INFINITY

Completely shorn of the progressive and fusion elements that adorned their first three albums but featuring new, talismanic lead-singer Steve Perry, 'Infinity' would be the first of many gold-standard soft-rock records that would slowly turn Journey into one of the most popular American rock bands of all time. Backed by four of the five original members - Gregg Rolie(keyboards, vocals), Aynsley Dunbar(drums), Ross Valory(bass) and Neal Schon(guitar) - Steve Perry's new-fangled version of Journey were now focused solely on producing hit-singles and sell-out stadium tours, something they achieved with alarming precision. Their peak would arrived during the early-eighties, when albums such as the epoch-defining 'Escape' and the softer, mellower 'Raised On Radio' confirmed their position as the kings of AOR, though albums such as this 1978 effort would also play their part. Crammed with polished rockers, slick ballads and the occasional screeching guitar solo, this is a perfectly acceptable slice of commercial pop-rock that deliberately eschews the instrumental dexterity of the group's early albums. Enjoyable then, but one does yearn for something a bit meatier after several listens.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012