Review: Neal Schon 'Journey Through Time' (hard rock/melodic rock)

[@RobinKay75]

This is the Journey I love! I prefer Journey of the 70's with Gregg Rollie.

[@wolf1977]

Me too - hands down!

[@Brian-jv5me]

Pete - sounds like a winner. We saw early Journey open for ELP one time in Toronto years ago. What a smoking show! Thanks for the review. Cheers Brian in Ontario

[@jessew1133]

Too your point about Neal playing older Journey and Santana stuff, don't forget about the numerous solo records he put out (especially Late Nite) that I'm sure he would like to revisit. Definitely great to hear Rollie and Neal playing that old stuff. Tons of people don't even realize there was a Journey before Steve Perry 👍👏🎸

[@samkeepintherockalive]

I owned it, is awesome!. Is great to hear Gregg Rolie singing the old classics. Also, Neal Schreds on this one!🎸🎸🔥🔥. If you are a fan of Journey, than get this!

[@johnmichaelwilliams6694]

Appreciate this new product review, Pete. Will be sure to give this a listen over the coming weekend.

[@TimsVinylConfessions]

I file this under Journey, and I'm so glad they made this available. Gregg Rolie is the epitome of cool.

[@garyh.238]

Sold! Love Neal Schon's guitar playing. Getting this one for sure!

[@matthewnunley1775]

Sounds like a must have!

[@Soedel.Deluex]

The album must rank as one of if not the best live releases of the decade !!

[@MetalJesusRocks]

I had no idea this was out! Snagged the blu-ray immediately today. Thanks for the review!

[@Stonky77]

I feel like this is the Journey that Neal wants but can't have due to contractual obligations or expectations from the fans.

[@wolf1977]

He definitely doesn't seem to want Jonathan Cain (who doesn't play on this but is touring this year with the band)...

[@The_Jewish_Cowboy]

@@wolf1977 He didn't want Ross, Smith, Soto, Augeri etc. The list goes on and on. He makes enemies out of everyone.

[@kingtrance307]

@@The_Jewish_Cowboy- Bullshit. Ross and Smith conspired to screw him over and Cain is political nut job. Journey doesn’t need him.

[@mbgaomo]

I'm gonna check this out. I also loved Abraxas Pool!

[@johnhenfrey5936]

I went to a Crate Amp clinic,in Wakefield. Which Neal was doing, in which he had a backing band with him, got an autographed picture off him, which I framed and is still hanging on my wall, got chatting, and he was telling me about his collection of Amps. What a really nice bloke. This set as been on my list for a few weeks now, I will get around to buying it soon.

[@patrickmurphy4297]

...thanks for this post...as a huge fan of Neal's playing, this one is definitely on my "get this" list.

[@michaelmerrullo2043]

I love the early stuff. Went to Debut album and Next tours. I wasn't on board with the shift to Perry though I did go that first tour too. Warmed to it over time. I love Topaz as a favorite deep cut. Especially that intro, makes me think of a vast California desert or something. Ansley forever, but Castranova does well.

[@jimfrixen4438]

I love the first three Journey albums before Steve Perry, especially the first two. I own all three on cassette and all three on CD. Both Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie sang lead vocals on these early songs. I love early Journey with Gregg Rolie in the band after Steve Perry came along also. I enjoyed the two albums that Neal came out with in the 1980's with keyboardist Jan Hammer, "Untold Passion" and "Here To Stay." Both of these are killer.

[@mrenard72]

This is also available on bluray

[@SD9xcp311x]

I need this! I love SoT because this is one of the only sites that gives the first three journey albums any love. I sure would love to hear "Caravanserai" done live! Ha

[@clapdiddy]

Finally broke down and bought this. Everything you said about this is spot on. I'm not a huge live album person, but this is something I will listen to frequently.

[@garyjoyce2160]

Damn/ you kicked it out today with reviews. PETE/ thx again 👍💯

[@jamescurnick1637]

Cool....gonna check it out...thanks Pete...👍

[@michaelellsworth8072]

Bought it. I love it.

[@liamphillips7315]

If you go to a Journey concert these days without going bankrupt then it's in a huge stadium and the guys are 3 inches tall a mile away. We went to this show in downtown LA and it was EASILY the best Journey show since '79-'86 Perry, which I saw numerous times... This was an amazingly intimate show in a relatively small theater and it FLEW by even at 2 plus hours because it was one killer timeless song after another. Augeri was good, Arnel is good, but this was GREAT and Deen's vocals were the closest to Perry you can get. Really, really hope they do it again and though you don't have the giant spectacle and screens I would say the 'Through Time' band is WAY better and more fun to see than the 'official' band at this point. Highest recommendation!

[@jasonbala7858]

I love it just amazing lineup.

[@Jake-pw7rj]

Better late than never, I suppose. The "Journey Through Time" performances sure are superior to the current version of Journey. I know the music is fabulous, but the packaging should have been better. I am glad Neil Schon finally put this out on physical product. The playing was magical. It is strange they decided not to reveal the date the concert took place anywhere in this release.

[@kcewing1]

Look into the Future - it is now! I've listened to this set about a zillion times since it went lossless streaming, and I've watched the Blu ray about six times already. I've been waiting...what... 43 freaking years for this set list, essentially my dream Journey live set. Deeno sounds closer in timber and in spirit to Perry than any other of the stand-ins, in my humble opinion, and a worthy tub pounder. Neal sounds galactic. Gregg just defies time, and that goddamn B3! He's the Zen master of Journey. I still can't believe it!

[@christopherhoffman201]

I just saw the Martin Barre Band perform their "Brief History of Tull" show. This is to Tull what Journey through time was to Journey. I heartily recommend catching this performance when you can.

[@sylvainmclean1307]

Hi Pete i was in a hurry to see that album commin because i saw the show on seperate video on KZbin and loved it very much to see Deen singin the parts if Perry era with Greg. Bye the way i ve been to their 50th anniversary tour, the show was good but they played only the era if Steve Perry, no songs from their last album or from the other with Arnel or from Steve augery... Very disapointed for a 50th.

[@weirddebbiem1619]

I will definitely check out this album.

[@christopherhoffman201]

Next best thing to actually being there.I should know because I was there.🎉

[@jimmypage2843]

I've watched this on KZbin it's a great show. The separation of a Blu-ray from the CD's where you get a DVD instead is ridiculous. Do a version where you get those together I hate when bands do this.

[@johnnyringo9759]

This is great, but I wish they would have done the whole "Patiently" song!!!

[@neugey]

Also, the money raised from the concert went to charity (California wildfires) which was great to hear about.

[@747jono]

Excellent

[@wolf1977]

Really good live album - not Journey but "Neal Schon And Friends" as the episode title states. I only have the music not the DVD/BD, I may have to break down (like I did with Hendrix's Live In Maui) & get the physical media for that reason...Some killer guitar here, love the fact that the first 3 Journey albums (to me by far my fave Journey period) are represented by 9 total cuts, plus 2 early Santana numbers, plus 5 more from the first Perry record where the lead vocals were still shared (I love Rolie's vocals). Schon is the man, a true rock guitarist who just flat out loves to play. The earliest 70's stuff is fantastic, live versions of songs I've loved listening to for a long time but never had in live form - even though I already owned a good amount of live Journey there were still 12 tracks here that I didn't already have live. Bottom line: A really fine live album, if you're including live records in your 2023 album-of-the-year nominations then you have to consider this one! Easily a 4.5 out of 5 and probably a bit higher

[@garyh.238]

Hey Wolf...nice to see you back on the boards here. I have a great early Journey double live CD from their performance at the Cow Palace in San Francisco on December 31st, 1976. Great show. The sonics of it are not the best as it is a radio broadcast, but still acceptable nonetheless. Neal Schon lets 'er rip on guitar lots.

[@wolf1977]

@@garyh.238 I know there's a Transmission Impossible live set from '76 - '83 that contains a lot of their early tunes but the sound was REALLY bad so even though I wanted to download it, I didn't. Well, I did break down & grabbed 4 tracks but only "You're On Your Own" is from '76, for some reason that one sounds acceptable. The other 3 are from '78...I really wish someone would take that '76 show & remaster it!

[@everts1698]

I prefer Journey with Rollie and by far, just missing the huge drummer Dunbar much better than Castronovo

[@PeachWNK]

Aynsley would have to report his leaving the state of Nevada.

[@michaelespinosa9168]

For me hardline’s double eclipse is Neal’s finest hour as a songwriter and guitarist.

[@peterdelaney7061]

The double-edge sword of recording in a small venue - the excellent sound vs. having to hear individuals in the audience. There is a woman who keeps saying Oh My God during the Patiently medley, among other spots. Just cringe worthy audio. All things considered, Schon rips it up. Castronovo is very strong, especially his Mother/Father tour de force. He doesn't have the jazz chops and can't swing like Aynsely, but he's a strong hard rock drummer. I'm happy they didn't do more Santana. It's a Journey record after all. There is very little not to like here although I agree with Pete that the liner notes are weak.

[@lawrenceadkins2924]

They should have blacked over the karaoke screen seen under the drummer's cymbals in the booklet pictures.

[@PeachWNK]

They had less than a week to learn the songs. It wasn’t a black mark to me. I related to “the drummer’s” need. lol

[@kevinp766]

Everyone knows Deen should have taken over for Steve. If you too love Deen you owe it to yourself to snag this beast!!!!

[@mrmaxaxl]

How many cd's do you own? a thousand? 😄I wouldn't fit half of them in my small apartment.

[@sotdude7]

Many more than that!

[@wolf1977]

Those are probably just the ones you see behind him in the main episode camera shot

[@jonfroeschle9618]

It’s to bad that nail Schon can’t just his own band, instead of living off of Journey, and Santana !

[@jonfroeschle9618]

Oh why did you have to look for someone that try’s to sound like the old band or you know who 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️