Journey : Greatest Hits
 Journey's unimaginatively but efficiently titled Greatest Hits most certainly satisfies a casual fan of the arena rock superstars' most well-known hits. The music on this CD is very good music if you like Journey's pop music. However, this CD is more of a sampler even when you consider only Journey's pop music. Journey released a total of about 49 singles, 25 of which went into the top 100. 18 of those songs made it into the top 40. This CD has 16 songs, and the songs included were not all of the highest charting singles. Then there are progressive rock and jazz songs from Journey that are basically unrepresented on this CD. It would take at least three CD's to have a good cross section of the best of Journey's music. The 1978 album "Infinity" provides two songs for this collection. "Wheel in the Sky" reached #57 on U.S. charts. The beautiful song "Lights" is an awesome ballad that also seems like it underperformed, reaching #68 in the U.S. Journey released "Evolution" in the following year, and "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" vaulted the group into the top 20, reaching #16. This song mournfully laments a relationship gone bad. Journey released yet another album in the following year, "Departure," and three singles came from that album. Only "Any Way You Want It," which reached #23, is in this collection. This song has a catchy beat, but it sounds like a template for later 80's music.
From song to song, this collection makes a compelling case for Journey as not only an astoundingly successful artist but as a musically skilled and melodically gifted band of the highest order. The hooks are consistently compelling and supported exceptionally well by the powerhouse trio of Steve Perry's voice, Jonathan Cain's supple keyboard playing and Neal Schon's powerful guitar style.
Song List | 1. | Only the Young | | | 2. | Don't Stop Believin' | | | 3. | Wheel in the Sky | | | 4. | Faithfully | | | 5. | I'll Be Alright Without You | | | 6. | Any Way You Want It | | | 7. | Ask the Lonely | | | 8. | Who's Crying Now | | | 9. | Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) | | | 10. | Lights | | | 11. | Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' | | | 12. | Open Arms | | | 13. | Girl Can't Help It | | | 14. | Send Her My Love | | | 15. | Be Good to Yourself | |
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