Look Into The Future (1976)

Personnel:

Aynsley Dunbar: drums, percussion

Gregg Rolie: keyboards, lead vocals

Neal Schon: guitars, background vocals

Ross Valory: bass, vocals

Produced by Journey for Spreadeagle Productions, a division of Herbert & Bramy, Inc.

Associate producer and engineer: Glen Kolotkin

Recorded by Mark Friedman and mastered by George Horn at CBS Studio, San Francisco

US release date: January 1976

Highest chart position: US: 100

Running time: 41:41

The pattern that manager Herbie Herbert set for the band would repeat until the end of the Frontiers tour. Journey would perform on the road for nine months and then create an album for three months. It was a hard pace and would take its toll on each band member. The first casualty of this approach was rhythm guitarist George Tickner. He left the band in 1975 and went to Stanford to become a surgical technician. Rather than hire a new guitarist, Journey became a quartet. Band members began taking voice lessons and vowed to tighten up their songwriting for their sophomore effort. They went back to CBS Studios in late 1975 to make Look Into The Future, this time self-producing.

A conscious decision to include shorter, radio-friendly songs led to half the tracks being around four minutes or less, crammed onto the album's first side. Columbia wanted hits, but they had difficulty generating ad copy for the record. Telling radio stations and reviewers that Journey's sound was 'heavy space' (lifted from a Billboard review) didn't inspire much airplay.

The few critics who reviewed the album stated that it was an improvement over the debut, but their enthusiasm stopped there. One reviewer was concerned that the shorter songs on the album's first half would not hold up in concert, predicting that 'they will fall into prolonged guitar solos and deteriorate into crashing racket.' If you have seen them live or watched videos from those mid-1970s shows, you'd believe that the California-based critic had seen them live, too.

The cover features blue-tinted full-body photos of the individual band members wearing matching jumpsuits. They are in a beige room with infinite rooms stretching back through doorways behind the figures, and there's a crystal ball in the foreground reflecting all of this. The cover's reverse is identical except that the bodies are silhouettes. Louis Bramy, Herbert's partner in Spreadeagle Productions, created the concept to match the album title. The sleeve replicates the back cover, and the reverse is a set of four band photos taken on the same set used for the cover images.

'On A Saturday Nite' (Rolie) 3:57

Rolie's piano opens this tune, which signals their commitment to recording songs to fit the four-minute window that AM and hit radio stations preferred. This is the first traditionally constructed single by Journey, with a bridge featuring a toned-down Schon solo. Rolie's voice comes through more clearly here than on the debut album. The track lacks personality and emotion. The chorus should be a rousing concert sing-along, but they don't quite build up the song's partying nature. Instead, we get the trite 'on a Saturday night, everything is alright'. What might have been a modest chart hit ends up sounding like album filler. This was released as a single (stereo b/w mono versions) and did not chart. The track is on In The Beginning.

'It's All Too Much' (George Harrison) 4:03

The Beatles put this hazy, spacey Harrison chant on Yellow Submarine. Journey transform it into a rocking pop song. Rolie's more assertive vocal delivery is noticeable; his chants of 'hey, hey, hey' and 'no, no, no' on the bridge sound energetic and convincing. It gallops along as Schon and Rolie create a 'wall of sound' with the guitar and organ. That opening guitar melody is pure pop-rock. Schon repeats the melody around the 3:00 mark.

Journey's only cover on a studio album is a clever remake, bearing little resemblance to the more deliberately psychedelic original. I find it an enjoyable pop tune. It was released as a B-side to 'She Makes Me (Feel Alright)' and collected on In The Beginning.

'Anyway' (Rolie) 4:10

Another Rolie composition opens with his keyboard and Valory's bass slowly setting the stage for Schon's extended Moody Blues-like passages. It's an effective approach, creating a haunting sound, even with Dunbar's drumming at times threatening the laid-back mood. This song is the closest they come to realizing the vision of 'heavy space'. Rolie's lyrics don't delve much deeper than the generic song title, which is endlessly repeated in the chorus. This track is on In The Beginning.

'She Makes Me (Feel Alright)' (music: Schon; words: Rolie, Alex Cash) 3:10

Schon launches a rocker that sounds like Bad Company or Humble Pie. His guitar takes center stage. Even Dunbar's drums take a rare backseat. The lyrics, from Rolie and the San Francisco singer/guitarist/songwriter Alex Cash (sometimes spelled 'Kash', short for 'Kashevaroff'), are about a woman's looks and whether the guy can convince her to spend a little time with him. This is not a common Journey subject in these early days. Many of their songs have an imprecise philosophical take or the generic party vibe of 'To Play Some Music' or 'On A Saturday Nite', so hearing them drift into topics like love and desire is something new. The song rips along its three-minute run time before a fadeout that, for once, sounds natural and planned. This was released as a single with B-side 'It's All Too Much' but did not chart.

'You're On Your Own' (music: Schon, Tickner/words: Rolie) 5:52

The boys do a decent impersonation of The Beatles here, with Rolie sounding like John Lennon in the early verses. Schon's guitar tone is akin to the guitars in 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)'. George Tickner's compositional work appears on the first three studio albums, although he only played on Journey. Time signature changes, such as the move between 4/4 and 6/8 on this track, appear in nearly all the tracks he had a hand in writing. These changes create energy for the instrumental breaks, usually from Schon, but here, as Schon finishes a short guitar solo at the 3:14 mark, Rolie's B3 takes center stage for the next half minute.

When Rolie affects a stylistic vocal with 'We'll try to make up your mind' over and over during the fade, the song could be mistaken for an outtake from Abbey Road. I think it is one of the more interesting tracks on the early records, showcasing the band's instrumental skill and Rolie's evolving vocals. This track is on In The Beginning.

'Look Into The Future' (music: Schon; words: Rolie, Diane Valory) 8:10

This is one of the band's longest tracks, and it deserves much more love and attention. Schon was 21 when he created this. The sound of early Journey is sometimes reminiscent of Cream, but here, it evokes Lynyrd Skynyrd, specifically the first half of 'Free Bird'. Schon keeps the guitar subdued - Schon's solos are examples of control and sincerity - and Valory and Dunbar are also understated in their playing, limiting the flourishes.

Rolie and Diane Valory wrote the lyrics, which explore a person's difficulty in trying to navigate life - but these things seem to work themselves out. The final repeated line of 'It's right around the corner, just around the corner' is poignant and works powerfully with the music, which ends naturally rather than fading out. This is one of my all-time favorite Journey songs. The track is on In The Beginning. If you'd like to hear an excellent remake, check out Gregg Rolie's 2019 solo album Sonic Ranch.

'Midnight Dreamer' (music: Schon; words: Rolie) 5:13

Here's a barn-burning rocker from Schon and Rolie that sounds straight out of the 1960s, like some up-tempo Steppenwolf or Grand Funk. Continuing the lyrical content of 'She Makes Me (Feel Alright)', this five-minute track is done with the vocals by the 1:30 mark. 'Midnight Dreamer' provides a platform for some extended solos and jamming. Schon strums over the groove laid down by Valory and Dunbar, and Rolie kicks off the solos on piano. The keyboard transitions to synthesizer while Schon steadily increases the guitar volume, building anticipation for his solo.

Around the 3:15 mark, the synthesizer gives way to the lead guitar. Schon plays with his usual ferocity, but this solo leaves me cold. He repeats licks three or four times at various points, and I find it musically uninteresting. It slows the momentum and doesn't increase the musical tension. I find myself wondering when the track will end every time I hear it. The song concludes with a stray smack on the floor tom as the mic cuts off.

'I'm Gonna Leave You' (music: Schon, Rolie, Tickner; words: Rolie) 6:58

The final track is another Tickner co-write, this time with Schon and Rolie. The opening sounds like we're...