Rock’n Me 3: Talking About Western Music - Journey

Hello. I’m Joshua and I love to talk about Western music.
For the third part of this series , I’ll be covering the rock band Journey from San Francisco that has sold over 80 million albums worldwide. If I were to sum them up in one line, it would be: "Pop but with a heart of hard rock, their band motto is 'Perseverance is power,' and they’ve been both overly successful and overly criticized."

Journey formed in 1973, centered around Neal Schon (guitar) and Gregg Rolie (keyboards, vocals), who had both left Santana. Initially, their sound was based on improvisation and was categorized as hard progressive rock. However, after the addition of Steve Perry (vocals) in 1977, the band shifted to a pop-oriented style thanks to his exceptional vocal ability, and their singles began to hit the charts. After Gregg left due to the pressures of touring, Jonathan Cain (keyboards, guitar) from The Babys joined, which further accelerated the pop direction. Their 1981 album Escape, released with Ross Valory (bass) and Steve Smith (drums), reached number one on the US charts and produced massive hits like "Don't Stop Believin’" and "Open Arms," songs that almost every American can sing along to. Their next album, Frontiers (1983), was also a success, and the single "Separate Ways" became a popular background track for TV shows.

■ Separate Ways

The intro of this song is something even people who aren’t familiar with Journey have probably heard. Looking back now, it has an almost embarrassingly cheesy sense of style (just to clarify, that’s a compliment), and it’s a regular in the "worst promotional videos" rankings.

While the band achieved massive success, heartless critics continued to label them as "just a sellout" and "the commercialization of rock." Meanwhile, cracks in the band’s relationships began to grow steadily. Steve Perry released his solo album Street Talk, and Neal Schon teamed up with his hometown friend Sammy Hagar and others to form a separate band. Ross Valory and Steve Smith both left the band, and in 1986, Raised on Radio featured just the three members—Steve Perry, Neal Schon, and Jonathan Cain. Shortly after, the band stopped its activities, and Neal and Jonathan formed Bad English with Jonathan’s former Babys bandmates John Waite (vocals), Ricky Phillips (bass, now of Styx), and Dean Castronovo (drums). In 1996, the five members from the Escape era reunited and resumed activities. However, Steve Perry left before the tour due to disagreements about the tour, and Steve Smith also departed, putting the band’s future in jeopardy.

The band’s struggles continued. Dean Castronovo joined as the replacement drummer, and the band managed to move forward. However, their new vocalist, Steve Augeri, was constantly compared to Steve Perry (ironically, both shared the same name), and there were suspicions that the band was using pre-recorded tracks during concerts due to Augeri’s lack of vocal ability. This led to Augeri’s departure in 2006. Jeff Scott Soto (vocals, formerly of Yngwie Malmsteen and now with Sons of Apollo) joined as a replacement, but this lineup didn’t last long either.

On January 30, 2001, the setlist (actual copy) and ticket from the Tokyo International Forum Hall A performance.

Journey seemed to have been abandoned and down on their luck, but there were two members who became their saviors. One of them was vocalist Arnel Pineda, who joined the band in 2007. Arnel is from the Philippines, and he had struggled to make a name for himself locally, but Neal discovered a video of Arnel on YouTube and recruited him personally, creating a Cinderella story. There are two notable episodes from that time:
(1) When Arnel received a phone call from Neal, he initially thought it was a prank call and didn’t take it seriously.
(2) When he realized it was a real call and went to America for the audition, the U.S. immigration officer didn’t believe him, so he had to sing "Journey" on the spot to gain entry.
It was unprecedented for an Asian to become the frontman of a big artist like Journey, and at the time, there were significant racist criticisms. However, Arnel’s vocal ability and personality gradually won people over, and now he has firmly established himself as a member of Journey.

■ Don’t Stop Believin’

From the live performance at the Nippon Budokan in February 2017, a performance was held where the lineup from the release of Escape and Frontiers completely recreated those two albums.

The other savior is Dean. Dean was recruited by Neal and joined Bad English, and aside from drumming for artists like Ozzy Osbourne and Steve Vai, he has continued to support Journey and Neal's solo activities as Neal’s protégé. Dean is not just known for his sharp attacks and fast fills on the drums. His vocal ability is on an unreal level. He effortlessly handles Steve Perry’s signature long, sustained high notes. In particular, songs like "Keep on Runnin’" and "Mother, Father," which are difficult to perform, were highlights of the live shows. Dean would sing while drumming, adding fast fills, and passionately singing those high notes.
At the 2004 concert I attended, there was a vocal performance by Dean as a break during Steve Augeri’s rest period. However, Dean’s performance was so impressive that the audience around me kept saying things like, “He’s so good, I can’t stop smiling,” and “Just let Dean be the main vocalist from now on.”

A ticket from the 2003 Washington D.C. performance (with REO Speedwagon and Styx as the other acts).
2004 Virginia (Washington D.C. Suburbs) Performance Setlist and Ticket.

■ Keep on Runnin

This is an uptempo track from Escape that, although not released as a single, has a strong fan following. The vocals are by Dean, but normally, a song like this, with sustained high notes, would be impossible to pull off. And the drumming... well...

However, in 2015, Dean was dismissed after being involved in a drug use and domestic violence incident. Steve Smith returned as his replacement, and it seemed like the band was finally stable. But in 2020, Ross Valory and Steve Smith filed a lawsuit against Neal and Jonathan over the division of profits. As a result, both were fired from the band. The new members joining were session bassist Randy Jackson, who had participated in Raised on Radio, and Narada Michael Walden, a renowned producer and drummer.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Journey, like many others, put their activities on hold. In July of this year, they resumed concert activities at a music festival in Chicago, but what shocked everyone was the presence of two drummers. Dean set up a drum kit next to Narada and handled both drums and vocals. Additionally, Randy was absent due to illness, and as his replacement, Marco Mendoza (former Blue Murder, Thin Lizzy) took over bass duties.
At this point, it’s unclear what this change means. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if some people view this as preparation for Dean’s full return. We’ll have to keep an eye on future developments.

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