Songoftheday 7/6/20 - In my life I see where I've been I said that I'd never fall again, within myself I was wrong my searching ain't over...
from the album Trial By Fire (1996)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #12 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 21
Today's song of the day comes from the arena-rock group Journey, whose last studio album of the 1980s, Raised On Radio, had spun off four top-40 pop hits with "I'll Be Alright Without You", "Girl Can't Help It", "Suzanne", and a top ten single "Be Good To Yourself". However, the band was unable to complete their tour behind the record when lead singer Steve Perry quit the band with rumored vocal trouble. Journey was put on ice, though all five members of their "classic lineup" appeared in the American pop Top-40. Guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain joined the supergroup Bad English with their #1 hit "When I See You Smile". Drummer Steve Smith and bass player Ross Valory were in another group, The Storm, which hit the top-40 with "I've Got A Lot To Learn About Love". And Perry released his second solo album, For The Love Of Strange Medicine, in 1994, with the top-40 single "You Better Wait". Also, their record company released the box set compilation Time3, which put a live version of older single "Lights" on the Hot 100 at #74 in 1993, and the "B-side" of their classic hit "Don't Stop Believin'", "Natural Thing", on the Mainstream Rock radio chart at #32. The five reunited in 1996 and recorded the tenth studio album under the "Journey" brand, Trial By Fire. The lead single was the ballad "When You Love A Woman", with the band passing the normal arena rock anthem as first off to score a hit, and it worked. The song became their next, and final, pop hit...
"When You Love A Woman" landed Journey their eighteenth, and so far final, top-40 pop hit in December of 1996. The song was a huge success at "easy listening" radio, topping Billboard magazine's Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks, and spending a week at #3 on their Adult Top-40 format tally. Internationally, the single went to #3 in Canada. At the 1997 Grammy Awards, the song was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Vocal Performance, losing out to an even bigger band, the Beatles, with their posthumous-ish "Free As A Bird". The Trial By Fire album went to #3 on the Billboard 200 sales chart, going on to sell over a million copies.
The next single from the set, "Message Of Love", failed to make the pop Hot 100, but was a decent rock radio hit, peaking at #18 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock list, and was a top-40 pop hit in Canada at #36. The third release, "Can't Tame The Lion", got to #33 on the Mainstream Rock chart, while final single "If He Should Break Your Heart", went to #21 at Adult Contemporary, and was a moderate success on the Canadian pop chart at #13.
With the renewed interest, Journey was set to tour behind the album, but again Perry departed with medical issues, and ended up leaving the band for good along with Smith, effectively putting the band on ice for a bit. The rest eventually recruited Schon and Cain's Bad English bandmate Deen Castronovo as drummer and new lead singer Steve Augeri, and recorded a new studio album, Arrival, which was released in America in 2001. The set stalled out at #56 on the Billboard 200 and second single "All The Way" was the only one to get any notice, hitting #22 on the Adult Contemporary radio chart. A second record in 2005, Generations, did even worse, stopping at #170 on the sales chart and with radio passing and more vocal problems, Augeri was unceremoniously booted. After a search that landed Filipino YouTube viral singer Ariel Pineda, a dead ringer for Steve Perry's voice, with the lead singer gig. With a big promo blitz, his first record with Journey, Revelation, made the top 5 on the American sales chart, going on to sell over a million copies. Lead single "After All These Years" went top ten on Adult Contemporary radio at #9, and a second song, "Where Did I Lose Your Love", peaked at #19. Another disc with Pineda, Eclipse, came in 2011, with single "Anything Is Possible" reaching #21 at Adult Contemporary. But so far, this has been their last studio record, with the band fighting amongst themselves, and Cain and Schon more famous for their right-wing crackpot wives than their music (Cain's third wife, Paula White, is one of the Nazi Nectarine's fake "spiritual" advisers). Meanwhile, Steve Perry finally released a new record, Traces, in 2018, which landed him two Adult Contemporary hits including "No Erasin'" (#18 AC).
Up tomorrow: Soul singer wants some cardiac relief.
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