Published on Jun 25, 1999
Journey’s 1981 release,
Captured, captures the band’s live performances from their
1980
Infinity tour. Recorded around the world, from the United
States, West Germany, and Japan, this live album does a fine job in
recording the band’s popular songs and other tunes that Journey
fans may not have heard regularly on their radios.
Some of the blending of two songs together works fine here. Like
“Just The Same Way/Line Of Fire” and “Lights/Stay Awhile”. Most
live albums feature the most common songs, and the ones you’re not
familiar with do have their moments, but the more famous tunes are
the ones that stand out on this album. Unfortunately, as in the
case of “Lights” and “Feeling That Way,” the live versions are a
little bit faster than the studio versions. This may be unsuitable
for some, but this is a live album, and many bands experiment with
their famous tunes in a different way, whenever possible. Like at
the end of “Anytime,” they changed pace of the beat of the song,
giving it a different mood, and quite frankly, it’s a nice change
of pace.
“Do You Recall,” originally from
Evolution, is a fine tune. Another one, “Dixie Highway,” a
song unheard from any previous Journey album, is ok. Originally
from
Departure, “Walk Like A Lady” is bluesy, as Steve Perry asks
the audience, “Do you want some blues?” This tune is a great one,
as it features the organ and great guitar works from a band that
originally was formed from the group Santana, long before Steve
Perry joined the band and redefined Journey’s Santana sound into a
successful pop rock band.
At the end of this tune, it seems that the guitarist is doing
his best solo, Eddie Van Halen style, and it blends into the next
song, “La Do Da,” which was originally from their
Infinity album. This live version showcases the instrumental
side of the band, and of course, if you’ve been to any concert, the
drummer gets to struts his stuff, in performing a (Lord knows how
long of a) drum solo.
The last three live songs are classic Journey tunes: “Lovin’
Touchin’ Squeezin’,” “Wheel In The Sky” (which again, is a little
faster than the studio version) and “Any Way You Want It”. The last
two songs has the audience participating in some parts of the
songs. I’m quite certain that Steve Perry pointed his mike to the
crowd for their cue each time.
Captured is a fine rock live album. One fine moment is when
Steve Perry talks to the audience, and points to each microphone on
stage and tells the crowd that they are being part of a live album.
Being in that audience has to be a great feeling. As they listen to
that song or more, obviously they’ll remember them, and say, “Hey,
I was there!” I’ve never seen Journey in concert, but the people
I’ve talked to that did, said that they put on one helluva
show.
A surprise was found in reading the liner notes:
“This album is dedicated to the memory of Bon Scott, a friend
from the highway.”
Bon Scott was the original lead singer of AC/DC, who had
recently died of a drinking binge. As these two bands are
unfamiliar in sound, it was amazing to know that a pop rock band
such as Journey, was dedicating their album to a hard-rocking
metal/blues band, such as AC/DC. Anything is possible in rock:
There are many bands who are dedicated to other musical influences;
those being different in musical style and texture.
As much as I have heard, there are many rock fans who do not
like Journey. When they originally formed in 1973, the band
consisted of members from Santana, (Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie),
continuing with the Santana sound. They released three albums,
mostly consisting of hard-rock and instrumentals. In 1977, Steve
Perry joined, replacing vocalist Robert Fleischman, who had joined
the band in 1976.
When Perry merged on the scene, his vocals and sound of the band
took a 180 degree turn, throwing off many previous Santana/Journey
fans. Many felt that Perry sounded too much like a female, and
their new sound was wimpy, as they became popular as a pop rock
band. But in reality, Journey is loved by more fans who enjoy them
more than the ones who don’t. Journey is a great band; their pop
status became more famous than Santana’s. Again, there’s that
famous quote: Either you like ’em, or you don’t.