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Journey’s 10 Best Songs

Sure, "Don't Stop Believin'" -- but there's a whole lot more.

By Gary Graff

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Though it arrives amidst lawsuits , social media sniping and infighting, Journey is turning 50 this year.

During that half century, the group has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, logging 11 platinum-or-better albums (including Diamond certifications for 1981’s Escape and 1988’s Greatest Hits) , earning eight top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 and 25 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s also been a reliable ticket-selling act for most of its career, and in 2017, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Journey’s is the story of eras. When the group originally formed in San Francisco in 1973, original manager Herbie Herbert helped bring together guitarist Neal Schon and keyboard player/vocalist Gregg Rolie from Santana, bassist Ross Valory and rhythm guitarist George Tickner from Frumious Bandersnatch and drummer Prairie Prince from The Tubes. Prince would be replaced by David Bowie/Frank Zappa skins man Aynsley Dunbar, while Tickner would leave after Journey’s self-titled first album in 1975. The remaining quartet recorded two more albums before Steve Perry came on board for 1978’s Infinity, which began the band’s run of multi-platinum smashes — also marking the first appearance of Alton Kelley and Stanley Mouse’s iconic scarab logo for the band. Dunbar was replaced by Steve Smith for 1979’s Evolution , and Rolie would leave in 1980 with Jonathan Cain of The Babys joining to help elevate the band to even greater fortunes on Escape and Frontiers .

The palette has been diverse, but there are common elements among Journey’s best songs — sturdy melodies and sing-along choruses, usually leading into one of Schon’s majestic guitar solos. But within that mold there’s also been plenty of invention and clever arrangements that have never been as formulaic as some of the band’s detractors (particularly during their early ‘80s heyday) would have you believe.

Journey has gone through its fair share of lineups, with singer Arnel Pineda on board since 2007 — the longest continuous tenure of any Journey frontman. The group released Freedom , it’s first new studio album in 11 years, in 2022, and despite the current legal fractures (which you can read about in detail here ), still they ride, as the Escape track says — and may they keep on runnin’ for a long time.

With all that in mind, here are our picks for Journey’s 10 best songs — not all of which come from the biggest hits.

"Someday Soon" ( Departure , 1980)

This album track from Rolie’s finally studio effort with the band is a hypnotic tone poem, with a ringing, cushy ambience and a hippie kind of optimism – not to mention the best give-and-take Perry and Rolie achieved during their time together in the band. It’s of course been eclipsed by Journey’s myriad hits (“Any Way You Want It” is the enduring top 40 Hot 100 hit from Departure ), but it’s a gem worthy of discovery.  Listen here.

"Escape" ( Escape , 1981)

The title track from Journey’s Billboard 200-topping studio album straddled the hard rock/pomp attack of the group’s mid-‘70s output with the melodic sensibility of the Perry-Cain axis. Its five-minute length provides room for the arrangement to stretch out and flow from one song part to the next, with a crunch that was part of Journey’s palette at the time. Listen here.

"Of a Lifetime" ( Journey , 1975)

The Journey of 1973-77 was certainly a different creature than the hitmaking colossus so many know and love. The group’s initial lineups flexed instrumental muscles, smoothly knitting together a number of styles more interested in the journey (ba- dum ) than any commercial destination. The first track from its first album is a prototype, leaning into blues, psychedelic rock and a touch of Latin, with the first of what would become many standout Schon solos, and a tuneful sturdiness delivered by Rolie’s soulful vocal. Listen here.

"Faithfully" (Frontiers , 1983)

The melody of this top 20 Hot 100 hit came to Cain in a dream on a tour bus, and his paean to the struggle between home and the road was written in a half-hour. The result was a swoon-inducing ballad tailor-made for a sea of lighters (back then) and cellphone flashlights (now), capturing one of Perry’s best recorded performances and one of Schon’s most inspired solos. One of its great side stories is that Prince contacted Cain after he wrote “Purple Rain,” concerned that it might be too similar to “Faithfully.” Cain determined it wasn’t, but joked to Billboard that, “After seeing what it became, I should have asked for a couple of points….”

"Ask the Lonely" (single, 1983)

Recorded for Frontiers , this one wound up in the romcom Two of a Kind (starring the Grease duo of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John) and rocked its way to No. 3 on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. Like “Only the Young,” which wound up in Vision Quest two years later, it showed that Journey was on roll – and well-suited for big soundtrack moments. Listen here.

"Who's Crying Now" ( Escape, 1981)

The best of Journey’s swoon songs — started by Perry while driving into Los Angeles and finished with Cain — has a subtlety and dynamic build that sets it apart from the many others of its ilk they’d create. The verse slips into the chorus with a soulful ease, and Schon’s guitar accents deftly build up to his searing solo at the end. The Escape single reached No. 4 on the Hot 100. Listen here.

"Feeling That Way" ( Infinity , 1978)

If fans at the time wondered how Steve Perry and Gregg Rolie would co-exist, this was the answer — an ebb-and-flow tradeoff that proved they could complement each other as lead singers as well as harmonize smoothly together (first evidenced by Infinity ‘s lead track “Lights”). Its medley-like pairing with the next track, “Anytime,” was gravy that would become a motif on the next few Journey albums. Listen here.

"Just the Same Way" ( Evolution , 1979)

Journey’s fifth album had a punchier sound than Infinity — though they shared producer Roy Thomas Baker — which worked to the benefit of the album’s first single. Led by Rolie’s piano and muscular lead vocal, with Perry responding on the choruses and bridge, it reached No. 58 on the Hot 100 in 1979. In a perfect world this would have been as big as anything from Escape or Frontiers, but it’s still a convincing introduction to the Rolie era of the band. Listen here.

"Don't Stop Believin'" ( Escape , 1981)

More than a billion Spotify streams, a Library of Congress National Recording Registry placement and plays at virtually every sporting event around the world don’t lie — this one is Journey’s pinnacle of success. Created during a rehearsal at the group’s warehouse HQ in Oakland, Calif., it gave us the “streetlight people” of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip and put the non-existent South Detroit on the map. And it saves the chorus for the song’s end, after the guitar solo. A cross-generational hit? Believe it, gleefully.

"Stone in Love" ( Escape , 1981)

Schon reportedly called this “Stoned in Love” when he wrote the riff, and it’s certainly an addictive track that’s the best roll-down-the-windows-and-crank-it-up Journey fix you could ask for — not to mention a frequent show opener. A No. 13 Mainstream Rock Airplay hit in 1981, the song is practically a deep cut today. But its anthemic chorus is a spirit-lifter and the dynamic breakdown that segues into the song-closing guitar solo harks back to the ambitious musicality of the first few albums. “Stone” is a gem that still shines bright. Listen here.

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About journey.

The epitome of all that is big, bold, and exhilarating about arena rock of the ‘70s and ‘80s, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” feels both iconic and indestructible. A Top 10 single from the band’s 1981 juggernaut Escape, it has yet to lose its power despite its countless TV and film appearances, never mind all the attempts by karaoke singers. That’s a testament to the craftsmanship that was always at the core of Journey’s formula of pop hooks, heart-tugging sentiments, and go-for-broke bravado. Journey had even more flash when they formed in 1973 as a jazz-rock showcase for ex-Santana guitarist Neal Schon and other musicians from Bay Area bands. By the time they added vocalist Steve Perry in 1977, Journey had honed their sound into something more immediate while retaining their displays of prowess. Between “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’” in 1977 and their commercial peak with Escape and 1983’s Frontiers, Journey seemed unbeatable, thanks to Perry’s precise vocals and Schon’s guitar heroics. They remained a major live draw until health issues prompted Perry’s departure and a nine-year band hiatus in 1998. Then in 2007, with “Don’t Stop Believin’” resurging thanks to the finale of The Sopranos, the band found a fresh frontman in Arnel Pineda, a Filipino singer Schon discovered on YouTube. Pineda’s Cinderella story and Journey’s revitalization on albums like 2011’s Eclipse showed a new generation what can happen when you keep believin’.

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JOURNEY: New Documentary 'A Voice Lost...And Found' To Premiere On REELZ This Weekend

"Journey: A Voice Lost...And Found" will premiere on Reelz on Sunday, June 25 at 9 p.m. EDT / 6 p.m. PDT.

The official program synopsis: JOURNEY dominated the American music scene in the 1970s and 1980s with their epic arena rock anthems and power ballads. Frontman Steve Perry was dubbed "The Voice" thanks to the untouchable vocal stylings that burned up the radio waves and made him a household name. But the bigger JOURNEY became the more miserable Perry grew. He was the rare rock superstar who craved anonymity more than applause.

Then at the height of the band's success Perry did the unthinkable quitting JOURNEY . That alone should've been an absolute death knell for a band so defined by a single voice. But JOURNEY 's other longtime members refused to give up the dream and brought in a new singer to keep the music going.

Fans were livid that anyone would dare to try to fill Perry 's shoes. Shows were played in empty houses and threats were even made against the band. When that replacement singer didn't work out desperation forced the band to turn to YouTube for the most unlikely inspiration.

JOURNEY members Jonathan Cain and Deen Castronovo are joined by former members Jeff Scott Soto and Narada Michael Walden , as well as SiriusXM radio personality Eddie Trunk and former JOURNEY producer Kevin Elson to tell the band's amazing tale.

"Journey: A Voice Lost...And Found" is produced by AMS Pictures .

Reelz is available in more than 40 million homes on DIRECTV (238), DISH Network (299), Verizon FiOS TV (692HD), AT&T U-verse (799/1799HD) and Xfinity , Spectrum , Optimum , Mediacom , Peacock , Philo , Freecast , DIRECTV Stream , Dish Sling and many other cable systems and major streaming services nationwide. Find Reelz in your area by visiting www.reelz.com .

Owned by Hubbard Media Group , Reelz is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico with national ad sales based in New York City with offices in Chicago and Los Angeles.

Sadly I don't have Reelz as I use YouTube TV, if there is anyone who can work out how to make a .mov .mkv .mv4 .MP4 or otherwise of this show, please DM me, I would LOVE to see it since I'm in it!! 🙏🤘😘 https://t.co/LpLHhO0i6F — Jeff Scott Soto (@jeffscottsoto) June 23, 2023

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