Eclipse

Eclipse is all about rock!

Theoretically, the Journey band may exist long into the future. Formed in the early seventies in the States, this formation has repeatedly renewed the lineup and changed the music content of studio works to keep the huge audience intrigued. Despite the constant replacements of performers and alternating good albums with bad ones, Journey has long ago grabbed its niche among the legends of rock legends, their longevity and stability being envied by colleagues and admired by listeners. The American band’s latest to date rebirth took place not long ago, if you consider their age – in 2008, the year of their Revelation album release. With an amazing vocalist recruited, Arnel Pineda, the band recorded an album specially for him. It was a mild and melodious record with pop prevailing over rock. This was an easy and professional way for Journey to make their way to the hearts of new, mostly young, fans and create a perfect working atmosphere for their new singer. However, three years later, the musicians came back to remind everybody that Journey are rock, sometimes even hard rock, and they did it with a marvelous album Eclipse.

Job well done by all musicians

The fascinating artwork and impressive duration of the CD are outside signs of a job well done. Well, the music content of the product was just a good match to them. The opener, City Of Hope, is a loud announcement of the old formation getting back to its classic sounding. You always expect something like that from rock music veterans, but you get it rarely. Journey, on the contrary, surpassed all expectations. The length and guitar insistency of the first track put it more than clear that Eclipse is not a continuation to Revelation, but a real hard-rock attack. While the previous release had Pineda’s vocals that caught the whole attention, this time the guitars are what matters. Neal Schon made his instrument fill every instant of each track. The drums are grinding so powerfully, loud and confidently that they make you believe the band hired another drummer who must be much younger, but it turns out this is still Deen Castronovo. The different music forwarded different and higher requirements to Arnel Pineda too, and he did his duties just flawlessly.

An album with mistakes hard to discover

Most fastidious listeners could find only one fault with Journey regarding Eclipse. Their new record might have been made a little bit shorter. Someone, and Venus, coming at the end of the album, are shorter and lighter than the record’s best numbers. They can hardly compete with the guitar monster Chain Of Love, or the brilliant ballad Tantra, or the majestic Edge Of The Moment. There highlights are a good treat to both new and old fans of the band, Yet the CD also offers those songs which bear the same spirit and execution as Journey’s classic hits. Among them, we could name stripped to acoustic She’s A Mystery and bright rock and roll anthem Ritual. Whichever song you pick off Eclipse, this would be genuine rock, and this means not just proficient vocals, but well-crafted instrumental parts, a combination of drive and melody. No doubt, Journey arranged a little holiday for us. This is an album where each member of the ensemble was given a chance to disclose his best musical sides, which made Eclipse an impressive work, and each new listen will unfold to you new experiences and revelations.