Last summer, I saw Journey (with, as noted, the sound-alike singer - in fact, the second of the post-Perry era) and Def Leppard at the Concord Sleeptrain Pavillion (yes, matress-superstore sponsored) in the Bay Area. A good time was had by all.

At the time, I noted that, much as I wanted to say I enjoyed Don't Stop Believing with tongue-firmly-in-cheek, they lit up the crowd with it, and everyone I could see (kids too young to have been there first time around etc.) was loving it. We were having a much less ironically-flavoured good time than I was perhaps ready to admit.

But all that really tells me is that Journey craft note-perfect summer shed-rock. Personally, I thought it was an excellent choice (Tony listens to classic rock radio in his SUV, 'Smoke on the Water' as I recall...) and, as someone else noted, that's soul music to the bridge & tunnel crowd. It's simultaneously as shallow and waist-deep in broad-strokes emotion as Tony has shown himself to be. Chase steered clear of every expected mob cliche and nailed it.

But everything it tells us about Tony is everything that's vapid about it. Journey are to Led Zeppelin as Bon Jovi are to the E Street Band (not in terms of "obvious inspiration" but simply well-crafted, radio friendly pop-sheen). If Tony has a favorite Springsteen album, you know fine well it's Born in the USA.

Still, I suppose, "Journey do indeed kinda suck" gets you nowhere in an editorial pitch meeting.

LOVED reading this for a number of reasons. I'm a former musician and I've always been a music freak, and Journey was a big part of my formative years. Saw them live several times in the Bay Area. I kind of pushed them away from my consciousness and most likely derided them aloud as I grew older like we do so many things (friends, hometowns) that are part of our formative years -- I guess because how else can we gain perspective unless we get distance? I became Miss Indie snob. My bands played, for lack of a better word, "alternative" music. But in recent years I've finally given myself permission to love what I love, one of those luxuries of getting older. I love the Decemberists, I love Sufjan Stevens, I love Led Zep and AC/DC, and out of nostalgia, I listened to Journey's "Infinity" from start to finish a few months ago...and I was embarrassed. At *myself.* Because it sounded FANTASTIC. Not just because it was evocative of a time and place, but for all the reasons you described. Virtuoso musicianship, fabulous production, pop arrangements that aren't mindless, incredible vocals, and yeah, they're not profound lyrics, but so what? It's rock. We can't all be Leonard Cohen. :) Anyway, that whole record soars, as does much of their other stuff. It made me thoroughly happy. I was moved. I felt like I'd discovered something, and in a way I had. I'm not sure we need to rank Journey against other rock legends -- let's just love them for what they are. I'm glad we're talking about Journey, and glad they got some airtime. As I wrote on my high school desk, "Journey rules." Thanks for the post.

While I have nothing to offer on the worthiness of Journey, did anyone catch Steve Perry's comments today on how the Sopranos finale "got" the essence of the song, because when the lyric about "streetlight people" comes up, the camera moves to show a streetlight? Deep, man.

Again, it's not that Journey is untalented, it's that they came off so safe and bland. In the 1980s, they were "hard rock" for college girls who didn't really like rock - who found Van Halen, for example, "too hard rock." They similarly preferred Lionel Richie to Prince, and found Alabama good country music.

To each her own; just not for me, thanks.

Maybe my feelings about Steve Perry's voice are influenced by the fact that I came up in a soul, R&B and Motown tradition, not a rock tradition. The first time I heard that soaring, gorgeous, elastic wonder of a vocal instrument singing over that flashy, punchy keyboard and guitar, it spoke to me.

I understand that they weren't the hardest rocking band in the world, but I kind of always thought that by having a singer with obvious soul influences leading your rock band, they were going for something a little different than just standard rocking. Steve Perry, like Chris Cornell, is a rock singer who can actually sing, not just scream. Don't get me wrong - I love the rock music now, and screaming can get me going. But there's no denying Perry's vocal gift, even when it's piped over cheesy lyrics.

Although I never really liked Journey's music, I have always admired Steve Perry's vocals. That guy can sing. He is never flat or sharp, his pitch is always spot on. He manages to hit really high notes without ever straining to reach them. His vocals really do soar. I saw the current Journey on television a while back and was amused to see that they have managed to find another singer who sounds just like him, only he's younger.

I admire you for writing about what you want to write about rather than making up some drivel about the latest darling of the hipster scene. If I had been lucky enough to get a job writing about music, believe me, my favorites would get a lot of pub from me.

But Journey? Didn't they have two hit songs? Maybe one good album? Is next week's column going to focus on the genius of Toni Basil?

I'm guessing that you didn't get the memo, David, that music critics must wax poetic about Joy Division and Wilco while pissing all over time-tested groups like Led Zeppelin and Queen.

Slagging off Journey isn't about 80s embarrasment. They just aren't that great.

A whole bunch of "Journey" related letters with not one reference to Randy "American Idol" Jackson? Forget the Sopranos finale...what does THIS mean, people?

BTW at least half of the population of the City of Chicago and environs hate "Don't Stop Believin'". I'm referring to Cubs fans. The other half - White Sox fans - love the song because it was the theme song for the Pale Hose's World Series run.