Destiny (Journey, 1980)

After their prog debut album, Journey decided for a more commercial approach, but when in 1980 they were asked to compose the soundtrack of a Japanese film, they felt free to set up more complex and unpredictable songs. The resulting album titled "Dream, After Dream" included this opening track, a rather long one (9 minutes, more or less) featuring a very good and atmospheric sung theme and an abundant choice of instrumental passages, both slow and fast tempo.

...And I also like this cover art. Don't you?

The contrasts are strong: the melancholic intro, then a rocky, heavy section, followed by a dreamy guitar solo (how good this one is...) and finally a brief, weird electronic coda. I really like this song (and also some more from the album), showing what Journey could have done had they chosen a progger way. True, this coming back to their roots will be a short-lived one, but good music is there to stay, and I'll always listen to "Destiny" with the greatest pleasure.

Of A Lifetime (Journey, 1975)

As you probably know, Journey started their career with a pair of good prog rock albums, including some jazzy elements and cleverly made architectures. This "Of A Lifetime"comes from the band's self-titled debut album, surely their proggest work, and is one of my favourite songs of theirs. It's a lysergic, winding rock ballad, featuring a slow guitar riff I adore, a Hammond background and an excellent guitar solo to top the tasty cake.

This album includes some more very good prog songs.

 

Sure, the band didn't get the success they were searching for and had to change their musical direction, but hopefully such a song found its way to the hearts of good music lovers. I'm not a purist (see my posts for that) and I also like Journey's pop-rock era, but I do think their first approach to rock had a special energy, a deeper and more original mood. That's why "Of A Lifetime" is here in my blog.