Another great San Francisco band, Journey (named by a radio station contest) formed around 1973. Considered by some as Yes protÈgÈs, Journey paid their dues in the clubs of the Bay Area until the late 70s, when progressive rock became a staple of the airwaves. Journey’s sixth album (the third with Steve Perry) left us with a dozen songs that predicted what the albums in the 80s were going to be - 40 minutes of pop-rock and ballads. This isn’t a bad thing most of the time.

Journey were a band that mixed in creamy (sometimes over the top) vocals, the nasty guitar of founder Neal Schon, and the keyboards of Gregg Rolie (this was his last album with Journey). The songwriting was good, and it appealed to both sexes. There wasn’t anything great about Journey, but it was hard to find anything wrong with them either.

Departure kicks off with “Any Way You Want It,” which I associate mostly the scene in Caddyshack with Rodney Dangerfield. Think about it. “Walks Like A Lady” follows. Then comes the harmon- drenched “Someday Soon.” The synthed-out “People And Places” highlights one of many vocal duets with Perry and Rolie that led to some of their finest recorded music. Other familiar tracks include “Where Were You,” “Line Of Fire” and “Stay Awhile.” Similar songs and styles can be found on Infinity (1978) and Evolution (1979), but of these three albums, Departure is the most diverse.

Journey’s last mainstream album was Escape (1983), and contained the hit singles, and super-power ballads like “Who’s Cryin’ Now,” “Don’t Stop Believin’” and the sappy “Open Arms.” Incredibly, it sold 10 million copies. Perry quit the band in the 1990s, but Journey still tours with a lead singer that has the identical vocal range and stage presence and, coincidentally, is named Steve.

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