# The Strange Magic of: Journey



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Ah, Journey. The band so many rock critics loved to hate. It was his endless, mindless war against Journey that cured me of paying any attention whatsoever to Robert Christgau and to rock critics--maybe all critics--in general. I loved the music of Journey--still do--but to be told by Christgau & Company that I Must Not Like Such Trash; this was such utter nonsense on the face of it that I rose up in righteous, angry rebellion, and smote them all, hip and thigh. They are still reeling from the force of my wrath. Plus, they all exhibit the terrible warning signs of anhedonia--a coincidence? I think not. Anyway, lead singer Steve Perry wasn't called The Voice for nothing; he had one of the great vocal instruments in pop music; Neal Schon provided excellent guitar, and the whole package deservedly remains one of the most popular acts of all time, though Hell will freeze over before they ever enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (and join, say, The Hollies). Here they are, with the classic _Don't Stop Believing_.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

I definitely love Journey's sound. Steve and Neal together make exquisite music. I mostly know them from their Greatest Hits album. "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" and "Faithfully" are standout tracks of theirs, and I also like "When You Love a Woman."

I'll also recommend a song that does not get as much airplay called "Feeling That Way."


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I tried to get into the band in their mid-late 70s guise when Greg Rolie and Aynsley Dunbar were with them but unlike, say, Kansas or Styx they just didn't sound distinctive enough for me. I was never a fan of their later arena rock style (or anyone else's) so we went our - ahem - separate ways, but they were undoubtedly good at what they did.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I have to side with Christgau on this. Cheesy stuff to me. Rock stripped away of all its bluesiness. Uninteresting lyrics. Predictable solos. Every one of their songs goes exactly where I'd expect it to. But they do provide an 80s nostalgia kick.


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## Dedalus (Jun 27, 2014)

Journey is one of the first bands I ever really knew. As a pretty young child, like 7 or 8 or so, my friend's dad had what I think was a Journey's greatest hits album. We would listen to it a lot, and we really liked it and would sing along and dance to it like little idiots. I don't know much of Journey besides that, but I do know that if I hear "Anyway you Want it" and "Lights" I get a big dose of nostalgia for my childhood.

Other random bands that I was exposed to as a child were Meatloaf, Boston, and Jimmy Buffet. Not really sure how much effect these had on shaping my musical taste since I don't really like any of them anymore... Curious, though.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

elgars ghost said:


> unlike, say, Kansas or Styx they just didn't sound distinctive enough for me.


Surely you jest. On my distinctiveness meter, Kansas, Styx, and REO Speedwagon all measure almost exactly the same as Journey; Journey's particular strength is Perry, Schon, and about three times as many good songs. Note: I like selected songs from all of the above groups. I like late 70s-1980s pop, period, including late-era Jefferson Starship. A Golden Era, but rock and pop are so rich, we're always in a Golden Era--it just may take a little digging, and a willingness to be pleased.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

GreenMamba said:


> I have to side with Christgau on this. Cheesy stuff to me. Rock stripped away of all its bluesiness. Uninteresting lyrics. Predictable solos. Every one of their songs goes exactly where I'd expect it to. But they do provide an 80s nostalgia kick.


Again, that ever-present whiff of nostalgia for lost youth. Someone should can or bottle it.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Strange Magic said:


> Surely you jest. On my distinctiveness meter, Kansas, Styx, and REO Speedwagon all measure almost exactly the same as Journey; Journey's particular strength is Perry, Schon, and about three times as many good songs. Note: I like selected songs from all of the above groups. I like late 70s-1980s pop, period, including late-era Jefferson Starship. A Golden Era, but rock and pop are so rich, we're always in a Golden Era--it just may take a little digging, and a willingness to be pleased.


I was specifically referring to Journey's early prog-tinged material which I still feel lacked character, not the MOR _Escape/Fontiers_ era which I didn't like anyway and had nothing in common with either Styx or Kansas. REO Speedwagon's pre-_Hi Infidelity_ output was similarly colourless - the work of a competent hard rock band but little else. The reason I say that Kansas and Styx had more going for them than Journey in the mid-late 70s was that both of those groups had more songwriting options which led to a broader musical palette.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Strange Magic said:


> Again, that ever-present whiff of nostalgia for lost youth. Someone should can or bottle it.


I won't be buying any, thank you. I don't listen to music for nostalgia. I never much cared for Schon's generic guitar playing, competent as it is. The best musicians in Journey were the drummers, but they did much better music outside that commercial venture. By the time Journey's debut was released in 1975, it was already filled with cliche ridden musical stylings from '68-'72 pioneered by other bands, but without the inventiveness and personality of those predecessors.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I am becoming more and more convinced that I may well be the most cheerful, happiest poster on TC. My musical tastes do not evolve; they expand. Like Starthrower, nostalgia plays no part in my listening--it's fascinating that nostalgia keeps coming up in these non-classical discussions, yet I never read of anybody's nostalgia for Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Bartok, Babbitt, or Boulez--every one loves them still. Go figure. It may be that I am constitutionally easy to please; also that I have low standards; both of which I would regard as both gift and asset. I will Journey On.


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## Iean (Nov 17, 2015)

I am a big fan of Journey even before they recruited a neighbor to replace Steve Perry. My favorite album is "Frontiers". Of course, many so-called "music critics" dismiss their music as "cheesy", "generic arena rock", etc..but why do I enjoy their music in as much as I enjoy Dream Theater or The Black Keys or lately, Rihanna (her new album, Anti, is her best)? Maybe because of their capacity to create melodies which are hard to remove from my brain. Or maybe because the "cheesy" lyrics of their songs reminded me that love should not be as complicated and as cryptic as a Tori Amos song:angel:


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

2017 was an _annus mirabilis_ for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, for Journey, and for me, as one of the most critically loathed and panned groups in the history of rock "criticism" was (finally) inducted into the pantheon. It was about time. Everyone can have their hobbyhorses to ride, their critical darlings, and that's fine. But somewhere, sometime, a group's or artist's popularity--sales, if you like--should count for something; this after all is rock 'n' roll; sales figures are part of the pop of popular music: it is supposed to be popular--vox populi indeed. So let the critics who still hate Journey cry into their whatever nectar of the gods they drink. Journey is/was just about the best pop around in its day. Robert Christgau, _I'll Be All Right Without You!_


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