Journey
Look Into The Future

THE REVIEW

The second Journey album was released in 1976, and the band found themselves reduced to a quartet, having rid themselves of the superfluous rhythm guitarist George Tickner. Things are decidedly better compared to their self-titled debut album, although there's still no reason to get too excited. The band shakes off a certain amount of progressive residue, a genre for which they are not well-suited, particularly limiting that tendency to play compositions always at a slow tempo, à la Pink Floyd. They try to toughen up the sound as much as possible, although it's very melodic, by playing instruments harder and shouting more into the microphone.

The singer (and keyboardist) Gregg Rolie tries hard, attempting to make his style appealing and communicative... there is power, but the timbre, expressiveness, and range are just decent. When he was with Santana, such limitations mattered less, as that lineup was dedicated (at the time) to intense and psychedelic instrumental jam sessions, in a jubilation of percussion crossed by the true solo singing of Carlos’ instrument, notoriously among the most melodic guitarists of all time. With Journey, it’s different; when the group attempts to perform structured songs, very hard rock but with verses and choruses that are possibly accessible, Rolie’s limited talent as a frontman comes at a price.

While waiting for better times (which will indeed arrive with a bang), the first notable episode of the repertoire is recorded, the one that titles the work: much of the credit goes to the dominant composer and instrumentalist of the piece, then-twenty-year-old guitarist Neal Schon, who begins here to sharpen his skills and climb the rankings in the consideration of industry insiders. The curly Neal properly refines his touch on the instrument, elegantly embellishes the sound with choruses and reverbs, skillfully and dynamically arranges the accompaniment, increases the distortion and attack of the pick during the solos, largely liberating himself from the Santana sound that had characterized him till then. “Look Into The Future” is a guitar overflowing but lyrical and dense track, which alone earns the extra star that this work deserves compared to the debut.

The rest of the album doesn’t present any other highlights: a sort of hard fusion prevails, an over-amplified instrumental virtuosity, pretentious and stubborn in searching for, and not finding, true inspiration and effectiveness, with all four instrumentalists working hard, borrowing some elements from Kansas (the almost instrumental “Midnight Dreamer”) or Wishbone Ash (the introduction to two harmonized guitars of “She Makes Me”). They also attempt to play the card of a more straightforward, chart-friendly track with the opener “On A Saturday Nite,” structured on a pounding piano, but it lacks the necessary lightness, the savoir faire of those who can naturally create pop rock by deriving a catchy and unique hook from a phrase or a sequence of a few notes, a skill far more challenging than playing one hundred thousand notes in many different ways and rhythms, without much substance.