The urge to return to an every-day-working-stiff theme has been almost unavoidable for a group that, in no small way, is best remembered today for “Don’t Stop Believin.'” Only on “Faith in the Heartland,” Journey’s Neal Schon, Steve Augeri and Jonathan Cain — the latter of whose arrival on keyboards at the turn of the 1980s sparked Journey’s launch into the Billboard stratosphere — get things utterly right.
Not that it was an easy sell. After all, every one in Journey plays their utterly familiar roles on this standout cut from Generations, released on August 29, 2005 — beginning with the young lovers who once again battle against all odds. Deen Castronovo’s rock-steady cadence provides a platform for the now-expectedly molten turn by Neal Schon. Cain copped to it, in a contemporary interview with Billboard. “There’s a real sense of harmony and melody on this album filled with heartfelt lyrics,” Cain says. “It has the ballads that people would expect from us and the rock ‘n’ roll that I think has the Journey signature sound to it.”
They even reunited with producer Kevin Elson, who’d earlier worked with Journey on Departure, Captured and Escape at the turn of the ’80s. Importantly, however, “Faith in the Heartland” never edges into tribute — or, worse still, parody. Credit goes most of all to Journey’s often-overlooked Steve Augeri, who strikes a visceral pose, singing every line as if his whole heart is it.
Unfortunately, Generations would stall out at No. 170, and Augeri — citing throat problems — would be gone after just two albums with Journey.
- Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Rock + Pop): Death Cab for Cutie, Joe Jackson, Toto + Others - January 18, 2016
- Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Blues, Jazz + R&B): Boz Scaggs, Gavin Harrison, Alabama Shakes - January 10, 2016
- Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Reissues + Live): John Oates, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Faces + others - January 7, 2016
