Journey - Revelation
(Live In
Concert)
Performance
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Journey - Revelation
Performance
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When I reviewed Journey's 2001 concert DVD a few years back, I praised their new lead singer Steve Augeri for his admirable job in filling the shoes of the almost-irreplaceable Steve Perry. Augeri sounded amazingly similar to Perry on most of the songs, and I though at the time that Journey could not have found a better frontman to keep this band going strong into the new millennium. Damn if they didn't go out and top themselves again. For the casual fan, who is not yet hip to the recent goings-on in the Journey camp, the band had to replace Augeri during their 2006 tour, due to some chronic voice problems he was having. They hired Jeff Scott Soto, who was Neal Schon's bandmate in Soul SirkUS, as a temporary replacement, and he eventually became a permanent member when Augeri was unable to return. This was short lived however, as the band dismissed Soto the very next year for supposedly not sounding "Journey" enough. In December of 2007, Journey hired Filipino singer Arnel Pineda, after Neal Schon saw him on YouTube singing his ass off on several Journey covers with his band The Zoo. This June, Journey released a new three-disk set titled Revelation, which includes a CD of brand new songs, a CD of re-recorded Journey classics, and a live concert DVD. All of the music and performances were recorded with Pineda at the helm. Although this is a review of the DVD and not the new album, I will say that Revelation just may be the band's strongest effort since 1983's Frontiers, and I look forward to hearing some of the songs when I catch them on tour this August with Heart and Cheap Trick. The DVD was filmed on March 8th, 2008, during Journey's performance at the Planet Hollywood Theatre for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada. The band played for about 90 minutes that night, but for whatever reason, they edited the DVD down to about an hour, discarding about seven of the songs that were performed. It's pretty hard to complain though, since the DVD is included as a free bonus. The performance kicks off with an excellent Neal Schon guitar intro that was referred to as "Sky Light". Shouldn't every rock concert begin with a guitar solo? From there they delve straight into a few of their pre-Escape classics, "Any Way You Want It", "Wheel In The Sky", and "Lights", before introducing some of the new material. The first new song performed was "After All These Years", a gorgeous ballad that will fit nicely alongside all of the other epic power-ballads in the Journey canon. This is followed by the catchy guitar anthem, "Never Walk Away", which also kicks off the new album. "Wildest Dreams", the most rocking track on the new album, is saved for later in the set, and these three tracks give you just enough taste of the new album to let you know that Journey is back for real. Pineda is no small revelation himself. He performs with tons of energy, and his vocals are simply extraordinary. I look forward to seeing him gain more confidence as the tour progresses, because he probably felt like crapping his pants during the first few shows he played with Journey. Going from playing in front of 100 people to 10,000 or more, virtually overnight, can tend to do that. Pineda sounds similar enough to Steve Perry on the old songs to make you forget he is no longer even up there, but his voice is also unique enough to make the new songs sound fresh and exciting. The rest of the band also seems to be on top of the world playing behind their new wonder find. The rest of the show certainly shouldn't disappoint the Escape-era Journey fans out there. Performances from that mega selling album included "Open Arms", a smoking version of "Mother, Father", sung terrifically by Deen Castronovo, from behind the drum kit (who knew?), and the always killer "Don't Stop Believing". Unfortunately, two of my favorites, "Stone In Love", and "Who’s Crying Now" (for Schon's guitar solo) didn't make the cut, although they were performed that night. The production quality of the DVD was very good overall. You get Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and Dolby Stereo audio tracks and a widescreen presentation that looks exceptionally sharp and vibrant. I was a little concerned when the guitar was buried much too low in the mix during the rockin' first song, "Any Way You Want It", but everything smoothed out nicely by the next number. There were no extra features on the DVD. I was only mildly enthusiastic when I ordered my Journey concert tickets for this summer's tour a few months ago. I had not heard the new Revelation album yet, nor had I watched this DVD, but I was mostly sold on the whole Journey, Heart, and Cheap Trick tour package. Revelation certainly proves that this band is just not quite ready to just coast on their past glories, and their fans are eating it up. Revelation is sold exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club for only $11.88, which is an amazing bargain considering the wealth of material it contains. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - July 2008 |
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Running Time: 63 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - June 2008 |