Journey Album: “Frontiers [Bonus Tracks]”

THE BAND: Steve Perry (vocals), Neal Schon (guitars), Jonathan Cain (keyboards, guitars), Ross Valory (bass), Steve Smith (drums & percussion).

THE DISC: (1983) Originally 10 tracks clocking in at approximately 44 minutes. This 2006 digi-pak version contains 4 bonus tracks making the total listen just over 58 minutes. Included with the disc is a 14-page booklet containing song titles/credits, numerous band photos (all original album artwork), Frontier '83 tour dates, and thank you's. All songs written by Journey members (with Cain receiving co-writing credits on all 14 tracks, and Perry on 13). This is the band's 8th studio album. Recorded at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, CA. Label - Columbia / Sony.

COMMENTS: "Frontiers" was a solid follow-up to the 9x platinum "Escape". In the scheme of things though, it would be extremely tough for "Frontiers" to duplicate the success of its predecessor. After all, "Escape" (1981) was a #1 album, with three #1 hits ("Who's Crying Now", "Don't Stop Believin'", and "Open Arms"). "Frontiers" did reach #2 and it garnered 4 big hits at the time - "Separate Ways (World's Apart)", "Faithfully", "After The Fall" and "Send Her My Love" - all Top 40 hits with "Separate Ways" peaking at #8 on the Billboard charts. Stepping back and looking at the big music picture, there were several rock/pop albums that were hugely popular in 1983 ("Synchronicity" - The Police, "Let's Dance" - David Bowie, "Cuts Like A Knife" - Bryan Adams, "Metal Health" - Quiet Riot, "90125" - Yes, "Uh-Huh" - John Cougar Mellencamp, "Pyromania" - Def Leppard, "War" - U2), but none larger than Michael Jackson's #1 "Thriller". Perhaps some of these albums (especially "Thriller") were holding "Frontiers" back. I'd go far as saying the incredible achievements of "Escape" lessened the punch on this follow-up as well. For me, two things hindered "Frontiers". Number one was too much of an overall emphasis on Cain's piano/keyboards and not enough on Schon's guitar. Secondly, where "Escape" was solid track after track, "Frontiers" had some questionable material. Where side-1 of the vinyl record was grade-A meat (tracks 1-5), side-2 was strictly hit and miss. While there were 2 good tunes here that never saw the light of day on the FM airwaves (some great guitar work on "Edge Of The Blade" and "Troubled Child"), there were 3 songs that were filler at best - "Rubicon", the title track, and perhaps their worst song of the decade "Back Talk". Had Journey put the cut tracks recorded during the same sessions (the digi-pak bonus tracks here) on this album to start, it would have been measurably better. As for the bonus tracks - they definitely add to the album experience. "Only The Young" (released on "Vision Quest" movie soundtrack) and "Ask The Lonely" ("Two Of A Kind" soundtrack) turned out to be fairly big hits for Journey. "Liberty" is a nice acoustic guitar & piano ballad (released only on "Time 3"), and the rarely heard melodic mid-tempo "Only Solutions ("Tron" soundtrack). Only thing better would be more photos of Steve Perry in those cheesy tight muscle shirts, or the band in their skydiving suits. "Frontiers" is/was a very good album. Side-2 though keeps me from giving it the best possible rating (4+ stars).

If you have the boxed set "Time", you really don't need to bother with any of the Journey reissues. All of the bonus tracks on this album as well as just about all the other reissues are already included in the boxed set. What's nice in this case is that the two tracks that wound up in the films "Two of a Kind" and "Vision Quest" ("Ask the Lonely" and "Only the Young" respectively; both of which are also on the 1988 "Greatest Hits" collection...and that too has been updated to include "When You Love a Woman" from their 1996 "Trial by Fire" disc) are reunited with the rest of the album they were originally recorded for. Kudos also for the inclusion of "Only Solutions" from the computer game flick "Tron" from 1982, and the track "Liberty". If you have the Journey catalog albums already, your best bet to get all the bonus tracks included in this 2006 round of reissues is to just get "Time" and you'll find a treasure trove of stuff that was, for whatever reason, left off the original releases. To be fair, this is a nice reworking of a great labum and it's nice to have the two big movie songs back where they always belonged.

I have the Time 3 set but also bought this because I was collecting the 2006 reissues. I was disappointed when this came to me in a regular jewel case instead of the collectible digipak case. It was the expanded version but the case wasn't in line with my collection so I have yet another extra copy of a Journey album. It did have the picturesque booklet with tour dates. But I'm disappointed that none of the 2006 reissues had the lyrics printed. I love most of the songs on this album. They all had catchy hooks and they were very listenable. The only song I didn't like was Back Talk which was too rocking for my tastes. All the songs are so good that I feel like this is the best Journey album even over escape and infinity. perry's voice is a bit raspy on this one but not as bad as trial by fire. my favorite songs were faithfully, liberty, ask the lonely, troubled child, separate ways, rubicon, only the young. i'm amazed how different perry's lower voice sounds on Ask the Lonely versus his earlier Infinity songs. It doesn't even sound like the same person.

Although not as good and timeless as Escape, this is still a great CD, with nice bonus tracks (even though they were available previously, it's nice that they are now where they should be - on this disc with the rest of the album). I wish all the Journey CD's got remastered like this one for the Legacy reissues.

FYI: Here's the mastering scoop on the Journey CD's I like and own:

Infinity (not remastered for 2006 Legacy reissues, old 1996 remastering)

Evolution (not remastered for 2006 Legacy reissues, old 1996 remastering)

Departure (remastered for 2006 Legacy reissues)

Escape (not remastered for 2006 Legacy reissues, old 1996 remastering)

Frontiers (remastered for 2006 Legacy reissues)

They should have all been re-remastered.

This silver Grammy-winning classic is Journey's #1 album of their legacy. Frontman Steve Perry delivers his powerful vocals on the Top 20 hits SEPARATE WAYS,SEND HER MY LOVE and FAITHFULLY. The latter,composed by lead guitarist Jonathan Cain,is a popular favorite heard worldwide on various easy listening and adult comtemporary radio stations. This re-issue features several bonus tracks,one of them being ONLY THE YOUNG. OTY was obviously an outtake for the original 1983(US) track line-up,but was later saved to be featured in the 1985 film VISION QUEST. OTY appeared on the soundtrack album and debuted on the radio in January 1985(in the US). OTY was recycled for the 1988 GREATEST HITS compilation. After this album,the band,with the exception of Perry,took a break from recording. In 1984,Perry put out his solo debut STREET TALK,another Grammy-winner. During the recording break,the band began writing songs for 1986's RAISED ON RADIO.