Journey - Freedom

After an 11-year hiatus, Journey is back on the music scene. Being the longest gap between albums released by the group, the period served for the septet to reunite old friends to shape the sound of Freedom, their 15th and latest studio album.

A nostalgic breeze with icy floral notes hovers in the atmosphere delivering a curious freshness. The overlapping of acoustic and electronic notes from the piano and keyboard creates a reflective drama that brings warm memories to mind. Embodying such sensitive energy, Arnel Pineda comes on stage with an introspective vocal performance, but with an emotional character and, also, with a mixture of nostalgia and hope. Acquiring a dramatic crescendo in which the vocal even begins to put itself more present, which allows the listener to better taste Pineda's maturity and tuning, the listener begins to feel embraced by a curious positive and exciting energy as if something good is about to happen. Taking shape through the rhythmic texture of Narada Michael Walden's chimbau and the embryonic, rousing joy of Neal Schon's guitar, Together We Run flows into a soft, infectious chorus filled with the consistency of the backing vocals built by the musicians. Together We Run is nothing less than a motivational and uplifting song that teaches the listener to lean on positive energies, turn away from depreciative thoughts and feelings, and see tomorrow as the dawn of new possibilities. In addition, between the lyrical lines, issues related to belonging and self-esteem are sensitively present, capturing the listener and inviting him to lull himself into the stimulating, positivistic melody.

The fog is slowly receding. Above the thick layer of fog, however, a scorching sun is ready to warm the ground. When the landscape finally clears, the listener can taste a soft, swinging acidity that, in union with the keyboard-bass-drums-guitar quartet, builds a melody very similar to the intro to Separate Ways, Journey's own single. With the entrance of the first verse, however, this resemblance dissipates as the instrumental takes on a more numb and slightly dramatic posture. It is also at this moment that the Filipino Pineda comes in, showing a vocal conscience capable of bringing tuning, sweetness and power in the same measure to inaugurate his third album with the Californian group. With a melodic chorus, Don't Give Up On Us carries a lyricism that, despite its romantic surface, portrays the scars left by the isolation period of the Coronavirus pandemic and, at the same time, is accompanied by a metaphorical appeal not to give up on humanity. For these reasons, Don't Give Up On Us is a song whose foundation lies on hope and positivity while being embraced by a dramatic-melancholic-epic foundation that wins the listener over. 

There is in the present dawn a sweet, romanticized aroma. It is like a garden filled with flowers at the peak of their bloom adorned by a Solar luminosity of transcendental nourishment. In the meantime, the listener finds himself in a kind of velvety, sensual torpor as he dances an imagistic and comfortingly passionate waltz. Assisting in the elaboration of such sensations is the instrumental that presents itself with subtlety and an intriguingly seductive posture that conveys to the listener a sense of unbreakable confidence. Unquestionably, however, is the mixed texture of softness and sensuality that exudes from the melody of Still Believe In Love, a song that speaks of love in its surface layers, but which, at its heart, is simply about empathy. Still, the viewer can get intoxicated in the desire for contact, the pleasure of kissing, and the heated memories of a meeting for two. After all, Still Believe In Love is also about the reciprocity of feelings and about surrender.

The keyboard appears acid, but with an effect that simulates almost the sonar of a plane in the air. In the midst of the seventies atmosphere that it propels, the guitar comes like a brush placing, sequentially, dots of warm colors around the mystical tones left by the keyboard. It is at this moment that the listener can perceive a strong AC/DC influence in the melodic construction of these verses, which, even though they are accompanied by Randy Jackson's full-bodied and softly trotting bass, have the same aromas as tracks like Hard As A Rock. From a sunny scenic landscape, Journey creates phrases that refresh the listener's mind with sounds from other tracks of his. Here, in addition to Don't Stop Believing, the listener can reaccess the memory of Anyway You Want It. With its infectious, soft chorus, You Got The Best Of Me evidences a romantic lyricism that shows what one person can do for another and how they influence the other's actions. It is the simple reciprocal exchange of feelings.

The aroma is romantic like that of Still Believe In Love, but here it is filled with a certain dramatic notion that embraces the listener in a kind of body to body waltz of reunifying nature. In this environment, Pineda comes on stage with a slightly pained, mournful, and nostalgic vocal interpretation that is graced by an emotional and melodramatic rhythmic base. With a softened sensuality, but without a sexual edge, the melody is introspective, but at the same time visceral in its pain built up by love in past relationships. Live To Love Again is, therefore, a song whose lyrical message mixes forgiveness, maturation, and the strengthening of self-esteem. A work that tries, with adherence from Jason Derlatka on the backing vocals, to rekindle the flame of passion and show that love does have its peculiarities, but that hope and the possibility of a second chance should not be denied. 

A sweet and numbing sound comes from the keyboard in a way that recreates part of the iconic introductory essence of Don't Stop Believing, the septet's seventies single. However, when Narada Michael Walden's bass drum and snare drum hits enter the scene, they break through the curious melancholy and introduce a rhythm with more flavor. With a softened swing provided by Neal Schon's guitar and a simple vocal introduction with a gentle vocal flight from Pineda, the context of The Way We Used To Be begins to take on a palpable body. With the guitar creating a sensual backdrop while the base employs rationality, the first verse is formed by a linear and precise unison that goes along with a lyricism of dramatic and realistic nature. Bringing to the surface the narrative of the transformations in social interaction that the pandemic provided to the world, The Way We Used To Be is a song that speaks of longing, distance, and, above all, the painfully unrequited dream of returning to the life of before. A life without excessive worry and fear. On the other hand, the song brings the company as an undeniable force to motivate the confrontation with the new reality. And that is exactly what the chorus says, with Jonathan Cain's keyboard as an ingredient that connotes alertness and a beginning of chaos. As in You Got The Best Of Me, inclusive, in this track the Californian septet manages to create a melody that revisits the structure of other songs from their own repertoire.

Electric, exciting, provocative and sexy. It's like a recreation of the hard rock that rocked the California of the 80s. The guitar comes with an embryonic wildness while the drums put pressure on the tempo in sharp hits on the snare box, which gives a more salty and appetizing flavor. Taking a mature form while maintaining the mischievous atmosphere of the melody, the song is adorned by Pineda's voice in notable foreground while the rhythmic base stays in a linear but still exciting equalization. As a song that exhorts the thirst for freedom, Come Away With Me even brings mentions of the pressure of everyday life, routine and the need to empty the mind in order to gain a sense of well-being. Groove-filled and acid-keyboard driven, Come Away With Me even features a wilder and bolder Arnel Pineda lyrical interpretation that marries well with the melodic theme. Decidedly a potent Freedom single that manages to raise the energy and leave the listener chilled out with dangerously sexy hard rock.

A transcendental suspense arises from the horizon. Surprisingly, a huskier voice pronounces itself filling out the melody as an almost whispered lyrical rendition. There seems to be no difference with Pineda's voice, but the truth is that who comes to dominate the vocal lines on the present track is Deen Castronovo, who gives life to the lyrical plot also on songs like A Better Life and Never Too Late, from Journey's own album Generations. Under his command, the present track takes on timidly sensual contours governed by icy, sequential keyboard notes. The truth, however, is that like the tracks Still Believe In Love and Live To Love Again, After Glow is a song immersed in a romantic ambience that uses love as a device to draw the listener's attention to the present moment, to living the now, and encourages the listener to build memorable experiences and lives.

It is warm, provocative and sensual. The way the guitar plains solo before the intro creates a strong jam session ambience that is penetrating and exciting. Adding weight, the drums insert themselves into the melodic layers inserting cadence, groove, and precision while the keyboard brushes a seventies acidity that curiously delivers freshness to the composition. Mixing psychedelic, progressive and bluesy elements to the hard rock base, Let It Rain doesn't mess around when it comes to lyrics. With only two verses, it brings the message of the fluidity of life, of letting the truth of things, of actions, be announced. Of authenticity. Definitely, Let It Rain configures itself as an important b-side single from Freedom.

With groove, pressure and a well marked beat, the sound brings a posture as provocative as the one on Come Away With Me. Different from the previous single, however, this track does not bring a mixture of debauchery and nonchalance, but a more serious and focused look. More precise, Holdin On brings a differentiated rhythmic consistency that makes it flirt, even, with a more progressive outfit. Bringing again the sensual freshness of an eighties Californian hard rock, the track dialogues about the breakup of a relationship and about pride. Still, it is possible for the listener to perceive, between the lines, metaphorical verses about perseverance and that educate about the possibility of starting over. Mixing in with the acidic seventies, Holdin On is another strong track from Freedom.

With a strong presence of the bass and its striking groove, the landscape that begins to be drawn still carries with it parts of that sensuality present on Holdin On. Here, however, the sexy aspect is adorned in an intoxicating, hypnotic, and contagious softness that instinctively draws the listener in. With its undulating base, All Day And All Night is a track that exudes passion and exudes desire at the same time as it brings generous doses of enigmatic nostalgia. With its bubbly, provocative chorus and bluesy rhythmic base, All Day And All Night closes the album's purely sensual trinity, a sequence very well structured by tracks like Come Away With Me and Holdin On.

With sharp, sequential notes under the same structure that Pete Towshend designed the iconic intro of Baba O'Riley, single by The Who, the keyboard shapes the rhythmic base of the first moments of the intro with an immersion in the psychedelic field. In just a few seconds, the song flows into a soft and catchy 4x4 track, which, filled with simple bursts of distortion on the guitar, shows itself as the track that was missing on Freedom. Precise and powerful, but at the same time serene and infectious, Don't Go takes over as the ballad of the album with a lyricism that tells the story of a person who seeks forgiveness from another person in an attempt to regain love. It is a song about respect, admiration and gratitude, feelings that, when excluded, create an intense emptiness that leads to loneliness and a structural sadness. The interesting thing is that, even though it is a ballad, Don't Go still offers the listener swing and hard rock with plenty of popular appeal.

The dry drumming calls for a soft, infectious melody that is developing along new wave lines. With a palpable freshness, the dawn of the track is marked by an atmosphere of comfortable melancholy that ends in a more intimate first verse. Even with a waltz of guitars providing colors of a desirable hope, the same instruments are divided between lightly suffering mournful sighs that marry with the interpretative lyrical tenor of Pineda, who goes on to introduce timid reflective silhouettes. Immersed even in nostalgic bursts, United We Stand, like Don't Give Up On Us and The Way We Used To Be, brings a narrative that dives into aspects lived during the pandemic. In the track in question, the focus is on togetherness, on closeness and empathy. The most important thing is that United We Stand brings the sense of community to the surface while love emerges as a guide for the recreation of collectivity, an effective weapon to face the new socio-cultural transformations produced from the pandemic conflict. With the right to a restrained hard rock rhythmic maturity, the song still offers the listener a melodic chorus adorned in a curiously contagious dramaticity.

Floral and reflective notes exude from the keyboard notes. Accompanied by the cadenced and oscillating texture of percussive elements heard in the background, they draw out a comforting softness and embryonic motivation. With the entrance of Pineda, whose vocal interpretation appears introspective and in nostalgic tones, the song takes on a thoughtful silhouette about time. Interestingly, the melody of the song, even if it has not yet reached its peak of maturity, sounds like a mixture of David Guetta's single When Love Takes Over and The Pretty Reckless' Take Me Down. For this reason it offers a positive, uplifting energy without necessarily using distortion or excessive pressure. Addressing a properly motivational lyrical message of hope for tomorrow, of coming to terms with reality, and most importantly, of gratitude for life, Life Rolls On ends up on the team of songs that deal, directly or not, with the pandemic and its effects. You are mistaken, however, that the song has a minimalist aesthetic without much salt. After all, between progressive-psychedelic sequences launched by the acidity of the organ's sound, the sun shows itself firmly on the horizon with an ecstatic luminosity. This is how, from a minimal instrumental structuring, Life Rolls On ends up flowing into a contagious, swinging, and exciting hard rock.

Violins and guitar shape a moving, emotional, and calm atmosphere. The scene that forms is as comforting as it is sensitive. Under looks of full admiration and deep love, a man sits quietly on the bed next to his partner so as not to wake him. As softly as possible, he strokes his hair and the breast of his face in a kind of passionate daze. In his unconscious, he wonders if that moment could last forever, if he would participate in all the dreams of the one he loves. A mixture of gratitude and happiness then fills the atmosphere. Surprisingly, in the same structure as the one adopted in Life Rolls On, the present track presents itself in sonic minimalism to then present its mature character immersed in a mix of hard rock and new wave that, different from the previous version, is more romanticized in a way that sonorizes the concept of the word affection. Due to the way the lyricism is built, Beautiful As You Are presents itself as a song with an almost religious stamp for bringing, among love metaphors, the question of faith, trust, and perseverance that everything has its reason and its moment to happen. For this reason, just like Together We Run, The Way We Used To Be, and Life Rolls On, Beautiful As You Are has a deeply motivational message that is contagious, enchanting, touching, and re-energizing. 

It took 11 years of waiting for the successor to Eclipse to finally see the light of day. Being also the third album of the septet to count with Arnel Pineda in front of the vocals, Freedom came with intense freshness, softness and with sticky melodies in the typical Journey mold.

Romantic and reflective, the work, like many others released in recent years, is immersed in thoughts about the pandemic and its effects on society. However, it is far from being a melodramatic or completely introspective album. In fact, the defining word is motivation. With each of its 15 chapters, in its own way, the listener is embraced by a reviving, positive and stimulating energy. It is as if a new, clean, sunny horizon breaks through the dense layer of fog that covers the landscape.

Well divided in structure, Freedom brings songs under different structures. Softer and more romantic, it provides tracks like Still Believe In Love, Live To Love Again and After Glow. With a more reflective sense, it features United We Stand, Don't Give Up On Us, The Way We Used To Be and Life Rolls On.

However, Neal Schon and his cohorts also revered longtime Journey fans by adding, on Freedom, songs with a more overt hard rock feel and others with the group's standard melodies. Examples are names like Come Away With Me, Let It Rain, Holdin On, All Day And All Night, You Got The Best Of Me and the aforementioned The Way We Used To Be.

Ballads are also part of the repertoire. Don't Go is the main name in this category, but Beautiful As You Are can also be included. However, for those who want reflection packed with soft, infectious melodies, Journey offers several names that help to think about the pandemic.

In addition to the aforementioned Life Rolls On, The Way We Used To Be, and Beautiful As You Are, names like Don't Give Up On Us, Together We Run, and United We Stand make up the album's thoughtful scope. This completes the versatility of themes and songs that the album possesses.

In the meantime, Freedom transits through new wave, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, blues and the hard rock sound of the group. To build a mature sound, Journey counted on Bob Clearmountain to mix the songs. It was Bob who helped to maintain the essence of the group at the same time that he inserted new and refreshing touches between songs, but always maintaining the maturity and aesthetic standards of the Californian septet.

In this path, Schon and Walden had a great participation. After all, the members joined together in the production exercise to make Freedom's sound as faithful as possible to what is expected from a Journey work. And the album meets all the requirements.

Released on 07/08/2022 via BMG, Freedom is an album that mixes sensuality, provocation, nostalgia and reflection. Motivational fresh and light, it is a work that helps to re-energize the listener in all aspects. An album that enchants by its sensitivity and commotion, but captures the attention by its maturity and precision.