April 26, 2001: Roadtrippin'

Back in 2001, I would write articles for the now defunct website JourneyDigest.com -- an off shoot of the long standing Journey mailing list of the same name. Below is an article I wrote as I prepared for the start of the Arrival Tour.

"Are they really that good?" my father asked as he passed me the bread over dinner. It was St. Patrick's day, and I was having dinner with my parents. The tour dates for Journey's summer tour had just been announced, and I told them that I was planning on hitting the first week of the tour, thus requiring a week of driving around Texas. Dad was puzzled – why on earth would I spend a week in Texas to see the same show 4 times – not to mention a show in Vegas and another in Albuquerque. Six shows in 10 days. And that didn't take into account the three dates where I could actually stay home and drive to nearby shows. My answer to Dad was, "Well, yeah." We left it at that, but we both knew there was more to it than just a good show. He knew it, and I knew I could never explain it to him.

If someone had told me 10 years ago that I would spend my early thirties hopping planes and renting cars to see Journey perform all over the country I would have just laughed in his face. Never mind that 10 years ago the odds of a Journey tour were about as good as the earth being hit by a comet, I just wasn't one of "those" people. Follow a band around? Why on earth would anyone do that? I have a job and responsibilities, I can't be traipsing off around the country after some band. Do I look like a Deadhead?

Tickets for Journey's 2001 tour have been going on sale the last couple of weeks, and as I sat down to plan a couple of road trips to see a band I've seen 14 times in between October 1998 and December 2000, I've reflected on Dad's question some more. On the face of it, the whole thing is rather ridiculous. Even splitting costs in some cities with friends, I am still spending enough money this summer to send me on a very nice three-week tour of Europe. It's insane. Most people will see one or two shows near their hometown, yet here I am checking hotel prices for El Paso, Texas. It's not like I live in some remote town in Iowa either. I live in one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the United States. Everyone comes through the San Francisco Bay Area eventually. And Journey? Well, that's a no brainer – of course they are going to play to the hometown fans. Yet here I am, checking multi-city airfares and telling my boss I am taking the first week of June off for vacation. What on earth is motivating me to do this?

The music, of course, is a big part of the picture. No one spends hundreds upon hundreds of dollars to go listen to music they don't adore. I have always loved live music and the feeling you get at a good concert, but no other band has motivated me to travel further than fifty miles from my home to see them. I've had a connection to this music for a very long time, and I rejoice every time I get to hear it performed live. So if I have the time and opportunity to hear it, I am going to take it.

I know part of the motivation is found in making up for missed opportunities. For a variety of reasons I missed Journey on tour back in their hey day, so some of my travels are to catch a bit of what I missed then. But that's only a small factor. It's what got me on the plane for the first time, but it's definitely not what's keeping me traveling across the country. Not after previous tours.

Once you've hopped your first flight or driven hours upon hours to another state to see a band perform, something changes. You've become one of "those" people. There isn't even a good name for it. Groupie comes close, but the negative connotations with that term don't quite apply. It's not all about meeting the band; that was something that never entered into my mind when I started on my travels. Adventurer is maybe a better term. You need a sense of adventure to do something like this, and you have to like to travel. Luckily, I love to travel. You also need to be one with your car (be it owned or rented) because it's required when searching for venues out in the middle of nowhere. Road tripping through the country.

Another factor is the common bond I've found with fellow fans from around the world. The friendships I have made over this music have made a world of difference. I love the fact that after years and years of being the only Journey fan among my group of close friends, that I have met so many people who feel the same way about the music that I do. As a bonus, some of these fellow fans have become good friends with whom I socialize with out having a Journey-related reason. And since I've started traipsing around after Journey, I've noticed something when I am at other concerts. It's the same thing I see at the Journey shows I go to. People waving at each other from across the arena with that "Hey, I didn't know YOU were going to be here too" look on their faces. It is not an isolated phenomenon.

Throw all of that together with the fact that I realize this time of my life is finite. I am fortunate enough to have the means and the ability to take these trips. Being single, I am not tied to the demands of a family. I work for a company that has an excellent vacation benefit and is small enough that I don't need to put in a formal request for vacation time months in advance. I also realize that, even though I hate to admit it, Journey isn't going to be around forever. Somewhere down the line they will hang it up, and all that will be left are the memories. So I'm kicking it up while I can and creating some fabulous memories in the process.

Life is too short to not make a little adventure for yourself every now and then. I'm glad I realized this sooner rather than later.

So, does anyone know of a cheap flight from San Francisco to Pittsburgh?

April 2001: Arrival Released in the United States

As a contributing author to the JourneyDigest.com website, I was asked to write a couple of album reviews. When "Arrival" was released in Japan in the fall of 2000, I wrote up a review of that version of the album. "Arrival" wasn't due to be released in the US until April, so with the advances in modern technology, the Japanese version was widely available through Napster. This caused the band to go back into the studio to record two additional tracks and make some changes to the US release. When "Arrival" was released in the US in April, 2001, I revised the review for JourneyDigest.com.

"Escape 2000" – that's what it said on the Journey website. Fans were curious what the new album being recorded would sound like, and the band replied with "Escape 2000." My initial reaction – kiss of death. No way, no how could a new album live up to that level of expectation. Escape was the biggest album Journey ever recorded. This is a new album, nearly 20 years later, with a new singer and a new drummer – to expect another Escape was too much to ask.

So we waited to see what came out, and after several delays, Arrival was released worldwide in April 2001. The current release differs somewhat from the version that was released six months earlier in Japan. Gone is the ballad "I'm Not That Way" and added are two rock tracks, "World Gone Wild" and "Nothing Comes Close." Along with some minor rearranging in the sequence, this nearly 74-minute release is ready for the world. So, what is the verdict? Journey is back!

Is it "Escape 2000?" No. I still hold the belief that Escape is a target too high to reach. That said, however, Arrival comes pretty darned close, and in my opinion, is the album that should have been released after Frontiers. This CD is everything we have come to know and love about Journey. It rocks, it's positive, and the ballads are timeless.

What is particularly impressive, however, is how making a few changes from the more-mellow feeling Japanese release completely changes the feel of the album. By adding the two new tracks and rearranging the closing tracks, the energy of this album is hugely increased. Instead of having 7 of 8 songs in the middle being ballads or slower blues tracks, there is now more balance with 3 rock tracks and 5 slower tracks. Album sequencing is a lost art form, and this is a prime example of how the sequence of tracks change the whole perception of the album.

With all the hype surrounding Steve Augeri and his first Journey album, a little thing has been overlooked – there's a new drummer too! As someone who never notices the drums one of the first things that I did notice was that this version of Journey was most definitely following the beat of a different drummer! Deen Castronovo definitely adds a different flavor to this album. There are some very powerful and primal beats going on all over this album, and, personally, I can't get enough of them. There is just something in the power of Deen's drumming that has gotten under my skin and made this album extremely enjoyable.

Ultimately, though, what has kept this album spinning in every CD player I own almost non-stop since I bought it (even though I have had the Japanese version since November), is that it feels so familiar (and no, not because of Napster!) Whether it's the lift from "Who's Crying Now" that shows up in "Signs of Life" or that "Live and Breathe" has gone from an introduction to "Wheel in the Sky" to a complete song or if it's just the feel that runs through so many Journey songs over the years, this is a collection of songs that feel as though they've been around a very long time.

So, on to a track-by-track commentary:

"Higher Place" is the opening track, and belongs in this number one spot. It brings in an energy that you want from an opener. It is also the first rock single (so bug your local radio stations for airplay!) Here is the first chance for listeners to notice the beat going on in this album. Deen supplies the power to this track and really drives it home.

"All The Way" is the big single for the album. A traditional Journey power ballad that is very reminiscent of "When You Love a Woman" from Trial By Fire. This is the song that shocked me the most. After 12 shows in 2 years and countless replays of bootlegged shows, I was extremely confident that I could tell Augeri from Perry instantaneously. I was wrong. The first time I played this track I had to stop what I was doing, rewind, and play it again. I couldn't believe my ears. Now, after countless listens, I have a hard time identifying just what made my jaw hit the floor and think that somehow Steve Augeri was channeling Steve Perry (well okay it was the "woah-oh-oo-oh" towards the end that is just freakishly Perry-like), but this is something the casual fan will not pick up on unless they are told.

"Signs of Life" is one of my favorite tracks. Lyrically, it is thematically similar to "I'll Be Alright Without You" and the lift from "Who's Crying Now" adds a little twist of irony into the mix. Unlike "I'll Be Alright," however, there isn't that "woe-is-me" feel to the song as it is much more upbeat in presentation.

"All the Things" is a very guitar-heavy track that some listeners may find difficult to get in to. For better or for worse, Journey is associated with power ballads and mid-tempo songs, and this track is neither of those. Fans who enjoy the harder edged songs in Journey's history will enjoy this one, but those who prefer the likes of "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Lights" are going to find this track too far from what they expect from a "typical" Journey song.

"Loved By You" is a song I had the good fortune to hear in 1998 and have been waiting not-so-patiently for ever since. Jon performed this song at a couple of Bay Area appearances in the spring of 1998 (a few months before it was announced Steve Augeri would be joining the band) and I fell instantly in love with it. To have it finally show up on a Journey album three years later has me jumping for joy. It is an utterly romantic ballad that is classic Jonathan Cain – he can melt anyone's heart with complete ease.

"Livin' to Do" is another track that is going to be hard for some listeners to enjoy. It's a very moody song that starts off very slowly. Personally, I really enjoy it, but I am often partial to moody songs with sweeping panoramas such as this one. With Neal's late father Matt Schon getting a songwriting credit on this song (which is also about him) it doesn't surprise me that it's a track I enjoy. Matt Schon contributed to "Winds of March" and "Mother, Father" – two of my all-time favorite Journey songs that also have a very majestic feel about them. Lyrically, I think this song has a message that everyone can relate to though – life is short and should be lived to it's fullest.

"World Gone Wild" is the first of the added rock tracks, and is a response from the band to the opinions of the fans. This song was played early on in the 1999 tour with Foreigner and was loved by many who heard it (including me.) I had honestly forgotten how good this song was, but it was the first track I played when I opened Arrival. The transition out of "Livin' To Do" from the mournful organ to the eerie synthesizer is one of those little moments that highlights the talents and diversity in this band. Neal continues to amaze me with his solo at the end of this song. There is an urgency to this song that is fitting with the title, but the title is deceiving. On the surface one would think this song is about utter chaos and hopelessness. Closer inspection, however, finds that "I don't believe that it's all a world gone wild." Focus on the positive.

"I Got a Reason" is not a song to be listened to sitting down. In fact, I dare anyone to try. This song has "get up and dance" written all over it. It's very up tempo and just a real feel-good song. And Deen is pounding all over the place. (Why do I feel like using that tired American Bandstand line – "It's got a good beat and you can dance to it??") It's just got a feel-good summer time party feel to it that is impossible to resist.

"With Your Love" is another classic Jonathan Cain ballad. So much so, in fact, that an instrumental version of this song was released on his 1997 solo project Body Language. If this song isn't played at every Journey-fan's wedding in the coming years, then someone isn't paying attention. Adding a full band and vocal to this song changes it dramatically from the original instrumental, but at the heart it's the beloved Whale we find on this track.

"Lifetime of Dreams" is a runner-up for wedding-song-of-the-year (and actually, this album has a good three way tie in that department with the aforementioned "With Your Love" and "Loved By You") and is a dramatic ballad that is an examples of the happiness that seems to be flowing among the band right now. This song suffered in the sequencing on the Japanese release. By the time it arrived, the listener was ready for more up tempo tracks. Now, in the final release, a slowed down period works.

"Live and Breathe" is the song that many fans have been waiting for. It's been part of the Journey shows since 1998, and waiting to see if it would develop into something other than an introduction to "Wheel in the Sky" has been subject of speculation. Astute listeners will recognize the link to "Wheel," however the stand-out on this track is Ross's bass. Another instrument I really don't notice much (what can I say, I live in the melody, not the rhythm section!) the bass on this song is stellar and it makes all the difference in transitioning it from an introductory piece to a full song.

"Nothing Comes Close" is the second added track. My first thought on hearing this was that it could be something from Tall Stories (Steve Augeri's previous band.) After further listening, it's become a merger of Tall Stories and Bad English. This song completely rocks with a chorus that will instantly stick in your head. One can only imagine what this would sound like live – it's got an energy that requires it to be played live and loud. Listen carefully to the end for a little band banter between Jon and Deen – it had me laughing so hard that tears started flowing the first time I heard it.

"To Be Alive Again" is hands down, no doubt about it, my absolute guarantee of a winner favorite song on this album. If all the other songs on this album sucked, I would hang on to it just for this song – that's how strongly I feel about it. Originally slated to be the bonus track on the Japanese release, the voices of the fans were heard once again and it was kept (yay Journey fans and double yay Journey!) As I have adopted this song as my new personal theme song, I can't possibly be objective about it. The energy in this song is just amazing and is such an overt celebration of life that I can't help but smile from beginning to end. This is another track that just makes me want to get up and dance and have a great time living. This track closed out the Japanese version, and moving it up in the sequence on this release is perfect. The track was shortened by about 20 seconds, unfortunately, and now has a fade out ending rather than the cold ending. Slightly frustrating, but necessary to fit all 15 tracks on one CD.

"Kiss Me Softly" – having recovered from my problem with the grammar in this song, I am able to revel in Neal's amazing guitar work – acoustic no less! His solo on this song is a thing of sheer beauty. It's a different sounding mid-tempo ballad for Journey with a haunting vocal, and the growth in the style of playing by the long time members of the band is apparent. This is definitely something that has evolved over time and not something we would have heard from the band twenty years ago.

"We Will Meet Again" opens with such fantastic rhythm and it flows through the whole song. The drums are very heavy on this track and have a feel that just grabs you in the gut and doesn't let go. Lyrically, it is a constant reminder of "the one that got away." It is the perfect track to close the album.

I would definitely take this version of Arrival over the Japanese release, but for those of you who are completists or absolutely love the ballad-side of Journey, then picking up the import might be worth your while. The sequence on the Japanese release is different. Besides not having the 2 tracks that were added for the final release, the album closes with "Live and Breathe", "Kiss Me Softly", "I'm Not That Way" (a ballad), "We Will Meet Again", and "To Be Alive Again."

"I'm Not That Way" is probably the weakest track on the album. It's a sentimental ballad that would normally sucker me in, but for some reason it just didn't grab me the way I would expect. It has a bubblegum feel that would work well with one of the "boy bands." The general reaction to this track was much the same as mine and the voices of the fans were again heard – it was removed from the US version of the CD.

Now, to find out which of these songs get played LIVE!