Journey's Best Album
Been wanting to write about this one for a while but just haven't gotten around to it.
Figures that after a bit of turmoil of firing lead singer Steve Perry Journey actually produced probably their best album to date and something that could compete in this era of modern music. The last album with lead-singer Steve Augeri was probably their best with him to date, and sadly Steve was left go after having voice problems during their 2004 tour. (For more of this drama just visit the Journey Wikipedia, although note I hate wikipedia for several reasons, long story...).
Generations is purely classic Journey, and like Green Day's American Idiot there isn't a bad song on the album. What's nice is the other members of Journey finally get to bust out their chops and take on a song or two. Drummer Deen Castronovo also provided some great songs, and some argue that he sounds more like Steve Perry than Augeri does. However Augeri really does shine on his album with both the opening track 'Faith in the Heartland' and 'Beyond the Clouds'. Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain and Ross Valory all contribute on vocals making this probably the most enjoyable Journey album since Trail By Fire.
Once again Steve Augeri was let go due to voice problems which is sad because I think he could have recovered easily from this and from what I've seen new lead singer Arnel Pineda isn't going to bring much to the table other than a pretty face. I think Neal Schon needs to either wrap it up, or make amends with Steve Perry. Yes, a reunited Journey tour might not sound AS good as the old days, but as we learned from Genesis and the Police if it's possible to put on a semi-decent performance the fans will show up for the memories of the good old days.