• ROCK

JOURNEY

Revelation

Nomota LLC

***

The revelation of Journey's new album and lineup is not that this is the best Journey album in 25 years or that the San Francisco band found its new lead singer via YouTube.

That part, actually, is a nice story. When Journey once again needed a front man, founding guitarist Neal Schon trolled the popular video website YouTube and found a Filipino singer covering Journey tunes. The guy, Arnel Pineda, 40, had been homeless at 12 after his mother died and later sang for various bands in the Philippines. When Schon, struck by Pineda's tenor and charisma, contacted him last year via e-mail, Pineda thought it was a hoax.

Revelation, available exclusively at Wal-Mart and the band's website, features a disc of 11 new songs, plus a CD of 11 re-recorded Journey classics and a DVD of a concert shot in March at Las Vegas' Planet Hollywood. Last week, the package sold more than 100,000 copies to become Journey's first Top 5 album in 12 years.

Pineda sounds remarkably like his idol, former vocalist Steve Perry. His high tenor caresses the ballads and soars on the rockers, especially evident on the studiously recorded covers. Journey has had four singers in Perry's spot; technically, drummer Deen Castronovo isn't a replacement, but he handles lead vocals on Mother, Father on the concert DVD and nails that titanium Perry tenor.

Pineda's energy seems to have inspired his revitalized bandmates because Revelation sounds like the true sequel to the 1983 smash Frontiers.Faith in the Heartland, seems to have wandered in off of the remakes disc because it's a re-recording from Journey's 2005 CD, Generations. And the new Jonathan Cain-written ballad, After All These Years, sounds just like the 1983 classic Faithfully. Where Did I Lose Your Love also boasts a hook and the feel of one of Journey's best rockers, Separate Ways (Worlds Apart).

But no one seeks out Journey for originality. Fans come for well-crafted, über mainstream arena rock, and Revelation delivers these guilty pleasures flawlessly and at a fair price, too: $11.88 for the whole bundle.

Pod Picks:Where Did I Lose Your Love, Wildest Dream.

• POP

DENNIS WILSON

Pacific Ocean Blue -- Legacy Edition

Caribou/Legacy

***

Cynics will say, with some accuracy, that when an artist dies, his previously dismissed work becomes overpraised. One could make that case for Dennis Wilson's 1977 solo album Pacific Ocean Blue, now hailed as the first and the best solo album by a member of the Beach Boys. It briefly appeared on CD in 1991 but quickly went out of print. Sony Legacy's lavish, remastered two-CD reissue (or triple-vinyl LP) includes cuts in various states of completion that would have made up Bambu, a proposed follow up album Wilson never finished (he drowned in 1983). As such, POB is worth a reappraisal.

It would be easy to dismiss this music based on Wilson's singing. Years of cocaine and alcohol abuse, plus cigarettes, had turned his already raspy voice even raspier, out of tune, strained and wobbly.

As a time capsule, POB deftly captures the hedonistic West Coast ambience of the late '70s. Wilson's challenging melodies, layered harmonies and widescreen arrangements are darker than big brother Brian's optimistic pop tunes. They aren't instantly accessible. Yet much of this project rewards repeat listens. His subjects range from the ecology (River Song) to the declining state of his marriage to actress Karen Lamm (Thoughts of You) and a eulogy (Farewell My Friend).

Sony has done a fantastic job of repackaging this lost album by including lyrics, insightful essays with links for more information online, period pictures and studio notes.

Pod Picks:Dreamer, River Song, You and I.

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