Your answer is correct, to an extent. Journey or any band needs some kind of promotion to sell records. I agree with you on the Brittney, Backstreet Boys answer. I'm in my late 30's & even though I hate to admit-it, but I like some their stuff, espesically BSB.
It's basically AOR soft pop with melodic hooks, & layered vocals. But the end result is that it's musically strong(arrangements,vocals,sonics material)
I mean look @ Def Leppard with Eurphoria. They got pretty strong promotion-VH1 Behind the Music, VH1 Story tellers, a World Tour to back it up, but the album sales didn't represent it well. Why?? It comes down to the strength of the material. Compared to Hysteria, their's no comparison. Getting back to Journey, if the material's as strong as some are comparing it to Escape or Frontiers, it should do well, if they get some promtion.