Journey - Escape Exp Dig Spkg (10 tracks) +Album Reviews

Remastered, yes, but not newly remastered

Shane Wilson | Lafayette, Louisiana United States | 08/03/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a reissue of the 1996 remastered edition along with the 4 bonus tracks. I bought this hoping that it had been newly remastered, but the sound is identical to the 1996 cd. "The Essential Journey" from 2001 is louder and has a better mix (as in you can hear the instruments better and clearer) than this 2006 cd. The live tracks on this cd can all be gotten on the 2006 "Live in Houston" cd and the sound on that cd is better, clearer, and louder than on this reissue cd ("Reissue" is written on this cd wrapper not "remaster"). I'm a bit of a fiend for remasters and I did play them "side by side" and can hear no difference from the 1996 to the 2006. The only true new thing on here is "La Raza Del Sol".

So this is great if all you've got is the original cd release, but do realize that this is not a 2nd remaster. Get the "Essential" disc if you want that; it's the closest there is and it does sound better than the 1st edition remasters. Of course, not all the songs are on there that I'm sure you want. I'd like to see all their albums remastered like the "Essential" is. But oh well, it's not here."

True classic 80's rock

M. Laubach | 03/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This one brings back so many memories from the early 80's! That is what I think is the best part of listening to this CD!

My favorite track is "stone in love" because of the 2nd half of the song's rock montage! It always gets me psyched up for anything! Not to forget the rest of the tracks, which range from great love ballads to simple blues rock. I highly recommend this one, which is Journey's greatest CD!"

A great album!

Kurt A. Johnson | North-Central Illinois, USA | 06/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I so fondly remember those days in the late 1970s and early 80s, when Journey burst onto the scene. And, I clearly remember 1981, when their album Escape came out and rocketed to #1 on the album charts. With such songs as Don't Stop Believin', Who's Crying Now, and Open Arms, it was practically the soundtrack of 1981!

Well, it's now back again! This CD is a reissue of the 1996 remastered album, plus 4 bonus tracks. La Raza Del Sol was on the b-side of the single "Still They Run," and the other three are from their November 6, 1981 concert in Houston. Also, check out the liner notes, which have some great pictures!

Overall, I think that this is a great album! It has that nice sound of Journey that you heard on the radio (the studio tracks), and some great live tracks. I love this album, and give it my highest recommendations!"

80's Rock That Didn't Stink

Steven Swan | Illinois | 01/20/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album to me is their best, they were close also with "Infinity" but on "Escape" it is one rock and ballad CD that came out in the early 80's that wasn't hair band stuff, but overall is pretty similar and much better if you listen close enough to it.

Nowadays perhaps they are considered a "guilty pleasure" due to perhaps their commercial appeal to teenage girls, women, and perhaps guys who were not really into metal, but were somewhere in between. Journey were I guess according to my sister somewhat attractive guys who made accessible songs, catchy songs with hooks and melody, who rocked enough to annoy your parents, but did those sappy ballads that made them swoon. After many years to me they appeal to a broader range than I remember, and if you think all those hair bands in the mid to late 80's sounded the same and were embarassingly cheesy, give Journey a chance to give an early glimpse of how it should have been done, and in '81 it sets the template in places for the rock and ballad Cd. A Band like UFO had this down, Scorpions also back before this even and all had their own sound. Journey added in a nice dose of melody that would also become the norm in hard rock. Perhaps they were a tad bit softer than your average 80's hard rocker, but listening to this now it's a fun CD to jam to, they don't have a single filler track here, and my fav songs are mostly non singles it seems, and lesser known songs.

Fav song of all time by the band is here in "Stone In Love" which is a classic journey song, hard rock, guitar solo, plenty of melody. Aanother fav in the title track "Escape", and it rocks plenty also with "Lay It Down", "Dead Or Alive", and "Keep On Runnin'", and I also love one of the 3 ballads in "Still They Ride". It has plenty of radio singles also with "Don't Stop Believin'", "Open Arms" (another ballad), and "Who's Crying Now" (ballad). Those 3 get the most attention, and if you like those perhaps you should check out the above mentioned songs also for Journey at their very best. Steve Perry could sing too, so it's not like todays commercial hard rock where they all sound like they were drummers forced to front the band, my apoligies to Dave Grohl...but isn't it true?

Plus the added Live in Houston tracks are a nice addition to the latest reissue. This is a must CD for not just a Journey fan, but a hard rock fan to me, a guilty pleasur, but a very good one in that and much better than anything put out by those late 80's hard rock clones. The Beatles had melody, the Beach Boys did too, but when you get to this point where it really begins to turn into a harder sound, to me the natural progression is with a band like Journey, even Boston perhaps with their brief run. I personally like Ratt, Dokken, Van Halen, Motley Crue, and Hanoi Rocks to name a few along with Journey, and eventually progressed into Jane's Addiction, Saigon Kick, Extreme, Kings X, it all comes back to this CD in my opinion, it's influential even if nobody out there wants to readily admit it."

The Great Escape

Al B. | N/A | 06/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album was the defined turning point for Journey. This album spawned off two tours of the album, a live album from the tour later released in 2006, and even their own video game on the Atari 2600.

This album got Journey a number one spot on the Billboard's Pop Albums and with 10 tracks on the album, 4 singles came from this album which were, "Who's Crying Now", "Still They Ride", "Open Arms", and the band's most recognizable song, "Don't Stop Believin'". All of them broke the Billboard's top 20 with 3 in the top 10, and 2 in the top 5. Several non-single tracks like Stone in Love, Mother Father, and Escape had their own popularity and most have found their way on Journey's compilation albums like Time3, Greatest Hits Live, and The Essential Journey. Even the other 3 "Dead or Alive", "Lay it Down", and "Keep on Runnin'" all have a special place in the heart of the album and the fans.

Escape as you can tell from several other reviews of mine including this one, is my favorite album because it has most of the Journey classics being "Don't Stop Believin'", "Stone in Love", "Who's Crying Now", "Still the Ride", "Escape", and my favorite rock ballad of all time "Open Arms". The Album also just never gets old for me as I've listened to it dozens of times.

The reissue features another classic hit from Time3, "La Raza Del Sol" which has a more Latin feel to it like Santana which is a rare occasion but definately worth a listen. Closing the reissue is the 3 big singles from Escape from the Live in Houston album which are "Don't Stop Believin'", "Open Arms", and "Who's Crying Now".

Like with other classic rock albums, Escape ages well and whether if your a fan of Journey or arena rock, you should welcome this album to your CD collection with "Open Arms"."

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