Hard to say exactly who is the audience for this 2017 concert filmed at Japan’s legendary Budokan arena in Tokyo featuring decades-old rock band Journey. General rock ‘n’ roll fans would likely welcome an oldies road show with a large helping of the band’s considerable catalog of hits, but instead the group performs 1981’s Escape and 1983’s Frontiers in their entirety (or near-entirety—"Troubled Child" from the latter album is absent). So while it’s easy to enjoy "Don’t Stop Believin’," "Who’s Crying Now," "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)," and "Faithfully," non-hardcore Journey fans will likely (and quite justifiably) be unfamiliar with such mundane tunes as "Lay It Down," "Dead or Alive," and "Chain Reaction." On the other hand, serious fans who cherish the original albums may not be overly excited since lead singer Steve Perry is long gone, replaced by admittedly uncanny sing-alike Arnel Pineda (although for some reason, three of the songs are sung by "additional musician" and extra keyboardist Travis Thibodaux). Anyone who notices where the camera lingers will be quite aware that this is The Neal Schon Show, the talented founding member lead guitarist who along with keyboardist Jonathan Cain forms the musical backbone of Journey, joined by Ross Valory on bass and Steve Smith on drums. In addition to the songs, Schon, Cain, and Smith all have solos (which seems especially superfluous in Schon’s case). And for an encore, the band performs "La Raza del Sol" (a cut that didn’t make Frontiers and features a lot of Schon noodling) and their megahit "Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’." Presented in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and LPCM stereo on Blu-ray, extras include two audio CDs of the concert. Optional. (R. Pitman)
Journey: Live in Japan 2017
(2017) 131 min. DVD: $29.99 (audio CDs included), Blu-ray: $32.99 (audio CDs included). Eagle Rock Entertainment (avail. from most distributors). Volume 34, Issue 4
Journey: Live in Japan 2017
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