Eclipse (Journey album)

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Eclipse
Studio album by
Journey
ReleasedMay 24, 2011
Recorded2010–2011
StudioFantasy Studios (Berkeley, California)
The Blue Loft, County Q Nashville and Quad Nashville (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre
Length66:20
LabelNomota LLC (US)
Frontiers (Europe)
Universal (rest of Asia)
LOEN (South Korea)
King (Japan)
ProducerKevin Shirley, Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain
Journey chronology
Revelation
(2008) 		Eclipse
(2011) 		Greatest Hits 2
(2011)
Singles from Eclipse
  1. "City of Hope"
    Released: April 4, 2011
  2. "Human Feel"
    Released: April 4, 2011
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Rolling Stone[2]

Eclipse (stylized as ECL1P53) is the fourteenth studio album by American rock band Journey and the second with lead singer Arnel Pineda.[3] Penned by Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain with contributions from Pineda, the album was released in the United States and Canada on May 24, 2011, on May 27, 2011, in Japan, in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2011, and internationally on June 3, 2011. It is the last album to feature bassist Ross Valory, who was dismissed from the group in 2020.

Production[edit]

Eclipse was recorded in Berkeley, CA. As the album was near completion, producer Kevin Shirley ran out of time. In an effort for the band to release the album in time for the tour, Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain produced the remaining tracks in Nashville. The album was a departure, focusing on a harder rock sound rather than the formulaic pop hits and ballads. Schon, feeling the pop formula became repetitive, wanted to experiment on Eclipse and make it more guitar-oriented and less radio-friendly. Shirley had trepidation about the direction of the album, clashing with Schon creatively. Many of the tracks were re-recorded in Nashville under Schon and Cain's production.[4] Cain supported Eclipse, saying "we’d had this concept in mind from the get go. We’ve got the ballads we can play all day long. If people want to hear ballads, they can certainly find them on other records."[5]

Despite this intentional change in sound, it does feature at least one ballad, "Anything Is Possible", which hit number twenty-one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.[6]

Release and reception[edit]

Eclipse was released on May 24, 2011. In North America it was exclusively sold at Wal-Mart.[7] Eclipse sold 21,400 copies in the United States in its debut week, reaching No. 13 on the US Billboard 200 chart.[8] Eclipse marks Journey's second straight Top 20 album with current lead singer, Arnel Pineda. Internationally, Eclipse entered the Top 40 album charts in five different countries.

Despite high chart positions it quickly descended from the charts within weeks. Eclipse was unable to match the success of Revelation, barely selling 100,000 copies—an 1/8th of the previous album's sales.[9]

Eclipse received mixed to negative reviews. Rolling Stone reviewer Caryn Ganz rated the album at two stars, saying "Journey's second disc with Filipino YouTube discovery Arnel Pineda on vocals is both grand and distractingly proggy."[10] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic also rated Eclipse at two stars, praising Journey's ability to fuse their prog-rock abilities with their arena rock sound; however, he goes on to say the album "pulsates with a certain insular chill that isn't especially welcoming; this is music made for the musicians, and if anybody else happens to like it, that's just a minor bonus."[11]

Aftermath[edit]

Though Journey enjoyed the process of recording Eclipse, they considered its lack of success a career setback. They became skeptical of recording a new album, focusing primarily on live performances. Jonathan Cain said "we have a great catalogue here, right now to play. We got a lot of songs that we're not even playing. So, we're like, 'What's the point of makin' a new CD right now?'". Cain did not rule out the possibility of another album, which he says "I think we need to stay sort of closer to who we are, to who we've been -- great songs, great melodies, harmonies -- and not worry about if it's heavy or not. Our fans are getting older, man; they're not headbangers anymore. So if we do anything, I think we need to go back to the center."[12]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."City of Hope" 6:02
2."Edge of the Moment" 5:27
3."Chain of Love" 6:10
4."Tantra" 6:27
5."Anything Is Possible" 5:21
6."Resonate" 5:11
7."She's a Mystery"
6:41
8."Human Feel" 6:44
9."Ritual" 4:57
10."To Whom It May Concern"
  • A. Pineda
  • Schon
  • Cain
  • Erik Pineda
5:15
11."Someone" 4:35
12."Venus" (instrumental)Schon3:34
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Don't Stop Believin'" (live, from the recordings of Live in Manila)
7:12

Personnel[edit]

Band members
Production
  • Kevin Shirley – producer
  • Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain – co-producers
  • David Kalmusky – engineer, mixing, mastering[13]
  • James McCullagh, Alberto Hernandez, Jesse Nichols – engineers
  • Casey Barker, Jason Hall, Brett Lind, Alex Dolphin – assistant engineers
  • Travis Shinn – photography

Charts[edit]

2011 weekly chart performance for Eclipse
Chart (2011) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 56
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] 44
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 14
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[17] 19
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] 22
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 24
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 24
UK Albums (OCC)[21] 33
US Billboard 200[22] 13
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[23] 4
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[24] 4

Release history[edit]

Region Date Label Format
United States[3] May 24, 2011 Nomota LLC CD, digital download
South Korea[25] Evolution Music, LOEN Entertainment
Japan[26] May 27, 2011 King Records
Europe[27] Frontiers

References[edit]

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Journey Eclipse review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  2. ^ Ganz, Caryn (June 7, 2011). "Journey - Eclipse". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  3. ^ a b Weatherford, Mike (18 February 2011). "Journey giving preview of new album at Planet Hollywood". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  4. ^ "Neal Schon: Doing it his way". Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  5. ^ "Journey's Jonathan Cain Explains Message Of New 'Eclipse' Album". Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  6. ^ "Chart History - Journey". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2023-01-02.
  7. ^ "Journey announce new album "Eclipse"". Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  8. ^ "Eclipse Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  9. ^ "Journey unlikely to record another album". Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  10. ^ "Eclipse - Album Reviews". Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  11. ^ "Eclipse - Album Reviews". Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  12. ^ "Journey skeptical of making another album". Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  13. ^ The Official David Kalmusky Web-Site
  14. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Journey – Ecl1ps3" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  15. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Journey – Ecl1ps3" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  16. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Journey – Ecl1ps3" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  17. ^ "エクリプス". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  18. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  19. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Journey – Ecl1ps3". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  20. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Journey – Ecl1ps3". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  21. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  22. ^ "Journey Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  23. ^ "Journey Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  24. ^ "Journey Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  25. ^ Eclipse (Journey album) (MelOn.com)
  26. ^ Eclipse (Journey album) (mora)
  27. ^ "Journey - Eclipse". Frontiers Records. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
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