Journey

Arif Mardin's second solo effort assembles a veritable who's who of funk and jazz greats, but Journey is no ego-stroking vanity project. A richly cinematic fusion suite appointed with all the texture and detail one would expect from a producer of Mardin's stature, it effortlessly melds the street-smart groove of blaxploitation-era soul with the cerebral expansiveness of jazz. Despite a roster of heavy-hitters including vibist Gary Burton, saxophonists Joe Farrell and Seldon Powell, flutist Hubert Laws, pianist Richard Tee, and drummers Steve Gadd and Bernard Purdie, Journey never buckles under the collective weight of its talent – Mardin's production yields an end result greater than the sum of the music's individual parts, forging a tight, cohesive sound more suggestive of a veteran studio crew than a collection of all-star soloists.

EU three CD set containing a trio of original albums from the AOR/Melodic Rock greats: Departure (1980), Escape (1981) and Frontiers (1983). While the band had been active during the '70s, it wasn't until Steve Perry joined as vocalist, leading to Journey's dominance of FM radio during the first half of the '80s. Departure features the hit 'Any Way You Want It', which really kickstarted their ascension to the upper reaches of the charts. Escape features the hits 'Don't Stop Believing', 'Who's Crying Now' and the mega hit 'Open Arms'. Frontiers includes the hits 'Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)', 'Send Her My Love' and 'Faithfully'.

Escape was a groundbreaking album for San Francisco's Journey, charting three singles inside Billboard's Top Ten, with "Don't Stop Believing" reaching number nine, "Who's Crying Now" number four, and "Open Arms" peaking at number two and holding there for six weeks. Escape flung Journey steadfastly into the AOR arena, combining Neal Schon's grand yet palatable guitar playing with Jonathan Cain's blatant keyboards…

Journey is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1973, composed of former members of Santana and Frumious Bandersnatch. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between 1978 and 1987. Their worldwide sales have reached close to 90 million records, making them one of the world's best-selling bands of all time. A 2005 USA Today opinion poll named Journey the fifth best American rock band in history. Their songs have become arena rock staples and are still played on rock radio stations across the world. Journey ranks No. 96 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists Of All Time. Next is the third studio album by Journey, released in 1977. The band continued the formula from 1976's Look into the Future but this album also retains some of their jazzy progressive rock style from the first album. Next reached #85 on the Billboard 200 Albums charts.

By 1977 Journey had reached a creative crossroads, with three underwhelming studio albums under their belt and little to show in the way of commercial success. At the prodding of manager Herbie Herbert, who felt a major shakeup was needed in order to reignite their spark, the band was convinced to audition and eventually recruit the services of former Alien Project vocalist Steve Perry. Sure enough, adding him to the band just prior to the sessions for Infinity proved to be a stroke of genius, and a move that undeniably altered the course of history for the fledging Bay Area act. Released in January of 1978, Infinity easily proved to be the band's most cohesive work to date. Dead and buried were the jazz fusion overtones of previous offerings, and with the new songwriting combo of Perry/Neal Schon leading the march, the band set out to completely redefine their sound…

Freud - the invention of German songwriter and producer Ingo Hauss - with as much tenderness as elegance, exposes the sophisticated caverns of the mind and delivers a truly inspirational musical voyage that entices, caresses and soothes - all in equal measures.
'Deja Vu', the album's opening track, is a gorgeous, mellow, daintily provocative introduction to a delicate rose petal of an album. Cora O'Donovan's mystical voice is as enchanting as they come and is the perfect complement for the magical piano residing within this beautifully crafted piece. It's perhaps with the title track, seven epic tales in, that a momentary mood swing darkens the tranquil fluency that has so far been defined by Freud…

UK band Kingdom Come was the band of British artist Arthur Brown in the first half of the 70's, releasing three critically acclaimed albums before they folded in 1974. The keyboardist in the final line-up, US musician Victor Peraino, was given and used the opportunity to continue using the band name, and released a single album in 1975 as Victor Peraino's Kingdom Come. Since then news around the band have been fairly quiet, although it would appear that there's been a bit of activity. Featuring Arthur Brown on vocals again, "Journey in Time" is the second full-length production issued by the US based version of the band, and was released through the Italian label Black Widow Records in 2014…