Journey – Freedom
Joe Siegler
- AllMyVinyl #93
- Band: Journey
- Album Title: Freedom
- Release Date: 8 Jul 2022
- Date purchased: 3 Jun 2022
- Location purchased: Amazon
- Color of vinyl: black
- Number of discs: 2
- Links: [ Wikipedia | Discogs | Band Website | Complete album on Youtube ]
This album has a weird place in my head. I was so looking forward to a new Journey album when this was announced. Unlike a lot of fans who are the “No Steve Perry No Journey” type (which sadly includes my wife).. I adore the work they’ve done with Arnel Pineda and his era of Journey. The prior studio album to this (2011’s Eclipse) was a banger, and I didn’t want that to be their last album. My favorite overall individual Journey track from any era comes from that album – a song called “Human Feel“, so when something new was announced, I was ready for it. Then it showed up and nothing happened. I don’t know why, but Freedom never grabbed me. The first single that was released a month or three before the full album was underwhelming, so perhaps that set a tone for me.
The band itself has gone through a lot of turmoil in the last few years leading up to this. Power struggles lead to the firing of Ross Valory & Steve Smith. There’s stuff on Wikipedia if you want to read about that. The version of Journey on this album is a bit different. Valory was replaced by Randy Jackson who had been in the band before in the mid 80’s around the time of the Raised on Radio album. Steve Smith however was first replaced by Narada Michael Walden and work began on the new album. It was then announced that prior Journey drummer Deen Castronovo was returning, but Walden was still there. Two drummers? How’s that gonna work? Randy Jackson got ill an needed back surgery, which meant was replaced by Marco Mendoza, but he only lasted about two months, was let go due to performance issues, and was replaced by Todd Jenson who had played with Schon & Castronovo in another band. So the lineup has been a bit of a mess. Not to mention all the legal bullshit between Schon & Cain – if Schon could fire Cain, I suspect he would. But I doubt he can. Enough of that, although I do love a good lineup story.
This vinyl was a double album and as it came out post 2020, there’s zero backstory, it’s a “new” new album for me. Was a double vinyl in black – nothing special there with the packaging, but there doesn’t have to be. There’s no history with it beyond the fact that I love the Pineda era of Journey. But one thing that is annoying about it is that I saw the Pineda Journey the year before Covid. They played NONE of his stuff – it was the Steve Perry hits machine. That was disappointing – I wonder how much of this album (if any) got played live. I’ve always loved a good Journey tune, so lets get to them.
Together We Run – Starts off sounding like classic Journey – soft piano and vocals right up front. It goes into a wider band sound, like something that wouldn’t be out of place on the Frontiers album. In fact of the two singers Journey have had (that recorded) after Perry, they both sound like they’d fit in well there. Journey knows what sound works for them, and this album continues that trend. That doesn’t mean they’re just Perry clones, but the sound in this song (and in general) is borne from the same musical pallet used in the past. It will sound familiar and pleasing to anyone who likes that traditional Journey sound. The song is only 4:49, but when I listened to it, it sounds longer than that.
Don’t Give Up on Us – Man, the opening of this song REALLY sounds like Separate Ways – like A LOT. Once the vocals kick in, it doesn’t sound that way anymore, but… If you know your Journey history, it really sticks out. They’re not the first band to do something like that, but it’s very noticeable. Neil’s solo here I quite like. But I like most of his solos. He’s an underrated guitarist.
Still Believe in Love – And we’re into that slow Journey sound. It’s not quite the awfulness of Open Arms or Faithfully, but it’s in that area musically. Pass.
You Got the Best of Me – This was that first song I mentioned earlier that showed up awhile before the album did. I think part of the problem is that I was expecting more like the previously mentioned “Human Feel” from the last album which I adored. This is not like that. It’s not stuck in the mud like Still Believe in Love, but it’s not quite something like Mother Father either. It’s in the middle musically, and that let me down. It’s better now than what I remember from hearing it two years ago. I’ve had time to get over that feeling of “this isn’t what I wanted”. It’s actually QUITE better than I remember. Not sure what I was thinking two years ago. Nobody’s gonna replace Don’t Stop Believin’ on their playlists with this one – but it’s far better than I gave it credit for. Pretty decent song. I know I already said this, but I don’t know what I was thinking two years ago when I first heard it. Major turn around for me on this track.
Live to Love Again – Starts off with Arnel’s vocals out in front – something that needs to happen more. This is a slower song – not the depths of the ballad level, but not a faster paced track. It does feature Arnel’s vocals throughout – which I quite like. Musically there’s not as much going on in terms of guitar or keys, but that’s OK. I like a different sound as albums progress. There was a guitar solo in here, but even that was a bit on the restrained side – Neil didn’t go all out for that. It’s mostly a song that features Arnel. I’m good with that.
The Way We Used To Be – This one has a bit of a harder edge to the guitar sound – something they should do more of, IMO. This too sounds a little like something else I’ve heard before, but I can’t place it. I’m thinking of something from the Arrival album with Augeri, but I can’t put my finger on it. Quite like the song, though.
Come Away With Me – Now as much as I liked that one, this one starts off with a full rock sound – nice guitar riff, a good rocking edge to the music. I wish the entire album was like this. Arnel’s vocals are a bit over processed though – they have an “echo” to them they don’t normally have. Still, the music is excellent. Keeps it from being an awesome song because of the echo-y vocals. Musically I VERY much like this. Granted as a metal head I’m gonna lean towards those, and while this isn’t metal, it’s a good hard rock sound – no doubt. Grade A here. We need more like this than ‘Still Believe in Love’.
After Glow – Back to slow stuff. This is the kind of slower song I like. When we get to the guitar solo, it’s got a nice sound where there’s some background vocals going on with Arnel’s main lead. I like that. There’s some good restrained guitar work as well. The slower Journey songs aren’t my favorite, but this one works.
That’s the end of disc 1. Now onto Disc 2. Not sure why I’m mentioning that here, but I wanted to honor the fact that I have to physically get another disc out of the sleeve, put it on the turntable and play it. haha.
Let it Rain – Side 3 starts off with a very guitar oriented track. In my earlier listen of the album when it was new, I felt this was my favorite song on the disc. It starts off heavy – almost having Cain be invisible – it’s more a harder edged track, not the kind that lends itself to keyboards at all. As I listen to this, I’m not sure I hear any keys on it at all, although the credits say there are some. Or that could just be internal politics putting Cain on the track. Love this track. Still probably the heaviest thing on the album. Would love to see them play this live, but meh.. They’ll just play two more Perry era tracks instead. Sigh.
Holdin On – Another one back to back that’s a harder song. Not as much as Rain, but I’m pleased by two in a row that have a harder edge. So far “Side C” gets my vote for best side. haha. When the vocals started I thought perhaps someone else was singing, as Deen (the drummer) can also handle lead vocals too. But the album credits say this is Arnel singing. His voice sounds different to me. Great back to back with “Rain” – loved this song too. It is one of my favorites, though – short, fast song (this comes in a 3:14). I somehow doubt the next song will be in this vein, too.
All Day and All Night -… and it isn’t. This one starts off with a big fat bass line as the primary instrument. It’s definitely not Ross Valory – this doesn’t sound like him at all. I mean I knew it wasn’t him, but if a casual Journey person listens to this, they may not know that, and it doesn’t sound like Ross’ bass. A check of the credits show it to be Randy Jackson on bass – again the bassist from the 86 Journey album Raised on Radio. I have to say – I really love this. It’s got some great guitar to go with the bass line – in some ways reminds me of Tony & Geezer in Sabbath in that regard. I REALLY found myself getting into this. Arnel sings vocals like it’s a third heavy track in a row, and it is in places. But the main beat being very bass heavy gives it a different sound. This was one a major surprise – I totally overlooked this on first listen. That was a mistake, this is an excellent track.
Don’t Go – Side C finishes with this track which is also a good solid track. Very much in the old school Journey vein. Nothing about it makes me think they’re ripping off some old Journey track, but I hear this, and go “Yeah, OK – this is Journey for sure”. I don’t have anything particularly profound to say about it except to say “Yeah, OK Side C wins for best side on the album”. All four are bangers, and this one is both a harder edge and traditional Journey sound at the same time.
United We Stand – Now onto Side D, and song 13 overall. The album is a long one for sure. This song in particular is one that makes me wonder if they’re writing about themselves. Schon & Cain are total polar opposites in their politics, and this song being titled ‘United We Stand”, yeah, I don’t see that. Have an issue with the meaning of this song because of the Cain/Schon relationship.
Life Rolls On -A mid tempo Journey song here. Fair beat, not the most musically inventive track, but the song ended well. It was a harder edge towards the end that I found myself tapping my feet to as I was texting a friend so I’m gonna equate that to being a good track. :)
Beautiful As You Are – The longest song on the album at 7:10. This one has a few different sections – it starts off with what I thought was going to be the slow piano/vocals Journey song I don’t care for, but after a minute or two it kicked into a higher gear. There’s a great drum solo in the middle of this I quite enjoyed. Overall, this is a longer song, but doesn’t feel like it. Starts off slow, goes into high gear, back to slow at the end. Obviously the louder middle parts I enjoyed the most. :)
That brings us to the end of this album – which IMO might be the final Journey album. I hope not, as I love the Pineda era, but it shouldn’t shock me if this is it for them as a recording band. Overall I think the album was kind of long. All told the full album is 1:13 over 15 songs. I honestly wouldn’t have minded if the album ended after “Side C”. the last three songs aren’t bad at all, but I have to admit to having a bit of burnout by the time I finished it. Having said all that, I was pleasantly surprised at the album I listened to. The four songs that make up Side C are my favorite stretch on the album, but there’s other stuff earlier than that I also enjoyed.
As I’ve already mentioned the thing that bugs me most here is you have 15 new songs, and how many of them got played live? Four songs total, and not at all the shows. I looked at the 2022 tour stats for this album on setlist.fm and saw only four songs got played live. You Got the Best of me leads with being played 15 times. Following that Let it Rain got played 13, The Way We used To Be got played 10 times, and “Come Away With Me” just ONCE. ONCE. That’s just 2022. There were also 40 shows in 2023, and 38 in 2024. In 2024, Let it Rain got played 33 times and nothing else. In 2023, Let it Rain got played 27 times. So basically outside of 2022, the year the album was released, just ONE song got played.
That’s annoying. The Pineda era deserves more attention than that live.
