Released: May 24, 2011
Genre: Rock
Length: 66:20
Label: Nomota LLC (United States)
Producer: Kevin Shirley
Tracklist:
City of Hope
Edge of the Moment
Chain of Love
Tantra (My Eyes Can See)
Anything is Possible
Resonate
She's a Mystery
Human Feel
Ritual
To Whom it May Concern
Someone
Venus
Eclipse is the second Journey album with Fillipino lead singer Arnel Pineda, who proved to the world in 2008's Revelation that he's a suitable replacement for one of Classic Rock's greatest vocalists: Steve Perry. While Revelation took us back to the Journey sound that dominated radios in the '80's, Eclipse is a completely different story. Pineda has a much bigger hand in collaboration than he did in 2008, and the other band members step back and focus on the overall sound of the album, instead of separate instrumental pieces. Eclipse takes all the familiar elements from the days of Steve Perry and mashes them with the elements from the early 1970's, when Gregg Rolie was lead singer and Neal Schon led the band with his progressive jazz-fusion rock records. Schon is definitely the main show on Eclipse, with loud, complicated but still catchy guitar riffs that blow the listener out of the water.
Eclipse opens with a bombardingly huge guitar solo that gives way to Arnel Pineda's vocals for "City of Hope." Pineda doesn't try nearly as hard to mimic Steve Perry in Eclipse, instead adopting some of his own vocal style that almost sounds like Dennis DeYoung. "Edge of the Moment" starts with a dark, cutting guitar solo and continues throughout the song. Schon and Pineda have the front of the stage for these first two songs while the other members stick to the back. "Chain of Love" opens with a piano melody from Jonathan Cain and some singing from Pineda that create a desperate mood before Schon cuts in with a grinding guitar melody. Cain and Pineda dominate the next song "Tantra (My Eyes Can See)," an almost cheesy ballad about God and spirituality. Schon takes center again for another motivational song, "Anything is Possible." "Resonate" sounds like a haunted house for the first forty seconds, until the dark guitar melody kicks in. After this point, Eclipse begins to fall back a little, with the mediocre "She's a Mystery" and the more pop-oriented "Ritual." "Human Feel" has a catchy drum rhythm that continues throughout the song, but at almost seven minutes it doesn't have enough melody and singing to keep it going. Eclipse closes with "To Whom it May Concern," a ballad about world peace, the very pop-oriented "Someone" (which would have fit in more on Revelation) and the guitar instrumental with the melody of "To Whom it May Concern" called "Venus," in which Neal Schon tries to destring his guitar with crazy solos and Deen Castranovo tries to beat through his drums.
The Good:
Unlike many of Journey's albums since Steve Perry left in the late '90's, where they tried to continue getting that old classic Journey sound, Eclipse abandons those efforts and mixes their older music back in the Gregg Rolie days with their later sounds of Steve Perry and Steve Augeri. Journey abandons all hope for airplay and popularity and goes for the music THEY want to do, which focuses a lot more on the overall sound of the band and music instead of having clearly distinguishable solo parts. Cain, Castranovo and Valory take a backseat while Pineda and Schon do most of the work, Schon in particular.
The Bad:
While the first half of the record was fantastic, the second half suffered a little from cheesy lyrics and very long guitar solos. Many fans will complain that the traditional sound of Journey is left in the dust, and that Schon seems to be the most important member here. While it is a guitar record, Pineda still has melodies to sing to, and Jonathan Cain adds some really nice background touches to the overall sound of the songs.
The Rating:
Four stars. After listening to this record often since I purchased it last December, I've grown very used to the music in it. Listeners should be warned beforehand that this isn't Journey's traditional sound, and that it takes at least five times listening to the entire album to get an honest opinion of it. Highly recommended for rock fans that especially like the guitar.
Top Songs:
City of Hope
Chain of Love
Resonate
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