With Filipino singer Arnel Pineda having crossed the line from Steve Perry Karaoke master to respectable lead singer and  a new album that taps into the energy and formulas of Journey's hitmaking era, there's little reason to doubt Journey has ability to keep their train moving with new passengers boarding at every stop.
But there's more than immediately meets the eye. Beyond it's pair of smart moves - the hiring of Pineda and the Wal-Mart exclusive release of "Revelation" - there are timing issues as well. The pop world is so devoid of well-crafted and polished rock music and bands with uniquely identifiable elements that Journey rises above the landscape like one of those birds on their album covers. There are plenty of us who looked at Journey differently  when  "Don't Stop Believin'" closed out "The Sopranos,"  but that's not who sold out the Greek for two nights; these fans, whether new or veteran, are attracted to the oeuvre and, for a certain segment, the nationality of the new singer.
Like Santana, who employed Neal Schon prior to him creating Journey in 1973, the band has gone through a series of reinventions in the last decade before coming to this point, a focused celebration of the "Infinity" to "Frontiers" ('78-'83) edition of the band.(Santana learned how a bit of focus can help your career back in '99).
Everything about Journey feels rejuvenated - the energy in the playing, the songwriting, the feeding off the energy of the fans and, maybe quite significantly, their re-establishment as bona-fide headliners. Yes, without journeys into all that has defined Journey, their 90 minutes are divided into blocks of screaming rock tunes and power ballads, but there's nothing to derail them - no obsessive solos, nothing sonically wayward or off-putting and nothing that does not sound exactly like the audience's image of Journey.
This summer, Journey has headlined one of the smartest triple bills of the last several years. Cheap Trick played the nostalgia card and performed every tune that made it into heavy rotation 20-30 years ago. Ann Wilson demonstrated her pipes are still Superman-like and that the guitar riffs in Heart's songs still put smiles on the band members' faces; they perform like they're still eying potential in their act to breakthrough to headliner status.
It's not simply evidence that tours  packaging artists whose heydays  came in the late 1970s and early '80s will win over fans every time. Journey and Heart are full of life and vigor, making their standards such as "Lights" and "Magic Man" sound powerful and from the heart.   

Here is my review that was published.