February 10, 2010

Journey

English text follows.

Journeyはその実力とは裏腹に、いまだ低評価されているバンドのひとつだと思います。アメリカン・アイドルの後のスロットに始まったGLEE!というドラマの主題歌として使われている下の曲(YouTube)など、元気になる曲からしんみりと旅に出たくなる曲まで名曲が沢山あり、アルバムはどれもベストアルバムのように良い曲揃いです。

正直言って、わたしは多分Michael JacksonよりJourneyを聴いて過ごした時間のほうが長いと思います。(そしてもっと言えばU2、そしてthe Beatles。)Journeyのアルバムを聴き返し、ついでに入手したばかりのAdam Lambertの歌を聴くにつけ、This is it!で披露されたマイケルの囁くような歌に腹が立ってきます。プロ意識無さすぎ!Bad以降これといった曲がひとつもなく、20年間何をして過ごしていたのだろうと、悲しくなります。30歳になるかならないかのときに人生が終わり。。。?

エルトン・ジョンもビリー・ジョエルもスティングも今だに素晴らしい声が出るし、ティナ・ターナーやシェールなどは、ヒットしていた時に既に50を過ぎていたと思う。

ともあれ、Journeyステキです。Adamのアルバムを聴いてSteve Perryの歌声を聞いたら、Steveのほうが上手かも、と思った。父の世代はChicagoが青春らしいですが、わたしはJourneyとU2だな〜。小学校高学年からローティーンを青春というにはちょっと早いけど。







I think Journey is one of the overly under-evaluated bands out there.  I started watching Glee! this past weekend, and they use this Journey tune as kind of their theme song.  Journey's albums are full of power songs and romantic songs that makes you want to go out on a road trip in the wild.

I probably spent more time listening to Journey songs than Michael Jackson's growing up.  (and U2 and the Beatles, moreover.)  When I listen to Journey and Adam Lambert (I just got his album) now, and I am impressed again by their vocal abilities, then I started to feel angry about Michael Jackson's lack of professionalism in his later work, especially in the film This Is It!  After releasing the album Bad, he really hadn't made any great song, and, it's really sad to realized that his career and life was almost over when he was barely 30 years old.  What was he doing over the past 20 years?  In the rehearsal scenes, he was only whispering, not really singing.  Elton John and Billy Joel can still sing, so can Sting, and Tina Turner and Sher were both (perhaps) over 50 when they were in the hit chart.

Anyway, I LOVE Journey!  Everyone was amazed by Adam's vocal, but Steve Perry is probably a better vocalist.  If there was the American Idol  back then, he surely would have won.  My dad's generation had Chicago for their background music growing up, and I had Journey and U2 growing up (and of course some idol groups which I feel too ashamed to start naming ...).

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