Journey
Evolution

THE REVIEW

The fifth album by Journey isn't much. However, it sold very well at the time (1979), riding the positive wave of the previous "Infinity" which, aside from the big and decisive novelty represented by the entry of a full-time singer with an exceedingly important voice, also enjoyed greater compositional inspiration in comparison. Here, they are coasting a bit, maintaining the recently achieved positions, but in short, this is not a work that made the history of the group, let alone rock.

Nevertheless, there is an important change in the lineup, namely the change of drummer: it is, curiously but significantly, the last arrival, vocalist Steve Perry, who takes it upon himself to oust Aynsley Dumbar, a musician with a long resume and one of the founding members of the quintet. The reason put forth by Perry is rather outrageous but (in my opinion) unarguable: Dumbar has all the technique and experience one might want, but lacks groove, drive, and power, at least for the kind of melodic yet heavy music the group pursues. The singer thus throws the stone, his bandmates, and especially the group's manager, gradually realize how true it is, and it's time for poor Aynsley to look for another project.

On the other hand, in his place comes quite a prodigy: Steve Smith is one of those simply perfect and incredibly eclectic drummers who can play everything and adapt to anything. As a kid, he was already touring with big bands and the best jazz musicians; even today, his high-level clinics are the most attended in the world. For him, it's not truly a problem if a band's music needs maximum drive: a simple change in the grip of the left stick, from classical to timpani style, and he's ready to make the snare drum explode and shift the accents slightly forward from when playing jazz, ensuring his bandmates a phenomenal groove.

The single that propelled the album nearly to the top of the American charts at the time is titled "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" and is a shuffle blues that slinks along surreptitiously until the long, catchy, super pop chorus "Na na na na na..." at the end, sung in four voices and essentially almost entirely responsible for its commercial success, still reprised among the encores in all concert setlists. The song is the brainchild of Steve Perry alone, rapidly rising within the group as a dominant figure, taking the place of founding members guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist and former lead vocalist Gregg Rolie.

It will take two more albums for this band to assume the organization and sound that will make them great. A dominant singer and an extraordinary drummer have now arrived... what's still missing is the change of producer to someone much more emphatic and aestheticizing, which will happen with the subsequent "Evolution" (1980); and finally, a keyboardist of inspired melodic and romantic talent, destined to shift (in cahoots with the singer) the center of their melodic conception of hard rock from the current blues to pop. And then it will be time for "Escape" (1981) and for the definitive leap in quality, personality, and popular recognition.