| Eclipse | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 24, 2011 | |||
| Recorded | 2010–2011 | |||
| Studio | Fantasy Studios (Berkeley, California) The Blue Loft, County Q Nashville and Quad Nashville (Nashville, Tennessee) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 66:20 | |||
| Label | Nomota LLC(US) Frontiers(Europe) Universal(rest of Asia) LOEN(South Korea) King(Japan) | |||
| Producer | Kevin Shirley,Neal Schon,Jonathan Cain | |||
| Journey chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Eclipse | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Rolling Stone | [2] |
Eclipse (stylized asECL1P53) is the fourteenth studio album byAmericanrock bandJourney and the second with lead singerArnel Pineda.[3] Penned byNeal Schon andJonathan 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 bassistRoss Valory, who was dismissed from the group in 2020.
Eclipse was recorded in Berkeley, CA. As the album was near completion, producerKevin Shirley ran out of time. In an effort for the band to release the album in time for the tour,Neal Schon andJonathan 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 onEclipse 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 supportedEclipse, 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 four ballads, including "Anything Is Possible", which hit number twenty-one on theBillboardAdult Contemporary chart.[6]
Eclipse was released on May 24, 2011. In North America it was exclusively sold atWal-Mart.[7]Eclipse sold 21,400 copies in the United States in its debut week, reaching No. 13 on the USBillboard 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 descended from the charts within weeks.Eclipse was unable to match the success ofRevelation, 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 ofAllmusic also ratedEclipse 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]
Though Journey enjoyed the process of recordingEclipse, 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]
All tracks are written byNeal Schon andJonathan Cain except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(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" |
| 5:15 |
| 11. | "Someone" | 4:35 | |
| 12. | "Venus" (instrumental) | Schon | 3:34 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Don't Stop Believin'" (live, from the recordings ofLive in Manila) |
| 7:12 |
| 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 |
| USBillboard 200[22] | 13 |
| USIndependent Albums (Billboard)[23] | 4 |
| USTop Rock Albums (Billboard)[24] | 4 |
| 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 |
| Studio albums | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack albums | |
| EPs | |
| Live albums | |
| Compilation albums | |
| Singles |
|
| Videos | |
| Documentaries | |
| Tours | |
| Video games | |
| Related articles | |
