The Journey is less a new Big Country album than a new project by Big Country guitarist Bruce Watson and drummer Mark Brzezicki, along with The Alarm's Mike Peters, Watson's son Jamie, and bassist Derek Forbes. Not surprisingly, the sound is closer to the anthemic stretches of The Alarm than Big Country's subtler attack. Listeners should be comfortable with Peters' approach in order to enjoy the first album under the Big Country name in 14 years, which comes almost 12 years after the tragic death of the band's lead singer and songwriter, Stuart Adamson, in December 2001. For those who stick around, allusions to the old band are found in the lyrics to "In a Broken Promised Land," while "Another Country" shows traces of the wide-open vistas of the original band's best work. Primarily, however, this is the sound of '80s-styled arena rock in the vein of U2 and The Alarm, and listeners who enjoy that era's earnest convictions will be right at home here among the chiming guitars and grand, over-the-top lead vocals.