The Essential Journey

Disc 1
1	Only the Young
2	Don't Stop Believin'
3	Wheel in the Sky
4	Faithfully
5	Any Way You Want It
6	Ask the Lonely
7	Who's Crying Now 5:02
8	Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
9	Lights
10	Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
11	Open Arms
12	Girl Can't Help It
13	Send Her My Love
14	When You Love a Woman 4:08
15	I'll Be Alright Without You 4:49
16	After the Fall 5:02
Disc 2
1	Chain Reaction 4:21
2	Message of Love 5:36
3	Somethin' to Hide 3:26
4	Line of Fire 3:05
5	Anytime 3:28
6	Stone in Love 4:25
7	Patiently 3:20
8	Good Morning Girl 1:44
9	The Eyes of a Woman 4:32
10	Be Good to Yourself 3:51
11	Still They Ride 3:49
12	Baby I'm A Leavin' You 2:48
13	Mother, Father 5:28
14	Just the Same Way 3:17
15	Escape 5:16
16	The Party's Over (Hopelessly in Love) 3:42

Barnes & Noble

This terrific two-disc overview of Journey's career reveals how these Bay Area guys transformed themselves from a Santana spinoff into one of the most successful rock 'n' roll bands in history, amassing 14 Top 20 hits. After Steve Perry joined the group and assumed creative leadership from founder/guitarist Neal Schon, Journey quickly struck a universal chord with fans by thematically focusing their songs on love ("Open Arms"), longing ("Faithfully"), and breakups ("Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)"). Guys loved Journey because they rocked, and women loved them because they were sensitive, too. Their songs burst with a passion driven home by Perry's soaring vocals, which seem to carry a wisdom and compassion that only experience can provide. The first disc includes all of the band's many smash hits, such as the joyous "Anyway You Want It" and the blues romp "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," while Disc 2 contains popular album cuts and concert faves such as "Stone in Love" and "Still They Ride." Although they were accused of being calculating and corporate, Journey knew how to make memorable and meaningful music, and fans will find themselves humming along to every song. Eric Lowenhar

All Music Guide

The Essential Journey doesn't bear a title that's too hyperbolic for the collection it represents. Over the course of two discs and 32 songs, the retrospective winds through all of the group's biggest songs -- not just the hit singles, but the album radio favorites and concert staples that kept the group popular on the charts and in the arenas until last third of the '80s (and, for the record, everything on the previous Greatest Hits record is here). The key to the collection is that it doesn't abide strict chronological order. Instead, it's divided into two, with all the biggest hits on the first disc and the second acting like a "more of the best" collection, and within each of the discs, the tracks flow like a concert. The result is a first-class, definitive collection for the serious Journey listener (and, despite many skeptics, there are many out there -- which is not hard to understand, since arena rock never got any better than this). Stephen Thomas Erlewine