There is nothing better than reminiscing about the awesomeness of the 80s. And no two bands scream that era louder than Journey and Foreigner (due tomorrow night at Comfort Dental Amphitheater). Journey, once led by lead singer Steve Perry, carries us through the depths of love and heartache like no other. While Foreigner let us feel the pain and heartache with a little more of a rock edge. Sure a plethora of their songs sound vaguely the same, but there is always one winner. A ton of these band's songs have reached iconic status, but not everyone can win. Thus, we present you with an '80s band deathmatch: Foreigner vs. Journey!
"Open Arms" vs. "Waiting For A Girl Like You"
Tale of the Tape: Although both songs are equally cheesalicious, we have to choose a winner based solely on how many times we've heard these sweet, sweet jams on not only the rad Walgreen's sound system, but how many love mixes we have with these songs on them. "Open Arms" holds strong because it's difficult to top Steve Perry's sincerely soft vocals; "Waiting For a Girl Like You," on the other hand, tugs at our unrealistic heart strings because women secretly want every man to say those words to her.
Scorecards/Judges Decision: "Open Arms." There's no person on this planet that doesn't enjoy a good begging on hands and knees. Plus, Steve Perry's vocals blow Mick Jones' out of the water. Every. Single. Time.
"Who's Crying Now" vs. "I Want to Know What Love Is"
Tale of the Tape: We don't know why something good can hurt so badly, but we like that those lyrics are in a Journey song. Released in 1981, "Who's Crying Now" hits our revenge nerve, and that always makes us smile. On the other side of our dueling duo, "I Want to Know What Love Is" is the terr-awesomely predictable, lonely, love ballad. We were hard-pressed to find anyone that hadn't rolled up their car windows and belted this baby out at least one time in their lives.
Scorecards/Judges Decision: This was a difficult choice, but once we lit some candles and watched the corresponding music videos, our choice was clear. We wanna know what love is!!!! Now Sway Dammit!
"Don't Stop Believing" vs. "Cold As Ice"
Tale of the Tape: We've all been with that complete and utter jerkhole that shows no emotion, and that mutual respect for our shared heartache made fans clamor around their radios in 1977. The keyboard and synthesizing is hypnotizing. "Don't Stop Believing" also has it's hypnotic charm, but it stands out in this competition. We always hate to throw such a synthesized keyboard solo under the bus, but when Journey wrote "Don't Stop Believing" we don't think Steve Perry and the fellas understood the absolute importance of this song in karaoke bars all around the world.
Scorecards/Judges Decision: We want to take a moment to thank Journey for singing and playing something that we can all drunkenly belt out at 7 p.m. on a random Tuesday. Thank you, Steve Perry. Thank you.
"Wheel in the Sky" vs. "Double Vision"
Tale of the Tape: "Wheel in The Sky" rocked people in 1978 and still makes us yearn for more. So much so that we'll pay way too much for concert tickets just to sing along with this classic. "Double Vision," however, reaches us in our deep, down and dirty place. We aren't sure if it's the guitar or the message, but we can't get enough of the melody.
Scorecards/Judges Decision: Another 1978 hit, the rumor is that it's about hitting your head, but we prefer to think Mick Jones' understands our addictive personalities and tendency to drink way too much at lunch, so we declare the winner to be Foreigner! And liquid lunches.
"Any Way You Want It" vs. "Urgent"
Tale of the Tape: We understand that most of Foreigner's songs sound similar, but there's something special about "Urgent's" message. We commend this 1981 jam for including a bomb-diggity saxophone solo and bringing slutty, drug addicts an anthem. Of course, we don't know if that was the theme Foreigner was hoping for when they wrote the song, but that's how we see it. The message of "Any Way You Want It," on the other hand, cannot be mistaken at all. It's definitely not the most difficult song lyrics ever written, but we commend these fellas for also acknowledging the ladies who clearly will do anything for a good time and who also "loves the lovin'" things.
Scorecards/Judges Decision: Although, we appreciate Journey's half-hearted attempt to compete with Foreigner's slutty message, Foreigner's "Urgent" is the winner. Go drug addicts and whores! WOOOO!
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