Arrival (2001)
1. Higher Place
2. All the Way
3. Signs of Live
4. All the Things
5. Loved By You
6. Livin' to Do
7. World Gone Wild
8. I Got a Reason
9. With Your Love
10.Lifetime of Dreams
11.Live and Breathe
12.Nothin' Comes Close
13.To Be Alive Again
14.Kiss Me Softly
15.We Will Meet Again
By the early 1980s, Journey had ascended to arena rock royalty, and for many high school fans of the era, they sat comfortably alongside bands like Styx in the pantheon of radio-fueled melodrama. It’s oddly poetic, then, that both groups would follow near-identical trajectories as the 20th century gave way to the 21st: internal fissures leading to late-’80s disbandment, mid-’90s reunions met with critical shrugs, acrimonious splits with their iconic frontmen, and, finally, a surprising rebirth—frontman-less, but oddly revitalized.
The key to Journey’s second act was strategic pragmatism. Rather than reimagine themselves, they sought a sonic mirror of Steve Perry. Enter Steve Augeri. A soundalike? Certainly. A clone? Not quite. But crucially, he delivered what the audience expected: a voice that could carry Faithfully and Open Arms without inviting derision. No, he doesn’t match Perry’s uncanny phrasing or emotive precision, but then, who would? The more remarkable point is that the material itself doesn’t suffer from the absence. Despite Perry's heavy songwriting involvement in earlier years, Arrival not only holds together—it thrives.
Drummer Steve Smith opted out, unwilling to continue without Perry, and his place was taken by Deen Castronovo—another graduate of The Babys, like keyboardist Jonathan Cain. The lineup shuffle, while potentially destabilizing, actually injected new life into the band.
All the familiar elements are intact. There’s the sleek, radio-ready rock. The mid-tempo anthems. And yes, the syrupy, soft-focus ballads that critics scoffed at, but which sold millions and soundtracked countless teenage heartbreaks. This time, though, the delivery feels less calculated and more relaxed—an honest attempt at recapturing something elemental.
Arrival doesn’t attempt to dethrone Escape or Frontiers, and wisely so. Side by side with their peak-era output, this isn’t a contender. But judged on its own merits—and within the context of a band rebuilding after two decades of fragmentation—it quietly achieves something significant. It's no triumph, but it is a return to competence, and in places, even inspiration.
At 15 tracks, it overstays its welcome by a few cuts, but that’s a minor grievance. For long-time fans, Arrival serves as both a reminder and a reward: the band may not be what it once was, but they remember how to do what they once did. And in that, there is more than a little satisfaction.
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