Frontiers
managed to give
Journey
four Top 40 hits, with
"After the Fall"
and
"Send Her My Love"
both reaching number 23,
"Faithfully"
at number 12, and
"Separate Ways"
peaking at number eight -- the same amount that 1981's
Escape
brandished. While they tried to use the same musical recipe as
,
comes up a little short, mainly because the keyboards seem to overtake both
Schon
's guitar playing and
Steve Perry
's strong singing. An overabundance of
Jonathan Cain
's synth work cloaks the quicker tunes and seeps into the
ballads
, slightly widening the strong partnership of
Perry
.
tried to match the powerful beauty of
"Open Arms,"
and while it's a gorgeous
ballad
, it just comes inches away from conjuring up the same soft magic.
grabs attention right off the bat with stinging synthesizer and a catchy guitar riff, and
emphasizes
's keen ability to pour his heart out. The rest of the songs on the album lack the warmth that
is famous for, especially in their mix of fervor and intimacy shown on this album's predecessor. ~ Mike DeGagne