What can you do? Still holding the perverse and unshakeable view that the first Journey album was something of a rock milestone, the band's last two records with singer Steve Perry have swung close to the American FM ideal. His honeyed, overweening style has give the band a stereotyped uniformity.
Departure will probably earn even more dollars than the other two, especially as Perry has made the band his own. The emphasis on glossy, stacked harmonies and song-structures that boost the singer rather than the band's erstwhile swirling instrumental prowess, and in particular the distinctive guitar talent of Neal Schon.
All of which means a modern rock package of one dimension punctuated by Schon's solos that wind up quickly and show him playing well within his capabilities.
