April 2010    |   epinions.com

I bought the latest release from Journey when I spent a week in Metro Manila with my lady friend. She mentioned the band and the new front man, Arnel Pineda, a Filipino. Apparently Pineda was discovered on YouTube, by Neal Schon of Journey, and Pineda was asked by email to audition for Journey. I was not disappointed! Revelation, a 2-disc set, is fantastic! Arnel Pineda sounds eerily like Steve Perry, and if one didn't know better, it would be easy to mistake Pineda's vocals for Perry's. That is both a blessing and a curse. The first CD features 11 new songs that are very much like the songs from the band's golden years in style and theme, and with Pineda's vocals, truly sound like the Journey many of us came to love in the 1980s. Name any popular song from that era, and these new recordings can be placed side-by-side with them and few would be the wiser. Of the new recordings, the most like the golden years are Never Walk Away, Like A Sunshower, Change for the Better, After All These Years, and Turn Down the World Tonight. The other songs on this disc are also rewarding, but do not compare as easily to the band's landmark hits. The last song in particular, The Journey (Revelation), is a departure from the style of the hits that made the band popular. It opens with what sounds like an aboriginal chant of some sort, and segue's into an instrumental extravaganza that attempts to be a musical narrative, perhaps. My personal opinion is that it could have been left off the album. Few fans of the Journey we know and love are not likely to listen to this song more than once. The second disc is an unexpected surprise in the release and contains 11 re-recordings of some of the band's best-known hits: Only the Young, Don't Stop Believin', Wheel in the Sky, Faithfully, Any Way You Want It, Who's Crying Now, Separate Ways, Lights, Open Arms, Be Good to Yourself, and Stone in Love. Pineda sounds eerily like Steve Perry in these recordings, and the only noticeable differences are sometimes the more limited range of Pineda's vocals and how and when Pineda alters the vocal timing. When Pineda's timing doesn't match the original recording, it nearly grates on the ear because the original recordings are so ingrained in our cultural memory. I have mixed feelings about this second CD. On the one hand, it showcases Pineda's vocal capabilities with the band's runaway hits and demonstrates without any shadow of doubht just how much he sounds like Steve Perry. On the other hand, it trivializes Steve Perry's contributions to the band's earlier success on the original recordings. Despite this, I think most fans will applaud Pineda's ability to mimic Perry so convincingly in the re-recordings. For those fans who really love the old Journey, and wouldn't want them to change, Pineda is the best choice the band could have made. He fulfills that role in a big way. Read my full review of Journey: Revelation at epinions.com >