An overlooked part of Journey’s discography is the four-track EP from 2002 called ‘Red 13’.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Journey
ALBUM: Red 13 EP
LABEL: Indie/Frontiers
SERIAL: FRCD 132
YEAR: 2002
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Steve Augeri – vocals * Neal Schon – guitars, backing vocals * Jonathan Cain – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals * Ross Valory – bass, backing vocals * Deen Castronovo – drums, percussion, backing vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Intro, Red 13 and State Of Grace * 02 The Time * 03 Walking Away From The Edge * 04 I Can Breathe
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
An overlooked part of Journey’s discography is the four-track EP from 2002 called ‘Red 13’. It was released during the brief time that they were without a label. It follows on from 2000’s ‘Arrival’ album, and pre-dates 2005’s ‘Generations’. The band looked to heavy things up, and if one looks back at their work from ‘Revelations’ backward to about the 2001/2002 timeframe, you can hear how a lot of their ideas were sourced from there.
The Songs
The 7 minute opener features three parts: the opening sequence ‘Intro Red 13’, which is all studio and keyboard gimmickry courtesy of Jonathan Cain, sounds cool nonetheless. It sounds like a hi-tech version of Tangerine Dream with racy guitars. It bursts open onto ‘State Of Grace’, an intense rocker where Neal Schon kicks things ticking over with some big sounding riffs.
The relentless surge on ‘The Time’ reminded me a lot of Augeri’s old outfit Tall Stories. The ballad ‘Walking Away From The Edge’ is slow paced stuff, meandering in a space of its own. Steve Augeri sounds great on this one. Schon turns up the flanger effects to 11 on ‘I Can Breathe’, and though not the most convincing of songs, it does get better as it progresses. The latter part sounds like the progression on ‘A Better Life’ from the aforementioned ‘Generations’ CD.
In Summary
There you have it. Four very different songs, but then again, four familiar songs if compared to Journey’s recent output. Not the write-off that other people have written elsewhere on the Net. For Journey fans, another essential piece of the discographic puzzle is filled.
Video
Intro, Red 13 and State Of Grace
I Can Breathe
