Bernie Journey “The World In The Eye Of The Beholder”
Though I have never been a huge fan of dance music, at least as far as pure listening goes, one cannot argue with the role dance music has played throughout the history of rock and roll. Rock and roll evolved out of jump blues (with a tinge of country thrown in. Don’t believe it? Chuck Berry originally wrote Maybelline as a country song and if you listen close, you’ll hear the country beat in the song) which was the prevalent dance music at the time among blacks. When jump blues conquered racial boundaries, it became rock and roll, which became the primary dance music from then on. Think of all the sock hops, teen dance shows on TV, the dance crazes of the ’60’s such as the Twist as well as the hippie noodle dance and the endless twirling that started in the ’60’s with the Grateful Dead and still continues to this day. Think of James Brown, P-Funk and disco, the new wave dances like the pogo, slam dancing, the swing craze of the mid-’90’s – the list goes on. Rock and roll and dance are synonymous.
So why are the rock and roll camps and the house/dance camps so at odds with each other? I believe it started with disco, which was fighting for air time with Foreigner, Led Zeppelin and all of those other cock rock bands that were popular at the time. It definitely divided camps between those who wanted to rock and those who preferred to dance. Since then, for most people, it’s one or the other with simultaneous progression for both types of music. As alternative rock started making big waves in the mid-’80’s, house music was beginning to get popular in Europe and slowly started making its way into the more fashionable cities of the US, such as LA and New York City. Since then, more innovations have happened in the world of dance than rock and roll music, but rock has, in turn, reinvigorated itself by adding elements of dance to mix things up just as Journey does here with his CD, as he seemingly want to unite both camps. While his music is firmly and unmistakably rooted in dance and house, Journey’s music has a definite rock and roll attitude that cannot be denied. While that may be where most of the similarities end, Journey’s music incorporates so many different elements; just calling it dance music doesn’t seem to do it justice either.
The first song is an interesting opening to this album. The song, Dream On, has sort of a modern R&B based sound but also blends in elements of old jazz such as a muted trumpet and some interesting piano lines. The song then toys with a house beat which adds an interesting effect as the vocals are looped and manipulated. A Better Life, the next song, is straight ahead synth-pop and is quite catchy. I would think that this song would be a definite single as it sounds perfect for the radio and has very good production values. Everything, which follows, is mixed right in next so there is hardly a break between songs. More synth-pop but this song has more of a club, dance-type feel and definitely would get people out on the dance floor by itself, though I can hear that a remix might make it even better. Just A Dream is next and starts out like more of a torchy number with simple percussion on hi-hat and snare and simple piano. Horns come in later and it reminds me of a modern “Fever”. A sax solo seals the deal. Call On Me returns full force to the techno pulse and is pretty much a straight ahead dance number. My ears may be deceiving me but I hear a bit of a song from Grease in the middle of this in the way the meter of the lyrics plays out. Cage starts out interestingly with banging and jungle sounds and some disconcerting keyboard noises until the song morphs into an almost Indian sounding number with off-kilter percussion loops and then morphs again into a more traditional synth-dance number. Very interesting and engaging song though definitely not a single per se. Eye of The Beholder starts out with a lot of classical elements and strings until breaking into a synth pop number reminiscent of something by ’80’s band ABC’s The Look Of Love. The next two songs are definitely for the dance floor and sort of blend into each other. Very slickly produced and something I could definitely hear at clubs as well as on the radio. In all, a very commercial set of songs with great production values.
Though, as I have said above, dance music, house, techno, jungle etc. whatever you want to call it has never really been my thing, I can tell when it’s done well and in the case of this album by Bernie Journey, I can definitely “hear” these songs on the radio for the most part. It’s a refreshing blend of different styles that shows Journey as a very versatile performer and definitely an artist to watch.
Though I have never been a huge fan of dance music, at least as far as pure listening goes, one cannot argue with the role dance music has played throughout the history of rock and roll. Rock and roll evolved out of jump blues (with a tinge of country thrown in. Don’t believe it? Chuck Berry originally wrote Maybelline as a country song and if you listen close, you’ll hear the country beat in the song) which was the prevalent dance music at the time among blacks. When jump blues conquered racial boundaries, it became rock and roll, which became the primary dance music from then on. Think of all the sock hops, teen dance shows on TV, the dance crazes of the ’60’s such as the Twist as well as the hippie noodle dance and the endless twirling that started in the ’60’s with the Grateful Dead and still continues to this day. Think of James Brown, P-Funk and disco, the new wave dances like the pogo, slam dancing, the swing craze of the mid-’90’s – the list goes on. Rock and roll and dance are synonomous.
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