![]() They had a 5th single, but it was only released in Japan in case you were wondering. They had four Top 40 singles off the album yet they were unable to hit #1. The album only reached #2 on the Billboard charts which is really surprising to me. And the music is all that really matters anyway. So let’s talk about what the band did get right. I will pick on a couple other things later. I think I played it once out in the arcade. Check out this Youtube video of the game. What next…the video game!! The band actually had a video game based on the album where you had to reunite the band with their instruments. ![]() Oh, let’s not forget the horrible band member shots taken with these same outfits that is on the album sleeve…embarrassing in my book. For the Frontiers tour, Jonathan Cain wrote, and the band used “Elmo’s theme” to open the show.īut when you flip over the album cover, you get them sky diving in those silly sky diving outfits. The alien in Frontiers wasn’t really an alien at all, he was a connection to a higher level of listening to Journey. It was Einstein theories for artist interpretation. My vision for Frontiers was based on “tunnels” and the relativity of time and motion. Mouse and Kelley were not involved with that cover. We used the Scarab, the Mobeus strip, circular forms, wings and nature. The band had a style and grace that weaves through every record. It took you to a higher level, if you wanted it to. I always felt that Journey’s music was transcendent. There was a web page I found with an interview of Jim Welch by Scott Sullivan of the Journey Here is what he said when he was asked about the design and concept of the Journey album covers. The whole continuity between all the other album covers was gone…and is sadly missed. The amazing artwork from the previous albums was no more. Not sure I get it, but I know it has to do with the name of the album, ‘Frontiers’ as I think the band was saying they were reaching into a new frontier. Let’s start with the album cover…I picture of a futuristic, robotic looking head or maybe a futuristic, human head. Let’s start with the picking on piece first as it is the most fun. There is so much to love about this album and there is so much to pick on the band for about this album. When I heard their second single of their latest album, ‘Frontiers’, I finally bought my first Journey album. But for some reason I still hadn’t bought a Journey album. Steve Perry had the most recognizable voices on the radio and probably one of the absolute best voices on the radio at the time…if not ever. They were one of the biggest bands in the world. With the success of ‘Escape’, Journey was catapulted into the stratosphere of popularity. Some feel it was the start of the downfall, others think it is the pinnacle of their success. After the incredible success of the album, ‘Escape’, the ballad became King for Journey. soon embarked on yet another mammoth tour, which set many an attendance record, and set the stage for even greater triumph with 1980's Departure.Love It or Hate It, Journey went down a whole new path with the release of ‘Frontiers’. Evolution quickly became the band's biggest-selling album (moving over 800,000 units in less than three months), and Perry and co. And with Steve Perry's tenor pipes now clearly driving the band's engine, and guitarist Neal Schon beginning to relish in his guitar-hero persona, Journey could seemingly do no wrong. With commercial rock hits like "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" (their first single to crack the Top 20), "Too Late" (which reached number 70), and the powerful "Just the Same Way" (which peaked at number 58) leading the way to radio dominance, Journey had never sounded stronger or more determined. If Infinity had defined a new songwriting formula for the act, Evolution only served to develop it and streamlined it further, clearly qualifying as their strongest effort to date and endearing the band to millions of FM rock listeners in the process. Thankfully, former Ronnie Montrose skin-beater Steve Smith soon brought his college-trained jazz fusion background to the table, and the band was ready to get back to work. This transition (also clearly illustrated by the futuristic insect gracing each album cover henceforth) would not come without its growing pains, however, and while producer Roy Thomas Baker was back for a second go-round, original drummer Aynsley Dunbar would be the first casualty of the band's new direction. With the platinum triumph of Infinity still ringing in their ears like coins in a slot machine, Journey was now committed to completing their transformation from jazz fusion/prog rock mavens into arena rock superstars with their fifth album, 1979's Evolution.
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