Of course, it all begins with the original. Classic, it's awesome, and people keep re-making it. 'Nuff said.
Next up chronologically is the Rock of Ages musical version, which I annoyingly cannot find a full version of on YouTube at the moment, so this will have to do. The backing instrumentals stay pretty true to guitar and piano of the original, though being a Broadway show, the cast of course takes liberties with their performances. Not a big fan of the unnecessary reminder that south Detroit is in "Michigan!" Overall, though, it seems like the main goal was to stick close to the original but convert it into an ensemble performance. Also, the album version of the recording includes this awesome instrumental cover as an "after-credits" type bonus:
Then Glee came along, and all hell broke loose. Some fans of the original (myself included) loved the Glee remake. I thought the way they arranged the song for show choir was clever, and while it shared some similarities with the Rock of Ages arrangement, overall it was a completely separate and different piece from both the Rock of Ages version and the original Journey version. From what I've been able to gather, that's also what a lot of people hated about it. Peruse some of the YouTube comments on either the Glee track or the Journey original and you'll see people bemoaning that Glee took what was originally a rock anthem and turned it into something else, notwithstanding the fact that the instrumental backing still features a healthy dose of electric guitar. The Glee version also dramatically changed the key of the song, probably to make it a bit more manageable for Cory Monteith, but is that really a huge crime? I think some people just feel that Journey shouldn't be touched, period, which I find to be mildly ridiculous.
The Glee version also spawned a pretty cool cover by Sam Tsui. Musically not super different from the Glee version, though of course it has Sam's own imprint on it.
After owning the pop charts and introducing a whole generation of tweens to Journey, Glee took a second bite at the apple with a refreshed version of Don't Stop Believing (one of three tracks in an epic Journey medley) in its Season One finale episode, appropriately titled "Journey." This version is clearly a close sibling of the version that aired in the Season One premiere, but the cast had expanded over the course of the season so the arrangement features even more backing vocals, as well as a few new solos. It also sounds like they added more strings to the instrumental, which I'm sure enraged the Journey die-hards even more because it shifts even further from the song's rock origins. Personally, I think this is one of the best arrangements to come out of Glee over its three seasons and counting. From Season Two onward the show seemed to drift away from creative show choir arrangements, and a lot of the later songs have much more of a "karaoke" feel, which I find unfortunate.
And that brings me to the version that spawned this post in the first place, the new Rock of Ages movie soundtrack version. My impression so far is that it seems like a total mish-mash of the Glee versions, the Rock of Ages Broadway version, and the original Journey version... and somehow, it works. It opens with a Glee-Regionals-esque string and piano rendition of the now well-known intro. The electric guitar fades in after awhile and becomes more prominent throughout the rest of the track, which sounds much more rock by the end. The vocals have more of a rock feel than the Glee versions, although they still seem much more pop in comparison to Steve Perry. Interestingly, there are already comments on YouTube for this version opining that this version is superior to the Glee version -- tacitly admitting that the Glee version is the standard to beat, which I don't think is what the Glee haters had in mind at all.
While I think my favorite remake is still the Glee Regionals version, this is definitely a close second. If it had included the badass instrumental riff that was at the end of the Broadway version, it might have even topped Glee in my book.
I couldn't figure out a good way to close out this post, so I'll just tack in this clip, which is awesome because it combines one of my favorite TV shows, Scrubs, with Journey.
