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What a great band. Journey's roots date back to
1973 in San Francisco. The band had so many hits, we almost have
to recommend something like the box set called
Time3.
Journey was initially was a mix of rockers
from other popular bands of the day (Santana, Frumious Bandersnatch, and
The Tubes). They started out as a back up band for more popular
artists and they called themselves The Golden Gate Rhythm Section.
In short order, the name of the band was changed to Journey, and their
self-titled debut was released in 1975. It is worth noting that
during their first few albums, Greg Rolie was the vocalist.
Journey's next two releases, Look Into the Future (1976) and
Next (1977), found the all the members working on harder on their
vocal contributions.
Sales were weak for the band, and Columbia Records asked
them to change their sound from a jazz fusion style to a hard rock style
typical of the day (think Boston or Reo Speedwagon). To help with
this effort, Journey hired Steve Perry as lead vocalist in 1977, and
Infinity was released in 1978. You may remember the songs
"Lights" and "Wheel in the Sky" from this album. In 1979, Journey
released Evolution, which ultimately gave the band it's first Billboard
Hot 100 hit song: "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'". The hit
song "Any Way You Want It" was released on 1980's Departure.
It was Journey's 1981 release, Escape, that became the band's
best selling release. Hit songs you might remember from this album
that made it into the top 10 include "Who's Cryin' Now", "Don't Stop
Believin'", and "Open Arms". It was during this success that
Journey not only found themselves playing to sold out crowds, but also
found themselves the subject of the arcade (Bally
Midway's Journey and the Atari 2600 game Journey Escape).
How many bands could say they had their own video game in the 1980's?
The band's success didn't stop with Escape.
In 1983, the band released Frontiers, which ultimately brought us
several hit songs: "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)", "Faithfully", "Send
Her My Love", and "After the Fall". It was after the 1984 tour in
support of this album that the band decided to take a hiatus. Both
Steve Perry and Neal Schon began working on solo projects. Never
the less, there were two hit songs released during this time for movie
soundtracks: "Ask the Lonely" for the movie Two of a Kind
and "Only the Young" for the movie Vision Quest. In 1986,
the band returned to release Raised on Radio. It was during
this time that American Idol's Randy Jackson joined the band on base.
Hit songs from the album you may remember? "Be Good to Yourself",
"I'll Be Alright Without You", "Girl Can't Help It", and "Suzanne".
The band went on a long hiatus in 1987 due to member participation
conflicts.
During this time, Neal Schon went on to help form the
band Bad English and later the band Hardline. It wasn't until 1995
that Steve Perry agreed on a reunion, and the album Trial by Fire
was released in 1996, which featured the hit songs "When You Love a
Woman", "Message of Love", "Can't Tame the Lion", and "If He Should
Break Your Heart". By 1998, Perry was gone from the band, and
Journey bounced around with new singers until, at the time of this
writing, they had settled on a Filipino singer named Arnel Pineda who
looks and sounds a lot like Steve Perry. The band continued to be
active in 2012. The current Journey Discography is as follows:1975: Journey
1976: Look into the Future
1977: Next
1978: Infinity
1979: Evolution
1980: Departure
1980: In the Beginning
1981: Escape
1981: Captured (Live)
1983: Frontiers
1986: Raised on Radio
1988: Star Box
1988: Greatest Hits
1991: The Ballade
1992: Time 3
1996: Trial by Fire
1998: Greatest Hits Live
2001: Arrival
2001: The Journey Continues
2001: The Essential Journey
2004: Open Arms: Greatest Hits
2005: Generations
2005: Live in Houston 1981: The Escape Tour
2008: Revelation
2009: Don't Stop Believin': The Best of Journey
2011: Eclipse
2011: Greatest Hits 2
2011: Greatest Hits 1 and 2
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