As I’ve stated in past reviews on more than one occasion Journey have long been one of my favourite bands, wit perhaps Frontiers coming out top amongst their albums as it is the most varied in style. Unfortunately the band's last two studio albums, 'Trial By Fire' & 'Arrival' were too ballad heavy for my own personal taste but still contained some great individual tracks. So now we come to  'Generations', the new album which, in some circles, has come in for a lot of stick. Well now its my turn to voice my own humble opinion.

The first thing that strikes you about 'Generations' is the raw, almost live sounding, production and it is this production that has been most heavily criticized, but to this reviewers ears the change in style is actually refreshing as it sounds like the album could  easily be played in a live setting  without outside help so to speak. The album opens with 'Faith In The Heartland' which has a 'Who' inspired keyboard intro that now appears to  be the norm  on Journey albums, an extended intro that is. This is truly a stunning track to kick proceeding off showcases vocalist Steve Augeri at his very best. Following up the opening track is 'The Place In Your Heart' which has a very familiar Journey feel to it is probably the track that should be  played to anybody thinking of buying the album. A good friend reckons that it sounds like 'When You Love A Woman'  speeded up but is in all honesty more like a cross between 'Separate Ways' and 'Escape'. 

Another unusual feature of this new Journey album is the fact that all the members of the band get to sing at least one song. First to step up to the microphone is drummer Deen Castronovo and before actually hearing the track I’d heard reports that he sounded more like Steve Perry than Steve Augeri does. Not entirely true, but he does have a very soulful voice incorporating some very prominent 'Perryisms' in his delivery, in fact if Augeri ever left the band then Castronovo could very well  do a Phil Collins in Genesis and take on the lead vocal role full time with the band hiring a new drummer for live work. Overall a very good mid tempo track. Next up keyboard player Jonathan Cain takes the vocal position for 'Every Generation' and whilst his voice is adequate it is not necessarily a one that I would choose. Owning a number of Cain's solo works 'Every Generation' sounds very much like a leftover from his 'back To The Innocence album.

Fifth track into the album, 'Butterfly' sees the return  to the spotlight of Steve Augeri on his own self-penned number, a moody ballad type song that is reminiscent of the mans work on his previous band Tall Stories' debut. Augeri also brings the next track 'Believe' to the party and this time the song has a definite seventies vibe going on and features a repetitive riff that is pretty cool, indeed the strength of these two tracks gives me hope that the future will include an Augeri solo album at some point down the line.

Where we would be without the big ballad on a Journey album? 'Generation's certainly doesn't disappoint with 'Knowing That You Love Me' which is typical Journey ballad fare a la Escape's 'Open Arms'. Following the ballad we then get Journey rocking out big time with 'Out of Harms Way' which has echoes of Neal Schon's recent work in Soul Sirkus and hints a little towards the current situation in the Middle East. From this reviewers perspective it is an excellent addition to the album, more like this one next time please if you don't mind. If 'Out of Harms Way' showcase Schon's recent activity then 'In Self Defense' harks back to 1983, being as it is an old Schon/Jan Hammer track from a side project in that year. The song has been brought up to date and is another big rocker (two in a row!!!) and features the vocal talents of Mr. Schon himself, now if only he had performed this track with Soul SIrkus at the recent Firefest instead of that bloody Jim Hendrix number....

The third rocker in a row in the shape of 'Better Together' comes next but to be honest the most that can be said is that it is simply an OK track and then we get 'Gone Crazy'. Now this starts off sounding like a great song for the live arena, one that would really get the crowd going and then Ross Valory's vocals kick in. Christ he’s as bad as Joe Perry as a singer, OY VALORY NO!

'Beyond the Clouds' is the song that closes out the American version of the album and is that cool slow ballad that only Journey do so well, however given that what we have here is the European release we get a bonus track in the guise of 'It's Never Too Late' ,(BUGGER ME a bonus track for Europe!) which is a great up-tempo rocker that was co written with Night Ranger's Jack Blades and features the vocal talents of drummer Deen Castronovo once more. The song brings to mind some of  the rockier moments on Arrival and Castronovo produces a stunning vocal performance.

In short 'Generations' is a great return to form from Journey after a couple of lacklustre releases in recent times. And that is something I’m not just saying , I’ve spent two weeks playing this album and written three different reviews before  finally submitting this one. In my opinion this album proves once and for all, despite the naysayers, that Steve Perry is not needed at all by Journey. Okay the production is a little raw, but I believe this makes a welcome change from the over produced albums of the past and as the albums was recorded by Kevin Elson, the bands long time producer and sound engineer, he if anybody should know how the band should sound!