Record #676: Journey – Infinity (1978)

If you were to conduct a survey to find the most important rock bands of the 1980s, the name “Journey” would be somewhere in the top five most common answers. Their huge hooks and virtuosic guitar solos have given them a permanent spot in “Yesterday and Today” radio stations across the country.

That legacy of hard-hitting singalongs started on Infinity, their fourth studio album, and their first with vocalist Steve Perry. That addition was the perfect ingredient to take them from an obscure progressive outfit to hit-making, bonafide arena rockers.

Continue reading

Record #428: Journey –  Escape (1981)

Journey gets some hate among punk, metal, and hipster circles (note: these are all of my circles).
Nearly all of that hate is due to one song: “Don’t Stop Believin’,” which is the opening track of this album.
But that’s all misdirected. Hate the cultural obsession and Glee  version all you want. But the track itself is still solid gold. And there’s only more where that came from.

Continue reading