Journey - Raised on Radio (1986)

 My review of Frontiers was a bit of a change from my usual stance of the music of the band Journey - they're a greatest hits band - and that there were a few songs on the album that were actually good.  I'm not a big fan of Journey - I am quite fond of  their best-selling Greatest Hits compilation album though - but I did think Frontiers was the exception to the rule.  Not so much with Raised on Radio, though.  There's of course the hits, and I think "Suzanne" is an excellent, and perhaps less-appreciated power ballad, but much of the material is either bland or just 'doesn't work' for me the way part of me was hoping it would.  For instance, if "Don't Stop Believin'" is a red supergiant of power ballads, "The Eyes of a Woman" feels like a brown dwarf, swelling with potential, but it comes up short in terms of outright musical luminosity.  "Why Can't This Night Go Forever" and "Positive Touch" frankly, are a bit like that as well.  "Girl Can't Help It", "Be Good To Yourself", "I'll be Alright Without You" are the greatest hits here, and coupled with "Suzanne" are the real talking points on the record.  In fact, if you have Greatest Hits in your collection already, it wouldn't hurt to skip this album and just buy "Suzanne" as a digital single instead.  B