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ARRIVAL
SONG REVIEWED: "Higher Place"
I MUST ADMIT, I WAS AS SKEPTICAL AS MOST WHEN STEVE AUGERI FIRST STEPPED IN TO THE LEAD SINGER POSITION IN JOURNEY A FEW YEARS AGO. I HAD HEARD HIM WITH TYKETTO AND WITH TALL STORIES, BUT SINGING STEVE PERRY'S VOCALS IS NO SMALL TASK. IT WASN'T UNTIL I SAW JOURNEY IN CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY LAST YEAR (AND COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY BY HIS VOICE) THAT I KNEW AUGERI WOULD BE A SUITABLE SUCCESSOR TO STEVE PERRY. TO BORROW A QUOTE FROM EDDIE VAN HALEN (WHEN DESCRIBING GARY CHERONE) "THE GUY HAS ELEPHANT BALLS"
AFTER MONTHS OF DELAYS, A BOUT WITH THE FINE FOLKS AT NAPSTER (FOR A WHILE THE ENTIRE DISC WAS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD...MONTHS BEFORE THE JAPANESE RELEASE), AND A MOVE TO BLOCK ALL EXPORT OF THE DISC TO THE US, PEOPLE ARE FINALLY HEARING THIS MASTERPIECE...AND I'M NOT JUST TOSSING THAT TERM AROUND. THIS IS AN OLD SCHOOL JOURNEY DISC(well, not OLD old school... You know, not that eclectic, avant-garde, no-steve-perry, no-one's-buying-this-crap version from the 70s... I mean the money-making old-school version from the 80's); BIG CHORUS, BIG HRMONY, BIG VOCALS, BIG EVERYTHING... "HIGHER PLACE" IS THE PERFECT ANTHEM TO KICK OFF THIS DISC, TOO.
WRITTEN BY JACK BLADES AND NEAL SCHON, AND PRODUCED BY KEVIN SHIRLEY, "HIGHER PLACE" IS EVERYTHING THE JOURNEY FAN IS WAITING FOR. IT'S THAT SONG THAT YOU WOULD PLAY IF YOU WERE TRYING TO DESCRIBE THIS BAND TO SOMEONE WHO'D NEVER HEARD THEM. STARTING OFF WITH A LOW DRY GUITAR AND THUMPING KICK DRUM, THE SONG QUICKLY BLOWS UP INTO A CLASSIC JOURNEY TUNE. AUGERI'S VOCALS ARE IMPRESSIVE AS HELL. IN ALL REALITY, IT SOUNDS LIKE STEVE PERRY NEVER LEFT THE BAND, AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT THE BAND WANTED. I'M NOT GOING TO BULLSHIT YOU AND SAY THAT AUGERI ADDS A NEVER-SEEN ELEMENT TO THIS BAND... FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, HIS VOCAL TONE IS THAT OF A YOUNGER STEVE PERRY...AND THAT'S WHY HE WORKS HERE.
THE PRODUCTION IS TIGHT AS HELL. HATS OFF TO KEVIN SHIRLEY FOR LAYERING ENOUGH VOCALS TO MAKE YOU WANT TO GO OUT AND BUY A FRIGGIN' DENIM JACKET AND GROW A MULLET (AN 80s REFERENCE FOR ALL YOU BRAIN DEAD FOLK).
MY ONLY CRITICISM IS THAT THERE AREN'T MORE SONGS LIKE THIS ONE ON ARRIVAL. DON'T GET ME WRONG, THERE IS SOME BEAUTIFUL MUSIC ON THIS DISC, BUT I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE A FEW MORE OF THIS BIG CHORUS ROCKERS. HOWEVER, I AM NOT COMPLAINING. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT RETURN TO THE FRAY FROM ONE OF THE BEST MELODIC ROCK ACTS...EVER.
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