Ranking All 81 Steve Perry Journey Songs
Journey had never gotten higher than No. 85 on the Billboard album chart when new frontman Steve Perry walked in the door in 1977.
They went on to sell an astonishing nine million albums in the U.S. alone before Jonathan Cain joined in 1980, and Journey somehow got even bigger. Their next four albums were all Top 5 smashes, and they were all platinum or multi-platinum. Perry's first record with Cain sold more than 10 million copies.
Journey had also never had a charting single before Perry arrived. By the time he split with the group in the late '90s, they'd racked up 16 Top 25 singles – including seven Top 10 smashes. "Open Arms" remained at No. 2 for an astonishing six weeks. "When You Love a Woman" was nominated for a Grammy. "Don't Stop Believin'" became a timeless classic.
READ MORE: Why Journey Stopped Making Videos
Which one was best? Our ranking of all 81 Steve Perry Journey songs counts them down, leaving out instrumentals (since those were showcases for Neal Schon) as well as early-era Journey duets with Gregg Rolie or Schon where Perry wasn't the focus.
Steve Perry changed the band forever, setting them on a course to superstardom that Schon, Rolie and then Cain bolstered and enriched. As such, these rankings may differ slightly from lists devoted to Journey's larger catalog. For example, some of their ballads creep up higher – simply because they remain quintessential examples of Perry's genius.
No. 81. "Back Talk"
From: Frontiers (1983)
Drummer Steve Smith earned a songwriting co-credit on "Back Talk," and it's easy to see why as this Side 2 skip loudly rumbles along. There were much better songs left on the cutting room floor.
No. 80. "Can Do"
From: Infinity (1978)
Actually, can't.
No. 79. "Baby I'm a Leavin' You"
From: Trial By Fire (1996)
If you were wondering what Journey would sound like as a reggae band.
No. 78. "I'm Cryin'"
From: Departure (1980)
Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon do their best to prop up this draggy, frankly mawkish song, adding sharp gurgles of organ and knifing riffs. But it's no use.
No. 77. "Positive Touch"
From: Raised on Radio (1986)
Journey had always made music in a room together – until this album. Instead, initial demos for Raised on Radio were constructed with a click track, which Perry then asked Steve Smith to mimic. He succeeded all too well on this boringly metronomic song, before splitting with the group in frustration.
No. 76. "La Do Da"
From: Infinity (1978)
Perry's initial collaborations with Schon were a revelation. So many of the group's foundational songs emerged from those initial writing sessions. And then there was this.
No. 75. "Liberty"
From: Time3 (1992)
If you were wondering what Journey would sound like as a country band.
No. 74. "Troubled Child"
From: Frontiers (1983)
They had "Only the Young." They had "Only Solutions." They even had "Ask the Lonely." Instead, for some reason, they chose this instead.
No. 73. "Lady Luck"
From: Evolution (1979)
Journey isn't the only act with a song called "Lady Luck," joining Rod Stewart, Deep Purple and David Lee Roth. Come to think of it, none of those are really any good either.
No. 72. "Happy to Give"
From: Raised on Radio (1986)
Cain's initial idea had the feel of a soundtrack, recalling too-atmospheric Vangelis, and "Happy to Give" never recovered. It's certainly not Perry's fault. He tried cutting the vocal so many times that Cain started calling it Perry's "pet song."
No. 71. "La Raza Del Sol"
From: B-side of "Still They Ride" (1981)
Always in touch with the common man, Cain became inspired by the plight of migrant farm workers in California. But his new bandmates were still in '70s jam-band mode, surrounding it all with a meandering music bed that felt like a leftover from the pre-Perry days.
No. 70. "Mother, Father"
From: Escape (1981)
Another song with its heart in the right place, "Mother, Father" gave Neal Schon one more chance to work with his talented dad. The results were stitched together with ideas from both Perry and Schon, however, and became rather disjointed along the way.
No. 69. "Colors of the Spirit"
From: Trial By Fire (1996)
This seemed like it was going to be more intriguing. They begin (and end) with a vague world-music feel, but return to expected '80s-era Journey-isms in between.
No. 68. "Homemade Love"
From: Departure (1980)
They'd finally cracked the code for pop chart success with "Any Way You Want It," but Journey was still down for a few musical excesses of old. The worst part was placing the sludgy, clumsily salacious "Homemade Love" at the end of this album. Departure suddenly seemed to be looking backward instead of ahead.
No. 67. "One More"
From: Trial by Fire (1996)
The first in a number of Trial by Fire songs that made overt faith references. That became an underlying theme on the album, sparked when Perry arrived at the sessions carrying a Bible.
No. 66. "Dixie Highway"
From: Captured (1981)
"Dixie Highway" sounds like what it was: a throwaway track written on Journey's tour bus while traveling the eponymous interstate into Detroit. It was perhaps interesting enough to be tried out live, but not interesting enough to make it onto a studio album.
No. 65. "It's Just the Rain"
From: Trial By Fire (1996)
Perry achieves a sweet sense of reverie, his most favored place, but the surroundings owe too much to rather boring solo forays into smooth jazz by Cain and Schon.
No. 64. "Keep On Runnin'"
From: Escape (1981)
A pedestrian rocker, "Keep on Runnin'" is the only stumble on Side One of Journey's biggest selling LP.
No. 63. "Trial by Fire"
From Trial by Fire (1996)
This made direct reference to verses in 2 Corinthians, underscoring again how Cain's long-dormant songwriting partnership with Perry was reborn through a shared interest in scripture. Cain's solo career returned to this theme as he began delving into faith-based songs with 2016's What God Wants to Hear.
No. 62. "Still She Cries"
From: Trial by Fire (1996)
See "It's Just the Rain."
No. 61. "Dead or Alive"
From: Escape (1981)
The second of two throwback-style songs on Escape that seek to approximate Journey's more rugged, fusion-leaning '70s-era, and the lesser of the pair. That "Dead or Alive" came directly after the too-similar "Lay It Down" also didn't do the song any favors.
No. 60. "City of the Angels"
From: Evolution (1979)
"Lights," found later on this list of Steve Perry Journey songs, was originally about Los Angeles, before Perry shifted its locale to his new home base in San Francisco. He later returned to the idea of paying tribute to L.A., with much poorer results.
No. 59. "I Can See It in Your Eyes"
From: Trial by Fire (1996)
The obvious goal of getting the early-'80s lineup back together was to recreate the sound of that era – and they did that here. Unfortunately, it was the sound of their throwaway stuff on Side Two of Frontiers.
No. 58. "Can't Tame the Lion"
From: Trial by Fire (1996)
See "I Can See It in Your Eyes."
No. 57. "Escape"
From: Escape (1981)
Cain and Perry are credited as co-composers, but the title track from Escape still feels like the first of what became a series of not-always-successful attempts by Neal Schon to balance Journey's new knack for balladry with ballsier rock songs. It certainly served that purpose in later-era concerts.
No. 56. "Winds of March"
From: Infinity (1978)
Credited to a crowd including Matt and his son Neal Schon, Robert Fleischman, Gregg Rolie and Steve Perry, "Winds of March" actually sounds like a meeting of two minds: Perry, who deftly croons his way through the first two minutes, and his new bandmates – who absolutely tear through the remaining three.
No. 55. "Line of Fire"
From: Departure (1980)
A perfunctory rocker best remembered for a rather on-the-nose sound effect at roughly the 2:10 mark that Perry cribbed from Junior Walker's chart-topping 1965 R&B hit "Shotgun."
No. 54. "Precious Time"
From: Departure (1980)
Rolie adds a muscular harp squall, but not much else stands out.
No. 53. "Lay It Down"
From: Escape (1981)
One of two songs from Escape that could have seamlessly fit into a Rolie-era album. Steve Smith approximates co-founding drummer Aynsley Dunbar's thudding, heavy-rock approach while Schon swirls into the stratosphere.
No. 52. "Chain Reaction"
From: Frontiers (1983)
Schon finds a fusible groove, then joins Perry for a gutty vocal interplay. But "Chain Reaction" ends up getting lost somewhere along the way.
No. 51. "Once You Love Somebody"
From: Raised on Radio (1986)
They tried for a bluesy feel on a song echoing the relationship troubles that both Perry and Cain were then experiencing, but there's simply not enough grit to this.
No. 50. "Natural Thing"
From: B-side of "Don't Stop Believin'" (1981)
Your average classic rock radio-loving fan might not peg Steve Perry as a died-in-the-wool R&B guy who can totally pull off this sometimes very un-Journey style. Tell them to start here.
No. 49. "Easy to Fall"
From: Trial by Fire (1996)
Presented in their classic arena-ballad style, but without much to differentiate it from other, better, more popular iterations, "Easy to Fall" is the sound of Journey trying to sound like Journey. There's a lot of that on Trial by Fire – and on every LP that followed it.
No. 48. "Rubicon"
From: Frontiers (1983)
This song drove a seemingly permanent wedge in the band. Schon was reportedly playing "Rubicon" when Perry came over and turned down his amplifiers. "They want to hear the voice," Schon remembered Perry saying. Perry and Schon put out only two more albums together, and it took them 13 years to do it.
No. 47. "When I Think of You"
From: Trial by Fire (1996)
"When I Think of You" appeared on Journey's Perry-curated Greatest Hits 2 not because of its chart history, but because of what it meant to him. Perry wrote this little-known deep cut after his late mother appeared, happy and healthy, in a particularly vivid dream. He told Cain he wanted to write create a song around the dream, and they finished the touching "When I Think of You" together.
No. 46. "Frontiers"
From: Frontiers (1983)
The second-best song on this album's deflating flip side. Singing in a clipped, coolly detached tone, Perry offers a great put-down for warmongers: "War is for fools; crisis is cool."
No. 45. "It Could Have Been You"
From: Raised on Radio (1986)
Schon's riffy contributions work in brilliant counterpoint to Perry's inherent poignancy, underscoring why this partnership meshed so easily – and so well.
No. 44. "Sweet and Simple"
From: Evolution (1979)
Perry brought this dream-like song with him, having written it years before while looking out over Lake Tahoe. Journey completed it with a quickly ascending final segment that matched now-patented multi-tracked vocals with Schon's typical pyro.
No. 43. "Where Were You"
From: Departure (1980)
There's a reason Journey opened their concerts with "Where Were You" for so long. They were just coming off an opening gig with AC/DC at this point, and clearly the headliner's knack for outsized, riffy rockers rubbed off.
No. 42. "Castles Burning"
From: Trial by Fire (1996)
A badly needed rocker on an album that too often played down to their ballad- and mid-tempo-loving fan base.
No. 41. "Little Girl"
From: Dream After Dream (1981)
Dream After Dream, the last Journey album to feature contributions from Gregg Rolie, isn't really part of the band's catalog since it's otherwise filled with incidental music for a now-forgotten foreign film. Mostly, they dig back into the prog and fusion that defined their earliest era – except for "Little Girl," where Perry is showcased. This too-often-overlooked song later became known — if it was known at all — simply as a B-side to the "Open Arms" single.
No. 40. "Raised on Radio"
From: Raised on Radio (1986)
Radio holds a talismanic place in Perry's imagination for two reasons. His dad owned a station and radio was a constant presence in the youthful places where Perry returns, time and time again, for creative sustenance. If things had gone another way, he's said he could see himself as a DJ, rather than a huge pop star.
No. 39. "Message of Love"
From: Trial by Fire (1996)
A continuation of the untroubled sleekness of Raised on Radio-era Journey, this could have easily passed as a Steve Perry solo track.
No. 38. "Ask the Lonely"
From: Two of a Kind (1983)
Jonathan Cain once said Perry could write songs like this in his sleep. Unfortunately, this only-okay leftover is an example of that assembly line-type approach. That said, "Ask the Lonely" is still better than most of the stuff on the back end of Frontiers.
No. 37. "Lovin' You Is Easy"
From: Evolution (1979)
Starts out as another cookie-cutter '70s-era Journey song, then Perry gets to the ear-worm title lyric and everything changes.
No. 36. "When You Love a Woman"
From: Trial by Fire (1996)
Featuring a saccharine sentiment with a too-sweet string section to match, this is Journey balladry at its limpest. Still, "When You Love a Woman" became a gold-selling No. 12 smash. Because, Steve Perry.
No. 35. "Don't Be Down on Me Baby"
From: Trial by Fire (1996)
Again, nobody aches like Steve Perry.
No. 34. "Why Can't This Night Go on Forever"
From: Raised on Radio (1986)
Written in tribute to their fans, "Why Can't This Night Go on Forever" moved past its quite overt "Open Arms" / "Faithfully"-style ambitions on the strength of performances by Schon and Perry.
No. 33. "Patiently"
From: Infinity (1978)
Schon memorably gave Perry a ride home after sitting in with Azteca in San Francisco, but had no idea his passenger was a singer. Five years later, Perry finally got the chance to make an impression. He stopped by Schon's hotel the day after a Journey show in Denver, and they wrote this song.
No. 32. "The Eyes of a Woman"
From: Raised on Radio (1986)
Steve Smith only appeared on three Raised on Radio tracks, but that doesn't mean he didn't have an undeniable impact. His anticipatory rhythm builds a smart tension on the underrated "The Eyes of a Woman," as Schon's echoing chords surround the vocal. Perry has called this one of his favorite Journey songs, and that might be because "The Eyes of a Woman" is one of the very few here that fully recalls their Escape / Frontiers sound.
No. 31. "Suzanne"
From: Raised on Radio (1986)
If Steve Perry sounds a little overwhelmed on the second single from this album, there's a reason for that. This No. 17 hit was written as a fantasy encounter with an actual crush. Perry never revealed who she was, other than to call her a "film star who also had a vocal artist career."
No. 30. "Somethin' to Hide"
From: Infinity (1978)
Journey's first attempt at a power ballad was devastatingly effective, though it arrived years before "Open Arms." Perry's final cry is simply astonishing.
No. 29. "Edge of the Blade"
From: Frontiers (1983)
Disappointments loom but, boy, does Side Two of Frontiers get off to a roaring start.
No. 28. "Be Good to Yourself"
From: Raised on Radio (1986)
A throwback rocker, "Be Good to Yourself" had little in common with the sleeker, more adult-contemporary feel found elsewhere on Raised on Radio. It didn't make for the most representative lead single either, but manager Herbie Herbertsmartly prevailed. Journey returned to the Top 10.
No. 27. "If He Should Break Your Heart"
From: Trial by Fire (1996)
One of the best-ever meldings of Solo Steve (verses) and Journey Steve (the rest).
No. 26. "Girl Can't Help It"
From: Raised on Radio (1986)
Perry essentially took control of Journey in the run-up to this album, switching out band members for sidemen with whom he'd worked before then serving as the project's de facto producer. That led them to some song treatments that moved well away from anything Journey had done before, or since. "Girl Can't Help It," one of three Top 40 singles from Raised on Radio, was the exception. This was classic Journey, spit-shined up for a new era.
No. 25. "Only Solutions"
From: Tron (1982)
Unjustly forgotten, and barely used in the film at all, the hooky "Only Solutions" would have greatly enlivened what turned out to be a letdown on Side Two of Frontiers.
No. 24. "Opened the Door"
From: Infinity (1978)
The last song on the first album to feature Perry, "Open the Door" begins like every gorgeous, ear-wormy love song they ever hit with a few years later — but after Perry's initial three minutes, Rolie joins in a huge vocal bridge ("Yeah, you opened ..."), and from there Schon and company are loosened from those binding conventions. Drummer Aynsley Dunbar, on his final recording date with Journey, sets a thunderous cadence, and Schon powers the song — and this career-turning album — to its quickly elevating conclusion.
No. 23. "Faithfully"
From: Frontiers (1983)
Cain said this No. 14 power-ballad smash, written in tribute to a happily married musician's life on the road, came to him in a dream. He wrote it in his own key, and that allowed Perry to explore a different vocal timbre. They finished the song with a memorable back-and-forth between Perry and Schon, also completely unrehearsed.
No. 22. "When You're Alone (It Ain't Easy)"
From: Evolution (1979)
Perry chirps and coos his way through this winking tease of a song – that is, until about a third of the way through, when Schon provides a huge moment of release.
No. 21. "Forever in Blue"
From: Trial by Fire (1996)
As with "Girl Can't Help It," found later on our list, "Forever in Blue" represents that rare moment when the latter-day edition puts it all together again.
No. 20. "Wheel in the Sky"
From: Infinity (1978)
The ubiquitous "Wheel in the Sky" spent eight weeks on the Billboard chart, but somehow only got to No. 57. Journey was probably too busy touring to notice: They played more than 170 cities in North America and Europe on an accompanying tour. For Perry, it an unvarnished thrill to see "Wheel in the Sky" inside a jukebox. (It was a sign back then that any up-and-comer had finally made it.) He found the single at a pizza place he was visiting with Schon in 1978, put two quarters in, and then sat back down to see the look on his bandmate's face when their music filled the dining area. Schon didn't get it at first. When he did, Perry remembered Schon quipping, "I love this song," amid an uproar of laughter.
No. 19. "Walks Like a Lady"
From: Departure (1980)
A great example of the way Journey songs evolved in the studio. Perry brought in a rough sketch, Schon added a blues-inspired riff, then Steve Smith picked up his brushes. All that was left to complete things was Rolie's greasy Hammond B3 groove, reportedly one of his favorites.
No. 18. "Too Late"
From: Evolution (1979)
A delicate, beautifully conveyed song of encouragement, "Too Late" was aimed at a friend of Perry's who had fallen into drug abuse.
No. 17. "Daydream"
From: Evolution (1979)
An episodic triumph, "Daydream" is defined by dreamy, Jon Anderson-esque verses, rangy guitar riffs and forward-thinking keyboard asides – very much in keeping with the prog-rock pretensions of the '70s. Unfortunately for Journey, that sound had already become decidedly passe.
No. 16. "I'll Be Alright Without You"
From: Raised on Radio (1986)
Schon, who earned a co-writing credit with Cain and Perry, tried out a then-new guitar in search of a distinct sound for this song. Best known for using a 1963 Fender Stratocaster, Schon experimented with a graphite Roland 707 to see if he could get a different, more even tone. It worked: "I'll Be Alright Without You" remains Journey's penultimate Top 20 hit, followed by 1996's "When You Love a Woman." Cain, like Perry, was going through a breakup and called this track the other half of the emotions expressed in "Once You Love Somebody."
No. 15. "Good Morning Girl" / "Stay Awhile"
From: Departure (1980)
Inextricably linked by their successive appearances on Departure, these two songs showcased Perry's dual gifts: "Good Morning Girl" was a fragile, impossibly beautiful ballad that emerged from a jam session with Schon, while "Stay Awhile" showed off his R&B chops.
No. 14. "Do You Recall"
From: Evolution (1979)
Maybe the perfect blending of Journey's tough early sound and Perry's sun-flecked sense of reminiscence. Roy Thomas Baker's familiar stacked vocals propel the bridge to untold heights.
No. 13. "Open Arms"
From: Escape (1981)
If you dislike power ballads, blame Jonathan Cain. He brought this seminal example of the genre to Journey after John Waite, the frontman in Cain's former band the Babys, rejected an early version. Schon didn't really want "Open Arms," either. But Perry intervened, and they turned it into a soaring paean to renewal. Oh, and Journey's highest-charting single ever.
No. 12. "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'"
From: 'Evolution' (1979)
A song with a real-life storyline, "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" came to life in another Journey jam session, then went on to become their very first Top 20 hit. Rolie's Nicky Hopkins-esque honky tonk piano rides atop a stuttering, 12/8 rhythm, building inexorably toward a cloud-bursting nah-nah-nah conclusion. Steve Smith has compared that blues shuffle to "Nothing Can Change This Love" by key Perry influence Sam Cooke. The heartbroken Perry, who's described the writing of this song as "love justice," again played the bass on the initial sessions. The results opened the pop-chart floodgates.
No. 11. "The Party's Over (Hopelessly in Love)"
From: Captured (1981)
Journey's transformation into sleek hitmakers is typically associated with Cain's entry into the lineup, but it actually started with this song. "The Party's Over (Hopelessly in Love)," a studio song Journey tacked onto a live record Cain became a member, boasts every element of the new sound that would define their '80s era. The song came together as Perry ruminated on bass backstage at Cobo Hall in Detroit. He already had Schon's guitar line in his head, so he sang it to him. The ideas from this rough demo where completed with an accompanying narrative that Perry described as a "situation where a person is waiting for a phone call." The keyboard turn came courtesy of their friend Stevie "Keys" Roseman, a Bay Area musician who was working in an adjacent space at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley.
No. 10. "Stone in Love"
From: Escape (1981)
Schon had a tape recorder going while he fooled around with the guitar during a party at his house in San Rafael. Perry and Cain did the rest.
No. 9. "After the Fall"
From: Frontiers (1983)
Perry began this song on the bass, perhaps an early indication of the changes in store for Journey. By the time they released 1986's Raised on Radio, Ross Valory had been replaced by Randy Jackson, later of American Idol fame. Smith departed too, but not before proving himself utterly invaluable here.
No. 8. "Only the Young"
From: Vision Quest (1985)
Another song that, had it been included, might have pushed Frontiers past Escape as Journey's best Cain-era album. Instead, "Only the Young" appeared much later on this soundtrack, and by then Kenny Sykaluk – a 16-year-old fan suffering from cystic fibrosis – had already died after becoming the first person to hear it. "Only the Young," which opened every concert on Journey's subsequent tour, will be forever associated with his brave fight.
No. 7. "Still They Ride"
From: Escape (1981)
Cain and Schon earned co-songwriting credits on "Still They Ride," and Steve Smith showed off an accomplished dexterity. But the final charting single from Escape, released the following year, belonged in no small part to Steve Perry. The song's main character, Jesse, never left the town of his youth, and still drives through its darkening streets looking for some connection. If you had found yourself in mid-century Hanford, California, you might have seen a young Steve Perry doing the same thing. Of course, he'd long since left, but Hanford – where a plaque in his honor rests at Civic Park – never left him. Jesse, this dreamer who refuses to give up on his youthful reverie, was Perry's ultimate metaphoric character.
No. 6. "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)"
From: Frontiers (1983)
The subject of lingering ridicule because of a misguided video, "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" struggles to find its true voice today. But the lead single from Frontiers was a multi-week Top 10 smash in early 1983, and the perfect example of how Journey could mix in elements of R&B and blues without sacrificing modernity. "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" came together while they toured behind Escape and revolved around a backstage melody Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain developed on bass and keys, respectively. Such was its immediate power that the band quickly began playing "Separate Ways" on stage – even before Perry had completely learned the words.
No. 5. "Any Way You Want It"
From: Departure (1980)
Steve Perry and Neal Schon were in Miami for a May opening date with Thin Lizzy, when they started a rhythm-scheme exercise based on the headliner’s unique musical interplay. They had been knocked out by how the guitar and vocals went back and forth on front man Phil Lynott's songs. So, Perry sang, “she loves to laugh,” and Schon responded with a riff. Perry sang, “she loves to sing,” and Schon responded again. Then, “she does everything” led into another guitar riff — just like Thin Lizzy might have. They had the makings of “Any Way You Want It,” a single that just missed the Top 20 after its release in February 1980 then gained new life that summer as part of a Rodney Dangerfield gag in the golf parody film Caddyshack.
No. 4. "Who's Crying Now"
From: Escape (1981)
The initial single from Escape, a No. 4 hit, perfectly illustrates how Jonathan Cain's new presence changed Perry's writing style, then forever changed Journey. The first inklings of the track came to Perry as he was driving up to San Francisco on Route 99. But "Who's Crying Now" was a song with no real direction until Cain suggested the title. They worked out a cool b-section featuring only voice and keyboard, and their very first co-written composition was completed. Inspired, Perry also fought to keep Schon's extended guitar solo on the single.
No. 3. "Lights"
From: Infinity (1978)
Steve Perry was trying to write an ode to Los Angeles but couldn't quite coax "Lights" into existence. Something just did not feel right about singing "When the lights go down in the city, and the sun shines on L.A." So, he stuck the song in his back pocket. Then an opportunity to join Journey changed his life and changed the song. Perry previewed "Lights" for the others in August 1977 in San Bernardino, during a period when he was on the road with Journey but not yet an official member. Perry's new adopted hometown of San Francisco led to a crucial lyrical update: "L.A." became "the bay," as "Lights" paved the way for a collaborative relationship that would take Perry and Schon to once-unimaginable heights.
No. 2. "Send Her My Love"
From: Frontiers (1983)
The title belonged to Jonathan Cain, who'd held tight to a single line that resonated with Perry as something said when communication completely breaks down after the end of a relationship. Schon achieved a guitar sound that Perry later described as "huge, across-the-Grand Canyon dreamy" by utilizing a Lexicon 480L echo unit. The rhythm, based on a performance by Tony Williams on an old Miles Davis record, was uniquely Steve Smith's. But the last of four Top 40 hit from this album could only be voiced by Perry, who latched onto its theme and pushed it to a lonesome zenith.
No. 1. "Don't Stop Believin'"
From: Escape (1981)
In one sense, this song will always be associated with Jonathan Cain. After all, Cain had been carrying it around as a song scrap for years before joining the band. His father said "don't stop believin'" back in the '70s, during a down-and-out phase after Cain lost his first record deal. He wrote the words down, finally returning to them during sessions for his first album with Journey. But Perry is the one who latched onto the idea, the one who coined the indelible phrase about "streetlight people," the one who demanded they wait – and wait – to go into that huge chorus. He's also the one who sang it into the hearts of generation after generation.
Journey Albums Ranked
Gallery Credit: UCR Staff
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