Label: Columbia / Legacy Records (US), 82876 85895 2
Style: Arena Rock, Hard Rock, Soft Rock
Country: San Francisco, California, U.S.
Time: 58:30
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 438 Mb
Charts: US #2, CAN #10, GER #30, NOR #12, JPN #3, SWE #21, UK #6. Canada and Japan: Platinum; US: 6x Platinum.
Although not quite the commercial blockbuster of their previous album Escape, Journey‘s 1983 album Frontiers was a very close second commercially. The album reached #2 on the US charts, would garner four Top 40 singles and has been certified platinum six times over. The album also became the band’s most successful in the UK. The band was led by the unique and soulful vocals of front-man Steve Perry and the effect-heavy soaring guitars of Neil Schon, who had discovered how to fully crack the commercial scene with a sound which was once considered quite edgy.
Musically on Frontiers, the band made a concerted effort to move away from (albeit very slightly) the consistent, commercial formula which they had forged over their recent previous albums. However, they may have chosen the wrong direction in which to deviate from the pop/rock sound, primarily by making this album more synth-heavy than anything previously. Although he had emerged as the band’s chief songwriter, Jonathan Cain has a bit over the overall vibe with his keyboard work, and it caused some missed opportunities with the album’s sound. Further, bassist Ross Valory abandoned his unique, fret-less buzz which he had mastered on Escape for a more traditional rhythm sound. This would be Valory’s final album with Journey for over a decade, as he and drummer Steve Smith were replaced in 1985, only to return for the Journey mid-nineties reunion a decade later.
Left out of the final cut of the album was the future hit “Only the Young”, which eventually appeared on the soundtrack to the 1985 film Vision Quest and reached the Top Ten. This song is dominated by a consistent, almost-acoustic riff, a strong rhythm, guitar textures and vocal melodies along with with a striking message - “only the young can say they’re free to fly away...” - which shows just how talented Journey can be when all the elements are maximized.
(full version - classicrockreview.com/2013/06/1983-journey-frontiers/) June 14, 2013.
01. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) (05:23)
02. Send Her My Love (03:54)
03. Chain Reaction (04:20)
04. After The Fall (05:00)
05. Faithfully (04:26)
06. Edge Of The Blade (04:30)
07. Troubled Child (04:29)
08. Back Talk (03:16)
09. Frontiers (04:09)
10. Rubicon (04:18)
11. Only The Young (from the soundtrack of Vision Quest) (04:17)
12. Ask The Lonely' (from the soundtrack of Two of a Kind) (03:54)
13. Liberty (bonus track) (02:54)
14. Only Solutions (from the soundtrack of Tron) (03:32)
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