So why is Journey’s Frontiers on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Full disclosure I: When I was a kid, I’d get Journey confused with Foreigner. I feel sheepish about admitting this, but when you listen to “Cold as Ice” by Foreigner followed by “Don’t Stop Belivin’” by Journey, I forgive the young ‘un version of myself to a large extent.
And speaking of “Don’t Stop Belivin’,” it seems only proper that a discussion about Journey should begin there. Not only is it far and away the band’s most famous song, I’d wager (though there are a surprising number of really big hits when you run through their catalog), but it’s also forever and ever tied to the final scene and final moment of the television show (that’d be The Sopranos, of course) that I recently named as the number one show of my best 100 TV shows ever.
Full disclosure II: I’m not a big fan of “Don’t Stop Believin’.” I’m just not. Maybe I just heard it one (or 200) too many times on Long Island radio growing up as a kid, or maybe I’ve just always found it a little bit overbearing and grating.
Which brings us to Frontiers, the album that I believe holds the greatest overall collection of Journey’s works in a single album format. And it very much helps that Frontiers boasts “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart,” my favorite Journey song. It contains the power of ‘70s arena/hard rock with cheesy (but good!) early ‘80s power rock in a package that is greater than the sum of its parts.
“Chain Reaction” leverages a hard rock riff that could be utilized for a metal song under the right settings. Instead, it’s the underbelly for a big sounding, arena rock number. This isn’t a place for subtlety; ‘tis a time to rock all attendees of the house.
“Faithfully” is a power ballad that uses a pretty piano riff and shows off Steve Perry’s vocals nicely.
Some stats & info about Journey – Frontiers
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Hard Rock, Album Rock, Rock Music, SF Bay Area Bands
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Frontiers released? 1983
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #607 out of 1,000
Journey’s Frontiers on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Journey’s Frontiers that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Someday love will find you, true love won’t desert you. You know that I still love you, though we touched and went our separate ways.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.