REVELATION was Journey's first album with Filipino vocalist Arnel Pineda, whom Neal Schon discovered via YouTube. This chance discovery and the realization that Arnel was the finest Steve Perry doppelganger yet gave both the band and its fans cause for celebration. After seeing the new Journey live with Mr. Pineda made it clear that he was more than capable of filling those big shoes. Both his talent and the amazing Cinderella story of his sudden ascent from the clubs of the Philippines to the front man of San Francisco's journey have been quite amazing to behold.rThus REVELATION was released in 2008 to very high expectations. The overall sound here is and and glossy reboot of their ESCAPE era stylings. Schon's playing is speedy, dexterous and impressive as always, while Arnel meets the challenge of creating new Journey songs with grace. Unfortunately, the songs aren't as remarkable as I'd hoped. They are filled with positive, glorious platitudes that ultimately taste a bit too much like formula to want to revisit more than an occasional spin. "Never Walk Away" and "Wildest Dream" are decent songs, but not quite classics.rWhat truly redeems this album is the 2nd disc of re-recorded classics. For many bands, this could easily become another unnecessary rehash. Instead, this was a way for Journey to really show their fans why Arnel was truly capable of carrying Journey into the 21st century. This disc is much more impressive than the new songs and ultimately justifies the purchase. However, I am rating this album based on Disc 1 alone, since this is technically a bonus disc.
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