Meet the new Steve, same as the old Steve…

I don't like the perception of change where no change exists. The other day in the market I saw a can of Beef-a-Roni®. The can said something to the effect of "Bigger, Heartier Noodles for Big Appetites!". The marketing people behind this innovation want you to think that by consuming the allegedly better product, that you will be fuller and more satisfied then if you consumed the old version with the smaller noodles. Umm... excuse me, but both cans hold 12 ounces of product. 12 ounces of noodles is just that, whether it be a hundred little noodles or a dozen big noodles, it still equates to the same thing.

Journey's new release, Arrival, is my Beef-a-Roni® for 2001. Arrival was unleashed in the wake of a lot of media hype and high expectations. Sorry to disappoint you folks, but it's just more of the same old stuff. The "new" Journey sounds pretty much like the "old" Journey. You won't find anything new or innovative here. In fact, it made me miss the "old" Journey a lot.

The biggest change of late is the recruitment of new singer Steve Augeri. Augeri has a fine voice, unfortunately, it's Steve Perry's voice! This guy is practically a Perry clone. A casual listener would not know the difference if they didn't know about the personnel change. Let me qualify that, Augeri is almost a Perry clone. Perry has a better voice, far smoother and richer than Augeri's. However, Augeri does an incredible Perry imitation, so much so that the album comes off like a tribute band doing an excellent recreation of the Journey sound. Why they chose this path is a mystery, but I expect they figured complacency was a safer bet then innovation. I was eagerly anticipating this album, hoping that a new voice would breathe new life into the band after their last lackluster release. It appears the boys in Journey chose the path of least resistance (and least creativity). So much of this album sounds like retreads of older Journey songs. You can cruise through this disc and pick out dozens of little things that are ripped straight from their 80's catalog.

The high point of any Journey album is usually Neal Schon's masterful guitar work. Neal sounds OK on this disc, but with the exception of a beautiful solo in "World Gone Wild", his work doesn't stand out much overall. It's certainly not enough to lift the album up to the level that we all know these musicians are capable of. Part of the problem is the incessant syrupy love ballads. Too much, guys! I haven't been exposed to so much sweetness since my kids gave up watching the Care Bears! The same lovelorn themes keep rearing their melancholy tear-streaked faces to the point where it's like listening to musical Hallmark Cards. It's a shame because once upon a time, Journey set the standard for powerful ballads. During the 80's many a pair of panties was shed to the accompaniment of Steve Perry wailing through "Open Arms" and "Faithfully". Were those songs a little too sweet and sticky? Sure they were. But Perry sang them with so much soulful power that you really didn't care. And you could always count on some kick-ass rockers to round out the album. So much of Arrival sounds custom made for those middle of the road "lite rock" stations that cater to the growing herd of passive baby boomers who don't want to be challenged by their music.

There are a couple of very good songs on this disc that I liked, but they are buried in a lot of mediocre ones. The album starts off well with an upbeat rocker, "Higher Place," which is probably the best track on the album. Then, they follow it with the dorky, lovesick "All the Way", which sounds like it was ripped from the latest N'Sync disc. I kept waiting for them to kick-start this damn thing but never got the payoff. They come close a few times but then slide back to "What the hell was that?" mode pretty quickly, like the inane "Nothing Comes Close" where the guys put on their groove-thang and get down, but deliver what sounds like Robert Palmer. I wonder if they'll get those chicks with guitars for the video?

To top it off, it's a sonic mess. The whole thing sounds muddy and thick. No amount of tweaking the EQ was enough to get rid of the bottom-heavy sound on this disc. I don't get it — the core of Journey's sound is crisp, bright guitar and keys, and high falsetto vocals, so where did all this bass-heavy sludge come from?

To those of you pondering whether to plunk down your hard earned cash for this album, here's my advice: Pick up the re-mastered Infinity instead, and get a taste of musical prime rib, or buy Arrival if you prefer Beef-a-Roni®.

Shred Pick - "Higher Place" (5:09)

Reviewed by Bruce Rusk

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