You would think that they could get it right with two discs to work with this time, but "The Essential Journey" is only partially deserving of its title. True, all the big hits are included (the 15 that appeared on the original "Greatest Hits" are also here), and justice is restored to previously shunned favorites like "Stone In Love", "The Party's Over (Hopelessly In Love)", "After The Fall", "Still They Ride", "Just The Same Way" and "Escape". But there are still a bunch of greats that were left off in favor of lame "what-the-hell-is-this-one-here-for" type songs. I mean, since when are "The Eyes of A Woman", "Mother, Father", and "Something To Hide" considered essential, while high-airplay singles like "Walks Like A Lady", "Why Can't This Night Go On Forever", "Suzanne" (a Top 20 Hit!) and "City of Angels" are not? Not only that, but even though this collection rightfully includes the classic "Anytime", it does not include the song "Feeling That Way" which almost always preceeds it when heard on the radio. For Journey fans, this would be like Queen putting "We Are The Champions" on a best-of without "We Will Rock You" right before it! Same goes for "Stay Awhile" (which admittedly sounds a lot like "Lights"), which was always played right after "Good Morning Girl" on the radio. "Good Morning Girl" is here, "Stay Awhile" is not, and GMG seems lost without its companion. Don't get me wrong, I do like the songs "Something To Hide" and "The Eyes of A Woman" a lot, but I think they should've been shelved in favor of better-known fare. At any rate, this is definitely the best Journey compilation out there (better than the spotty "Time3"), but I sometimes wonder what the people in charge of song selection are thinking when they put these things together.

Growing up in the 80's, I was always aware of Journey, but I never really took notice of them until the mid-90's, when I was in college. I never realized how many hits these guys cranked out over the years until I happened upon one of their greatest hits albums in a friend's dorm room. He had to leave for the evening and I stayed behind to play video games. I put the disc on and the memories began to flood back to me. I instantly remembered all of the songs as they played over the speakers. I was caught up in the old days, and I was loving it.

This album, "The Essential Journey," includes all of the hits from the album my friend had and many other songs that radio fans such as myself may not have been aware of. The first disc is the best in my opinion, because it includes the bulk of their hit material. The second disc is good as well because, for the most part, it introduces fans like myself to a side of Journey they weren't aware of.

This is a good compilation to pick up if you love to sing along with Steve Perry while you're cruising down the highway. Obvious hits like "Lights," "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," and later hits like "When You Love A Woman" are all here. The power ballad of all power ballads, "Open Arms," and its closest competitor, "Faithfully," in this collection as well.

Highly recommended.

There are a couple of key songs missing from this compilation. Most notably, Why Can't This Night Go On Forever is absent. This was a big radio and video hit for Journey in '86....so why was this gem passed up? My other gripe is that not 1 of Neal Schon's heavy guitar instrumentals(featuring Greg Rolie's lead vocals) from Journey's first 3 albums are in this 2 CD lineup....not 1! It would've been refreshing to see: Of A Lifetime or I'm Gonna Leave You on here, from the pre-Steve Perry era.

I am very pleased, however, with the inclusion of: Stone In Love, Chain Reaction, After The Fall and When You Love A Woman....4 great chart hits! I would highly recommend this double CD compilation to any Journey fan; for the more "hard core" Journey enthusiast- I think the 3 CD box set, TIME3, would be your best bet....otherwise, invest some time and money in purchasing the entire Journey catalog on CD.

Journey is truly one of the greatest bands in Rock history! I still believe that Perry is the reason for Journey's success....his voice is incomparable with other great singers in this genre of music!

For those looking for the best greatest hits compilation from Journey during the Steve Perry years, this is it. Disc One contains the songs that were released on Greatest Hits but

adds When You Love A Woman and After The Fall but pushes Be Good To Yourself to the second disc. All of the biggest radio mainstay hits are here including Wheel In The Sky, Faithfully, Any Way You Want It, Who's Crying Now, Open Arms, and Lovin'

Touchin' Squeezin'.

Naming any compilation set "The Essential" means that the set must go beyond the greatest hits and give a deeper listen to the music of the band. Disc Two is supposed to provide that depth. This disc actually does a pretty good job of doing so, but it is not perfect. Songs like Patiently (the first song that Neil Schon and Steve Perry wrote together), Still They Ride, Just The Same Way, Message Of Love, and The Party's Over(Hopelessly In Love) are all there. From there, selections are really just subjective choices by whomever put together this compilation.

Some of these choices are suspect when compared to what had been left off. For example, Anytime was rightfully included, but Feeling That Way, which is still played prior to Anytime on rock radio, was omitted. Good Morning Girl was included, but Stay

I like the selections of Mother, Father and The Eyes Of A Woman, but the latter meant the probable demise of top twenty hit Suzanne from this collection, and that was a likely mistake. Chain Reaction, Escape, Line Of Fire, and Baby I'm A Leavin' You are all good songs, but in my opinion, they are not as essential as Majestic, Too Late, Where Were You, and Why Can't This Night Go On Forever.

What is upsetting is that the discs come in at about 67 and 63 minutes respectively, so there was room to add some of these additional songs without having to delete the ones already there. I guess this could be called The Almost Essential Journey, as it is obviously incomplete, but is still the best one shot Journey compilation available. For those music buyers looking to hear what the fuss was all about, this is a much better pick up than the previously released one disc Greatest Hits. I will rate it a full 5 stars, because the music that is here is great, but it could have been even better had the song selection been slightly expanded.

If you agree with this statement, you might be disspointed with this collection of Journey...how can you have Anytime without Feeling That Way? It isn't right. Better than Greatest Hits but still not as good as having the old albums. Get Infinity first.