 JOURNEY
Live in Houston 1981: Escape Tour DVD/CD
Columbia Records 2005
www.journeymusic.com
Sample it here
Read the Ross Valory interview
Live Journey pics
What’s the 4-1-1?
The CD/DVD package from the arena rock legends contains the full-length
concert performance from Houston, Texas in 1981. The CD contains
one bonus track that isn’t on the DVD. The DVD, recorded in
stereo and 5.1 Surround sound, also contains a band interview from
1981-1982, a 16-page booklet, TV promo spots, a slideshow and the
original closing credits from the show’s broadcast.
Genre
Hard rock / classic rock / arena rock
The Good
The Concert: I’ve been a fan of Journey for a long time. There was a point before
I got into heavy metal where Journey just may have been my favorite band.
This DVD amply demonstrates why I say that.
The show captures the band’s November 6th, 1981 show at The Summit in
Houston, Texas. What I found particularly outstanding is that while a lot of
the material played that night was relatively new, it brought back some songs
that had fallen out of my memory. “Escape,” “Line Of Fire,” “Mother,
Father”,
and “Dead Or Alive”, four songs that I hadn’t really heard
in so long, when trying to recall what they sounded like or the lyrics to the
songs, I couldn’t do it.
The sound was far better than I might’ve expected from a 24-year-old
soundtrack. The instrumentation was great including a superb solo on “Mother,
Father” from guitarist Neal Schon. Steve Perry’s vocals were crisp
for the most part. It’s no wonder to me that he’s considered one
of the premiere AOR singers of all time.
The track list for the DVD and the CD are the same except the CD has an extra
cut on it called “The Party’s Over (Hopelessly In Love).” It
was okay, but I think the DVD ending track of “Anyway You Want It” was
a better choice to end the performance on.
The Bad
The DVD track listing is out of sequence. There is a title screen before the
concert starts that is labeled as “Track 1”, yet it’s not
listed on the back of the packaging. It may confuse anyone trying to skip through
to specific song selections.
The show contains three solos performed by keyboardist Jonathan Cain, drummer
Steve Smith, and guitarist Neal Schon. Unfortunately, they added nothing to the
overall concert. While this is hindsight that comes 20 plus years to late, they
are completely unnecessary.
I noticed that other than Steve Perry, there really wasn’t too much movement
onstage by the band members not stuck behind a keyboard or drums. There was some,
but bassist Ross Valory seemed almost glued to his spot on the stage.
The bonus features: The original broadcast’s closing credits, a slideshow,
and a television commercial are a waste of space on the DVD. The 10:46 seconds
of raw interview
footage is fine, but really doesn’t add anything to the mystique of
the band.
The Verdict
This is Journey as they begin their most potent era of their prime. While
I believe Frontiers is their pinnacle, The Escape album is a superb offering
from a band firing on all cylinders.
Did You Know?
The former vocalist for Journey, Steve Perry, was the producer for this project.
Rating:  out
of 5 (the concert) (the
extras)
Related Reviews:
Journey - Generations
Neal Schon - I on U
Rock Is Life Presents - A Guide to Box Sets
-- Jay Roberts
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