4 out of 5 Stars!
Before the group hired Steve Perry and became mega-stars of the AOR/Arena-Rock genre, Journey was a band struggling to find a unique sound. The first album leaned toward a Prog-Rock style, with each of the two subsequent albums becoming more commercial. Look Into the Future, the band’s second, seemed a nice marriage between both styles.
Side A is more Hard Rock and AOR-oriented (and includes catchy tracks such as “On A Saturday Nite” and “She Make Me Feel Alright”—you can easily imagine Steve Perry singing these tunes).
Side B, however, contains only three lengthier, more Prog-oriented tunes, including the hypnotic title track, the almost Santana-esque “Midnight Dreamer,” and “I’m Gonna Leave You,” which features killer guitar and keyboard soloing, a slamming rhythm section, and odd time signatures, which helped to make this my favorite among the original trio of pre-Perry albums.