Journey - Eclipse

[dongringo]

Eclipse IS a different Journey. And to me that's what's so great about it. Neal Schon finally decided it's his way or the highway. No more cookie cutter formula ballads. This album rocks and musicianship is on top throughout. Not to mention Arnel Pineda sings his ass off and doesn't try to imitate Perry (long gone, not coming back). He's really found his own voice on this album. Neal's guitar work is heavy, heartfelt and intense. Ross Valory's bass and vocals are solid. And Dean's powerhouse drumming is quite frankly the best I've heard on any Journy album. It's a different Journey for sure, but thank God...it's not the same old formula. It worked back in the 80s, but this is the now and they finally got it. I haven't been excited about a new Journy album in over 20 years. So this is quite the surprise to say the least. Out with the old, in with the new.

Dark and Light at the same time is how I'd describe Eclipse. Dark and heavy riffs and melodies with hopeful and positive lyrics (nothing too heavy). This is intriguing. Usually rock/metal is one or the other.

[King Postwhore]

Yea, to me it's Journey with a bark to it.  I'm liking it a lot.

[yorost]

I also think Ritual is one of the weakest songs on the album.  Not going to pass judgment,yet, but ithis could end up one of my favourite albums of theirs.  At the very least this is the first thing they've done since Red 13  that really has me excited.

[Bolsters]

So I listened to this again last night. As I thought, afterwards my opinion of the album had only improved. I guess for me it's going to be one of those albums that takes me a while to fully appreciate.

[wolfking]

Listened to 3 songs.  It's decent.  I like the dark atmosphere to it, but it didn't blow me away.  I'll probably buy it though.

[dongringo]

Listened to 3 songs.  It's decent.  I like the dark atmosphere to it, but it didn't blow me away.  I'll probably buy it though.

Just remember that some albums are growers. Lot's of music has that effect on me, like all the Blackfield albums. Anyway, it may or may not grow on you, just a reminder. 

[wolfking]

Listened to 3 songs.  It's decent.  I like the dark atmosphere to it, but it didn't blow me away.  I'll probably buy it though.

Just remember that some albums are growers. Lot's of music has that effect on me, like all the Blackfield albums. Anyway, it may or may not grow on you, just a reminder. 

Of course.  Has some great elements that definitely would need time to grow.

[Orbert]

I listened to it today and thought it was pretty good.  It sounds like Journey, maybe a little harder rocking than some recent stuff, which is good, although I can't be sure because I honestly haven't listened to much Journey in the past 20 years or so.  Everything sounded strong musically, and Pineda IMO sounds a lot like Perry during his prime but without the whiney edge, and that's also good.

I'm not sure what "melodic rock" is supposed to be, honestly.  Is it rock that's not quite prog but with a bit more emphasis on the music and not so much on "songs"?

Full disclosure: I had it on while I surfed, Facebooked, and played games, because I wasn't sure how good it would be, so I made the first listen a background listen.  But I liked what I heard, so next spin will be in the car, with my full attention.  I used to really like Journey, but they lost me for a while.  But this sounded pretty strong.

[wolfking]

Melodic rock also refers to AOR, which mainly came about with bands like Journey, Foreigner, Toto, REO Speedwagon, Survivor etc.  I guess by todays standards, it's catchy rock with emphasis on good songwriting, melodies, big production, harmonies and big choruses.  It's a pretty loose term to be honest.  If it's got good guitars, positive lyrics, and catchy choruses, I guess that qualifies.  Bands that can be classed as melodic rock nowadays;

Ten
Danger Danger/Ted Poley
House of Lords
Magnum/Bob Catley
Jeff Scott Soto
John Waite/Bad English
Nelson
Treat
Pink Cream 69
Harem Scarem
From the Inside
Joe Lynn Turner/Sunstorm
Khymera
Pretty Maids
Pride of Lions
Work Of Art
Most Dennis Ward productions
All Magnus Karlsson collaborations

[Orbert]

Wow, I've heard of two artists/bands in that entire list.  I'm so out of touch.

Listening to Eclipse again, I guess I lied about listening to it in the car next, although that's still coming.  Is Cain out of the band now?  There are barely any keyboards.  Some for a little flavor and texture here and there, but it's all about Schon's guitars and Pineda's voice now.

[yorost]

Cain is there more than it first seems.  He'll be doing a lot of rhythm guitars when they play this album on tour, though.

[Orbert]

Yeah, there's a couple songs with piano that I didn't catch the first time, and a lot of background textures and stuff.  Nothing in your face like "Separate Ways" or "Don't Stop Believin'" though.

[dongringo]

Yeah, Cain took somewhat of a backseat on this one in order to put out a more rocking, guitar driven album, which I really respect him doing. I agree, he will be playing more rhythm guitars on these songs live. Can't wait to get the cd though so I can hear what I'm surely missing with this unbelievably low quality stream. I have a pretty good headphones/amp/dac setup that is extremely revealing. Only problem is, it's also extremely revealing of recording quality, good and bad, so I hope it's a good mix.

[King Postwhore]

Well, if you go by the song credits Cain wrote 10 of the 12 songs with Schon but yes the keyboards do take a back up role on this album.

[dongringo]

^ That's all I meant. 

[yorost]

Something interesting from a recent interview about Eclipse: https://ultimateclassicrock.com/journey-jonathan-cain-interview/

Arnel has this idea for ‘Arrival,’ he really wants to sing those songs. He feels that ‘Arrival’ just didn’t get the love that it should have gotten, maybe because it was CBS dropping the ball for us or something, I don’t know. That was an ill-fated album, but when Arnel listens to it, he’s like “I’d love to sing this stuff.”

[Bolsters]

That would be great, because almost every song on Arrival fucking rawks.

[bosk1]

I picked up this album last week, and...I wasn't expecting this at all, but I have to say it is a VERY good album.  And it really sounds like a Journey album, including Arnel's vocals.  This is all new material, and yet I still can't get away from the fact that I feel like I'm listening to Steve Perry at times.  I did not like Arnel at all after hearing him on Revelations (including the re-recording of the classics) and Live in Manila.  But he has apparently benefitted greatly from his time in the band thus far because he really sounds fantastic.  I would describe him exactly how I described Steve Augeri when I first heard him in the band:  There are times when he channels Perry's sound and style perfectly, and other times when he sounds really unique, but somehow, he manages to blend the two very well.  After two listens, I have about half a dozen songs stuck in my head, which almost never happens with a new album right off the bat.  There are also some riffs that make me go at how heavy and modern they are.  Don't misunderstand--this is not a "metal" album.  It's the kind of hard rock Journey are known for.  But it is certainly a very guitar-driven album.

[King Postwhore]

I've been waiting to heat your revue.  I glad you like it.  It's such a cohesive, melodic and yet dark album.  I think they tried to sound "too" Classic Journey on Revelations and this time they forged there own way why still sounding like Journey.

[bosk1]

I can easily see this album being in my top 10 at the end of the year--a thought I would have found laughable before actually hearing the album.

[dongringo]

I picked up this album last week, and...I wasn't expecting this at all, but I have to say it is a VERY good album.  And it really sounds like a Journey album, including Arnel's vocals.  This is all new material, and yet I still can't get away from the fact that I feel like I'm listening to Steve Perry at times.  I did not like Arnel at all after hearing him on Revelations (including the re-recording of the classics) and Live in Manila.  But he has apparently benefitted greatly from his time in the band thus far because he really sounds fantastic.  I would describe him exactly how I described Steve Augeri when I first heard him in the band:  There are times when he channels Perry's sound and style perfectly, and other times when he sounds really unique, but somehow, he manages to blend the two very well.  After two listens, I have about half a dozen songs stuck in my head, which almost never happens with a new album right off the bat.  There are also some riffs that make me go at how heavy and modern they are.  Don't misunderstand--this is not a "metal" album.  It's the kind of hard rock Journey are known for.  But it is certainly a very guitar-driven album.

We agree on something. 

[D_Halco]

I gave the album another spin last week and there are several things I like about it that I didnt before.

I like Resonate, especially that experimental-ish buildup at the beginning. She's A Mystery is a good slow burner musically until that bombastic last few minutes where Neal really begins to RAWK! And I think musically Human Feel is the best song on the album, I especially like the guitar work underneath the 'rise up' portions of the song, and I like the tribal beats throughout the tune.

Ritual is still my favorite tune overall, with the acoustic guitar bridge and the time and tempo change in the middle of the song being highlights, it's also the only song where it seems like Ross is enjoying playing the bass. I miss the Ross that opened it up on Arrival and Generations!

[Orbert]

I feel like I'm listening to Steve Perry at times.

Only better.  I know people are saying he's finding his own voice now, but I think it's almost the opposite; he sounds like Steve Perry only better, as opposed to trying to sound like Steve Perry and sounding worse.

If this is his "real" voice, then that's great, and I'm not even saying that he should try to be Perry.  But it's pretty clear that that voice and Neal's guitar are a winning combination.

[dongringo]

Only better.  I know people are saying he's finding his own voice now, but I think it's almost the opposite; he sounds like Steve Perry only better, as opposed to trying to sound like Steve Perry and sounding worse.

If this is his "real" voice, then that's great, and I'm not even saying that he should try to be Perry.  But it's pretty clear that that voice and Neal's guitar are a winning combination.

I couldn't agree more. Arnel sounds better than Perry and Neal's guitar work is among his best. I finally got the cd, ripped it to flac, and have been listening to it on my high end headphone/amp/dac set up and it's an outstanding album, every bit as good as any album they've ever recorded imo. Very strong and memorable songs. And the recording quality is very good. They put their all into this album and it's such a joy to listen to after all these years of being out of the Journey loop. I feel like I'm 10 years old again when I first got Escape. 

[yorost]

I really don't think Arnel sounds better or stronger than Perry during the Rolie years.  Perry's voice clearly took a dive during his years in Journey, so maybe you mean his late stuff.  ...or currently?  I've no doubt Pineda can run circles around Perry at the moment.

[dongringo]

I really don't think Arnel sounds better or stronger than Perry during the Rolie years.  Perry's voice clearly took a dive during his years in Journey, so maybe you mean his late stuff.  ...or currently?  I've no doubt Pineda can run circles around Perry at the moment.

My definition of "better" is that it's not as whiny, which is easier to listen to imo. 

[Orbert]

Yeah, he sounds like the "good" Perry, full and strong, not the "whiney" Perry, who I want to slap multiple times.

[dongringo]

Yeah, he sounds like the "good" Perry, full and strong, not the "whiney" Perry, who I want to slap multiple times.

 

[wolfking]

Okay, picked this up yesterday and have listened to it three times.  I like it, a lot.  It's still Journey, with some darker tones.  It's quite fresh, but overall when you dig into the album, it's still Journey to me.  I found the first three tracks being fresh, darker, exciting and I really wanted the rest of the album to follow that style.  Tantra pulls the brakes on, and I really can't dig this track at all.  After the first three highlights, this just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

Anything is Possible is a good one IMO.  Classic, AOR drenched Journey with Schon indulging himself at the end nicely.  Resonate is okay, but just filler really.  She's a Mystery is a decent track in its own right, but drags the album down a little.  I like how it eventually gets going though.  Human Feel is probably the highlight along with Edge of the Moment.  What a song, what a chorus, Human Feel is an instant Journey classic.  The last four are good tracks but nothing outstanding at this stage.

I must say, Schon proves what a guitar god he is on this album, he rips, every solo is self indulgent, but no matter how long a solo goes for, it never overstays its welcome.  Arnel surprised me too.  After being very disappointed with him on Revelation, he sounds excellent here, I really enjoy his voice, and I never ever thought I'd say that.

Best tracks: City of Hope (amazing double time at the end), Edge of the Moment, Chain of Love, Human Feel, Anything is Possible.

This will be getting multiple listens for me.

[dongringo]

Fascinating. Tantra is one my favorite songs on the album.

[ich bin besser]

They played a couple of tracks from the new album yesterday at a festival in Germany. The crowd was not familiar with those, so the old hits got the most applause, as expected. Good show, but it was almost impossible to beat Foreigner's performance who played right before them.
 

[wolfking]

Fascinating. Tantra is one my favorite songs on the album.

Yeah, I just don't like it at the moment, that may change though, I think if it was placed later in the album I might have warmed to it more.

[yorost]

I really, really disliked the first couple of minutes of Tantra when I got the album.  It sounded way too generic.  Always liked the basic structure and idea of the song, though.  Still not big on it, but I do rather enjoy it now that I've heard it a few times.

It's the only song I've had any particular dislike for at any point so far.  Otherwise, Ritual and Someone are somewhat low points for the album, but they really aren't bad songs by any means.  Well placed deep on the album, so they don't hurt the overall quality.  Someone, especially, sort of placed inside a different song works really well.

[wolfking]

I really, really disliked the first couple of minutes of Tantra when I got the album.  It sounded way too generic.  Always liked the basic structure and idea of the song, though.  Still not big on it, but I do rather enjoy it now that I've heard it a few times.

It's the only song I've had any particular dislike for at any point so far.  Otherwise, Ritual and Someone are somewhat low points for the album, but they really aren't bad songs by any means.  Well placed deep on the album, so they don't hurt the overall quality.  Someone, especially, sort of placed inside a different song works really well.

Pretty much all of the second paragraph.  Those songs are filler but are placed well.  I can't help but feel that Tantra would have benefited from being deeper in the album.  After the 1-2-3 punch, Tantra just simply falls short.

[yorost]

Thought some of you might find this picture interesting.  There was a video of Pineda and Augeri meeting, too.  They both seemed excited at meeting the other, actually.



More talk is out there of the band loving Arrival. this time from Schon.  Apparently they've considered doing a Greatest Hits 2 rerecord with Pineda and including a bunch of tracks from Arrival.  Not sure how I'd feel about that, I'd rather they had just put Arrival tracks on the newest GH2 being released, but I doubt we'll ever see something Perry helps compile include anything without him on it.