Journey: Greatest Hits

iTunes Review

In the ’80s, Journey was high on the list of bands loved by fans and reviled by critics. Their stadium-ready ballads had little to do with punk, or even mainstream hard rock like the Stones. But today, they’re still heard and embraced – sometimes by the kind of people who sneered the first time around. (Witness the in-concert cover of “Lights” by fellow Bay Area stalwarts Green Day.) With frontman Steve Perry applying lessons learned from Sam Cooke, Journey’s Greatest Hits often sounds like a primer in pop idealism. “Lights” is a mellow smile about the joys of city life, “Any Way You Want It” a tip of the hat to Everygirl. And though “Don’t Stop Believin’” places itself on a scale with the songs that open Olympic games, it’s really all about that one small-town escapee on “the midnight train to anywhere.” These are the small-wonder anthems of a generation (or two).