Journey
Infinity

THE REVIEW

Before starting to review the album, it's necessary to make some important disclaimers: this is not a band of losers and unknowns that only I know. Between the late '70s and the first half of the '80s, the Journey sold millions of records just in the USA and were among the American groups capable of completely filling arenas.

With that disclaimer made, I'll make another one, which is that not knowing Journey means not knowing a good part of American rock. Naturally, I must justify this statement, and I will do so immediately: Journey are the pioneers, the founders of AOR. This music genre is semi-unknown in Italy, partly due to a musical criticism that has always belittled and opposed this type of genre that in America sold millions of records throughout the '80s and dominated at least half of the American album charts.

What does this genre consist of? A very melodic rock that flirts with the charts, very energetic and often contaminated by metal and pop, with a base that is still hard rock. For those unfamiliar with the genre, I can mention a song that even the walls know, written by one of the most important AOR groups, that is, the Survivor, and the song is the soundtrack of Rocky, namely "Eye of the Tiger" which all of you know. Well, AOR is more or less like this: accessible songs with a classic verse-chorus structure, but very energetic, with anthemic choruses and great technical preparation of the musicians and instrumental sophistication.
Certainly, many lovers of musical intellectualism may wrinkle their noses, but what I enjoy most about music is especially the physical and emotional drive it gives, so these mental gymnastics over whether a group that sells millions of records and might use in some songs syrupy choruses that flirt with pop is garbage, I leave to pimply adolescents, who perhaps forget that in the '70s bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple or a Mike Oldfield capable of creating an instrumental suite longer than 40 minutes were selling millions of records.

Returning to the album, the members of Journey who composed "Infinity" are quite respectable, for example, the two guitarists Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon boast collaborations with Santana but also with Zappa, in short, far from inexperienced; indeed, the first 3 albums of Journey are based on jazz-rock with typically Santana-styled Latin openings. After these initial trials, their style changes completely, thanks also to the inclusion of Steve Perry, one of the greatest vocal talents in the history of rock. When I talk about the ignorance of Italian music criticism, I am also referring to the fact that in the various rankings of singers, a name like Perry does not appear, a genius of the voice! His performance on "Infinity" is legendary, truly moving. The genre they propose is still far from the AOR of which they will be the pioneers. What they propose here is a melodic, classy rock with turns towards hard rock. However, among the Journey albums I've listened to, this is the most melodic, the least energetic so to speak, yet listening to the initial "light" one cannot help but be enchanted by its beautiful melody, made even more magical by the voice of Steve Perry. Indeed, we can say that many of Journey's songs, if sung by any other singer, would not have the same effect and would lose much. Another incredible gem is "Wheel in the Sky": in this song, everything is perfect; the guitar creates fascinating patterns and Perry's voice reaches the stars. I recommend listening to the two songs I've mentioned, just to realize that when I talk about Steve Perry, I am not exaggerating.

The rest of the album is enjoyable, perhaps it’s not the best of Journey, but it's absolutely well done and exciting and contains perhaps one of Steve Perry's best performances. I can only recommend listening to it. Recommended especially for those who want to indulge in a generous dose of pure emotions, conveyed by a band that plays music, which let’s not forget is first and foremost melody!