Journey Album: “Arrival”

I am a die hard Journey fan and was quite skeptical of a new singer. Journey, without Steve Perry, seemed impossible. I watch the VH1 special on Journey (isn't Steve P bitter!) and heard some of the new tracks before the release of Arrival and I was hooked from the 1st time I listened.

Right now DIRECT TV is showing a concert from earlier in the year, taped in Las Vegas and it is fantastic. They have the same great energy and great sound as they always have. Anyone that thinks the Journey ended @ "Frontiers" is sadly mistaken and shoud NOT consider themself a "Journey Fan." "Rasied on Radio" had a lot of good songs as did "Trial by Fire" (admittedly not their best album). Can every album be better then the last? They're musicians, not gods! "Arrival", as a whole, is as good (if not better) than "Rasied on Radio." If you are a true Journey fan then you will love this record. If you are a Steve Perry fan, you will be bitter about it. I love Steve Perry but I was pleasantly surprised to see the bad did not miss a step when the replaced him with the "new Steve."

Still, I hope one day Steve Perry will reunite with the band but that looks to be a school boy's dream @ this point! Enjoy the album!

First off let me state that I have been a huge fan of Journey since the late 1970's early 1980's. I have to say that Steve Perry has got to be the best male vocalist in rock music and the thought of a Journey album without him almost seems unnatural. When I had first heard that Steve Perry had been replaced as the singer for Journey, I vowed never to buy another new Journey CD again. But after hearing several people compare the new singer to that of Steve Perry, I just had to hear what they could come up with. Now while I have to say that the classic Journey sound is back (Escape and before), the truth is that something is missing. The bands new Steve, while yes he does sound like Steve Perry at times, is not the dead ringer that I had heard about. In fact, he sounds more like Steve Perry mixed with Dave Meniketti (of Y&T), and Johnny Gioeli of Neal Schons Journey hiatus band Hardline. While that combo isn't bad, it isn't what you've come to expect from Journey. Where as Perry's voice always seemed smooth and natural no matter how he sang, Augeri's voice on the otherhand seems to range from smooth to screaming. After listening to Arrival my only thoughts on Augeri's voical work are 1) what these songs would sound like if sung by Perry and 2)why is it that Augeri's vocals seemed to be drowned out by everything else.

As for the songwriting, Steve Perry's other major talent, the songs on Arrival again seem to be missing something. While the music is fluid, the lyrics however are not. A few of the songs seem like they could have used a little more time and a few more drafts. As for standout songs, Arrival has a few, and I'd have to say that they are 'Higher Place,' 'Signs of Life,' 'Lifetime of Dreams,' and 'To be Alive Again.' Of the 15 tracks on Arrival, those 4 seem to sound the most Journey. Am I saying that you shouldn't buy Arrival, no, what I'm saying is that if you are a true Journey fan you'll like it however if you only liked Journey because of Steve Perry, than Arrival will disappoint.

This is an excellent cd, I bought and it has yet to leave my cd player, This is classic journey, the new vocalist is incredible he can sing every note that steve could and absoloutely takes those vocals to a new height. The words are outstanding, a well written group of songs, Neal sounds incredible as does the rest of the band, I recommend this cd to any journey fan of old and of new, great stuff.

I had the pleasure of seeing Journey's DirecTV concert special before the Arrival album's release in 2001, and a lot of people had said the same thing before hand: "Journey without Steve Perry is unthinkable..." then out came Steve Augeri onstage and people were standing there with their mouths down to the ground hearing this guy hit all the notes. Anyone who thinks Journey should have changed directions instead of getting someone who could sing their biggest songs and do them justice needs to ask themselves: Does Journey need to do the songs that made them great or do they need someone like the lead singer of ZZ Top trying to sing Open Arms and Faithfully? Journey is known for those hits and so much more. You need someone who can sing them. Styx, on that same note, found the perfect act to follow Dennis DeYoung in Lawrence Gowan...and in return, we don't have to sit through songs like "Mr. Roboto" and "Babe" in concert, which the rest of the band were never big fans of to begin with. Both Journey's "Arrival" and Styx' "Cyclorama" show what the bands are both made of...and it's a nice progression from what could have been disastrous for both bands. You won't be disappointed in either album...and last year they toured together with REO Speedwagon, and the shows just ROCKED. It's nice to remember all the hits they had with their former lead singers, but it's a testimony to their determination to remain vital musical units that these two albums are as GREAT as they both are. Wherever Steve Perry is, may he come out with some new music as good as this...and I hope he does...nothing against him for his choice to leave, but the band deserves to carry on, and carry on it does well...same goes for Styx!

I was very skeptical about this cd, but with one listen, I found out that Journey can survive without Steve Perry. Although I miss Perry's crooning, the new lead singer is fantastic and a good replacement (if there has to be one). The first three songs on this cd are my favorite because they are true to the Journey sound, but still have a cutting edge sound that keeps them from being "dated." Give this cd a chance, I'm glad that I did!