My journey of Journey

[Tony]

I did this on Facebook as well as my blog. I went and reviewed every Journey album from their beginnings in 1975 to their latest album in 2008. I'll post them here, in order, along with some important related albums.

[Tony]

Journey

First album I gave a whirl was their self titled album Journey. This album dates to 1975 before Steve Perry joined the group. These guys were a tight knit group who really didn't plan on getting all that famous. They were more interested in their progressive rock sound and guitar solos then power ballads and sold out stadiums.

Lead guitar man Neal Schon was heralded as a child prodigy when he dropped out of high school at 15 to tour with Santana. His guitar playing is one of the best in the rock business and can definitely be seen throughout the entire album. There is little singing in this album and if there is any it is just a few lines here and there that definitely has that 70s progressive rock sound.

The line-up for Journey's debut album was Neal Schon on lead, George Tickner on rhythm, Gregg Rolie on vocals and keyboard, Ross Valory on bass and piano, and Aynsley Dunbar on drums.

As a whole, I'm not really into the album. I'm not a big fan of progressive rock and I started to drift many times listening to the album instead of concentrating on it. There were no lyrics to pay attention to, just the sound of the instruments to lull you away.

My favorite song out of it, if I had to choose, would be the first track on the album, Of A Lifetime. It starts of a little slow, has some singing, a great guitar solo, and ends pretty nicely.


Track Listing:
1. "Of a Lifetime"
2. "In the Morning Day"
3. "Kohoutek"
4. "To Play Some Music"
5. "Topaz"
6. "In My Lonely Feeling" / "Conversations"
7. "Mystery Mountain"

[Tony]

Look Into The Future

1976 rolls around and rhythm guitarist George Tickner leaves the band to go to medical school leaving just four men: Neal Schon, Gregg Rolie, Ross Valory, Aynsley Dunbar. These four men will form the nucleus of Journey for the next two albums until Steve Perry hops aboard with pressure from their manager Herbie Herbert.

Look Into the Future gets away from that progressive rock style that heavily saturated their music in Journey. They kinda have a blues or jazz twist to it, but still retains that progressive rock style. Schon still rocks out most of the songs with a guitar solo or two letting everyone know that he is still the man.

If you listen to the beginning of the song "I'm Gonna Leave You" you can hear a familiar set of chords. Many speculate that this inspired the guitar riff for Kansas' "Carry On Wayward Son". As far as I know, neither band has officially said anything. It would be, however, nice to know what they think.

As for my favorite song for this album, I think it would have to be "Look Into The Future". It is a little softer than their other songs. Rolie gives some nice soothing, soft vocals. And as it is traditional with Journey it gives us a sweet guitar solo that we can all rock out to with our air guitars.

Up next, is Next.


Track Listing:
1. "On a Saturday Night"
2. "It's All Too Much"
3. "Anyway"
4. "She Makes Me (Feel Alright)"
5. "You're on Your Own"
6. "Look into the Future"
7. "Midnight Dreamer"
8. "I'm Gonna Leave You"

[Tony]

Next

It is 1977. Groovy, baby. Eh, maybe not. Journey has released their third album titled Next. As with their last two albums Journey keeps their progressive rock sound fused with jazz and a tint of blues. Rolie provides more vocals than he has in the last two albums making this actually more pleasant to listen to.

Overall, there isn't much to say about the album. Their first track titled "Spaceman" is a little weird, but its all right. I never really imagined Journey singing about space, that's all.

My favorite song of the album, which isn't saying much, would have to be "I Would Find You". The beginning of it makes me think I'm watching a western and the main character is wandering the desert.

This continuation of the same old style is probably what pushed Herbie Herbert, their manager, to find a better lead singer and get more airtime on the radio. Although the band felt that they were fine with where they were and how they were playing, Herbie felt otherwise. With sales low and the threat of cutting the band loose from Columbia records, Herbie went on a search for a lead singer. Little did he know that one demo tape, which had listened to many times before and rejected, will finally find its place in the music industry.

Steve Perry will make his rock debut in the album Infinity, the next album in Journey's journey.


Track Listing:
1. "Spaceman"
2. "People"
3. "I Would Find You"
4. "Here We Are"
5. "Hustler"
6. "Next"
7. "Nickel and Dime"
8. "Karma"

[Tony]

Infinity

1978, a guitar plays a few slow notes, you hear some drums, and out pours from the speakers is The Voice singing "When the lights go down in the city". Steve Perry, who will go down in rock history, has joined Journey.

After three relatively unsuccessful commercial albums Herbie Herbert, the manager of Journey, pushes a lead singer onto the group in hopes that this will give them some radio time and bring in some money. If not, Columbia Records will cut 'em loose. Herbie probably knew that Journey would be successful, but he needed to find that last piece.

After going through many many demo tapes he came across one that had been resurfacing time and time again. Steve Perry, a Connecticut native, had been trying to get into the music business for some time. He had done music for commercials and had been in several bands that never fell through. His latest one, Alien Project, looked the most promising. After a tragic accident which left the band without a bass player and without the desire to continue forward, Perry felt that he should give up on music.

When Perry heard about Journey looking for a lead singer he debated trying. He had failed so many times before that he thought it would be useless to try. His mother, however, thought otherwise and encouraged him to try again. Once Herbie heard that tape again he knew that Perry would fit into the band perfectly. And thus one of the greatest rock bands were born.

The band, however, had recruited Robert Fleischman. He had been with the band for nine months before leaving when Herbie Herbert fired him in favor of Steve Perry. Fleischman had written a few of the hits on the upcoming album. Most notably was the song "Wheel In The Sky" as well as "Anytime" and "Winds of March". His only song that he recorded with the band, "For You" appears on the compilation album Time3.

Infinity, released in 1978 through Columbia Records, is quite different from Journey's previous albums. No longer is their music heavily saturated with the progressive rock sound. Instead the music is a lot more rock and complements the singing rather than the singing complementing the music.

Lights, the first track and my favorite Journey song out of them all, was written by Perry himself. It features him just singing rather than the other tracks which still have Rolie singing in conjunction with Perry.

Guitar solos are still prevalent in the album and will continue to be through the career of Journey. Journey had originally been focused on Neal Schon and his guitar playing skills. Now that there was a singer for the band his solos became shortened, but less prevalent in the music.

Herbie Herbert enlisted the help of Roy Thomas Barker to engineer the album. Barker, who had worked with Queen, used the layered sound approach from his previous work on Journey. This created the many voices that people here when it was just Perry and Rolie and maybe Schon and Dunbar. This would be another signature trait for the band in the years to come.

Out of ten songs on the album I enjoy listening to the first eight. Only a few other albums are almost fully enjoyed as Infinity. That tells you something about their music. The album itself went 3 times platinum and enjoyed gold status in Canada.

Although the album launched the band in the spotlight and created huge success, not everyone was happy. Infinity would be the last appearance of drummer Aynsley Dunbar. Dunbar was unsatisfied with the musical changes of the band and fought frequently with Perry. Dunbar was let go and he later joined Jefferson Starship.

They have a voice, but they lost a drummer. The original four become three. Now they have to find a new drummer and get a new album out.

We'll see how the Evolution of the band turns out in the next note.


Track Listing:
1. "Lights"
2. "Feeling that Way"
3. "Anytime"
4. "Lă Do Dā"
5. "Patiently"
6. "Wheel in the Sky"
7. "Somethin' to Hide"
8. "Winds of March"
9. "Can Do"
10. "Opened the Door"

[Tony]

Evolution

April of 1979 sees the release of Journey's fifth studio album Evolution. Evolution will become their highest selling album to date selling 3 million copies.

With the end if the Infinity tour it saw the leaving of drummer Aynsley Dunbar. To replace him they brought in Steve Smith who was involved in a band with Ronnie Montrose. Smith is also a Berklee-trained jazz drummer. His involvement with jazz can be heard in a few songs, but more in the next album.

Evolution sounds more of an extension to Infinity rather than something different. It keeps with that same rock feel rather than the big arena rock sound in their later career.

The band kept producer Roy Thomas Baker to work on the album and he continued his layered music approach adding depth to the music. You can hear this well in their song City of the Angels.

Journey needed a single for this album and Perry ended up writing it. He had recently had relationship troubles and ended up breaking apart. His girlfriend had been seeing someone else behind his back. Using that as inspiration he sat down and wrote "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" which reached #16 on the US charts.

There are other good songs on the album like "Just The Same Way" and "Too Late", but "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" is my favorite song of the entire album.

Journey's next album Departure will see their keyboardist Gregg Rolie depart from yet another successful band he had been involved with.


Track Listing:
1. "Majestic"
2. "Too Late"
3. "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'"
4. "City of the Angels"
5. "When You're Alone (It Ain't Easy)"
6. "Sweet and Simple"
7. "Lovin' You Is Easy"
8. "Just the Same Way"
9. "Do You Recall"
10. "Daydream"
11. "Lady Luck"

[Tony]

Departure

Departure rolls out in March of 1980 and breaks the selling record set by Evolution. Journey launches a world tour that takes them around the globe. During one of their concerts in Japan they record the entire soundtrack for a Japanese film titled Dream, After Dream (which will be reviewed next).

However, Departure will mark the last album we see keyboardist and co-vocalist Gregg Rolie. This is the second time Rolie has left a budding successful band. Rolie had been in the music business since 1965 and was getting tired of life on the road. He only assisted with vocals in one song, showing that he may have been distancing himself already. He would, however, help choose his replacement before he left for good. That man, Jonathan Cain, would help to launch Journey to rock legend status.

Roy Thomas Baker did not work on this album. I'm not sure why, maybe he got called back to Queen to produce their albums. Instead two men, Geoff Workman and Kevin Elson, produced the album. They recorded the album in a "live studio" setting giving the album a little bit of a different flavor from before.

Jazz influences can be heard in the song "Walks Like A Lady" and some great blues harmonica in "Precious Time". "Homemade Love" is one that doesn't really seem to fit with the album. The singing doesn't flow like it usually does in the songs. There are breaks between lines and it doesn't sound pleasant for me. "Line of Fire" also has this southern rock flavor to it. It is really upbeat and does that same broken lines as "Homemade Love".

The song "I'm Cryin'" seems to be on that brink of being an epic love/break up song. Its just missing an element or two that I can't really seem to place my finger on. But it had potential. It could've been great like Faithfully or Open Arms.

My favorite song out of the entire album would have to be "Anyway You Want It". Compared to their other hits, it is pretty low on the list. But compared to the album, it sits high. I've just heard the song many times and hearing "Anyway you want it, that's the way you need it" gets a little tiring after a big.

The album, overall, is still more of that continuation of the other two. Journey, however, will Escape from that mold and break into the arena rock scene soon enough launching them into mega stars.


Track Listing:
1 "Any Way You Want It"
2 "Walks Like a Lady"
3 "Someday Soon"
4 "People and Places"
5 "Precious Time"
6 "Where Were You"
7 "I'm Cryin'"
8 "Line of Fire"
9 "Departure"
10 "Good Morning Girl"
11 "Stay Awhile"
12 "Homemade Love"

[Tony]

Dream, After Dream - *BONUS ALBUM*

During the world tour for Journey's album Departure in 1980, they made a stop in Japan. While there they recorded the soundtrack for a movie titled Dream, After Dream.

Since this was a soundtrack for a movie there were few vocal parts and much more instrumental parts. You can hear Neal Schon's distinct playing in many of the songs. The two songs that had some vocals were "Destiny" and "Sand Castles". The only true vocalized track is "Little Girl", the last song on the album.

There isn't much to say about the album. It includes sweeping instrumental parts that probably help convey a message in the movie. I have not seen the movie, so I can't really comment on how well it goes with it. Every song, you can tell, was made by Journey. The style of guitar playing, keyboard, bass, and drumming coupled with Perry's voice tells you this was Journey if you didn't know it already.

My favorite song would have to be "Sand Castles". It starts off with some nice violin playing and drops into a mournful tune. The lyrics don't really convey a message, just a feeling. Then you get some saxophone in it to help reinforce that mournful feeling. Kind of a sad song, but very pleasant to listen to.

Journey will be Escaping from just being popular to mega star status in the next album.


Track Listing:
1. "Destiny"
2. "Snow Theme"
3. "Sand Castles"
4. "A Few Coins"
5. "Moon Theme"
6. "When the Love Has Gone"
7. "Festival Dance"
8. "The Rape"
9. "Little Girl"

[Tony]

Captured

Fooled you! Not really, no. That is the album cover for their live album Captured. Why put it up? Well, it features one song that isn't found on any other album discounting compilations. That song is "The Party's Over (Hopelessly In Love)".

The song has an nice upbeat tempo, but has Perry singing lovesick lyrics creating a nice combination. I don't know why they didn't bother to put it on any other album, but they didn't. So here is a short review of it.

This was recorded during their Departure tour at one of their concerts. That means Gregg Rolie was still playing keyboard on this track.



But now for the main event.

*drum roll*



Escape

Escape, the album that launched Journey into mega stars. Best known for the debut album of their most famous song "Don't Stop Believin'" played in bars, schools, and baseball games.

It is July 1981 and Escape is released by Columbia Records and produced by Kevin Elson and Mike Stone. Elson had worked previously with Journey on their Departure album, but Stone was new. Stone had been working with Queen from 73 to 77 and after producing a few albums for people who never quite made it big, he found his way to Journey. Together Stone and Elson would work on Frontiers and Raised on Radio while Elson stuck with Journey until Generations.

During the Departure tour keyboardist Gregg Rolie had started to tire from touring. Being involved in music since a young age he wanted a break. He bid farewell to Journey after he found replacement Jonathan Cain to take over. Cain had been involved in the pop-rock band The Babys. Brining his pop-rock style and synthesizers over to Journey he helped to boost their popularity.

"Don't Stop Believin'" was actually written in a short amount of time. Cain had the idea for the song for awhile, but no one in The Babys wanted to make it saying it didn't fit their style. Randomly playing it out in front of Perry, Perry quickly attached lyrics and together they created their most famous song.

Other well known songs on the album include "Stone in Love", "Who's Crying Now", "Still They Ride", and "Mother, Father". "Stone in Love" is a love song. Its pretty straight forward. "Who's Crying Now" is more of a lost love song. The song features little electric guitar until the end, which was a half-hearted attempt by Schon after Perry and Cain rejected an aggressive solo he had recorded earlier. "Still They Ride" has the epic feel to it. "Mother, Father" is one I particularly enjoy with Perry half-shouting "Mother, Father, sister!" and lamenting about lost family.

Perhaps their second most recognized song, "Open Arms" ends the album with one of the greatest rock love songs. Neal Schon originally did not want the song put on the album. He had little to do within the song itself having a minimal guitar part. He may have also noticed how the band started to center more on Steve Perry rather than him and Perry. Schon was convinced, albeit grudgingly, to add the song to the album. When it came time to play the song during tour he stood back waiting to see Perry flop thinking no one would want to hear this. He was wrong.

Journey's following had gone from mostly guys to three-quarters women overnight with the Escape album. When Steve Perry started to sing his love song the crowd screamed a girl scream, not a man's. That long hair in the crowd weren't rocking dudes, but girls that were head over heals for Perry's voice. The song was a success and would go down as one of the greatest love songs (Schon would later say in VH1's Behind the Music that having a large female fanbase wasn't all that bad).

My favorite song on the album? Its a tie between "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Open Arms". They are both fantastic and I can't really choose one over the other.

With their next album Journey will be pushing the Frontiers of music further.


Recap of who's in the band:
Steve Perry - Lead Vocals
Neal Schon - Guitar, Vocals
Steve Smith - Drums
Jonathan Cain - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Ross Valory - Bass, Vocals

Track Listing:
1. "Don't Stop Believin'"
2. "Stone in Love"
3. "Who's Crying Now"
4. "Keep on Runnin'"
5. "Still They Ride"
6. "Escape"
7. "Lay It Down"
8. "Dead or Alive"
9. "Mother, Father"
10. "Open Arms"

[Tony]

Frontiers

In February of 1983 Columbia Records releases Journey's eighth album, Frontiers. Frontiers will eventually end up becoming the bands second highest selling record. It could have been much, much, greater. But that will be discussed later.

As Journey became ever more popular it started to receive criticism. They were branded as "corporate rock" and had strayed from what they were playing for. In VH1's Behind The Music former manager Herbie Herbert said they he was trying to make them money by getting them out there. But, he said, you try that with every band. It is how they get popular.

In the 1983 the Rolling Stone Record Guide gave each of Journey's albums one star and had said that Escape was the worst number one selling album of all time. Dave Marsh wrote that "Journey was a dead end for San Francisco area rock".

None the less Journey became ever more popular. After Frontiers reached #2 on the charts Journey signed a deal with NFL Studios to film some of their life on the road. During this tour for Frontiers front man Steve Perry had grown a mustache and in the music video for "Faithfully" he is seen shaving it off (why the mustache, I will never know. Perhaps he was doing an Adama).

After seeing how Perry could gain them success the band members had told VH1 that they had let the reigns go on the band to see where Perry could take them. As Journey became more popular Neal Schon wanted to go back to his roots in guitar playing. Perry and Cain were working more and more together writing songs then he was with him leaving him with creative energy he wanted to expel.

With his album Untold Passion in 1981 and Here To Stay in 1982 tensions were rising between Perry and him. Schon did this as artistic release, but Perry didn't really see it that way. He would later go on to do his own solo record to kind of counter Schon's two records. This would add to the tensions to the band later.

The first track of Frontiers, "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)", is definitely my favorite. Hearing those synthesizers crank out that rocking tune followed by Schon's electric guitar is perhaps one of my favorite opening sequences for a song. The whole thing makes me want to rock out every time I hear it.

Following on the heals of Separate Ways is "Send Her My Love", another love ballad hit. Their biggest love ballad on this album is "Faithfully" without a doubt. But Journey counters their love ballads with a heartache/break up song "After the Fall" which became a hit as well.

"Chain Reaction" was a moderate hit, the third track on the album. After "Faithfully", though, the album's strength drops off and you're left with something relatively weak. Frontiers could have been the best selling album of their career if their long time A&R man Michael Dilbeck hadn't switched out two songs. He put "Back Talk" and "Troubled Child" in place of "Ask the Lonely" and "Only the Young", one of the biggest mistakes he could have ever made.



"Ask the Lonely" would show up on the soundtrack of Two of Kind. It would become one of their other most famous songs.



"Only the Young" has the most hear wrenching backstory. A young boy named Kenny Sykaluk had been diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis and wasn't going to survive. His wish before he passed was to see his favorite band in the world, Journey. Upon hearing this Journey packed their bags and went to go see Kenny.

They brought with them a Walkmen and on it was "Only the Young". They had just finished recording it. Giving him the Walkmen they told him that this was going to be his song and he was the only other person in the world to hear it besides them. And it was lucky the band went when they did. A few days later Kenny passed away leaving a permanent impression upon the band.

"Only the Young" was pulled from the Frontiers album and was later found on the soundtrack for the movie Vision Quest.


As the tour progressed Perry became ever more distant from not only the band, but his fans. As soon as a performance was done he would walk off stage and go to his room or go his girlfriend Sherrie Swafford (who "Oh Sherrie" would later be written about). This distance from everyone was the big crack that would eventually break the band apart. After doing nonstop touring and recording for five years, Steve Perry would leave the band.

But before he does that, Perry will release his very successful solo album Street Talk covered in the next Note.


Track Listing:
1. "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)"
2. "Send Her My Love"
3. "Chain Reaction"
4. "After the Fall"
5. "Faithfully"
6. "Edge Of The Blade"
7. "Troubled Child"
8. "Back Talk"
9. "Frontiers"
10. "Rubicon"

[Tony]

Street Talk - *BONUS ALBUM*


In 1984 after some disagreement with Neal Schon’s branching solo albums, Steve Perry went to the recording studio and cranked out Street Talk. To everyone’s surprise Perry’s album did very well spawning four singles. His most famous, “Oh, Sherrie” was written about his then girlfriend Sherrie Crawford. His other singles “Foolish Heart”, “She’s Mine”, and “Strung Out” received radio time as well. Other songs I enjoy listening to are “Go Away”, a heartache song, and “I Believe”, a song about hoping for love.

The first track is the album’s most famous. With classic Perry vocals belting out the words “Shoulda been gone!” it launched the song onto radio waves everywhere. The song peaked at #3 on the Billboard Charts. Street Talk would eventually become 2x Platinum having sold 2,000,000 albums.

Contrary to what people believe this was not because Perry wanted to break away from Journey and do his own thing. His second solo album, For The Love of Strange Medicine, didn’t come out until 1994, which is ten years after Street Talk. The reason will be discussed in the review of Raised on Radio that will make its debut in 1986.

A number of nods to Perry’s former band Alien Project through Street Talk. The biggest nod was naming the album Street Talk. The name was going to be the title of the first album of the band before bassist Richard Michaels passed away in an accident. The second nod is a dedication to Michaels and drummer Craig Krampf.

Track Listing:
1. "Oh Sherrie"
2. "I Believe"
3. "Go Away"
4. "Foolish Heart"
5. "It's Only Love"
6. "She's Mine"
7. "You Should Be Happy"
8. "Running Alone"
9. "Captured By The Moment"
10. "Strung Out"

[Tony]

Raised On Radio

With the reigns of Journey more firmly in Perry’s grasp and he coming down from the success of his solo album Street Talk and abandoning his other album Against the Wall, he started to make a few changes to the band. His first change was the change the title of the album from Freedom to Raised on Radio. This annoyed long-time manager Herbie Herbert as well as Ross Valory and Steve Smith. The friction over this change may have also helped to fuel Perry’s next change, which was one of foolishness.

Against the wishes of their manager Herbie Herbert , but with the agreement of Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon, Perry fired long time bass player Ross Valory and more recent drummer Steve Smith. Saying that they could not help capture the sound that he was looking for, Perry let them go, but still allowed them to receive revenues from the record sales. Smith had recorded two tracks for the new album before he was let go giving him at least a little influence on the album. Valory and Smith were replaced with various studio musicians such as Randy Jackson (bass) and Larrie Londin (drums). Later, in VH1’s Behind the Music, Perry chastises himself for going through with that decision saying he was caught up in the music and felt he needed to do this.

Raised on Radio, released in May of 1986 reached as high as #4 and managed to make it x2 Platinum, but lacked the overall sales to propel it higher than the two previous ones. The album was more of a fusion of Perry’s album Street Talk and the former sound of the band. Songs like “Girl Can’t Help It” and “Why Can’t This Night Go On Forever” stay in the vein of the Journey sound that is most recognizable. The album’s highest charting single was “Be Good To Yourself” reaching #9. “I’ll Be Alright Without You”, “Girl Can’t Help It”, and “Suzanne” reached #14, #17, and #17 respectively.

My personal favorite of the album would have to be “I’ll Be Alright Without You”. It’s one of those great ballads that Journey pumps out and you can hear Perry hold his notes for long periods. However, I do like many of their others songs on the album. “Girl Can’t Help It”, “Suzanne”, “Happy To Give”, “The Eyes of a Woman” and “Why Can’t This Night Go On Forever” is near the top. Raised On Radio is third favorite album by simple fact that I enjoy listening to all the songs even if they are not my favorites.

One song I do find most amusing is “Raised On Radio”. It took me a few listens to notice that what Perry was singing sounded like song titles. Looking up the lyrics my guess was right.

Here are the lyrics:

Stagger Lee, can you Do The Locomotion
Lucille I hear you knocking but you can't come in
Rockin' Robin, C.C Rider,
A Rama Lama Ding Dong
Let the Good Times Roll
My Sweet Sixteen
I'm Maybelline

The Great Pretender
Returned To Sender
I wonder Why Fools Fall in Love
Yeah, Louie, Louie, loves drive-in movies.
Johnny Angel Rocks Around the Clock

Mister D.J. make a dedication
Cause I'm All Shook Up over Peggy Sue
I'm Mister Blue,
The hits keep rockin' station to station
In the Midnight Hour in the Sea of Love
My Turtle Dove.
When I Found my Thrill, On Blue Berry Hill,
We wrote Love Letters in the Sand.
Be Bop a Lu La,
She Loved Me Tender.
Jungle Lion Sleeps Tonight

Radio, radio
We're all raised on radio, radio
I love my radio
Radio, Radio,
Radio, Radio

During the recording for Raised On Radio Perry’s mother had gotten sick. Perry would make frequent trips to go visit her, which created a big stop and go process for the album. It was during the tour that Perry broke up with his long time girlfriend Sherrie Shawfford. What lay ahead, though, was much worse. His mother had worsened and Perry rushed to be by her side. After telling her that it was okay to leave, she passed away in his arms.

Calling Schon and Cain together Perry told them that he could not go on. He was “toast” as he would say often. Tired from constantly touring and recording since Infinity he wanted a break. Without a press release or announcement the rest of the tour was cancelled and the band slipped away at the height of their career. Perry would later say in Behind the Music that he music and fame “can’t float my boat solely. I can’t make it the only thing that makes me feel okay.”

Their biggest Trial By Fire, however, would leave them scarred with burns to this day when Perry tried to get the band back together in 1996.


Track Listing:
1. "Girl Can't Help It"
2. "Positive Touch"
3. "Suzanne"
4. "Be Good to Yourself"
5. "Once You Love Somebody"
6. "Happy to Give"
7. "Raised on Radio"
8. "I'll Be Alright Without You"
9. "It Could Have Been You"
10. "The Eyes of a Woman"
11. "Why Can't This Night Go on Forever"

Line Up:
Steve Perry - lead vocals, producer
Neal Schon - guitars, vocals
Jonathan Cain - keyboards, vocals
Randy Jackson - bass, vocals
Larrie Londin - drums, percussion
Bob Glaub - bass on 2.,10. and 11.
Steve Smith - drums on 1.,10. and 11.

[Tony]

For The Strange Medicine - *BONUS ALBUM*

Eight years after the breakup of Journey during their Raised On Radio tour former lead singer Steve Perry released a new album titled For the Love of Strange Medicine. With a world tour and guitarist Lincoln Brewster, a Neal Schon-like guitarist, the record became certified gold selling 500,000 records. The song “You Better Wait” was promoted as the record’s single and received decent air time on radio stations.

Overall, the record is weak. Steve Perry returns with his vocals, but they just don’t quite reach as high or change as fast as they use to. It was almost as though For the Love of Strange Medicine was a warm up for Perry. He scraped off the rust, polished the surfaces, and added some oil because after the moderate success of Strange Medicine Perry had the urge to rejoin Journey. Calling Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain as well as Steve Smith and Ross Valory, he would bring the band back together for another album.

My favorite song would have to be the single “You Better Wait”. None of the other songs really catch me and bring me into it as much as some of the Journey songs. You can hear references to past sounds within the album with flavors ranging from Infinity to Raised On Radio. One of the tracks, even, had some influence from the soundtrack Dream, After Dream, which caught me a little be surprise.

If Perry felt like “toast” during the Raised On Radio tour, this upcoming Trial By Fire will leaved him burned for the rest of his life. So much that he still may never come back to the music scene.


(And as a side note, Perry had the craziest long hair during the music video for "You Better Wait". Like, it went down to his butt)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TaSuWUdKCU

Track Listing:
1. "You Better Wait"
2. "Young Hearts Forever"
3. "I Am"
4. "Stand Up (Before It's Too Late)"
5. "For the Love of Strange Medicine"
6. "Donna Please"
7. "Listen to Your Heart"
8. "Tuesday Heartache"
9. "Missing You"
10. "Somewhere There's Hope"
11. "Anyway"

[Tony]

Arrival

1998 sparked a change in the band. With Perry still undecided about hip surgery the band let him go and looked for another lead singer. This would be the first time since their album Next that they would not have Perry as lead. To replace him they found Steve Augeri, a man who sounds so close to Perry that even I was thrown when listening to this album.

Augeri, would later be known as “Perry with a perm” because of his hair, was an excellent replacement for Perry. When I had my Journey playlist on shuffle and one his songs would come up I would stop and wonder why I hadn’t heard Perry sing the song before. Looking at the album I would realize that it wasn’t Perry and then notice the small differences between them. Augeri, while sounding very similar to Perry, is not an exact copy. He doesn’t have the range that Perry does and kind of sounds a little horse at times like he has a slightly sore throat.

Before recording Arrival the band recorded “Remember Me” for the movie Armageddon starring Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, and others. Arrival was first released in Japan in 2000 and was leaked onto the Internet. Instead of releasing the album right away in the States they listened to the feedback and recorded two harder rock songs.

Overall the album is okay. Perhaps that is why didn’t even get a gold status. There was nothing new and exciting on the album. It had Schon’s great guitar playing and Cain’s wonderful melodies, but without Perry to help write the songs there was a spark that was missing from the band.

My favorite song from the album would have to be “Signs of Life” followed by “Higher Place”. “All the Way”, “Loved By You”, “Lifetime of Dreams”, “Live and Breathe” and “Kiss Me Softly” are other good songs on the album. But like I said, it was an okay album. Nothing great and there really wasn’t anything great with the songs.

With them at least continuing making music they started to attract another Generation of fans who would appreciate their former stuff and support them now with a different singer.

Track listing
1. "Higher Place"
2. "All the Way”
3. "Signs of Life"
4. "All the Things"
5. "Loved By You"
6. "Livin' to Do"
7. "World Gone Wild”
8. "I Got a Reason"
9. "With Your Love"
10. "Lifetime of Dreams"
11. "Live and Breathe"
12. "Nothin' Comes Close"
13. "To Be Alive Again"
14. "Kiss Me Softly"
15. "We Will Meet Again"

[Tony]

Red 13 - *BONUS ALBUM*

Released in 2002 on their own label, Journey Music, Red 13 was a thank you album to their fans. The album consisted of four tracks that experiment a little with the band and what they have done. One song features them going back to their progressive rock roots while another is a bluesy-rock tune.

Originally it was sold via their website, but when Journey went on tour for their upcoming album Generations they repackaged it with new cover art by Journey fan Christopher Payne. The album was given out for free at concerts, continuing their thank you to the fans.

My favorite track is "The Time". It just seems to capture the classic Journey sound after an introduction period.

Track Listing:
1. "Intro: Red 13 / State of Grace”
2. "The Time"
3. "Walkin' Away from the Edge"
4. "I Can Breathe”