A Journey Through Time (album)

Background

The album was Mardones' only release under Crazy Boy Records. The album was originally intended as the soundtrack to the documentary, "Into The Night: The Benny Mardones Story", however the album was released in 2002 as a loosely separated project instead.

The album functions as a musical biography, containing all new recordings. The album saw Mardones recording the songs that are important to him personally, whether they were new songs or covers, where Mardones' illustrated their significance in the liner notes.

On the album, a new 2002 version of "Into the Night" is added whilst an acoustic version is also on the album. The album featured the previously unrecorded song "Fool for Falling in Love", a song written by Mardones and American singer/songwriter Roy Orbison, who was good friends with Mardones. A new version of "Sheila C." is included, which was originally recorded for the 1981 album Too Much to Lose, whilst a bonus track is included, a new version of the track "How Could You Love Me", originally recorded for the 1989 album Benny Mardones, and later re-recorded on the 1995 album Stand By Your Man.

A cover of the 1968 hit soul song "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" is included on the album, which was originally performed as a joint song by American vocal groups Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations. The song was written by Kenneth Gamble, Jerry Williams and Jerry Ross.

"I Need a Miracle" received national play and charted on the American Adult Contemporary charts, peaking at #30 in late 2002. The song "I Want It All" also entered the American Adult Contemporary charts, where it peaked at #25 in early 2003. The two chartings were the first and last time Mardones appeared on the national singles chart other than for "Into the Night".

According to the official American Billboard Magazine of August 31, 2002, the "I Need a Miracle" single had almost four dozen Adult Contemporary outlets who were believers in the song during its first week of release. It was also noted that this was rare for the format and that the record was therefore already garnering major attention.

"I Want It All" was written for Mardones, by wife of Roy Orbison; Barbara Orbison and Swedish songwriter Jörgen Elofsson.

On the album, American songwriter and pianist Jim Brickman makes a guest appearance.

The album was produced by largely by Greg Ross (Owner and founder of legendary punk record label Go-kart Records) and Mardones' own manager Joel Diamond. Jim Ervin who would produce and co-write Mardones' following 2006 album Let's Hear It for Love, as well as his frequent collaborators Duane Evans and Robert Tepper.

Release

The album was released on CD via Crazy Boy Records, and has remained available to purchase on CD ever since. The album can also be downloaded from major sites such as Amazon and iTunes.

"I Need a Miracle" was released as a promotional one track CD in America.

The acoustic version of "Into the Night" was released as a single with a remix of the song by David Jay as the b-side.

Critical Reception

Allmusic.com wrote "This functions a bit as a musical biography, but it's a newly-written one, since all of the songs are new recordings. It's cleanly produced, but not extravagantly so, and Mardones sings with conviction, giving this real spine; if the new version of "Into the Night" is not a patch on the original - which, even if it flies under the radar, is so popular for a reason - it is hardly embarrassing, and the acoustic version reveals that Mardones can still breathe life into a song he's sung countless times. Throughout Journey Through Time he does this, singing his past as if it were his present. This may not win over doubters - after all, his powerful arena rock voice may have limited appeal - but for fans, this is a revealing and successful look back at his career, and a worthy companion to the documentary which, unfortunately, has yet to be released on video."

In the official American Billboard Magazine of August 31, 2002, a positive review of the single "I Need a Miracle" wrote "With another decade gone since "Into the Night" returned to the chart in 1989, Mardones returns with collaborator Robert Tepper. "I Need a Miracle" is clearly a post-Sept. 11 anthem of hope and perseverance, and the mid-tempo showcases the edgy vocalist delivering an emotive performance - think a slightly more mellow Joe Cocker. But the real appeal for many AC stations is the "tribute" version of the song, which contains numerous statements of overt patriotism from "random" Americans. It's a tried-and-true formula that has worked before - remember Dennis DeYoung's "Desert Moon"? - and while it may be perceived as pretty cheesy at points (particularly with teary, melodramatic statements like, "We may not even be here tomorrow" and "We're Americans and nothing's going to get us down"), the song certainly works hard to tug at the heartstrings - and at what better time, with the first anniversary of our nation's greatest tragedy a mere month away. Look for Mardones to release full-length "A Journey Through Time" in September."

Personnel