JOURNEY
Escape [Reissue]
Legacy Records 2006
www.journeymusic.com

Read the Ross Valory interview

Live Journey Pics

What’s the 4-1-1?
The classic album, originally released in 1981, gets the reissue treatment. The CD comes with 4 bonus tracks and a variety of photographs from the band.

Genre
Rock / Pop / Classic Rock

The Good
The Escape album features 4 tracks that are still resonating on rock radio some 25 years after the release of the CD. The songs in question are: “Don’t Stop Believin’”, a sweet up-tempo song with a killer hook. “Stone In Love” and “Who’s Crying Now” are expertly crafted songs. The standout track of the four hit singles is the power ballad “Open Arms.” You can say what you will about the general sappiness of power ballads, but you can’t deny that Journey knew how to write them well. Beyond those hit singles, the album is still chock full of great rocking moments. The songs “Escape”, “Lay It Down” and “Dead Or Alive” all feature some fine guitar work, with “Dead Or Alive” being the brightest of the shining lights.

The Bad
I thought the ballad “Still They Ride” was rather weak. The CD booklet, like other albums in the Journey reissue series, lacks any biographical notes about the band. Any new listeners brought in by the music won’t have any information with the album to learn about the band’s past. While there’s nothing wrong with the bonus tracks, I didn’t really get much out of them. Three of the tracks are live cuts from a CD/DVD set that was released in 2006 as well. It makes me wonder why they would’ve done this. I mean, was there nothing in the Journey music vault they could’ve chose to release as a draw to the fans that already own this CD? The last of the songs is called “La Raza Del Sol.” The song was the B-side to the “Still They Ride” single, but it’s also rather weak.

The Verdict
These reissues are a great reminder of exactly how fantastic Journey’s music was in the early 1980’s. They were truly the kings of arena rock and the albums released in this time period, including Escape, stand the test of time easily.
I’m not crazy about the bonus tracks considering the three live cuts were released last year as well. It’s a might greedy, but if I’m going to buy new versions of albums I already own, I expect a little something extra.

If they had just included the “La Raza Del Sol” track, I probably wouldn’t have had as much to say about the whole bonus tracks issue. Suffice to say, this album is a wonderful disc to add to your collection, even if it’s not perfect. You’ve got 4 all-time classic songs on one disc, 6 other songs to enjoy the first time around, or all over again. It’s hard to complain much more after considering those facts.

Did You Know?
Steve Perry produced the live bonus tracks on this reissue. They originally came from the 2006 CD/DVD release Live In Houston 1981: The Escape Tour.

Rating: out of 5

Related Reviews:
Journey - Frontiers [Reissue]
Journey - Live in 1981 Live DVD
Journey - Generations
Neal Schon - I on U

-- Jay Roberts