Trial By Fire (1996)
1. Message of Love
2. One More
3. When You Love a Woman
4. If He Should Break Your Heart
5. Forever in Blue
6. Castles Buring
7. Don't Be Down On Me Baby
8. Still She Cries
9. Colors of the Spirit
10.When I Think of You
11.Easy to Fall
12.Can't Tame the Lion
13.It's Just the Rain
14.Trial By Fire
15.Baby I'm a Leavin' You (Hidden Track)
Talk about a misfire. In the mid-1990s, when seemingly every classic rock outfit was hopping aboard the reunion bandwagon, expectations for Journey's return were predictably sky-high. After all, this was not some Frankenstein lineup with anonymous hired hands; this was the full classic ensemble—no substitutions, no stand-ins. And yet, somehow, Trial By Fire landed not with a bang but with a curiously hollow thud.
There’s a lot that goes wrong here, and it starts with the production. The sonic balance is almost inexplicably skewed—guitars and drums buried in a mix so murky it borders on the apologetic. A comeback album of this pedigree demands clarity, punch, and a touch of grandeur. Instead, it sounds as though the band were afraid to wake the neighbors. The opening track, Message of Love, is the first warning sign—bland, bombastic, and eerily reminiscent of Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) from Frontiers, but without the conviction. The synth solo is a near-facsimile of its predecessor, to the point where one wonders if a demo reel from 1983 was mistakenly slotted into the final master.
But the real problem here isn’t nostalgia—it’s the material. Quite simply, the songs aren’t very good. There’s an alarming lack of identity running through the album, as though the band weren’t entirely sure whether they were revisiting their past or attempting to emulate someone else's version of “art rock.” The result is neither. Most of the tracks feel rushed, underwritten, and curiously dispassionate. It’s as if someone signed off on the release before anyone bothered to actually listen to it from start to finish.
The one redeeming feature—just barely—is Steve Perry’s voice. Not Steve Perry the writer, not Steve Perry the visionary, but Steve Perry the vocalist. His signature croon occasionally rises above the fog, lending a few tracks a touch of the old magic. When You Love a Woman and Don’t Be Down on Me Baby are decent enough, mainly because they allow Perry space to breathe, unencumbered by the sludge of overwrought arrangements. Ironically, one of the best moments comes hidden in plain sight: Baby I’m a Leavin’ You, a “ghost track” unlisted in the official credits. That it’s not even acknowledged tells you everything you need to know about the internal state of affairs.
And yes, the politics hadn’t changed either. Perry declined to tour the album, citing injury or illness (depending on which account you prefer), and was promptly replaced. The move was controversial—predictably so—but in fairness to the others, his successors (three and counting) managed to sound uncannily like him. And more to the point, future albums with these lineups would be, in most cases, significantly better. Not a high bar, perhaps—but one that Trial By Fire barely clears.
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