Welcome to my VINTAGE! blog. Here you can find reviews on old music, old and current wrestling, books, video games, and an occasional life story. It's about as vintage as Michael Cole's mustache - enjoy!
NOTE: Sorry this took me so long to get up. My sister got engaged last week so I ended up taking a trip to Chicago to visit her and celebrate. Unfortunately, she doesn't have the internet and didn't want to watch vintage wrestling as part of the celebration (shocking, I know), so I was out of touch for a while. I'm working today, but I will have the rest of the year up in the next two days. Thanks for your patience and enjoy!
Coming off of the success of August's Summer Slam, the WWF had a bit of a drop off in the month of September. While the month as a whole was still entertaining, many of the feuds that had been running throughout the summer had come to a close at the August pay-per-view, so the company is in the process of building some new feuds to lead into November's Survivor Series. The seeds of such feuds were planted as early as the end of Summerslam, when Ludvig Borga, the Finnish Nightmare, confronted Lex Luger after his Summer Slam victory. As mentioned earlier, Borga hates America and takes a special exception to Luger's pro-America gimmick. This seems to be leading to a confrontation at Survivor Series, if my memory serves right.
One of my favorite things about this month was the match between the Steiner Brothers and the Quebecers for the WWF Tag Team Titles. This match was fought under "Quebec Province Rules," which made the match more entertaining than I was expecting. For those unfamiliar with how wrestling is supposedly fought in Quebec, here's a summary of the rules:
1) Piledrivers are illegal
2) Top rope maneuvers are illegal
3) Throwing an opponent over the top rope is illegal
4) Titles can change hands in the even of a countout
5) Titles can change hands in the event of disqualification
Quebec: Awesome wrestlers, terrible rules
These ridiculous rules led to a very entertaining match between the two teams that the Quebecers would eventually win due to disqualification. I'm glad they won, partially because they get the titles of the godawful Steiners (love 'em in the ring, but they're annoying on the mic) and also because Johnny Polo is their manager. Everybody likes Johnny Polo!
September saw quite a few changes in the WWF landscape. New champions, wrestler debuts, and character shifts are just some of the surprises in store for viewers this month, and it made for a pretty entertaining month of wrestling, if not as entertaining as the few months prior. Anyway, let's get to some awards for more thoughts on this month in WWF history:
Awards:
Superstar(s) of the Month: The Quebecers. There is absolutely nothing I don't enjoy about Jacques and Pierre, the Quebecers. This is the first time I've seen the Quebecers on RAW (though they debuted in July), so I am also awarding them with Debut of the Month. Older fans will remember Jacques as one of the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers with his brother Ray, as well as his stint as the Mountie. He's basically still the Mountie in this gimmick, but he found a fatter French Canadian with whom to pal around. The best part about this gimmick is that the Quebecers sing their own theme song and it is hilarious. Seriously, if you don't love this you suck:
Match of the Month: Scott Steiner v. Pierre. After losing the titles in controversial fashion due to some funky French Canadian rules, Scott Stiener was huffin' and puffin' until he got the chance to put a hurting on Pierre of the Quebecers. This match gave us all of the spots their "Quebec Province Rules" match denied us earlier in the month, as Scott hit a piledriver, threw Pierre over the top, and hit a nice top rope maneuver. Add that to his impressive arsenal of power moves and throw in the presence of Jacques, Rick and Johnny Polo and you've got a great match filled with entertaining characters.
Promo of the Month: IRS. To be fair, there really weren't many memorable promos this month, so IRS wins by default. I think he was calling out Razor Ramon, but I honestly wasn't paying that close of attention. All I know is, Rotunda was hanging out in some sleazy office crunching the numbers and talking shit, and that's good enough for me.
Jobber of the Month: PJ Walker. PJ Walker wins this month's dubious distinction for pulling off an upset victory over IRS. What the fuck is happening to my WWF when IRS is losing to PJ Walker?
Bullshit Face Turn: Doink. Doink's evil clown gimmick has, sadly, come to end. It was fun while it lasted. He turned by predictably throwing water on Heenan, who sold the turn brilliantly, slipping on the water and pretending to have a cold the next week on RAW. This looks like the beginning of the end for the Doink character, and I for one will miss his zany antics and solid wrestling skills.
Jack Tunney Sucks Award: Jack suspends Shawn Michaels. As I've discussed before, Jack Tunney is the WWF president and occasionally makes idiotic rulings. This month, Tunney decided to suspend Shawn Michaels and strip him of his WWF Intercontinental Championship. This is an outrage for all of us fans. Tunney is obviously on some sort of strange power trip after threatening to suspend Jerry Lawler for apparently being a heel at Summer Slam, so now he's moving onto bigger fish. I don't know what Shawn did in real life to get suspended, but I'm going to assume it's some combination of drugs and behavioral issues. Hopefully he'll be back soon to claim his spot as the real Intercontinental champion.
Random Appearance Award: Rick Martel. While it was definitely nice to see Jimmy Snuka show up this month, "The Model" Rick Martel is even more awesome than the "Superfly." I haven't seen Martel in a while and I was always a fan as a kid. I really enjoyed he and Tito Santana as Strike Force and thought he was hilarious in his model persona. For those who never got to see Rick in this incarnation, here's a clip of what you missed:
Bump of the Month: 1-2-3 Kid. Waltman took another nasty bump this month in a match with immortal jobber Barry Horowitz against the Quebecers. Waltman attempted a running spinning heel kick, but one of the Quebecers pulled down the top rope and Waltman sailed over, essentially spinning his way to his death. What a great bump!
Quote of the Month: "If you want to do something to work up a sweat, honey, why don't you do the dishes or run the vac?" - Bobby Heenan on females
Reflections: This month was definitely a little slower than the months past, and suffered from a lack of big-name stars, but the company still did a good job of recharging from an action packed summer and planting the seeds for feuds to finish out the year. Hopefully October and November will pick things up for what I remember to be a really great Survivor Series, at least in my memory.
WWF Summer Slam 1993 was a sad day for everyone who follows WWF: this marks the last wrestling appearance of "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. DiBiase was injured early in 1994 and would no longer wrestle on a regular basis. I figurd I might as well get the bad news out of the way first...
Anyway, Summer Slam '93 was one hell of an event and finished off the summer in sizzling style for the World Wrestling Federation. Taking place August 30 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan, Summer Slam saw the culmination of a number of feuds as well as the beginning of one or two. The build-up was phenomenal; there were personal grudges, a promotional invasion, and a national conflict. Without any further hesitation, let's get right to the action!
This is where I was planning on putting a highlight video from the PPV. Unfortunately, the ones I found on Youtube had shitty alternative music in them and I figured no one wanted to hear that (and I apologize for the post-80s U2 bullshit in my KotR review - never again). I like my music the way I like my wrestling: VINTAGE!
The opening match of the night featured two of my favorite wrestlers - Razor Ramon v. Ted DiBiase. The two had been feuding ever since Razor was defeated by the 1-2-3 Kid, something I still don't understand. Anyway, after weeks of verbally sparring and interfering in matches, these two finally got the chance to solve their problems in the squared circle. I just want to note real quick that this is the second PPV in a row that Razor has opened, which I think is kind of strange considering he was so over and such a great worker. He would go on to achieve great success relatively soon in the WWF, so I'm surprised this match went on so early, especially with some clunkers coming later in the evening. All that bullshit aside, the match served its purpose, entertained millions, and ended with what is still the best crucifix powerbomb in the business. In honor of DiBiase's last appearance as a full-time wrestler with WWF, here is the match in its entirety:
The Steiner Brothers v. The Heavenly Bodies was next, and it was the big homecoming match for the All-American Steiner boys. This match was actually a great match and I was really surprised by the work of "Doctor" Tom Prichard and his partner, "Gigolo" Jimmy Del Ray. There was a lot of back-and-forth action between the two teams, and it looked like the Heavenly Bodies were about to win after some interference from James E. Cornette's flamboyant tennis racket. In the end, however, the Steiner Bros. went crazy on the Bodies and finished them up with another ugly Frankensteiner.
I really have to comment on the Steiners right here. Rick Steiner is basically worthless. While he isn't a bad performer, it seems like he's just there because of Scott. Scott is the standout talent of the team and that's obvious both in fan reaction and booking decisions. And though I love Steiner's arsenal of devastating power moves, the Frankensteiner is ugly as sin. I'm surprised Scott never broke his neck performing the move.
My match of the night was probably Shawn Michaels (c) v. Mr. Perfect for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. The two men have been feuding on-and-off since Wrestlemania IX, and this would also mark the last time Perfect would wrestle on a WWF PPV until something like 2002. After months of confrontations, including Perfect at one point costing Michaels his IC Title, the two finally get their hands on each other in some sort of payoff match. The match was a technically sound barn burner until Diesel decided to get involved. As Diesel began interfering, the match devolved into an all-out slugfest between the three men and eventually ended, disappointingly, in a countout win for Michaels. While I assume the feud is supposed to continue into the fall, Michaels gets suspended in late '93 and Perfect doesn't wrestle on PPV for another nine years, so who knows what's going to happen with this feud. That's too bad, really, because these two guys are great performers and with Diesel in the mix anything could have happened in this feud.
The next match, IRS v. 1-2-3 Kid, was a fucking joke. Sure, the match was decent, but its placement on the card is baffling (I assume they wanted to give the crowd time to recover) and I really don't understand the outcome. IRS goes over Kid with a Write Off (Heenan's brain scan after the match was priceless) and becomes quite possibly the first man to kick out of Waltman's moonsault on WWF television. I love Rotunda, but unless they're planning on continuing this Money, Inc. v. Razor/Kid angle, I don't get why he went over at this juncture. And Waltman's mullet is still fucking disgusting.
I was really looking forward to the next match, and after watching Bret Hart v. Jerry Lawler (scheduled) for the title of "King of the WWF", I honestly don't know how to feel about it. Lawler came to the ring on crutches and built heat by ripping on Hart's family and saying he had been in an automobile accident earlier that day and was instructed by doctors not to compete that night. Normally I hate the old bait-and-switch, and I really wasn't excited about this turn on events. I figured it was the best case scenario, however, when Lawler announced his replacement: his court jester, Doink. As I've mentioned before, I love me some 1993 Doink. Unfortunately, this is probably Doink's last match as a heel based on my fuzzy memory, though there may be one or two more. Bret Hart and his family (brothers Bruce and Owen are in attendance at ringside) are understandably perturbed, and Bret takes his frustration and anger out on Doink.
After quite a bit of good wrestling action, Bret looks to finish the match with his signature Sharpshooter submission hold. This is where shit starts to get a little weird for me. Lawler, who was faking his injury, attacked Bret from behind with his crutch. For some damn reason, there are like eight refs/officials out at ringside holding back Bruce and Owen Hart but letting Lawler beat on Bret with a foreign object for minutes in the ring. Then Jack Tunney comes out and announces that Lawler must face Hart or he is suspended for a month, so Lawler and Hart start brawling and kicking the crap out of each other with various weapons. Aapparently there's no DQ, even though both try hide it, because there are eight officials out here and one of them must be aware that they are hitting each other with water pails and crutches. Anyway, Hart wins by submission with the Sharpshooter and refuses to let go of the move. Instead of the ref and other nine officials that are down at ring forcefully removing Hart from Lawler, they stand there asking him to let go for like five full minutes. Eventually, Hart lets go, but the ref then reverses his decision and announces Lawler is the victor by disqualification for not letting go of the hold, even though the match was officially over when Lawler submitted.
If this sounds like the biggest clusterfuck this side of WCW 2000, you're absolutely correct. And I apologize if my analysis seems a little disjointed, but I watched the entire thing and I still don't understand why the hell they didn't just have a proper match with Lawler and Hart instead of this bullshit. What a disappointment, though still fairly entertaining.
Ludvig Borga v. Marty Jannetty is the first time I've seen Borga actually wrestle (he hasn't been on RAW yet) and I'm not terribly impressed. He basically squashes Marty here and wins with some sort of torture-rack derivative. This wasn't a bad match for what it was, but it also wasn't anything spectacular. Still, his promos were hilarious:
"You call this the 'land of milk and honey'? Well down here it stinks funny" - Classic Ludvig Borga
Undertaker v. Giant Gonzalez was another match that was entertaining for what it was, and it also featured the return of Paul Bearer (alright!). The match was pretty much a no-DQ match that saw both men take advantage of the stipulation before Undertaker won with a nice flying clothesline off the top rope. This match may not have been a five-star classic, but both men worked well and Taker looked great going against the limited Gonzalez. This was much better than their match at Wrestlemania. The only negative thing about this match was Gonzalez hitting a chokeslam on everyone's favorite manager, Harvey Wippleman! Seriously, who would do that to such a class act? Disappointing...
The match I was least looking forward to, Bam Bam Bigelow/Headshrinkers v. Tatanka/Smoking Gunns, was actually more entertaining than I was expecting. Both teams worked relatively well together and there was a great spot that saw a triple headbutt on Tatanka lead to an attempted triple top-rope headbutt from Bam Bam and the Headshrinkers. Unfortunately, the big boys missed and the match ended with a disappointing roll-up by Tatanka. I cannot tell you how much I want this man to finally lose.
The final match of the night, Yokozuna (c) v. Lex Luger for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, was so much better than I ever thought the match could be. I like Luger, but I wasn't totally sold on him in the ring from what I had seen so far. He had a great match with Tatanka at King of the Ring in June, but Yokozuna can be a hard match for anyone to work considering his size and limitations. That said, these two men put on a great performance in a surprise candidate for match of the night.
Randy Savage at some point jumped on Lex's American dick and became a super Lex fan, so he came out rocking a ridiculous Old Glory outfit. Even better, he was accompanied by Aaron Neville. If you'll recall, I made a comment in the July review about some drunk-ass Aaron Neville singing the national anthem on the USS Intrepid at the body slam challenge. Little did I know that the real Aaron Neville would appear to sing the national anthem one month later at Summer Slam. I am awesome! Unfortunately, I cannot find video footage of this.
The match contained most of the spots you would expect: the failed body slam, the salt bucket schtick, and a whole bunch of awesome Fuji. Just when things looked most dire for Luger, he rolled out of the way of the Banzai Drop and started an amazing comeback that would lead to the win for Lex Luger!!!!....by countout. That's right, folks, all of this build-up only to pull an Irvine and fail to pull the trigger. And for some ungodly reason, the Steiners and Macho Man then come in to raise Lex onto their shoulders as if he had somehow achieved something. Quick note to these morons: the title doesn't change hands on a countout, for fuck's sake. Here's this spectacular sequence of events:
While I am good with this outcome, I also don't understand it. There was so much build-up here with Lex Luger and this patriotic gimmick, I can't believe they didn't give him the ball and let him roll with it. More importantly, they also added in (for no good reason) the stipulation that no matter the outcome, Luger won't get a rematch. So here we are after one of the biggest events of the year and our biggest face just defeated our monster heel champion and we're going to let the program die. Who booked this shit? I'm going to assume they didn't put the strap on Luger for two reasons, and if anyone has any ideas feel free to add in your two cents:
1) The company simply didn't buy into Luger as the top face.
This is certainly possible, but it doesn't explain why they spent so much time building the man up. Perhaps they didn't like the numbers or weren't impressed by fan reaction during this period and that made up their minds, but I really don't know.
2) The company did not view Luger as a reliable champion.
I think this is a real possibility. The company decided to give Luger a run, but his battles with drugs, steroids and alcohol throughout his career are common knowledge to us now. I wouldn't be surprised if they played a role in WWF's decision to withhold the strap from Luger at this point in time.
Whatever the reason, Luger would never really recover from this and never held the WWF World Heavyweight Championship (though he did get another crack at it at WM X).
Reflections: This was really another great PPV. I forgot how awesome the World Wrestling Federation was in 1993, but shows like Summer Slam '93 speak for themselves and show the product at a great time in its history. I would recommend finding and watching this show if you can, as it was extremely entertaining from both a nostalgia and wrestling point of view. For those who might follow wrestling today but have never seen some of these older shows/wrestlers, this PPV is a great place to jump in and get started.
August of 1993 was another stellar month in WWF history. This month was the build-up to Summer Slam, the annual summer spectacular, and it really delivered in every way. From killer promos to outstanding matches, this is what made me a fan of wrestling in my younger years and has kept me coming back since my childhood. I made a number of notes as I watched through everything I could find, and there are a number of things that caught my eye this month.
The first thing I need to discuss is the fact that I love Bastion Booger. The once Friar Ferguson has won me over with his extreme nastiness, super ridiculous attire and awesomely bad dance moves. I've always remembered the character being atrociously bad, but upon further review he was absolutely hilarious. Watching him shake his ass while standing over Marty Jannetty had me rolling, and he wasn't a terrible wrestler to boot. Good on you, Booger. Here's the amazing Booger/Jannetty match from 8/16/93:
This month saw the in-ring return of Macho Man Randy Savage. While Savage has been stuck at the announce table for quite some time, here we see him starting a mini feud with Doink. Unfortunately, while this would provide some laughter because of Macho Man's Macho Midget being introduced into the angle, I fear this is the beginning of the end for the Doink we have all come to love. From here it is only a matter of time until we see a Doink face turn and the introduction of Dink, something I'm honestly not looking forward to despite how much I have grown to enjoy the current character. Macho Man really didn't do too much this month, though the match was good, and the Macho Midget showed up to hang out with the Bushwhackers, so I guess it wasn't all bad.
One question I can't seem to answer is why Marty Jannetty failed so badly in the WWF. Jannetty certainly had most of the tools required to make it big in the business, with mic-work being his only real Achilles heel. I don't know if it was the drugs or the personal behavior or backstage politicking, but Marty's ringwork, despite how much I have criticized him in the past, is exceptional. He has put on entertaining matches with a vast array of superstars including Michaels, Doink and Bastion Booger. He was extremely over with the crowd, so I really have a hard time figuring out why he was such a failure and always has been. Perhaps it's simply that he is stuck in Michaels' shadow, or maybe he was just not good enough on the stick, but Jannetty seems to have the pieces required for at least a successful, long-term career as a WWF mid-carder.
Another thing I cannot for the life of me figure out is this: why in the world is Hacksaw Jim Duggan so over? The crowd loves this man. He's a decent brawler and a fun guy, but he never steals the show and the only thing he ever says is "USA!" Barring some sort of super patriotism from wrestling fans, I just don't get this man's appeal. I'll be the first to admit that I loved him as a kid, but the only reason I can think of is because I thought it was cool he carried a 2x4 and he was my good friend's cousin. Other than that, I have no idea what is going on with this man.
There was another fantastic surprise this month, but I will save that for the awards section. It was truly phenomenal.
Anyway, while I focused on perhaps some negative aspects of the product there, let's get to some awards from this month (and don't forget, Summer Slam was a big part of this month and will have its own column later):
Awards:
Superstar of the Month: Lex Luger. The focus of this whole month was on Lex Luger and his feud with Yokozuna, which was really just a feud between America and Japan. Outside of the Summer Slam main event, I don't recall Luger even fighting a match this month, but combining his "Lex Express" tour across America with his candid sit-down interviews really puts him ahead of anyone else this month.
Promo of the Month: Lex Luger. Again, Luger was the focus of the WWF at the time with his new found patriot gimmick. While Luger was not on television wrestling, he was featured in a number of candid sit-down interviews in which he discussed a number of topics ranging from his childhood to the use of steroids in professional sports. Lex detailed (and downplayed) his own steroid use as well as his expulsion from the University of Miami (or something like that). The interviews were done very well and showed a side of Luger the fans had yet to see since his debut earlier in the year.
Match of the Month: Steiner Brothers v. Money, Inc. (Cage Match, WWF Tag Team Titles). This match was awesome. My love for Rotunda and DiBiase is well documented, and I ought to mention that while I find Scott Steiner absolutely hilarious on the mic, I also think he's a tremendous athlete and a great performer. Getting these two teams into a cage match just prior to Summer Slam for the WWF Tag Team titles was a great idea. This match saw both teams get a man outside the cage who then came back into the ring to help their respective partners. I was able to find this match on youtube, so I hope you guys and gals can enjoy it (part two is in the related videos section):
Brilliant Idea of the Month: Summer Slam Spectacular. Just days prior to the Summer Slam pay-per-view extravaganza, Vinnie Mac and the boys put on the "Summer Slam Spectacular." This hour-long evening was a warm-up for the event and featured the classic match shown above. This was a great way to get fans pumped up for the ppv and I absolutely loved it.
Surprise Debut of the Month: Jim Cornette. Forget the team or the promotion he came to promote (Heavenly Bodies/Smoky Mountain Wrestling), the real catch of the month was none other than James E. Cornette. Cornette is one of the best I have ever seen on the mic, and within a week he was not only verbally fellating "Doctor" Tom Prichard and "Gigolo" Jimmy Del Rey, but he was also Yokozuna's American representative. This began a great career for Cornette with WWF and this was just the tip of the iceberg. Also, here's one simple reason why Jim Cornette is amazing (expect more in subsequent reviews):
Worst Promo of the Month: Jerry Lawler. I love Lawler, but the promo he cut this month with a fake Elvis Presley was just bad. It's almost as bad as listening to Kona Crush. I was seriously disappointed.
Reflections: This was a great month for the WWF and we've only scratched the surface. I'll be back with some insight into Summer Slam in my next installment!
Secondly, here is the link for the file download: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7X5VSHZY.
It should also be noted that I included two great Steve Perry solo songs in there for fun.
I apologize for the many delays this list has seen. While the writing has been done for a few days now, I had a lot of trouble uploading the files. I think we are all good now, but if you have any troubles, please let me know and I will do my best to help. On to the peas.
I have always been a huge Journey fan. From my past resemblance to the man with the golden voice, Steve Perry, to watching his original impostor (also known as Steve Permy) with handicapped people while Bobby Hansen was eating my dust, Journey and I have shared a special connection.
I always thought that Journey was a girl's type of rock and roll band because growing up I knew that was my mom's favorite rock group while my dad listened to people who, in his words, "rock harder" (you know, like Wings). Even with this preconception, I always gravitated towards Journey's smooth-but-tough sound. Steve Perry's voice is truly one of a kind, and when combined with a band whose musical pedigree speaks for itself, there is simply no stopping these rocking balladeers from finding a place at the top of the charts and at the center of our hearts.
This list wasn't terribly hard to create, though I am sure many will find fault with it. Unlike Fleetwood Mac, Journey doesn't have a ton of albums featuring music from various genres and line-up changes every other day. Also, I didn't even listen to the album with that Filipino guy. I don't at all consider that Journey - they found that faggot on youtube. Good for him and good for them, but for this list I am strictly going on any albums, singles, live cuts, etc. from Journey to Generations (which isn't featured on this list because it also blows). For this list, I will focus on any information I can find about the album/song, but really there's not too much to go on. Journey isn't extremely sophisticated in the lyrics department and really these are just a series of good pop/rock songs. I may speak on why I like them, but for the most part it's got a lot to do with Steve Perry's voice and Neal Schon's guitar. I didn't choose Journey so that I could blow your minds with musical analysis; I chose Journey because it was easy and would get me writing again. It's important to note that I created this list based solely on my own ears and not on how popular any one song is. In other words, I'm sorry "Lights" isn't higher. Anyway, here we go:
1977's Next is Journey's third album and very much follows in the footsteps of its predecessors. It was released in the band's "fusion" era prior to Steve Perry joining the band. While the album has its fair share of progressive-style rock and roll and jazz, the songs are relatively short and it is probably the weakest of the first three Journey albums, which I would rank in order of release. The failure of this album to do anything of significance would prove an important moment in the band's history. After the release of Next, Journey would begin the search for a frontman, eventually filling the role with Robert Fleischman. Fleischman would stay with the band for nine months before leaving due to personality/management differences depending on the version of the story you hear. While Fleischman had a hand in writing some of the songs that would appear on Journey's next album (a few of which are on this list), his leaving opened the door for Steve Perry to join the band, and that was the best thing that ever happened to Journey.
"Next," the title track from Journey's third album, is a straight-up rocker with vocals by Rolie. I've always been a fan of Gregg Rolie's vocals since I heard Santana's "Black Magic Woman," and while I love Jonathan Cain I always missed Rolie's vocals after he left the group. On this track, Rolie provides an excellent vocal track while the band rocks on. You can see somewhat of a shift in the band's musical style here, which points to the direction they would follow once Perry came on board. While the song isn't anything that will blow your mind, it's a solid track from a flop of an album with a cool solo from Schon. The man does great work in the last quarter of the song.
After revisiting this song a day later, I just need to make it clear how much I love Gregg Rolie's vocals on this song. He kicks ass.
49. "Still They Ride" - Escape. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
After six albums and a great deal of success with Journey, Gregg Rolie decided to leave the band to pursue his own musical interests outside of the group. Rolie left on good terms and even suggested his replacement, Jonathan Cain from The Babys. While this may have seemed like a large blow to the band, losing the only member who is currently a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (for his work in Santana), Cain fit in well and the following recording sessions resulted in the best-selling album of Journey's career, Escape. Though critics panned the album, it shot straight to number one on the charts on the back of its singles with three songs hitting the top ten. Also known as E5C4P3, the album launched Journey into superstardom and marked a slight musical change with Cain's increased use of synthesizers and addition to the writing team. An interesting note: this album would also spawn a video game for the Atari 2600.
"Still They Ride"was the fifth single from the Escape album and charted in the top 20. This song is not the greatest of Journey's rock ballads, but it has a special place in my heart. Perry's voice shines through while Schon has a nice guitar solo, but what I like about this song are the lyrics. "This old town ain't the same / now nobody knows his name / Times have changed, still he rides." We've all felt that way at some point, especially me, so it just seems like such a fitting song for a number of moments in life. This song gets the job done, but isn't indicative of the emotive power of Journey.
48. "Stay Awhile" - Departure. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry
Departure, released in the spring of 1980, was Journey's highest-charting album to that point and cracked the Billboard top 10 (number 8). The irony of the title is that this would be Rolie's last album with the band before leaving the group entirely. The tour for this album would spawn a live album, Captured, which shows the band at an inspiring point in their careers as they were just on the cusp of breaking through. The album itself, while a decline in musical quality from Evolution (my favorite Journey album), features a lot straight forward rock and roll as well as some ballads and a blues number. Rolie's lack of input in the writing is noticeable and the album foreshadows the musical path the band would tread upon his departure.
"Stay Awhile" is a nice little love song, nothing more and nothing less. I really love the intro to this song, and when Perry first enters with that initial line, the song becomes special. The part that really gets me, however, is at the halfway point when Perry just takes over, which is more evident in live versions of the song.
47. "Too Late" - Evolution. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry
Evolution, released in April of '79, is easily my favorite Journey album. Forget the hype of Escape, the excitement of Infinity, and the ridiculousness of Raised on Radio - this is the album that made me a Journey fan. When I was in high school I began seriously listening to Journey and I recall burning myself this album from the internet or someone else's music collection. I had enjoyed Infinity, but this album came out of nowhere and kicked my ass. From the opening guitar solo to the final notes of "Lady Luck," I was hooked. This was Journey at the height of their careers musically and creatively, and it shows with eleven well-crafted songs showcasing all the band has to offer. If there's one Journey album I could ever recommend to a serious music fan, it would be Evolution. Quick note: Aynsley Dunsbar was fired in '78 and this album marks the first appearance of Steve Smith, known for his fantastic slow motion drum fills.
"Too Late" is just a damn good song. With a cool intro (the opening track, a guitar solo called "Majestic), this song marks the true beginning of what can only be considered a masterpiece of an album. This song itself has everything you can look for in a Journey song: a stellar vocal, a great guitar solo, harmonizing background vocals, and a mixture of rock and ballad. That's what Journey's all about. I also really love the outro to this song with the piano flourishes and Perry's understated vocal.
46. "Only The Young" - Greatest Hits. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
"Only The Young" is jst a great pop/rock song penned by the three main writers of Journey in the '80s. The song was used in the Movie Vision Quest but was, in one of the most idiotic moves in Journey's long career, left off the Frontiers album. The song proved to be a big hit, dealing with the youth of the world and lives they have ahead of them.
The song was performed for the first time for a young man dying of cystic fibrosis whose last wish was to meet his heroes. The band flew to his bedside and sang for him. He would die the next day. Here's a look at the story:
45. "Signs of Life" - Arrival. Written by: Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, Elizabeth Cain
After Journey's successful reunion in 1996, the band's plans to tour were put on indefinite hiatus when Steve Perry broke his hip the following year. Perry, not one to rush into surgery, held off on replacing his hip until the band could no longer stand it. Afraid that their momentum may have already been killed, the band said goodbye to Perry (which led to Steve Smith's departure), replacing the golden voice with Steve Augeri, or Steve Perry Lite. Deen Castronovo, the drummer of Bad English, also joined to line-up at this time. While Augeri is no Steve Perry, 2001's Arrival is the last good Journey album, and at least some of that can be contributed to Augeri's Perry-like vocals.
"Signs of Life" is a great track from this album. I really think this a strong vocal performance from Augeri and the keyboard is great as well. The lyrics are kind of wonky at times, but it's Journey, not Paul Simon, so it's forgivable. The point is, this song sounds like Journey and really hits the spot from time to time, which is more than can be said about a lot of songs. The general feeling of this song is optimistic, which is nice to hear from the band at this point.
44. "La Do Da" - Infinity. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry
As mentioned earlier, Journey played with frontman Robert Fleischman for about nine months before Steve Perry was ultimately brought in to front the band. Perry, a Portuguese pimp, had fronted a band called Alien Project but left when the bassist was killed in a motor vehicle accident. At the behest of his mother, Steve, who had quit the music scene, answered a call from Journey manager Herbie Herbert. Herbert had heard Perry's voice on a demo and realized it was exactly what Journey needed to connect with mainstream fans. While the transition was a little rough for all involved, including long-time fans, the change elevated Journey to rock gods. Their first album with Perry, 1978's Infinity, was a special album that ended up going 3x platinum here in the states. Music fans around the world had spoken, and Steve Perry was the missing link that turned Journey into mega stars.
The album itself is ripe with fantastic pop/rock songs that were quite a departure from the music of Journey's past. While the music was definitely different, the band sounded rejuvenated and seemed to relish this new sound. A number of Journey classics were born on this album, and "La Do Da" is one of those tunes.
"La Do Da" is straight forward rocker penned by Schon and Perry who had incredible chemistry as writers. The song begins with an intense riff and some drumming from Dunsbar, who would leave the band after this album over musical differences, and then Perry comes in with some serious chops on the mic. The song itself is somewhat nonsensical when analyzed lyrically, but the groove and the feeling are so strong that it outweighs any negative this song may have.
43. "Line of Fire" - Departure. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry
"Line of Fire" is one of the most intense songs in Journey's impressive catalogue. This song is about a dude holding his woman at gunpoint, questioning her faithfulness, and shooting her. Some people don't believe Frankie shoots Suzie, but those people are misguided. This song is one of the classic Journey rock songs and another reason why Departure is a must-own album. Also, the gunshot sound effect on this track is great.
42. "Walks Like a Lady" - Departure. Written by: Steve Perry
Our first song written by a sole composer, "Walks Like a Lady" is another standout track from Journey's sixth album. This song is one of the bluesier numbers the band ever wrote, which I find interesting because it was composed solely by Perry. I would have expected such a song to come from the more experienced musicians within the band, especially those with a background in the blues. Alas, the band left it up to Perry to funk up the audience's world, and I am alright with that. This song, while fantastic on record, is even better live.
41. "Daydream" - Evolution. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Gregg Rolie, Ross Valory
"Daydream," the second-to-last track on Journey's greatest album, is a musical landscape the likes of which Journey might never paint again. The song literally feels like a daydream and te imagery is completely surreal. This song may have the greatest feeling of any Journey song, and I truly appreciate that. You can tell this a full band contribution to the album, unlike other songs which are often easy to attribute to one or two authors. The intro to this song sets the mood, which is expanded upon by Perry's fantastic voice, before eventually coming to an emotional guitar solo from Schon before the song fades out. This is one of my favorite Journey songs and it deserves a spot on this list.
40. "Stone in Love" - Escape. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain.
From the opening riff, "Stone in Love" takes hold of listeners and doesn't let go. While the guitar is killer, this song actually has one of my favorite bass lines from Ross Valory. The lyrics often take me back to my high school days, reminiscing on summer hang-outs at the Jew's pond. This is really just a feel good rock song with some excellent musicianship. While "Stone" is a favorite amongst Journey fans, it failed to crack the top 10 and didn't make a huge impact.
39. "Look into the Future" - Look into the Future. Written by: Neal Schon, Gregg Rolie, Diane Valory
Look into the Future, Journey's second album, was released in relative obscurity in 1976. At this point George Tickner, one of the band's guitar players, had left the band and Journey was down to Schon, Rolie, Valory and Dunsbar. As a foursome, the band toned down some of the prog elements of the first album, but the record still has somewhat of experimental edge to it. Rolie takes the reigns on vocals as there are fewer instrumental tracks on this album. Overall, this is a great pre-Perry Journey album.
"Look into the Future" has the dubious distinction of being the longest song featured on any Journey album besides "Destiny," from their Japanese only soundtrack album. This is another Gregg Rolie song and I'm going to assume that Ross Valory's wife penned the lyrics. Rolie's voice is amazing on this song, as is his playing, but Neal Schon again steals the show with some great guitar work.
38. "Baby, I'm Leaving You" - Trial By Fire. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
1996 saw the release of Journey's final album with Steve Perry and the first album with the classic line-up since 1983. Trial By Fire is a great comeback album for the band that spawned a number of hits on adult contemporary radio. While some people will write this album off, I think it's on of Journey's greatest accomplishments and it completely revitalized their career. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, the success of this album and the band's unwillingness to wait for Perry to have surgery before going on tour would lead to his departure from the band. At least he went out on a high note. And the rest of the band should not be blamed for Perry's departure - it's understandable that they wanted to capitalize on the success of their reunion before the window had closed. Still, he's fucking Steve Perry.
"Baby, I'm Leaving You" is one of the more unique songs in Journey history. Starting with a Perry vocal solo into some cheesy drums, this song is full of reggae-style guitar and Mario sound bytes. This is the last song we will ever hear from Journey with Steve Perry and it blew me away the first time I ever heard it. I remember I was living in Alaska and I was shoveling snow after a 6' drop over the course of a day or two. I was trying to dig Donny Hoye's Toyota Camry out from under the snow and I was listening to my ipod, sweating balls in my super warm Alaska coat. As I'm shoveling with my ipod naturally set to "shuffle," Steve Perry's angelic tenor hit and blew me away. Since then I've been a huge fan of the song and have some sort of strange connection with it.
Also, while I love the other guys in Journey, I want to take this one moment to say "fuck you" to the members who thought bringing in Steve Perry was a bad idea. Even on his way out this man was kicking ass.
37. "Little Girl" - B-Side. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Gregg Rolie
"Little Girl" was the b-side to "Open Arms," but it was originally featured on a soundtrack called Dream After Dream for a Japanese film of the same title. (Awesome note - there's an instrumental song called "The Rape" on this album. What the fuck happens in this movie that the last two songs on the soundtrack are titled "The Rape" and "Little Girl?") Anyway, by the time this song was released Aynsley Dunbar had left the group (more on that later) and Steve Smith had come in as the new drummer. This song really doesn't sound much like a Journey song outside of the trademark Perry voice, but it's really one of the more underrated songs in their catalogue. While Perry sounds fantastic, Neal Schon steals the show here and takes this song to a new level. The song does a nice job of starting slowly, building to a crescendo, and coming back down. This is a great Journey song that most Journey fans probably haven't heard, so do yourself a favor and give it a listen.
36. "After the Fall" - Frontiers. Written by: Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
1983's Frontiers is an album of mixed feelings for me. While the album is definitely strong and has some of my favorite Journey songs ever, the album could have been so much better. While the album put more emphasis on keyboards and featured Jonathan Cain as a much more prominent member both in playing and writing, the decision to leave off two great songs in favor of two terrible tracks boggles my mind. "Ask the Lonely" is on this list in a very nice position and we've already gone over "Only the Young." I can guarantee you that you won't see "Back Talk" or "Troubled Child," the two complete and utter pieces of shit that replaced those songs on the album, anywhere near this list. This is worse than Fleetwood Mac's decision to preempt "Silver Springs" with "I Don't Wanna Know" because the latter was still a great song. Fuck whoever made this decision (reportedly Michael Dilbeck but probably Neal Schon deflecting blame. Yes, that was an accusation with absolutely no basis).
I was actually thinking about how much I love this song today while I was at work. This is one of the Journey songs that I love for both the music and the words. While a lot of Journey songs don't say anything prolific or inspiring, and this song doesn't exactly go that far, "After the Fall" speaks words to which most of us can relate. A broken relationship, regrets, and heartache are feelings we've all had. I really love the line "What's left after you fall? / Not much, no." Simple, but true. An interesting note about this song: Randy Jackson of American Idol fame actually played bass on this track. No shit.
35. "If He Should Break Your Heart" - Trial by Fire. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
This is a song I actually had never heard until I sat down to start this project. In case I haven't mentioned it, the way I do this is simple: I sit down and start listening to every album by whichever band/artist I'm reviewing in chronological order. It's not easy; some albums are great and some are a fucking chore. I had already listened to nine albums by the time I got to Trial by Fire, but it was honestly a breath of fresh air after some of the 80's Journey. The band seemed completely rejuvenated, and that's no more evident than on this track. As soon as "When You Love a Woman," the big hit from the album, finished I was prepared for a bit of a letdown. To my surprise, the following song blew me away. While the beginning and initial verse are don't necessarily grab you, once the chorus hit I was hooked. We've all held on to someone in our past, most often for worse rather than better, and this song hits the nail on the head concerning such feelings. I really love this song, and it proves that with any band you can find great music and songs that speak to you outside of the mainstream hits. These "deep tracks" or "album cuts" are what truly define bands and careers.
34. "Spaceman" - Next. Written by: Gregg Rolie, Aynsley Dunbar
This is a strange song, and another one that I came to love in Alaska. I did a lot of weird shit when I was living up there, including dancing alone to Footloose more times than I care to admit, and this song kind of spoke to me as I sat on the floor in my crummy apartment in Valdez. It was easy to feel kind of weird and disconnected to other people during that time, though I felt very connected to myself in some strange way I haven't since I came home. This song, in a strange way, sums that up for me. For that, I love this song (it's also a kickass song in its own right).
33. "Do You Recall" - Evolution. Written by: Gregg Rolie, Steve Perry
"Do You Recall" is both rocking and danceable, a common trait of Journey songs. A story of love gone wrong, this song is just extremely catchy and features both a stellar guitar solo and some ridiculous notes by Steve Perry. In fact, this song even has one of those awesome moments where the singer's vocals fade into a guitar solo. That's how freaking awesome this song is. This is just another reason why Evolution is the unquestioned champion of Journey albums.
32. "Dixie Highway" - Captured. Written by: The entire band?
Just a quick note on Captured: the album was Journey's first live release and was recorded on the Departure Tour. It's a fantastic live album that gave us two new songs, the live "Dixie Highway" and the studio "The Party's Over (Hopelessly in Love)." One a more interesting note, the album was dedicated to recently deceased AC/DC frontman Bon Scott, "a friend from the highway." That's both weird and stellar. I still remember when I bought this album on vinyl when I was a freshman in high school, opened up the four-LP set and saw the dedication. I just remember thinking "what the fuck?" and throwing the album on.
"Dixie Highway" is a song written about a "highway that runs from Detroit all the way down to Florida." This song is smoking and showcases the musical chops of early Journey. Though the band didn't always show it off, every once in while they wrote a song like this just to prove they could. It's like Larry Bird dunking - he does it every once in a while just to keep you on your toes and remind us he's capable of so many great things.
31. "When You're Alone (It Ain't Easy)" - Evolution. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry
I don't know why I love this song so much; the lyrics are nothing special and the music isn't overly complicated. Perhaps it's the simplicity of the song and the lyric that keeps this song in my head. I've been a huge fan of this song since I was in high school and I can relate to the main lyric - being alone isn't easy. That being said, sometimes you've got to be on your way. I started my Journey quest before I left my girlfriend, and this song definitely spoke to me in ways I hadn't heard it in the past. Of course, for every song like this I had to listen to something like thirty billion "Open Arms" and "Faithfully[s]." Somehow I still got this one right.
30. "Lovin' You Is Easy" - Evolution. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Gregg Errico
First thing first: I have no idea who the fuck Greg Errico is and I don't care to research it. Nevermind - he's a member of the R&R Hall of Fame and played with Sly & The Family Stone. He also toured with Bowie on the Diamond Dogs tour. Sorry I wrote you off, dude. Anyway, "Lovin' You Is Easy" is another phenomenal track of Evolution. The music is rocking, Perry sounds great asking some girl to "keep [his] botor humming," and the background vocals are spot on. This song also has a nice little piano breakdown in which Rolie reminds you your his bitch before vocal harmonies kick back in and remind you you're rocking entirely too hard to a Journey song. Truth be told, that's probably one of the better feelings in life.
29. "Message of Love" - Trial by Fire. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain, John Bettis
Just to get it out of the way, John Bettis is a lyricist who has written a number of hit songs for a number of artists, most notably The Carpenters. I love The Carpenters. This song is the opening track on Journey's comeback album, Trial by Fire, and it is a fantastic song that really has its own sound amongst Journey songs. The song begins with a little guitar lick and then hits you with a combination of keyboards and unintelligible vocals before going full-tilt into rock-and-roll mode. There is an intensity in this song, certainly in the music but more importantly in the lyric/vocal delivery, that is uncharacteristic of the band. This song delivers a message alright - Journey is back and running on all cylinders. Of course, Steve Perry was about to break a hip, so maybe I misinterpreted that message.
28. "Where Were You" - Departure. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry
"Where Were You" is one of Journey's best rock and roll songs. Schon's guitar is relentless, Rolie's keyboards are on fire and Steve Perry own this song vocally. This is a prime example of Journey rocking, something many people refuse to acknowledge the band does quite well. The highlight of the song is Perry's line "I want to know what the hell's going on" as he belts out a spiteful rant on a woman who's been running around. I just imagine Steve Perry coming down on some woman while singing and shaking his head in a disapproving manner. Here's proof Journey can rock:
27. "Feeling That Way" - Infinity. Written by: Gregg Rolie, Aynsley Dunbar, Steve Perry
26. "Anytime" - Infinity. Written by: Gregg Rolie, Ross Valory, Neal Schon, Robert Fleischman, Roger Silver
These two songs will forever be linked in my eyes, even though they were written separately and at different points in the group's career. These songs once again combine Rolie and Perry vocals to create something special. While I prefer "Anytime" to "Feeling That Way," both songs are strong and show off the strength of Journey at this point in their careers. It's also interesting to note that Roger Silver co-wrote "Anytime" as well as Robert Fleischman. Silver had worked with the guys in Santana as well, and of course Fleischman was the band's frontman when the song was written. Here are a couple of videos - the first is the band playing both songs and the second is a crazy old live version with Fleischman posted on his own youtube account:
25."City of the Angels" - Evolution. Written by: Gregg Rolie, Neal Schon, Steve Perry
Another classic track from Evolution, "City of the Angels" is often heard riding the coattails of the more popular "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'." The song begins with some classic Journey harmonizing and then kicks into full force with the full band joining in and a nice solo from Schon. You have to be fucking crazy not to love this song, presumably an ode to Los Angeles much like "Lights" was to San Francisco. I really love the line "I've got this feeling that things will work out." That's pretty much my philosophy on life.
24. "Suzanne" - Raised on Radio. Written by: Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
Raised on Radio, released in 1986, would be the last Journey album before ten-year hiatus from recording. Following the success of their last two albums as well as Perry's solo career, the band made some changes for this album. Original bassist and longtime drummer, Ross Valory and Steve Smith, were discarded in favor of studio musicians such as Randy Jackson and Larrie Londin. This is a great journey record, and one that I favor over Frontiers, but it did not fare as well as Journey's previous albums. Tensions over musical and creative direction led to the hiatus after the release of the album, and a lot of fingers have been pointed at Steve Perry.
"Suzanne" is a fantastic song with a great beat, rocking bass line and enchanting keyboards. While the song doesn't stray far from the successful Journey formula, it's haunting verse and soaring chorus raise this song above many other similar tracks. I had almost forgotten about this song until I looked at the track listing for the album as I was putting it on, which immediately excited me. This song screams Perry, and he did a brilliant job with it.
23. "Just The Same Way" - Evolution. Written by: Neal Schon, Gregg Rolie, Ross Valory
Another classic track from Journey's best album, "Just The Same Way" is one hell of a rocker. Written by the core of the band for the early Journey era, the song takes Perry's talent and interjects it, much in the vein of earlier tunes like "Feeling That Way" and "Anytime." Rolie's vocals are particularly strong on this track and the song is even better on the live album, Captured. I also really love Schon's playing on this song.
22. "All The Way" - Arrival. Written by: Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, Michael Rhodes, Steve Augeri
"All the Way," a hit for Journey on the adult contemporary charts, is one of the band's strongest ballads. Augeri's pipes fit in very well with the band here and it's almost like they're not missing Steve Perry here. Cain's piano is beautiful as always and Schon plays the perfect notes every time he strums his guitar. This sounds like a classic Journey track even though it's missing perhaps Journey's largest presence. It may not be "Faithfully," but the band takes that same formula and turns it into another golden moment.
21. "Sweet and Simple" - Evolution. Written by: Steve Perry.
This solo Perry composition is truly a masterpiece. While it isn't terribly high on this list, I cannot stress enough how great this song is. Apparently Perry penned this tune while observing Lake Tahoe, though I cannot substantiate that claim. This song is not overly complicated; in fact, its beauty lies in its simplicity. Perry croons over a relaxingly soft groove before the song begins to pick up after a nice Schon solo. Perry hits one of the most ridiculous notes I've ever heard a singer hit as the band launches into a grand finale including harmonized vocals, a thicker musical feel, another Schon solo and some vocal improvisation. This is, for my money, the standout track of Journey's Evolution album.
20. "Higher Place" - Arrival. Written by: Neal Schon, Jack Blades
I just want to throw a quick shout-out to Jack Blades for his contribution to this song. You might recognize Blades from stints in Night Ranger, Damn Yankees, or Shaw-Blades. The man is a great musician with true rock and roll sense. He and Schon came together here to create a fantastic rock song that opened Journey's post-Perry era. I can't think of a better way to usher in a new singer and sound than this song. "Higher Place" sound like classic Journey, yet at the same time it's different enough to set itself apart from Perry's sound with the band. Augeri's vocals are excellent and the band plays with a renewed vigor as they set out to prove they aren't a one-trick pony. Unfortunately, the next few albums would prove that Steve Perry was more necessary than the band thought. On a bright note, Steve Augeri is basically Steve Perry-lite. He looks like a broke-ass Steve Perry with a perm and he apparently hates wearing shoes:
19. "Lights" - Infinity. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry
For many people, "Lights" is the song that defines Journey. The song, an ode to the band's musical hometown, was the first collaboration between Perry and Schon, a writing relationship that would spawn a number of rock and roll hits. This is the song that opened the Infinity album and introduced the new Journey to the world. Interestingly enough, the song's lyric was originally dedicated to L.A. Once Perry joined Journey and relocated to San Francisco the line "and the sun shines on L.A." was switched to "...the bay." A new lyric in a new town helped Perry become a superstar, but this song was never a big hit upon release. It failed to chart higher than #68.
18. "Mother, Father" - Escape. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain, Matt Schon
"Mother, Father" is the kind of song that made me want to start doing these lists. While never a single, this song is a career-defining track from Journey's best-selling album. People who have an idea of what Journey should sound like would never think of anything like "Mothher, Father." This dark, brooding tale of a family in disarray is felt in both the music and lyrics. Perry's delivery on top of Schon's guitar is very powerful and the song emotes underlying tension. It should also be noted that Journey has always been able to pull off any song live, and this is just another example:
17. "Escape" -Escape. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
This is another fantastic album track that most Journey fans ought to be familiar with. This is a rocking tale of a young man breaking away and living the life he wants to, "Escape" is one of Journey's strongest writing efforts. While I love the edge behind the intro and first verse, I think the song really peaks at the beginning of the second verse. Steve's opening line in that verse takes the song into another stratosphere and makes "Escape" the classic we all love.
16. "Of A Lifetime" - Journey. Written by: Neal Schon, Gregg Rolie, George Tickner
Journey's eponymous debut album is an eclectic collection of progressive rock and jazz-fusion. The band's original intentions after founding members Schon and Rolie split from Santana were to work as a backing band. Those aspirations were quickly changed and, along with Ross Valory, Aynsley Dunbar, and guitarist George Tickner, Schon and Rolie cut their first album as Journey. The album wasn't particularly successful and Tickner left after the album. While the album isn't Journey's finest, it's well worth checking out for any serious fans of music. Most Journey fans will find it hard to believe that this is even the same band as the Perry-led troupe.
"Of a Lifetime" is a fucking masterpiece of music. There's still a part of myself that hates me for not putting this song in the top ten, and I know Thomas Gill would argue that it should be number one. This song contains some of the greatest musical work the band has ever put together. I am scared to even explore the possibility of what this song might have become with the tenacious Perry/Rolie duo. If you love music, listen to this song. You don't even have to download the file, just watch this - it will change your life:
15: "Send Her My Love" - Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
I am not going to lie: this song brings back insane memories of Final Fantasy VIII. I used to listen to music while I played video games a kid. As a result of this, I now relate things like hearing journey to playing classic games like Final Fantasy. I did the same with Fleetwood Mac and Bomberman as well as Paul Simon (solo) and Breath of Fire. For some reason I am unable to separate these experiences these days, and I honestly think that's a blessing. Now, when I hear songs such as this, I don't just flash back to some point in time, but rather a specific sequence in a game or a time in my life when I sat on my dad's couch playing games I loved. The weird thing is this: there are only two Journey songs that have this effect on me: "Send Her My Love" and "Girl Can't Help It." Somehow, even though I listened to the entirety of Journey's greatest hits whilst playing, these are the only two songs that completely fuck me up with nostalgia when I hear them. For that alone, this song is in the top fifteen. Thankfully, this song has so much more.
14. "Who's Crying Now" - Escape. Written by: Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
This song has one of the greatest bass lines of all time, and the fucking keyboards ain't too far behind. Those two elements are the soul of this song. This song tears at my heartstrings, and the amazing melody fucking kills me. This song breaks my heart and that is honestly why I love it.
13. "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" - Evolution. Written by: Steve Perry
In the words of Bernard Anderson, Steve Perry "brought the soul" to Journey. For the man who was convinced he needed to begin a musical career when he heard "Cupid" by Sam Cooke, Steve Perry cemented his own legacy with the Evolution album, and "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" was a huge part of that legacy. Steve Perry brought soul and blues to a band already versed in the blues, and he somehow showed them what they had been missing. Perhaps the most impressive sole composition of the fifty, this song will forever live as one of the greatest of all time.
12. "Be Good to Yourself" - Raised on Radio. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
This song is just a fucking fantastic song. I am going to warn all of you now that I really have nothing more to say about these songs other than praise them for how wonderful and imaginative they truly are. This a song that is all about treating yourself right, even when others don't. I think that's a great message for our generation. We all grew up with dicks, cunts, pricks, bitches, and shitbags that gave us shit for no reason. Hell, most of us gave people lower than us on the social ladder a fair amount of shit - Lord knows I did. The thing is, you've got to believe in yourself to make it, and Journey understands that. Fortunately, they were able to pass that message along with a kickass fucking chorus.
11. "I'll Be Alright Without You" - Raised on Radio. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
This song is one of the penultimate journey songs. I cannot say enough great things about this song. If I were in any way subjective about this list this song would be number one. Probably my favorite Journey song, "I'll Be Alright Without You" speaks to all of us who have lost a love. My favorite part of the song is actually the fantastic backing vocals present in verse two. With this song, journey cemented a place in my heart for existence. Here's a great video (note Randy Jackson kicking ass):
10. "The Party's Over (Hopelessly In Love With You)" - Captured. Written by: Steve Perry
Another Perry solo composition, this track was the lone studio recording on the band's first live album. The song was recorded by the band in between Gregg Rolie and Jonathan Cain so manning the keyboards was Stevie Roseman, a local musician. While this song is often overlooked, it is easily one of Journey's greatest works. The opening guitar solo is fantastic, the riff itself is great, and the drumming is superb. Beyond that, Perry's voice just takes over and brings the song to that next level. For those who have never heard this song, I hope you can enjoy it as much as I do.
09. "Wheel in the Sky" - Infinity. Written by: Neal Schon, Robert Fleischman, Diane Valory
"Wheel in the Sky" actually dates back to the Fleischman days between Next and Infinty. While it actually pains me to admit that Perry had nothing to do with this awesome rocker, after hearing Fleischman sing "Anytime" I'm actually glad that I can't find any live footage of the original version. Fleisschman-bashing aside, this song is just catchy, has an excellent lyric, and contains one of Neal Schon's best guitar solos. The solo itself isn't the most impressive guitar work you'll ever hear, but it fits the song perfectly and leads right into a final, powerful string of choruses. I really love the opening line to this song: "Winter is here again, oh Lord / haven't been home in a year or more..." As a huge fan of winter and someone who's been away from his loved ones for long periods of time, I know that feeling all too well.
08. "Any Way You Want It" - Departure. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry
We all know this song, and for the most part we all love it (minus those poor souls unfortunate to have seen Salsa Snack - for those who aren't familiar, don't google). This song is a straight forward rock and roll song with a groovy chorus, burning solo, and what sounds like occasional fire extinguisher drumming. The words are concise which lead to very powerful verses where the music actually outshines the lyric. Add in some killer harmonies and Steve Perry and you've got one of the best rock songs out there. An interesting note: the song's style was partially influenced by Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy. This song also had a pretty sweet video:
07. "Open Arms" -Escape. Written by: Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
Jonathan Cain showed his worth right off the bat with Journey by teaming up with Steve Perry to write the mega hit "Open Arms." While he had written the music while still with The Babys, my main man John Waite thought the song was too sentimental and turned it down. After joining Journey, he and Perry worked the song out much to the dismay of the other band members, all of whom were against recording the ballad. Schon, the song's biggest critic, changed his mind after playing the song live and seeing the enormous crowd reaction, which pissed Perry off to the point that he "wanted to kill [Schon]." The song would stay at number 2 on the charts for six weeks and has become a Journey classic.
06. "Girl Can't Help It" - Raised on Radio. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
"Girl Can't Help It," the opening track from 1986's Raised on Radio, is a real gem of a song. The keyboards on this song really set the tone and eventually Neal Schon is given a bit of room to shine. Perry's vocals are once again top notch and help to push the song into the Journey elite. The verses are clever, the chorus is big and powerful, and the song just has that Journey feel to it. This song has perhaps the greatest harmony vocals of any Journey song, and that is really saying something. This is also one of my favorite times in Journey history because it combined more ridiculous hair, Randy Jackson and tailcoats than would ever seem possible. Proof:
On a completely serious note, Randy Jackson is hilarious in this video and I can't think of a better style from a frontman than Perry's tailcoat/jeans/sneaker combo. Fucking glamorous.
05. "Faithfully" -Frontiers. Written by: Jonathan Cain
Jonathan Cain would prove the ultimate Journey balladeer by composing "Faithfully" for the band's 1983 effort, Frontiers. The song about a music man and his fair woman stole the hearts of men and women alike and has become one of the band's most endearing songs. While I could tell you numerous reasons I love this song, the biggest selling point is Steve Perry's short-lived mustache:
In all seriousness, this is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard and that is one hell of a music video, which certainly has helped keep the song fresh in my mind over many years. An interesting note: The song's video probably has such an epic feel to it because it was recorded by the NFL Films crew. Those guys know how to do epic pretty damn well.
04. "Ask the Lonely" - Soundtrack. Written by: Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
Another Cain/Perry collaboration from the 80s hits the top ten and it's easily one of their greatest. "Ask the Lonely" was omitted from the band's Frontiers album but was featured in the Travolta movie Two of a Kind. This song flat-out rocks and it rocks damn hard. The intro is epic with those keyboards, the verse is extremely intense and the chorus is simply rocking. One thing that I truly love about this song is the change of chorus and the easily-relatable lyrics. We start with the "hang on..." parts and the next thing you know the band are dropping out their instruments and reminding you that "when you're feeling love's unfair / you just ask the lonely..." The second chorus takes the song even higher and Perry's vocal improv at the end is an excellent addition. I have a feeling a lot of people won't agree with this song's position, but I couldn't help it - I love this damn song.
03. "When You Love a Woman" - Trial By Fire. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
This was the track that single-handedly brought Journey back from the dead in 1996. With a heartwarming intro, Jonathan Cain sets the stage for my favorite Journey power ballad of all time. Perry's voice takes over the song and you can feel the emotion in his voice. The beautiful music combined with a genuinely wonderful lyric make this song stand out even amongst Journey's greatest tracks, and after ten years it was great to see that the band still had it and Perry's voice was a golden as ever. This song also produced another great music video, this one featuring an awesome Steve Perry air violin shot into a Schon solo. Wicked. Interesting note: The music video for this song was filmed at Skywalker Ranch.
02. "Don't Stop Believing" - Escape. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
This is just one of those iconic songs that stretches across genres and generations to find a place in everyone's heart. We all know the story of the small-town girl and small-town boy and we're all the better off for it. I could talk about this song and how it's affected me over the years, but I think that in this case the song and its amazing popularity speaks for itself. While the song is a pop culture staple, my favorite use of the song was the Sopranos finale. Apparently, Perry was hesitant to let the song be used for the final scene and only allowed the show to use it after David Chase assured him it would not be the soundtrack to Tony Soprano's demise. That's pretty fucking cool. This song also helped the White Sox win a World Series a few years back, which is also quite impressive (also, lolGiants):
01. "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" - Frontiers. Written by: Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain
"Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" will always be the greatest of all Journey songs as far as I am concerned. This song has their greatest intro, greatest chorus, and greatest invisible instrument playing. I am not going to go into too much detail here - while "Don't Stop Believing" may be the band's iconic anthem, this is the song that all true Journey fans know to be head-and-shoulders above the rest. The song was inspired by the band's Motown roots and was written mostly by Cain and Perry as they sat down with a guitar and bass, respectively, and wrote the melody in one night and the lyrics the next day. Schon and Smith added a lot to the song to round it out not only as Journey's most rocking song, but also their best. I also want to comment on the fact that some asshole placed this music video at number 13 on MTV's 25 Worst Music Videos list. Whatever jackass added this video to the list should be fired. Steve Perry in a pink and black cutoff, invisible instruments, an abandoned Home Depot, a hot woman, serious-business fist pounds and slow motion make this easily the best music video ever:
July was one seriously fucked up month in WWF history, and I’m talking fucked up in a good way. The champion loses his mind, random face turns are everywhere, rappers invade, a third Doink appears, America kicks ass and the burger king makes fun of old people. While the actual in-ring action was nowhere near as good as June, the out-of-ring escapades more than make up for it this month.
Perhaps the greatest moment in wrestling history occurred on July 4, 1993. Arriving by helicopter to the deck of the USS Intrepid, Lex Luger, apparently no longer narcissistic and now super patriotic, body slammed the hell out of Yokozuna for America. While Lex Luger respects Japanese people, what with their “technology and business acumen,” he hates fat Samoans pretending to be Japanese people almost as much as he loves America. I remember thinking this whole thing was great when I was a kid, but upon a second viewing it is terrible. Shout out to drunk Aaron Neville or whoever the hell that was singing the national anthem. It was hilariously bad.
This whole incident sparked a number of crazy developments in the WWF. Yokozuna came unglued and started destroying people and becoming much more violent, something I really enjoyed. Luger made the jump from helicopter to boat to bus when he boarded the “Lex Express” and started campaigning for a title match all over the US while wearing stars-and-stripes exercise pants. Here’s an example of this crazy storyline and how much Lex loves America:
This brings me to another point – random face turns. What the hell is going on in the WWF? Razor Ramon suddenly starts defending the 1-2-3 Kid after he stole his ten thousand bucks and Lex Luger is suddenly a humble patriot. What the fuck happened? I don’t know how any of this happened and it baffled me the entire month. I suppose I could do a little more research, but fuck that – this is seriously bullshit.
There was only one real big debut this month – MOM (Men on a Mission). They were literally called MOM like ten times on the air, which simply is not cool. This group is notable for two things: having the crowd chant “Whoomp – there it is” and Mabel, a man who will go on to win a King of the Ring, wear pajamas, get brainwashed by Undertaker and hang out with a naked Mideon. For now he just wears really bright clothing, waves his hands in the air like he doesn’t have a care, and kicks asses.
Awards:
Superstar of the Month: Yokozuna. Combined with his performance on the USS Intrepid, Yoko also had a nice showing while destroying Crush. The WWF put a lot of time into making Yokozuna look unstoppable and unleashed, and he stands out this month as even more fearful as we’ve been led to believe.
Match of the Month: Shawn Michaels (c) v. Marty Jannetty. The 7/19 RAW opened with an absolute barnburner for the Intercontinental Title. I was on the edge of my seat the whole match, especially when Marty got the premature three count (Michaels had foot on ropes). In the end, Michaels once again proved why Marty Jannetty will forever be known as the “Marty Jannetty” of The Rockers. Nice to see Diesel beat up Marty, too.
Promo of the Month: Jerry Lawler. Lawler was growing tired of the “burger king” shit so he decided to harass Bret Hart’s parents during a match between Hart and Bam Bam Bigelow. Lawler made Stu Hart look like a dumbass and Bret lost the match when he was counted out chasing Lawler. I’d say Lawler wins.
Jobber of the Month: Aaron Ferguson. While I wanted to put the Brooklyn Brawler in this spot, I have to go with Ferguson. In a match against The Headshrinkers, Ferguson got mutilated by a back body drop. I don’t think he moved the rest of the match, which leads to our next award….
Quote of the Month: “He’s going to spend a weekend at Bernie’s.” – Bobby Heenan on Aaron Ferguson’s brutal bump
Greatest American Ever: Lex Luger. This guy seriously loves America. Close second goes to Jim Duggan.
Reflections: While it may have been light on great matches, July was great in terms of storyline progression and building hype for the upcoming Summerslam in August. Though I hate random heel/face changes, Lex Luger’s was handled so ridiculously brilliant that I am willing to throw logic out the window and simply embrace the entire situation. USA! USA!
June was another great month in the WWF, which is looking to shine throughout the summer of 1993. With the inaugural King of the Ring and an excellent line-up of RAWs, this month was filled with action and excitement. The WWF also plants the seeds to a number of feuds this month, most of which will culminate at Summerslam in August.
June saw a couple of debuts in the WWF (a ton of people have debuted already this year, it seems like), the most important being Diesel (Kevin Nash) Nash was a huge player in the Monday Night Wars as a successful champion in both WWF and WCW. He was brought in originally as Shawn Michaels’ “insurance policy” and was eventually given the name Diesel. It won’t be long until Nash is making his mark, and I cannot wait until he does. We also got Bastion Booger this month who was Friar Ferguson a few months back. He’s a pretty nasty dude whose name and gimmick just fit for some reason. I think Vinnie Mac really gets off on saying his name.
A really random note about this month – title changes are happening everywhere but television. Shawn Michaels shows up on RAW at the beginning of the month and is holding the IC title belt out of nowhere after losing it to Marty Jannetty a few weeks earlier. Then the Steiner Brothers show up as the tag team champs, apparently defeating Money, Inc. at some point. I don’t when these title changes are occurring, and I’m sure they were explained, but it still seems weird to have this happening outside of RAW or PPV. At the same time, there’s no way I’m going through the hell of finding and watching every episode of WWF Mania and other random shows.
Here's some awesome hype vid shown for King of the Ring in June:
Awards:
Superstar of the Month: Bret Hart. While I was tempted to award Doink for his series of matches with Marty Jannetty, Hart had three matches in one night that were just as good, if not better, at the King of the Ring tournament. Hart didn’t really do much the rest of the month, but it doesn’t matter – that was a hell of a performance and he sold Lawler’s beating very well. Bret Hart is the man.
Match of the Month (PPV not included): Marty Jannetty v. Doink. Doink once again blows my mind with his amazing wrestling ability while Marty Jannetty has one of his strongest performances of the year. I’m not a huge Jannetty fan, but I really must admit that he is capable of putting on great matches any time he walks out to that ring. This particular match was a best two-out-of-three falls match which it seemed like Doink had won after interference from Doink #2. Unfortunately the refs would reverse the decision and Doink came out on the losing end with only one fall to his credit. This match was long, exciting, and filled with great spots – check it out if you have the chance.
Promo of the Month: Razor Ramon. This guy is always great on the stick, but after losing to the 1-2-3 Kid a few weeks back, Ramon has been cutting promos like crazy offering the kid first $2,500, then $5,000, then $7,500 and finally $10,000 to get back in the ring with him. Ultimately the Kid would swindle Razor out of his cash. Waltman was seriously over at this point.
Random Sighting: Tito Santana. Now going by the name “El Matador” and wearing entirely too much pink, Tito Santana is a glorified jobber. It’s been a while since we’ve seen the flying jalapeno; hopefully this time he won’t stay off my primetime television for so long.
Jobber of the Month: Barry Horowitz. Congratulations, Barry – you earned this for putting over the Smoking Gunns. Give yourself a pat on the back, buddy.
Million Dollar Moment of the Month: While cutting a random promo on Razor Ramon, IRS takes over from DiBiase and calls Hall “Razor Jabrone.” I laughed.
Botch of the Month: In the 1-2-3 Kid’s match with “The Bad Guy,” Waltman took a nasty spill from the top rope and landed face first on the concrete. I thought it was hilarious.
Ugliest Wrestler: Kamala. This guy looks like my boy Eli Porter from Iron Mic (pics for reference). Honorable mention to Bastion Booger. Congratulations, Kamala - you did it, man.
Quote of the Month: “That just shows me why they sold Manhattan for $24.” – Bobby Heenan on Native Americans
Reflections: With a kickass PPV and some solid television, June kept the momentum from May rolling and picked up some steam for the summer. I’m excited for July and the body slam challenge on the USS Intrepid and I can’t wait to see the complete change in Lex Luger’s character.
