The pop rock group Journey, who has put out a number of memorable Top 10 songs in their storied history, is definitely the Number 1 group in my book. Journey can trace its roots all the way to back to 1973. Two members of Journey, Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon, had both played in the San Francisco rock band Santana. Originally called the Golden Gate Rhythm Section, the early members of Journey set out to record accompanying music for musicians coming to the Bay Area. The band eventually changed their name to Journey and released their first album, called Journey, in 1975. It wasn’t until 1978 that rock fans en masse would start to take notice after lead singer Steve Perry was added to the lineup.
Perry’s style of singing would touch fans all over the world, but his run as lead singer would end in 1997. While the band still continues to perform and produce new songs in the present, this post-Perry Journey work doesn’t register on my radar for music extradornaire. The band without Steve Perry is like baking a cake without eggs or creating a pizza without cheese.
Nonetheless, Journey has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, bestowed upon them in 2005. Songs of theirs have been featured in such films as Tron, Vision Quest, and Two of a Kind.
To reiterate, my following Top 10 Journey Songs will feature only songs during the Steve Perry era of 1978-1997. And many of these songs will not be familiar to readers unless they are real connoisseurs of the band, given they were never released as singles or never broke into the Top 40 charts. The group’s songs have this ability to take the listener on an adventure, especially if one goes beyond the few songs which are repetitively served up by radio stations as if they were gulps of cheap wine. I would encourage anyone who likes listening to them on the radio to take the time to listen to their albums in full to see what they are really about. The following songs are in descending order all the way to my favorite Journey song of all time:
10. When I Think Of You from the 1996 album Trial by Fire. After 1986’s Raised On Radio, the band went ten years between putting out a new full studio album, so their 1996 release of Trial by Fire was a welcome arrival from this legendary group. This tender love ballad sung by Perry takes some elements from their early 1980’s recordings, but has a real crisp feeling to it.
9. Ask The Lonely from the 1983 movie soundtrack of Two of a Kind. The film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John is one of the worst films that’s ever been produced; so awful, I didn’t bother watching the last half of it. Yet the hidden gem found in this mountain of crud is the song Ask The Lonely. It’s a really fast-paced but emotionally-tugging song that appears early on in the film. Originally, this song was going to be featured in the album Frontiers, but didn’t make the final cut. One of the songs that got selected over Ask The Lonely was Back Talk, which I consider to be the only “God-awful, Steve Perry screeching at the top of his lungs” bad song the group ever released to the public during the Perry era.
8. It Could Have Been You from the 1986 album Raised On Radio. Part of being a participant in the game of love are those times when we reflect upon those “what if” scenarios. It’s just human nature, but as the songwriters Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain pen…
Time washes over, memories
I can’t look back no more
Change has forsaken, our promises
Oh well, ya just gotta move on, if you can. It Could Have Been You captures the emotions of such reflection as Perry has the incredible ability via his style of singing to capture the varying aspects of romantic love.
7. Open Arms from the 1981 album Escape. This is one of the standard Journey songs that’s played on adult contemporary and classic rock stations today and was important in pioneering power ballads. It is still the band’s biggest hit to date. The depth of sincerity in Perry’s rendition of Open Arms really carries the tune. One lingering image of this song that stays in the recesses of my mind was when a part of Open Arms was played during a school assembly, and hundreds of girls in attendance started to wail and scream in reaction to hearing it. Yet a lot of opposition was present within the band as to whether or not to record the song because it was perceived by some members as being too sappy. Steve Perry became a fan after he heard band member Jonathan Cain perform it on his keyboard, and the rest is history.
6. Chain Reaction from the 1983 album Frontiers. This tune is really loud and fast moving, but straddles the line perfectly in keeping from sounding like a silly ranting melody. The song to me is so full of energy that I overlook the cheesiness of the music video the band shot for it. It was only when I could hear it on my stereo without having to view the zany for-MTV production that I became a super fan of the song.
5. Winds of March from the 1978 album Infinity: To me, this love song is the best blend of the band’s early psychedelic-inspired sound while still keeping with their distinct style of rock’n’roll. The group began their emergence as one of rock’s super groups with the release of Infinity. Infinity is the first time music listeners got to hear Steve Perry sing on a Journey album.
4. Faithfully from the 1983 album Frontiers. This power ballad also makes my list as one of the best romantic songs of the 1980’s. Its strength is rooted in its music video that features their Frontiers World Tour. To me, Faithfully proclaims it as good as it can be about being apart from the one you love…
And being apart
Ain’t easy on this love affair
Two strangers learn to fall in love again
I get the joy of rediscovering you
Oh, girl, you stand by me
I’m forever yours
Faithfully
3. People And Places from the 1980 album Departure. Journey’s take on the human condition really resonates with this tune, and the accompanying music that goes with the insightful lyrics meshes with it well. A sampling of People and Places’ lyrics include…
Do you see the faces runnin’ ’round to different places?
Are they people that you what to know?
Yes, I see their faces one by one.
Yes, I see their joy and sadness.
Every single face there lies a trace of sadness felt before.
2. Somethin’ to Hide from the 1978 album Infinity. When I can’t sleep at night, I love to put on some music in order to get sleepy, but two songs in the world of rock’n’roll exist, which, while I listen to them in the dark, give me the creeps: Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin and Somethin’ to Hide. This particular song was never released by the band as a single, but it’s the groups most eerie and haunting song about keeping things from those you need to be communicating with. Somethin’ To Hide’s conclusion, with Steve Perry showing his pain in an operatic style, still sends chills up my spine.
1. Escape from the 1981 album Escape. Journey’s 1981 album features a number of Top 10 songs like Who’s Crying Now, Don’t Stop Believin’, and Open Arms, but to me Escape is the quintessential song of the band. Maybe because it has a deep personal meaning for me in its call to pursue your dreams and not give into fear. The make-up of this 5 minute-plus song includes two long stanzas and a very riveting instrumental sandwiched between. Escape became the anthem of my teenage years, though I wouldn’t begin to really attempt to act upon the courage of my convictions until early adulthood. Better late than never to begin the escape from the prisons of fear!
Reference:
- Here’s a link about the San Francisco Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, of which Journey is an inductee. This venue honors many other great bands from the area: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Rock_and_Roll_Hall_of_Fame A Journey tribute page can be found at: www.journey-tribute.com/ A website loaded Steve Perry information can be accessed at: www.steveperryfanclub.homestead.com/
