Greatest.............. ...not half! (Greatest Hits - Journey)

Member Name: kevrus

Product:	Greatest Hits - Journey
Date:	23/01/01 (917 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: all the hits

Disadvantages: dis.......what????

As always, a greatest hits package is as good an introduction to a band as any other. As always there is not a lot here for a fan that has everything else committed to vinyl (or disc) by the artist in question.

So lets start with what there is for the long term Journey fan; track 1, 'Only the young' from the soundtrack of Visionquest, a movie, if I recall correctly, about a wrestler who falls in love. The film was famously renamed as 'crazy for you' after the Madonna song of the same name from the soundtrack, which was a worldwide hit. 'Only the young' is a typical Journey song with a smooth as silk chorus. The other add on track (track 7) is 'Ask the lonely' from the soundtrack of 'Two of a kind' which I don't think I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. This is probably the weakest track on the disc, kind of Journey-by-numbers.

Now for the good stuff, if you are new to Journey then this is the disc for you. And in a way I envy you, like the way I envy someone tasting Peking duck for the first time. 'Don't stop believin'', one of the classic singles from the 'Escape' album, gently builds through two verses, setting the scene for two strangers to meet and fall in love. It then builds through two more verses to a fine chorus perfectly showcasing Steve Perry's almost falsetto vocals.

'Wheel in the sky' from 'Infinity' is a short epic (if that isn't a contradiction in terms). Apparently extremely popular live (alas I wouldn't know), I have no idea what this song is about except possibly about the passage of time being ever onwards. I think that you can get away with nonsense lyrics if the song is strong enough and that is certainly the case here. The oldest song on the disc (1977), I don't think this was ever actually a hit, more an inclusion for its popularity live.

'Faithfully' from 'Frontiers is a beautiful ballad of l
ife on the road and the strains on a long-term relationship. "They say that the road ain't no place to start a family??."

Bit of a double whammy here, from 'Faithfully' straight into 'I'll be alright without you' from 'Raised on radio' is one of my favourite Journey ballads, a heart rending tale of a guy trying to convince himself that he can live without his departed lover.

'Anyway you want it' from 'Departure' and also featured in the movie 'Caddyshack' is a full steam ahead tale of falling in love, with a glorious sing along chorus.

'Who's cryin' now?' the second classic single from 'Escape' featured here, and if anything the perfect example of why I got into Journey in the first place, a slow burning song with a faultless chorus that just imbeds itself into your brain.

The superb first single from 'Frontiers', 'Separate ways (worlds apart) follows, perhaps just to show that Journey can rock when they want to with no loss of songwriting quality whatsoever. A haunting keyboard intro, a repeating guitar riff and a glorious first verse from Steve Perry leading into the bridge to what is a powerful, almost operatic chorus?."You know I still love you, though we touched and went our separate ways".

Another old track, 'Lights' from 'Infinity' is a homage to Journeys hometown of San Francisco, "?.the city by the bay".

'Open arms', yet another single from 'Escape' is as slushy as they come, and yes is the same song recently covered by Mariah Carey (although obviously this is the superior version). With another double whammy it goes straight into another example from 'raised on radio', 'The girl can't help it', a mid tempo song about two people in a relationship who find that they need more than each other can give. This song is so smoothly produced
that words cannot describe it fully.

'Send her my love' from 'Frontiers' is probably the weakest of the 'proper' tracks here until it gets to that superb bridge just before the final chorus that sends shivers down my spine. It's just a shame that it took so long to build to that.

Fortunately the disc ends on a real high note. The feel good 'be good to yourself' from 'Raised on radio' just begs to you to turn the volume up to 10. Yes, 'Be good to yourself' ???buy or die!

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