Over thirty years have passed since the formation of Journey. Initially the band performed between 1973 and 1987. Throughout those years the band's line-up was far from constant... only the guitarist Neal Schon (Santana, Jan Hammer) remained in the line-up at all times. Also the music changed from album to album (their first three albums were jazz-rock). It wasn't until 1977 when the group realized they needed a strong frontman. After hiring Steve Perry, the band's popularity really took off (their fourth album sold million copies within a year). In 1996 Journey re-united to release Trial by Fire. The following year, however, brought along bad news... Steve Perry's health problems sidelined him, and the band had to find a new singer. Steve Augeri (ex-Tall Stories) took over, and he already performed on Journey's contribution to the Armageddon Soundtrack in 1998. Now Journey are back with their second full album featuring Steve Augeri, although on this disc all the members of Journey get a crack at lead vocals. Nowadays the fanbase of Journey covers more than one generation... hence the title, Generations.

Their last album Arrival suffered from mixed reviews with the main complaint being too many ballads. Generations goes some way to redressing the balance as it is a far more rockier affair with Neal Schon in particularly good form. Check out the song about US troops overseas Out Of Harms Way, which features Schon in full rock mode. The Ross Valory lead vocal track Gone Crazy also sees Schon laying down some heavy riffs, although Valroy’s vocals are an acquired taste on this wacky blues-rock workout. Drummer Dean Castranova sounds at times uncannily like Steve Perry, just listen to Every Generation for proof. The other track he handles lead vocals on It’s Never Too Late is another classic Journey mid-tempo number. For those who like the softer side of the band there is the finely crafted Butterfly (She Flies Away) and Knowing That You Love Me. All power ballads on this album are outstanding and among the best Journey has ever done.

Kevin Elson, the man behind Journey's multi-platinum albums Escape, Departure and Frontiers, has also produced this record. He teamed up with Michael Fraser (Metallica, AC/DC, Aerosmith), who handled the mixing of this album. Thus it isn't surprising that the soundscape on Generations is transparent and clear. Overall this is a better-rounded release than Arrival. This time around, the uptempo tracks are a little heavier and definitely have an edgier approach. The rawer production also adds extra punch and Neal Schon's guitar dominates the record. Long time fans won’t be disappointed although this line-up of the band have yet to produce their classic album; but Generations sees them well on the road to achieving this.

08.09.2005