Before
Journey became one of the top pop/rock acts of the early '80s with a string of arena rock anthems and power ballads, the group had a more detectable prog and fusion edge -- while guitarist
Neal Schon's earliest work was with the very un-
Journey-like
Carlos Santana. So at the height of
Journey's popularity, it appeared as though
Schon wanted to get back to his fusion roots by uniting with keyboard wizard
Jan Hammer. However, the resulting album, 1981's
Untold Passion, wasn't going to be confused with
Mahavishnu Orchestra anytime soon -- tracks such as "I'm Talking to You" wasn't much different from
Journey's melodic rock style, while "Hooked on Love" saw
Schon (who also doubled as vocalist) replicate
Paul Rodgers' singing style. That said, the funky keyboard/guitar duel "The Ride" gave both
Schon and
Hammer a chance to show off their chops.
Untold Passion seems to lean toward the more melodic rock side of things, rather than finger-spraining chops.
–
Greg Prato, Rovi