Journey was killer…

  • Thread starter Thread starter JackBootedThug
  • Start date Start date
Just an incredible album. As was Evolution and my favorite Departure.

Journey just had a sound with Gregg Rolie in the band that disappeared with Jon Cain. Take "Something to Hide", "Patiently", "Opened the Door" from this album, that stuff is really unique, tons of melody and openness but not commercial pop in anyway. Gregg relies more on the Hammond B3 and Piano that really gives the songs some depth, breath and actually makes the guitar stand out more. It's rarely cluttered vs. your typical keyboard sounds and what Journey would become with Cain. I also consider myself lucky that I got to see them on Gregg's last tour behind Departure and musically they were one of the best live bands I've ever seen.

I think Escape is a fantastic album but a few songs on there you could see where they were going with Cain and it was just to "overtly" commercial pop. I was out on Journey after Escape.

Btw/ they just cancelled their tour outside the states because Schon and Cain are back in litigation. I think they are finishing up a few dates statewide with Leppard and that might be it for Journey.
 
Last edited:


I had an outta body experience first time i heard this.
Journey is on my Pandora i listen both at home & while working pretty much everyday.
Nobody writes music like this now at all whereas in 1978 100's did.
 
Last edited:
I never was much a of Journey fan but I have to admit there was some great songs as well as guitar playing and solos with them.....I recently watched the Houston 81 show and I was like..... Wow.... look at Neil jammin out......I am fairly certain he used Marshall amps, maybe someone knows for sure.

 
harddriver said:
I never was much a of Journey fan but I have to admit there was some great songs as well as guitar playing and solos with them.....I recently watched the Houston 81 show and I was like..... Wow.... look at Neil jammin out......I am fairly certain he used Marshall amps, maybe someone knows for sure.

Click to expand...

Best I can gather is pre-Perry he was using Plexis.
Starting with Perry on Infinity to Escape I think he was using Peavey Mace's, Plexi's and Hiwatts in the studio. For example Walks Like A Lady is Strat into a Peavey Mace, Don't Stop is Strat into Marshall. Much of his live sound during this era was the Peavey Mace. Of course the Mace was Skynyrds mainstay as well as .38 Special and others during that era.
 
Last edited:
jabps said:
Just an incredible album. As was Evolution and my favorite Departure.

Journey just had a sound with Gregg Rolie in the band that disappeared with Jon Cain. Take "Something to Hide", "Patiently", "Opened the Door" from this album, that stuff is really unique, tons of melody and openness but not commercial pop in anyway. Gregg relies more on the Hammond B3 and Piano that really gives the songs some depth, breath and actually makes the guitar stand out more. It's rarely cluttered vs. your typical keyboard sounds and what Journey would become with Cain. I also consider myself lucky that I got to see them on Gregg's last tour behind Departure and musically they were one of the best live bands I've ever seen.

I think Escape is a fantastic album but a few songs on there you could see where they were going with Cain and it was just to "overtly" commercial pop. I was out on Journey after Escape.

Btw/ they just cancelled their tour outside the states because Schon and Cain are back in litigation. I think they are finishing up a few dates statewide with Leppard and that might be it for Journey.
Click to expand...
Gregg Rolie had a beautiful great sounding voice also but I think there will always be a Journey the way Cain , Schon and their old lady's love to spend money !!!! LOL
 
CarlF said:
They were a different band before Perry. Those first three Journey albums were killer.
Click to expand...
Yep and I used to see them a bunch back then. Burning it up. The shit with Perry is Yacht Rock pop. The stuff before him was better. The band Abraxis Pool was killing too before Carlos filed a lawsuit against them. Fleetwood Mac also another band that killed before they became a big hit in the USA when Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie nicks joined the band.
 
Last edited:
tonedog said:
Yep and I used to see them a bunch back then. Burning it up. The shit with Perry is Yacht Rock pop. The stuff before him was better. The band Abraxis Pool was killing too before Carlos filed a lawsuit against them. Fleetwood Mac also another band that killed before they became a big hit in the USA when Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie nicks joined the band.
Click to expand...
IMO they "became" Yacht Rock but Infinity, Evolution and Departure (IMO Neals best work) is vastly different from albums like Frontiers, Raised on Radio etc...

Escape, their first album with Cain has some great rock stuff like Lay it Down, Dead or Alive, Stone in Love, and stuff outside the box like Mother, Father. It's kinda of the bridge album to them becoming and overtly commercial pop band. Open Arms and even Don't Stop is as Yacht Rock as you can get. And why I was done with them after that album. I hate Frontiers and if I never hear Separate Ways again, life will be good.

Problem with Journey is after Gregg left, Perry took over and eventually pushed their manager Herbie Herbert out. Herbie relied on Gregg as the defacto leader. Further Herbie never wanted the band to go in the pop direction because like he said, once you put yourself in that category then you're always chasing the next hit. And he was right, they became watered down radio mush. Herbert was a brilliant manager, he created the band a company which handled all their merch, licensing i.e. basically anything where the band made money. And which Neal, Cain, Valory and Smith all started suing each other for several years back. Herbie also started the first video boards for bands in concert and for awhile owned the largest video board company in the rock business until he sold it before he passed. In fact most concerts fans saw in the 90's and early 2000's with video screens, that was his company. There's a couple of old interviews with Herbie out there where he basically just peels the lid off everything. Needless to say he didn't have much good to say about Perry and especially Cain. I do think he and Perry reconciled before he passed as Herbie was at the RNR Hall of Fame induction. Crazy because he basically saved Perry from a life on a chicken farm that his family owned and told the band, this is your lead singer, deal with it. And removed Robert Fleischman the original singer who would go on to Vinnie Vincent fame or infamy lol.

A great story about Jon Cain - he was in The Baby's who were opening for Journey. Rolie went to Herbie and told him that Cain should be his replacement. So as a favor to Rolie he agreed. Cain flew in from England to take the job and as he stepped into Herbie's car he told him, you either get my wife a record deal or I'm walking. Herbie had stated he should have left him at the airport but he agreed and from that point on Cain was a headache. So few months later Escape comes out, big hit album and Perry in interviews is taking all the accolades for the music and writing on the album and minimizing Cain's contributions. To the point in one live interview that Cain left the room crying because he wasn't getting any credit. Herbert goes up to Cain while he's crying and humbled and say's, now you know what it's like to meet a bigger asshole than you. Lol.

Journey is an interesting band as there are four distinct versions - the original jam band which I have come to appreciate more through the years. The rock band which I love - Infinity to Captured. The pop Yacht Rock band which I have no use for. And lastly the touring band that sues the shit out of each other, even in the middle of a tour.
 
Last edited:
I also caught that ‘81 live show on AXS tv here a while back and was just blown away. I was a freshman in HS that year and I was all early KISS, Van Halen, Priest, Iron Maiden - I had no use for Journey (foolish, naive…)

Incredible songs, incredible musicianship, incredible background vocals and harmonies, every punch, every break absolutely air-tight. All live. There are bands who cannot sound that ‘good’ musically after a month in the studio with overdubs and punch-ins. Can’t think of a band playing like that ‘live’ today.
 
PDC said:
I also caught that ‘81 live show on AXS tv here a while back and was just blown away. I was a freshman in HS that year and I was all early KISS, Van Halen, Priest, Iron Maiden - I had no use for Journey (foolish, naive…)

Incredible songs, incredible musicianship, incredible background vocals and harmonies, every punch, every break absolutely air-tight. All live. There are bands who cannot sound that ‘good’ musically after a month in the studio with overdubs and punch-ins. Can’t think of a band playing like that ‘live’ today.
Click to expand...
Find the '80 tour of the band on youtube, they are even better.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PDC
I just saw Neal Schon post some shit on social media about Cain suing him (again?)
 
NS & I did some chatting on FB. He's a regular Joe & total gearhead.
 
Devin said:
I just saw Neal Schon post some shit on social media about Cain suing him (again?)
Click to expand...
Yep, Cain slapped another lawsuit on him in the middle this current tour.

It's why they cancelled dates outside the US, they're just finishing their run with Leppard here in the states. Who knows what's next for them. Smith and Valory sues Schon and Cain and lost, and got tossed from the band. Then Cain sued Schon, Schon countersued. In the interim Perry dropped a lawsuit on everyone to get in on the act which was later resolved. Cain and Schon worked their differences out but apparently Cain has now reneged and dropped another suit on Schon. Which per Neal he will respond in kind with on Monday.

Band doesn't make new music anymore which at this point who cares, they basically just exist to perform live and sue the shit out of each other.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
 
Back
Top