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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
80's Rock That Didn't Stink Jan 20, 2010
This album to me is their best, they were close also with "Infinity" but on "Escape" it is one rock and ballad CD that came out in the early 80's that wasn't hair band stuff, but overall is pretty similar and much better if you listen close enough to it.
Nowadays perhaps they are considered a "guilty pleasure" due to perhaps their commercial appeal to teenage girls, women, and perhaps guys who were not really into metal, but were somewhere in between. Journey were I guess according to my sister somewhat attractive guys who made accessible songs, catchy songs with hooks and melody, who rocked enough to annoy your parents, but did those sappy ballads that made them swoon. After many years to me they appeal to a broader range than I remember, and if you think all those hair bands in the mid to late 80's sounded the same and were embarassingly cheesy, give Journey a chance to give an early glimpse of how it should have been done, and in '81 it sets the template in places for the rock and ballad Cd. A Band like UFO had this down, Scorpions also back before this even and all had their own sound. Journey added in a nice dose of melody that would also become the norm in hard rock. Perhaps they were a tad bit softer than your average 80's hard rocker, but listening to this now it's a fun CD to jam to, they don't have a single filler track here, and my fav songs are mostly non singles it seems, and lesser known songs.
Fav song of all time by the band is here in "Stone In Love" which is a classic journey song, hard rock, guitar solo, plenty of melody. Aanother fav in the title track "Escape", and it rocks plenty also with "Lay It Down", "Dead Or Alive", and "Keep On Runnin'", and I also love one of the 3 ballads in "Still They Ride". It has plenty of radio singles also with "Don't Stop Believin'", "Open Arms" (another ballad), and "Who's Crying Now" (ballad). Those 3 get the most attention, and if you like those perhaps you should check out the above mentioned songs also for Journey at their very best. Steve Perry could sing too, so it's not like todays commercial hard rock where they all sound like they were drummers forced to front the band, my apoligies to Dave Grohl...but isn't it true?
Plus the added Live in Houston tracks are a nice addition to the latest reissue. This is a must CD for not just a Journey fan, but a hard rock fan to me, a guilty pleasur, but a very good one in that and much better than anything put out by those late 80's hard rock clones. The Beatles had melody, the Beach Boys did too, but when you get to this point where it really begins to turn into a harder sound, to me the natural progression is with a band like Journey, even Boston perhaps with their brief run. I personally like Ratt, Dokken, Van Halen, Motley Crue, and Hanoi Rocks to name a few along with Journey, and eventually progressed into Jane's Addiction, Saigon Kick, Extreme, Kings X, it all comes back to this CD in my opinion, it's influential even if nobody out there wants to readily admit it.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
No Escape Required Dec 25, 2009
I think that this album and Frontiers are the two best works Journey ever produced with their most recognized members of the band. I would say original but then Steve Perry wasn't an original member. This album and Frontiers contain an amazing number of hits and to me the songs that were not hits just as easily deserve a listen. I believe that this album and Frontiers provide enough good music to both Journey and non-Journey fans as to be highly recommended.
The Great Escape !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nov 10, 2009
I love it! Brings back the memories from my youth ! The sound is fantastic and the live versions give it interest ! I rocked on for days to Who's Cryin now! A great album from a band that still sounds hot!
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
The Great Escape Jun 24, 2009
This album was the defined turning point for Journey. This album spawned off two tours of the album, a live album from the tour later released in 2006, and even their own video game on the Atari 2600.
This album got Journey a number one spot on the Billboard's Pop Albums and with 10 tracks on the album, 4 singles came from this album which were, "Who's Crying Now", "Still They Ride", "Open Arms", and the band's most recognizable song, "Don't Stop Believin'". All of them broke the Billboard's top 20 with 3 in the top 10, and 2 in the top 5. Several non-single tracks like Stone in Love, Mother Father, and Escape had their own popularity and most have found their way on Journey's compilation albums like Time3, Greatest Hits Live, and The Essential Journey. Even the other 3 "Dead or Alive", "Lay it Down", and "Keep on Runnin'" all have a special place in the heart of the album and the fans.
Escape as you can tell from several other reviews of mine including this one, is my favorite album because it has most of the Journey classics being "Don't Stop Believin'", "Stone in Love", "Who's Crying Now", "Still the Ride", "Escape", and my favorite rock ballad of all time "Open Arms". The Album also just never gets old for me as I've listened to it dozens of times.
The reissue features another classic hit from Time3, "La Raza Del Sol" which has a more Latin feel to it like Santana which is a rare occasion but definately worth a listen. Closing the reissue is the 3 big singles from Escape from the Live in Houston album which are "Don't Stop Believin'", "Open Arms", and "Who's Crying Now".
Like with other classic rock albums, Escape ages well and whether if your a fan of Journey or arena rock, you should welcome this album to your CD collection with "Open Arms".
Journey's Commerical Masterpiece Apr 19, 2009
"Escape" is one of Journey's biggest sellers to date and its not hard to see why. Even though only three of the albums ten tracks were released as singles, they're really all winners here. This is definitely a far cry from Journey's initial jazz oriented sound; back before frontman Steve Perry joined. Back then, the band could care less about crafting hit singles and was more concerned about recording long running progressive instrumentals. But when Perry came on board, he brought with him a sense of pop songcraft. Suddenly, the band made power-ballads instead of rock-suites. This should have meant with dissapointing results but what we actually got was some of the best arena rock ever.
Many of Journey's progressive tendencies remain: Neal Schon's guitar pyrotechnics, acoustic guitar textures (most notably on "Mother, Father") and the fact that the band rocks just as hard as ever. Tracks like, "Stone In Love" and "Dead Or Alive" are raunchy in your face rockers that beat out anything The Rolling Stones were doing at that time. The showcase here of course is the ballads. The three singles "Don't Stop Believing", "Who's Crying Now", and "Open Arms" have become definitive power-ballad standards. Possibly the best ballad here, however, is "Mother, Father" which build from its gentle acoustic opening to a colossal rocker featuring one of Perry's best vocal performances.
All ten of the album's tracks could have been released as singles and they probably would have charted. That's how strong this album is. Though some commercial rock is pretty bland and unchallenging, this is not the case here. This is proof that even commercialized rock can provide for an exhilarating listen. If you enjoy other classic rock bands like Boston, Styx, or Foreigner, than you must purchase this album.
This remastered edition contains four bonus tracks including three live tracks recorded at Houston. A nice way to see how Journey was in concert.
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