Hmmpost

Have you ever listened to Journey’s first album? Until a comment was left on the Journey Revelation review post I made last year, I hadn’t. The comment I’ll get to in a bit and it had nothing to do with Journey’s first album, but sometimes it’s something totally unrelated that makes me go hmm. I didn’t realize that Steve Perry was absent from the first three albums Journey released and founding member and keyboardist Gregg Rollie (official website: greggrollie.com) was lead vocals. I mean maybe I did, but some cobwebs in the brain cleared when I read who the band lineup was after hearing a very different original singer. Rollie was a very good singer for the type of Journey music of this era. The original lineup of Journey in the mid 70s was not about syrupy ballads and pop anthems, barely the same band. When I first listened to the very first song ever by Journey on their self-titled album called “Of A Lifetime” I dug it instantly. Wow, who are these guys, I thought. The guitar riff is barely the Journey you and I both know. In fact if you don’t like the heavy guitar based rock of the 70s, you won’t like this incarnation of Journey. But for me? A guy who’s ears feast on long, catchy guitar solos in songs like Freebird and Highway Song, bring it on. As I listened more and more to the first album what struck me was that Journey shouldn’t have tried to copy their era with Steve Perry. They did that with Steve Augeri and seem to be trying that with Arnel Pineda. What about going back to their first three albums and trying that version of Journey? Before you laugh at how poor this would probably do commercially think past the dollars and cents aspect for a minute. The music industry isn’t exactly what it once was and radical thinking might be necessary recipe for more bands. Props to Neal Schon for using YouTube to find their new singer, but I wish he would have gone back in time and looked at where Journey started for their next journey. Reader Rob O. asks what my thoughts are on Revelation a year later. Rob, I still wouldn’t change the review grade and none of the songs grab me the way I would have liked other than the one mentioned in the review. Instead, I’m listening to Journey’s first album and will likely be buying the other two with Rollie on lead vocals. Maybe this says something about my taste as commercially these albums weren’t remotely comparable to the Journey of 80s, but hey I haven’t based my music tastes on commercial results. Interesting historical note that Gregg Rollie stuck around for the first two albums (Infinity and Evolution) where Steve Perry sang lead vocals. These two albums have some of my favorite popular Journey songs on them like Wheel In The Sky, Anytime and Lights and perhaps my favorite Journey ballad: Too Late. Rollie didn’t mind Perry coming in to sing lead vocals according to a vintagerock interview: I liked having a lead singer. It didn’t bother me at all. I had been that and playing keyboards and harmonica. It was pretty spread out. I thought it was a new challenge, a new way to go. Why not? Steve Perry had a great voice. It was that simple.

Rollie is still touring but not playing much, if any, Journey music so I probably stand alone in my musical sentiments. Whether you agree or disagree, give the first Journey album a listen and compare. I prefer the 70s to the 2000s, but hey I haven’t liked the majority of new music put out by bands that were hot twenty or more years ago.