LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

As the second one goes, this album is a disappointment. Journey´s eponymous debut was well received, but didn´t sell enough copies to satisfy the recording company (who saw them as the "new Santana" and was expecting sales accordingly). So it is believed that was some pressure for the band to come up with a more commercial stuff for their next work. And so they did: the songs here are, most of the time, shorter and more radio friendly than the ones on their first.

Not that Look Into The Future is bad, no. In fact the band itself proved once more to be a tight and powerful unit (minus rhythm guitarist George Tickner who couldn´t handle the band´s already grueling touring schedule and was not replaced). But the songwriting here is definitely the weak point, with less inspired tunes and lyrics full of cliches. The style shifts to a more hard rock/blues approach, although some jazz fusion and prog elements still appear in small doses. Of course the performances are great, with Neil Schon and Gregg Rolie trading creative and tasteful solos and licks on guitar and keyboards respectively. Rolie also shows how he had grown as a singer, belting away on most of the tracks with confidence.

Still nothing can hide the fact that the songs are not really great. Only the title track escapes from the blandness of the repertoire: Look Into The Future (the song) is a fine, 8 minute long mini epic with lots of variations and fine build up that shows how good this band can be with the right material. The rest is not crap, but neither any is memorable and even the cover of the obscure Beatles song It´s All Too Much is not very successful. Compared to the promising first album it is clear that this CD is a step backwards. Fortunately it would be a move they´d correct in time. And this is not a good start for the newbie.

Rating: 2 stars. This one is surely for collectors/fans only.