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Eclipse (Journey album)

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Eclipse
Studio album by
Journey
ReleasedMay 24, 2011
RecordedFantasy Studios, Berkeley, California,
The Blue Loft, County Q Nashville and Quad Nashville, Nashville, Tennessee,
2010–2011
Genre
Length66:20
LabelNomota LLC (US)
Frontiers (Europe)
Universal (rest of Asia)
LOEN (South Korea)
King (Japan)
ProducerKevin Shirley, Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain
Journey studio album chronology
Revelation
(2008) 		Eclipse
(2011)
Singles from Eclipse
  1. "City of Hope"
    Released: April 4, 2011
  2. "Human Feel"
    Released: April 4, 2011
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Rolling Stone[2]

Eclipse (sometimes stylized as ECL1P53) is the fourteenth studio album by American rock band Journey and the second with lead singer Arnel Pineda.[3] Penned by Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain with contributions from Pineda, the album was released in the United States and Canada on May 24, 2011, on May 27, 2011, in Japan, in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2011, and internationally on June 3, 2011. It is the last album to feature drummer Deen Castronovo and bassist Ross Valory, who were dismissed from the group in 2015 and 2020 respectively.

Production

Eclipse was recorded in Berkeley, CA. As the album was near completion, producer Kevin Shirley ran out of time. In an effort for the band to release the album in time for the tour, Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain produced the remaining tracks in Nashville. The album was a departure, focusing on a harder rock sound rather than the formulaic pop hits and ballads. Schon, feeling the pop formula became repetitive, wanted to experiment on Eclipse and make it more guitar-oriented and less radio-friendly. Shirley had trepidation about the direction of the album, clashing with Schon creatively. Many of the tracks were re-recorded in Nashville under Schon and Cain's production.[4] Cain supported Eclipse, saying "we’d had this concept in mind from the get go. We’ve got the ballads we can play all day long. If people want to hear ballads, they can certainly find them on other records."[5]

Release and reception

Eclipse was released on May 24, 2011. In North America it was exclusively sold at Wal-Mart.[6] Eclipse sold 21,400 copies in the United States in its debut week, reaching No. 13 on the US Billboard 200 chart.[7] Eclipse marks Journey's second straight Top 20 album with current lead singer, Arnel Pineda. Internationally, Eclipse entered the Top 40 album charts in five different countries.

Despite high chart positions it quickly descended from the charts within weeks. Eclipse was unable to match the success of Revelation, barely selling 100,000 copies—an 1/8th of the previous album's sales.[8]

Eclipse received mixed to negative reviews. Rolling Stone reviewer Caryn Ganz rated the album at two stars, saying "Journey's second disc with Filipino YouTube discovery Arnel Pineda on vocals is both grand and distractingly proggy."[9] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic also rated Eclipse at two stars, praising Journey's ability to fuse their prog-rock abilities with their arena rock sound, however he goes on to say the album "pulsates with a certain insular chill that isn't especially welcoming; this is music made for the musicians, and if anybody else happens to like it, that's just a minor bonus."[10]

Aftermath

Though Journey enjoyed the process of recording Eclipse, they considered its lack of success a career setback. They became skeptical of recording a new album, focusing primarily on live performances. Jonathan Cain said "we have a great catalogue here, right now to play. We got a lot of songs that we're not even playing. So, we're like, 'What's the point of makin' a new CD right now?'". Cain did not rule out the possibility of another album, which he says "I think we need to stay sort of closer to who we are, to who we've been -- great songs, great melodies, harmonies -- and not worry about if it's heavy or not. Our fans are getting older, man; they're not headbangers anymore. So if we do anything, I think we need to go back to the center."[11]

The band would continue to focus exclusively on touring until 2020, when Schon announced on his Instagram page on June 17 that a new Journey album was in the works,[12] with a single intended to be released in the summer of that year.[13]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."City of Hope" 6:02
2."Edge of the Moment" 5:27
3."Chain of Love" 6:10
4."Tantra" 6:27
5."Anything Is Possible" 5:21
6."Resonate" 5:11
7."She's a Mystery"Schon, Cain, Arnel Pineda6:41
8."Human Feel" 6:44
9."Ritual" 4:57
10."To Whom It May Concern"A. Pineda, Schon, Cain, Erik Pineda5:15
11."Someone" 4:35
12."Venus" (instrumental)Schon3:34
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Don't Stop Believin'" (live, from the recordings of Live in Manila)Steve Perry, Schon, Cain7:12

Personnel

Band members
Production
  • Kevin Shirley – producer
  • David Kalmusky – engineer, mixing, mastering[14]
  • James McCullagh, Alberto Hernandez, Jesse Nichols – engineers
  • Casey Barker, Jason Hall, Brett Lind, Alex Dolphin – assistant engineers
  • Travis Shinn – photography

Charts

Release history

Region Date Label Format
United States[3] May 24, 2011 Nomota LLC CD, digital download
South Korea[23] Evolution Music, LOEN Entertainment
Japan[24] May 27, 2011 King Records
Europe[25] Frontiers

References

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Journey Eclipse review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  2. ^ Ganz, Caryn (June 7, 2011). "Journey - Eclipse". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  3. ^ a b Weatherford, Mike (18 February 2011). "Journey giving preview of new album at Planet Hollywood". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  4. ^ "Neal Schon: Doing it his way". Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  5. ^ "Journey's Jonathan Cain Explains Message Of New 'Eclipse' Album". Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  6. ^ "Journey announce new album "Eclipse"". Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  7. ^ a b c d "Eclipse Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  8. ^ "Journey unlikely to record another album". Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  9. ^ "Eclipse - Album Reviews". Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  10. ^ "Eclipse - Album Reviews". Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  11. ^ "Journey skeptical of making another album". Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  12. ^ https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/new-journey-album-is-starting-to-take-shape-says-neal-schon/
  13. ^ https://ultimateclassicrock.com/neal-schon-journey-new-song/
  14. ^ The Official David Kalmusky Web-Site
  15. ^ "Album – Journey, Ecl1ps3". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  16. ^ ジャーニー - クイーンズライクのアルバム売り上げランキング (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  17. ^ "Journey Ecl1ps3". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  18. ^ "Journey – Ecl1ps3 (album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  19. ^ "Journey – Ecl1ps3 (album)". GfK Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  20. ^ "Journey – Ecl1ps3 (album)". Austriancharts.at (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  21. ^ "Journey Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
  22. ^ "Eclipse Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  23. ^ Eclipse (Journey album) (MelOn.com)
  24. ^ Eclipse (Journey album) (mora)
  25. ^ "Journey - Eclipse". Frontiers Records. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
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