Steve Perry Fans - Super Song Hits

suspect Journey to have realized their potential. Fortunately, this is not the case. In their tenth year as one of America's most popular recording and touring acts, Journey continues to grow and develop, fine-tuning their already classic sound.
The latest testimony to this is Frontiers, Journey's tenth album for Columbia Records. Produced by the stellar team of Kevin

Elson and Mike Stone, Frontiers continues the musical evolution begun nearly six years ago with Infinity.
Just as Escape delved further into hard rock as well as adult contemporary, Frontiers carries on the tradition by appealing to a wider spectrum of fans. Boasting ten new Journey compositions, including the smash single, "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)",

this latest offering once again highlights the songwriting talents of Jonathan Cain, Steve Perry and Neal Schon.
     From the powerful "Chain Reaction" and "Edge Of The Blade" to more subtle numbers such as "Faithfully" and "Send Her My Love", it's obvious the group has progressed and expanded their former boundaries--boundaries that extend as far back as 1973.
     Journey has continued to change and grow with each successive year and each successive album. So far, the changes they have made have all been for the better. The most important one came for the band when they added keyboardist/guitarist/songwriter Jonathan Cain to their lineup. Cain had risen to popular acclaim with The Babys.
     Cain joined lead singer Steve Perry, lead guitarist Neal Schon, bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith in comprising the new Journey. Cain's virtuoso skills on keyboards, rhythm guitar and vocals created a dynamic new edge to the solid rock and roll foundation of the group.
     The enthusiasm brought about by the addition of Cain surfaced in the most positive way possible. Escape, the album that contained about one third of Cain's tunes, became Journey's most popular LP to date.
     Cain was, and still is, very enthusiastic about being a part of Journey. "It's changed my life," he noted at the time. "I'm allowed to express my feelings and concepts in the band, and I'm looking forward to being respected in the big leagues as a songwriter and musician. It's been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
     In their recent albums, Journey's songs have taken on new style and dimension. Nowhere was this more

noticeable than in "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Who's Crying Now", both from the Escape LP.
     The story of Journey began in the mid-60's when a youthful teenager named Herbie Herbert managed a band named Frumious Bandersnatch. Ross Valory, who grew up in San Francisco's East Bay, played in that group. In 1968, Gregg Rolie, formerly with William Penn and His Pals, helped a then-unknown guitarist named Carlos Santana put together a group that would subsequently rocket to international stardom. Bandersnatch broke up and Herbert scored a position as production manager for Santana. Valory then went on to play for various Bay Area groups including Steve Miller.
     In 1971, Neal Schon entered into the picture by joining Rolie and Herbert in the Santana band. Schon was at the tender age of 15 and had already been asked by Eric Clapton to join as a member of his band!
     Thing eventually changed for Santana. The original group disbanded, and, after a national tour in 1972, it was Herbie Herbert who approached Schon with the idea about putting a band together with Valory and a rhythm guitarist named George Tickner. Prairie Prince agreed to play drums. Rolie was then approached to become the vocalist and organist and their first gig as Journey happened in San Francisco on New Year's Eve 1973.
     After the first two shows, Prince committed himself to join as a member of The Tubes. by early 1974, Aynsley Dunbar agreed to join the band. their first LP, Journey, was released in early 1975. It marked the beginning of four years of grueling touring, critical acclaim and a sufficient amount of FM popularity. Tickner left the group shortly after the first album because he disliked the road.

     The group released two more albums. Look Into The Future in 1976 and Next in 1977, before they decided to change from progressive instrumental rock to a more mainstream sound. For a brief time Journey worked with Robert Fleischman who helped write a song for their Infinity LP in 1978. That album pushed the group into the national limelight. Steve Perry, a native of Hanford, California, was eventually chosen as lead singer. It was obviously the right choice because Steve was the catalyst that gave the band the punch to go over the top.
     Infinity became a key album for the group. Besides adding Perry, the group asked Roy Thomas Baker, than known for his work with Queen, to produce. these changes marked the beginning of a new era for Journey, and also a new band. Two songs off the LP, "Wheel In The Sky" and "Lights" made a good showing on the AM charts and gave the group their first gold and platinum albums.
     The group continued to change and develop their direction. Steve Smith was added to the band in 1978 after the departure of Dunbar. Smith got to know the group while he was touring with Montrose as an opening act to Journey.
     Evolution was Journey's fifth album and it was clear by now that the group was established as a big-league band. The album not only went platinum, but it also spawned Journey's first top 20 single entitled "Lovin', Touchin' Squeezin'." After selling out major venues all around the world, it was time again to hit the studio to record their next album.
     While the band recorded Departure, their record company released a compilation of early material entitled In The Beginning. The record focused in on material from Journey, Look Into The Future and Next.
     From a musical standpoint,

Departure marked a new beginning for Journey. The next LP they released was called Captured and this was a two-record set that contained previously released songs from the group.
This brings us to Frontiers and Journey's future. Long known as one of the hardest-working groups in contemporary rock history, Journey's 1983 tour is as demanding as ever.
While some bands may take their popularity for granted, Journey has never forgotten their loyal audiences. Pat Morrow, road

manager for the group, explains: "When we go to St. Louis, for example, we see the same people who have come to our shows for the last five years. They never become disappointed or disillusioned, because the band pulls out all the stops for their fans, and the band is incredibly consistent in doing so."
This consistency transcends from the band through the entire management organization. Says Elson, "The band and management treat everyone really well. If it takes a couple more hours to do a job on the road,

then it's done, simply because it's felt, and appreciated. Everyone is part of that, and they feel that."
If Journey has their way, everybody is going to be a part of that, and probably sooner than they think.
With the release of Frontiers, Journey, long recognized as one of the hardest working groups in rock history, has embarked on a coast-to-coast tour, which will take them from New York to Hawaii. They will undoubtedly continue to blaze new trails and conquer new frontiers in the music world for some time to come.