Revelation - Journey

I've been a Journey fan for quite some time. Not since the ancient days, but I was a fan starting around around the time of Escape. I remember getting on a bus (I was 16 then, no car), and drove to Sears & Roebuck to buy Escape (and Hall & Oates' Private Eyes) on cassette tape. I've bought every Journey album since then. I'm rather familiar with their work. However, the last time an album really did anything for me as a "complete album" would have been Frontiers in 1983 (even though there's been a boatload of studio discs since then). I've liked several of these releases since then, but most have just a song or three that are good, and the rest is ballady filler.

Well, no more. In 2008, Journey released a new studio album with their new singer, Arnel Pineda. Arnel is a Filipino based singer, and I was amazed by this new material for two reasons. One the songs are solid. Journey albums haven't been that great over the years. This one is got a pile of good, solid songs. It was quite refreshing. I'd go so far as to say this is their best album since the glory days with Steve Perry. Second was the vocals of Arnel Pineda. His voice is quite amazing. The story goes Neil Schon found him on Youtube. Pineda is quite amazing, as I thought Steve Augieri had the sound of Steve Perry down. Pineda is at times an "eyes closed, it's the same guy" copy of Perry. Not completely, mind you, but it's darned close. At first I dismissed this as "Oh look, they just want another Steve Perry clone behind the mike", but it grew on me a lot. Yes, he sounds like Perry, but that's not all he sounds like. I cannot say how highly I recommend the album of new material.

But it doesn't stop there. There is a second disc of songs. It's basically "current Journey" re-recording about a dozen classic Journey hits. It's basically Journey covering itself. This is an eyebrow raiser. It's not like they're bad -they're not. They're quite good. Not entirely sure what the point of this disc is, even though I like listening to it. Journey fans buying Revelation will have these songs already.

But wait! If you order now (informercal mode engaged), you get a third disc. A live concert DVD with Pineda recoded late last year. What a bargain!

Seriously, this package is quite a deal. It's selling for $11.99 for a three disc package at a time when most bands have single discs and $14 price points. That also leads me to my final point. Revelation is an album that is only for sale in Wal-Mart (or Sam's Club). This seems to be a trend now where Walmart is the only place to buy specific CD's. That's not a problem for me, but if you're one of these Wal-Mart haters, it might stop you, as it's the only place you can buy it.

Revelation is what its title says. Quite refreshing, new vocalist, great new album. Can't wait for the next one! :)