead and Background Vocals, Ross Valory, Bass Guitar, Bass Pedals, Lead and Background Vocals. |
The
second full album by Steve Augeri former Tall Stories vocalist.
Unusually all the members of the band have lead vocal duties on
Generations, with drummer Dean Castranova putting in the an excellent
performance. Sounding uncannily like Steve Perry. After the fantastic
Soul Sirkus, we are treated to a nice Journey album not a great
one. It does sit really well with rest of the bands catalogue. 
Well,
to continue this current album review, Butterfly (she flies alone)
is the first ballad of the album and shows of Steve Augeri song
writing talents. Its an unabtrusive little diddy, quietly imposing
if you can get what I mean. Believe is another song that sounds
a little like Butterfly but has a harder edge to it without being
exceptional. Knowing that you Love Me is a typical Journey power
ballad. A style they invented themselves with Open Arms. Its a lovely
ballad, beautifully song by Steve Augeri. One for the girlfriends
and wifes I suspect.