The Journey That Time Forgot
A significant musical journey began in 1975 with the release of an eponymous debut album.
The band in question, Journey, would go on to become a household name in melodic rock and a feature of the ‘80s Billboard charts and arena shows.
But, unlike the more common occurrence these days where we have countless remastered or re-released versions of early albums by classic bands, there was to be no updated reissue for that debut album in 2010, 35 years on from its original appearance.
Nor was there any special treatment for the ‘Journey’ record in 2005 when the album celebrated its 30th birthday, even though songs from the album featured in Journey set lists during the Generations 30th Anniversary tour.
But those early tunes weren’t well received and had been met by most American concert going fans with extreme apathy, confusion or even complete ignorance of the material. The songs from that original musical era were long gone from the set by the time the Generations tour got to Europe.
And that’s a shame, but maybe not a surprise when you consider Journey’s greatest musical successes (and the line-ups that achieved those successes) were far removed from the Journey that time forgot…
When ‘Journey’ was released it showcased the precocious talents of guitarist Neal Schon, who had already played live alongside Eric Clapton and had been part of the Santana band for around two years.
Manager Herbie Herbert had hand picked the musicians he wanted for his post-Santana management project, and Carlos’ ex-musos Schon and vocalist/ keyboard player Greg Rolie were major components of the Journey that began in 1973.
Aiding and abetting Schon and Rolie were bass player Ross Valory, second/ rhythm guitarist George Tickner and drummer Prairie Prince.
The material Journey originally wrote and performed took its lead from the progressive fusion-istic pieces that featured on the early ‘70s Santana albums ‘III’ and ‘Caravanserai’ (both featuring Rolie and Schon).
Journey took it further, however - the album incorporated a blend of progressive and jazz-rock structures, long instrumental pieces and non-standard time signatures.
The songs featured on ‘Journey’ were honed on stage and in studio rehearsals throughout 1973 and 1974, but by the time recordings took place for the album late in 1974 Prarie Prince had jumped ship permanently to the Tubes.
Aynsley Dunbar replaced him behind the kit.
Dunbar was a good fit, being technically proficient and more progressive than mainstream in musicality. He became the final piece of the jigsaw in Journey’s original progressive-fusion period.
A significant musical journey began in 1975 with the release of an eponymous debut album.
The band in question, Journey, would go on to become a household name in melodic rock and a feature of the ‘80s Billboard charts and arena shows.
But, unlike the more common occurrence these days where we have countless remastered or re-released versions of early albums by classic bands, there was to be no updated reissue for that debut album in 2010, 35 years on from its original appearance.
Nor was there any special treatment for the ‘Journey’ record in 2005 when the album celebrated its 30th birthday, even though songs from the album featured in Journey set lists during the Generations 30th Anniversary tour.
But those early tunes weren’t well received and had been met by most American concert going fans with extreme apathy, confusion or even complete ignorance of the material. The songs from that original musical era were long gone from the set by the time the Generations tour got to Europe.
And that’s a shame, but maybe not a surprise when you consider Journey’s greatest musical successes (and the line-ups that achieved those successes) were far removed from the Journey that time forgot…
When ‘Journey’ was released it showcased the precocious talents of guitarist Neal Schon, who had already played live alongside Eric Clapton and had been part of the Santana band for around two years.
Manager Herbie Herbert had hand picked the musicians he wanted for his post-Santana management project, and Carlos’ ex-musos Schon and vocalist/ keyboard player Greg Rolie were major components of the Journey that began in 1973.
Aiding and abetting Schon and Rolie were bass player Ross Valory, second/ rhythm guitarist George Tickner and drummer Prairie Prince.
The material Journey originally wrote and performed took its lead from the progressive fusion-istic pieces that featured on the early ‘70s Santana albums ‘III’ and ‘Caravanserai’ (both featuring Rolie and Schon).
Journey took it further, however - the album incorporated a blend of progressive and jazz-rock structures, long instrumental pieces and non-standard time signatures.
The songs featured on ‘Journey’ were honed on stage and in studio rehearsals throughout 1973 and 1974, but by the time recordings took place for the album late in 1974 Prarie Prince had jumped ship permanently to the Tubes.
Aynsley Dunbar replaced him behind the kit.
Dunbar was a good fit, being technically proficient and more progressive than mainstream in musicality. He became the final piece of the jigsaw in Journey’s original progressive-fusion period.
The 1975 debut album that started the Journey.
It is also, sadly, the Journey that time forgot.
'Journey’ was released in April 1975 but didn’t exactly set the charts alight, with estimates of around 100,000 sales in its first year.
It was however a critical success and featured some blistering six-string work from Schon.
But sales should never be taken as a measure of quality and Journey’s debut album is so much more than just a footnote in the discography of the band…
The seven tracks served up a feast of fusion delights, with the opening number ‘Of a Lifetime’ setting the tone.
Beginning with a soft intro featuring a Rolie vocal and Schon melody line, it lulls the listener into a false sense of security as it builds to a heavy rock chorus before stepping up the tempo for a Schon solo run backed by some synth remarks by Rolie.
The song finishes with a heavier version of the melody line that opened the song.
The more mainstream musicality of Journey could be found on songs such as ‘In the Morning Day’ and ‘To Play Some Music.’
‘Morning Day’ starts innocently enough with an almost balladeering feel as Rolie sings over a piano and organ backing before the song kicks into gear featuring great Hammond organ runs from Rolie and a relatively short but blistering Schon solo.
‘To Play Some Music’ which opened side two of the album in old record vinyl terms (now look up “record vinyl” in the dictionary, kids), was Journey’s statement of intent. A great little rock number, with the title self-explanatory.
The closer ‘Mystery Mountain’ cranks up the fusion vibe again over a standard rock tempo.
Rolie almost spits out some of the volcanic lyrics, Tickner delivers big chunky guitar chords and Schon and Dunbar drive the latter half of the song to its fade-out finish.
This wasn’t a one-dimensional album though.
‘In My Lonely Feeling/ Conversations’ starts as a blues number with Rolie doing what he does best, before the song segues to the instrumental section written by Ross Valory.
‘Conversations’ is a great instrumental in its own right and features yet another great solo from Schon and some piano from Valory.
The melody would be revisited, orchestrated and form part of an instrumental piece for Journey’s ‘Dream after Dream’ soundtrack album 5 years later.
The final two numbers to mention are the best of the bunch.
‘Kohoutek’ and ‘Topaz’ are classic progressive-fusion instrumentals and both were highlights of early Journey shows.
‘Kohoutek,’ like ‘Of a Lifetime,’ starts quietly before stepping up both in power and tempo and features duelling instruments between the fret burning of Schon and the synth-runs of Rolie. Valory and Tickner hold down the riff of the song while Dunbar throws a few fills and runs of his own in for good measure before the song returns to its opening remarks.
‘Kohoutek’ was still a feature of Journey shows in 1980, well after their successful transformation to exponents of melodic rock.
‘Topaz,’ the other instrumental on the album, beats out ‘Kohoutek’ as not just the best instrumental on the album, but also as the best track on the album.
It is also, unarguably, one of the best songs Journey ever recorded or performed.
Written by George Tickner, it’s six minutes of instrumental fusion at its best.
Another song starting innocently enough with an atmospheric build up and almost eastern feel, it shifts to rock shuffle before mixing some fine grooving work from Schon and an almost funky rhythm held down by Tickner.
Dunbar again has his moments with big beefy fills and Valory gets to spread some little bursts of funk around when the song is in its highest gear.
Special mention must go to George Tickner.
Tickner was the foil to Schon’s rapier like six-string work, but he brought so much more to Journey. He knew more chords than most guitarists out there and was a superb arranger and songwriter.
The usual comment attributed to George Tickner’s departure - that he didn’t like touring and left to pursue medical studies - is correct, but it’s only half the story.
The problem was he was throwing such clever and sometimes complex chord shapes around that there were times Schon didn’t know when or where to come down after his solos or guitar work.
They just didn’t gel, Schon was unhappy and Tickner was dropped.
With Schon being such a talent and huge part of the sound it’s perhaps not surprising there was a clash when he was met with another creative force bringing different shapes to the table.
It certainly wouldn’t be the last time in the band’s history such creative clashes would occur.
In Schon’s defence, it can be argued in hindsight that Ticker was perhaps the fifth wheel.
With such a solid rhythm section as Valory and Dunbar, along with Rolie’s ability to put a layer behind Schon’s solos or match/ duel with those solos, Tickner became redundant.
Be that as it may, the part Tickner played in the sound of that original Journey should not be forgotten or underestimated.
He may well also have been the best songwriter/ arranger of the band in that fusion era and Tickner co-writing credits appeared on the two fusion based albums that followed the debut.
And as regards the talents of Neal Schon?
The guitarist will always be known, first and foremost, for six-string work such as the beautifully simple solo on ‘Who’s Crying Now’ and his other melodic deliveries on those later Journeys.
Yet the fact remains while his most noted solos are associated with later Journey eras, some of his best, unfettered works are in the grooves of albums such as ‘Journey.’
As just about every rock fan knows, by the late ‘70s it was a very different Journey and one that became incredibly successful, but where that Journey started should not be forgotten.
‘Journey’ is one of the best rock-fusion albums of the era, holding its own against some true classics such as Billy Cobham’s ‘Spectrum’ and releases by Colosseum II (featuring such luminaries as drummer Jon Hiseman, keyboard player Don Airey and a guitarist by the name of Gary Moore).
It’s not just a great rock-fusion album - it’s a great Journey album.
Which brings me back to remarks made at the top of this article.
The reason songs from this era were met with such indifference when they were performed in 2005 and the reason it’s highly unlikely the songs will ever feature again in a Journey set, is because most current fans aren’t aware there was a Journey before the band went to ‘Infinity’ and beyond.
With the band’s resurgence that took flight in 2008, there is a whole, new, younger audience. There are no hard facts to work off or numbers polled to review, but it’s a fair bet that for every 10 Journey fans revelling in their revelation, half will have no knowledge of the original Journey.
And there will be others who are aware there was musical life before Steve Perry but have never heard, or checked out, the material.
And to repeat an earlier statement - that’s a shame, but maybe not a surprise…
Because 35 years on, Journey were still touring the world To Play Some Music.
But sadly commercial considerations and fan base dictate it’s only the later part of their quality laden back catalogue that's performed in the sets.
Ross Muir
March 2011
Written for, and first published on, the Arrive Alive website in 2010.
Created in March 2007, Arrive Alive is a well established music board and forum dedicated to Journey and the band’s music and members, past and present.
Registration is currently closed on Arrive Alive but anyone interested should periodically check at: http://arrivealive.proboards.com
It is also, sadly, the Journey that time forgot.
'Journey’ was released in April 1975 but didn’t exactly set the charts alight, with estimates of around 100,000 sales in its first year.
It was however a critical success and featured some blistering six-string work from Schon.
But sales should never be taken as a measure of quality and Journey’s debut album is so much more than just a footnote in the discography of the band…
The seven tracks served up a feast of fusion delights, with the opening number ‘Of a Lifetime’ setting the tone.
Beginning with a soft intro featuring a Rolie vocal and Schon melody line, it lulls the listener into a false sense of security as it builds to a heavy rock chorus before stepping up the tempo for a Schon solo run backed by some synth remarks by Rolie.
The song finishes with a heavier version of the melody line that opened the song.
The more mainstream musicality of Journey could be found on songs such as ‘In the Morning Day’ and ‘To Play Some Music.’
‘Morning Day’ starts innocently enough with an almost balladeering feel as Rolie sings over a piano and organ backing before the song kicks into gear featuring great Hammond organ runs from Rolie and a relatively short but blistering Schon solo.
‘To Play Some Music’ which opened side two of the album in old record vinyl terms (now look up “record vinyl” in the dictionary, kids), was Journey’s statement of intent. A great little rock number, with the title self-explanatory.
The closer ‘Mystery Mountain’ cranks up the fusion vibe again over a standard rock tempo.
Rolie almost spits out some of the volcanic lyrics, Tickner delivers big chunky guitar chords and Schon and Dunbar drive the latter half of the song to its fade-out finish.
This wasn’t a one-dimensional album though.
‘In My Lonely Feeling/ Conversations’ starts as a blues number with Rolie doing what he does best, before the song segues to the instrumental section written by Ross Valory.
‘Conversations’ is a great instrumental in its own right and features yet another great solo from Schon and some piano from Valory.
The melody would be revisited, orchestrated and form part of an instrumental piece for Journey’s ‘Dream after Dream’ soundtrack album 5 years later.
The final two numbers to mention are the best of the bunch.
‘Kohoutek’ and ‘Topaz’ are classic progressive-fusion instrumentals and both were highlights of early Journey shows.
‘Kohoutek,’ like ‘Of a Lifetime,’ starts quietly before stepping up both in power and tempo and features duelling instruments between the fret burning of Schon and the synth-runs of Rolie. Valory and Tickner hold down the riff of the song while Dunbar throws a few fills and runs of his own in for good measure before the song returns to its opening remarks.
‘Kohoutek’ was still a feature of Journey shows in 1980, well after their successful transformation to exponents of melodic rock.
‘Topaz,’ the other instrumental on the album, beats out ‘Kohoutek’ as not just the best instrumental on the album, but also as the best track on the album.
It is also, unarguably, one of the best songs Journey ever recorded or performed.
Written by George Tickner, it’s six minutes of instrumental fusion at its best.
Another song starting innocently enough with an atmospheric build up and almost eastern feel, it shifts to rock shuffle before mixing some fine grooving work from Schon and an almost funky rhythm held down by Tickner.
Dunbar again has his moments with big beefy fills and Valory gets to spread some little bursts of funk around when the song is in its highest gear.
Special mention must go to George Tickner.
Tickner was the foil to Schon’s rapier like six-string work, but he brought so much more to Journey. He knew more chords than most guitarists out there and was a superb arranger and songwriter.
The usual comment attributed to George Tickner’s departure - that he didn’t like touring and left to pursue medical studies - is correct, but it’s only half the story.
The problem was he was throwing such clever and sometimes complex chord shapes around that there were times Schon didn’t know when or where to come down after his solos or guitar work.
They just didn’t gel, Schon was unhappy and Tickner was dropped.
With Schon being such a talent and huge part of the sound it’s perhaps not surprising there was a clash when he was met with another creative force bringing different shapes to the table.
It certainly wouldn’t be the last time in the band’s history such creative clashes would occur.
In Schon’s defence, it can be argued in hindsight that Ticker was perhaps the fifth wheel.
With such a solid rhythm section as Valory and Dunbar, along with Rolie’s ability to put a layer behind Schon’s solos or match/ duel with those solos, Tickner became redundant.
Be that as it may, the part Tickner played in the sound of that original Journey should not be forgotten or underestimated.
He may well also have been the best songwriter/ arranger of the band in that fusion era and Tickner co-writing credits appeared on the two fusion based albums that followed the debut.
And as regards the talents of Neal Schon?
The guitarist will always be known, first and foremost, for six-string work such as the beautifully simple solo on ‘Who’s Crying Now’ and his other melodic deliveries on those later Journeys.
Yet the fact remains while his most noted solos are associated with later Journey eras, some of his best, unfettered works are in the grooves of albums such as ‘Journey.’
As just about every rock fan knows, by the late ‘70s it was a very different Journey and one that became incredibly successful, but where that Journey started should not be forgotten.
‘Journey’ is one of the best rock-fusion albums of the era, holding its own against some true classics such as Billy Cobham’s ‘Spectrum’ and releases by Colosseum II (featuring such luminaries as drummer Jon Hiseman, keyboard player Don Airey and a guitarist by the name of Gary Moore).
It’s not just a great rock-fusion album - it’s a great Journey album.
Which brings me back to remarks made at the top of this article.
The reason songs from this era were met with such indifference when they were performed in 2005 and the reason it’s highly unlikely the songs will ever feature again in a Journey set, is because most current fans aren’t aware there was a Journey before the band went to ‘Infinity’ and beyond.
With the band’s resurgence that took flight in 2008, there is a whole, new, younger audience. There are no hard facts to work off or numbers polled to review, but it’s a fair bet that for every 10 Journey fans revelling in their revelation, half will have no knowledge of the original Journey.
And there will be others who are aware there was musical life before Steve Perry but have never heard, or checked out, the material.
And to repeat an earlier statement - that’s a shame, but maybe not a surprise…
Because 35 years on, Journey were still touring the world To Play Some Music.
But sadly commercial considerations and fan base dictate it’s only the later part of their quality laden back catalogue that's performed in the sets.
Ross Muir
March 2011
Written for, and first published on, the Arrive Alive website in 2010.
Created in March 2007, Arrive Alive is a well established music board and forum dedicated to Journey and the band’s music and members, past and present.
Registration is currently closed on Arrive Alive but anyone interested should periodically check at: http://arrivealive.proboards.com
