BLABBERMOUTH.NET
Legendary rockers
JOURNEY have set
"Freedom" as the title of their long-awaited new album, to be released later in the year.
Founding
JOURNEY guitarist
Neal Schon shared the news of the LP's title and track listing in an
Instagram post earlier today (Wednesday, February 16). He wrote in an accompanying caption: "Teaser … it's coming and it's loaded @journeymusicofficial @nealschon @bmg_us @frontiersmusicsrl".
"Freedom" track listing, according to
Schon:
01.
Together We Run (4:49)
02.
Don't Give Up On Us (5:23)
03.
Still Believe In Love
04.
You Got The Best Of Me (5:33)
05.
Live To Love Again (5:30)
06.
The Way We Used To Be (3:35)
07.
Come Away With Me (4:02)
08.
After Glow (5:22)
09.
Let It Rain (4:40)
10.
Holdin On (3:14)
11.
All Day All Night (3:38)
12.
Don't Go (4:58)
13.
United We Stand (5:05)
14.
Life Rolls On (4:57)
15.
Beautiful As You Are (7:10)
JOURNEY recently completed a month-long Las Vegas residency at The Theater at Virgin Hotels. Filling in on bass for
JOURNEY for the six shows was
Todd Jensen, a veteran musician who has played for various artists, including the bands
SEQUEL,
HARDLINE and
HARLOW, as well as
David Lee Roth,
Ozzy Osbourne,
Steve Perry,
Alice Cooper and
Paul Rodgers. Also part of
JOURNEY's current lineup is returning drummer
Deen Castronovo, who shared the drum duties in the band last year with
Narada Michael Walden.
Walden, bassist
Randy Jackson and keyboardist/backing singer
Jason Derlatka all joined
JOURNEY in 2020 following the band's acrimonious split with drummer
Steve Smith and bassist
Ross Valory.
Jackson — who previously played with
JOURNEY during the mid-1980s — was forced to miss all the recent gigs because he is reportedly recovering from back surgery. Prior to the residency,
Jackson had been replaced at
JOURNEY's 2021 shows by
Marco Mendoza, who had played several shows in 2019 with
Castronovo and
JOURNEY guitarist
Neal Schon under the
"Neal Schon's Journey Through Time" banner.
In June 2021,
JOURNEY shared a new single,
"The Way We Used To Be". The song was the multi-platinum band's first new music since 2011's album
"Eclipse", and the first track released by the band's revamped lineup.
"The Way We Used To Be" marks
Walden and
Derlatka's first studio recordings with the band, and
Jackson's first since 1986's
"Raised On Radio". The song was produced by
Narada Michael Walden at his
Tarpan Studios, with co-production by
Schon and
Cain.
Since the group's formation in 1973,
JOURNEY has earned 19 top 40 singles, 25 gold and platinum albums, and has sold nearly 100 million albums globally. Their
"Greatest Hits" album is certified 15 times-platinum, making
JOURNEY one of the few bands to ever have been diamond-certified, and their song
"Don't Stop Believin'" has been streamed over one billion times alone.
JOURNEY was inducted into the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017, and 2018's co-headlining tour with
DEF LEPPARD was the band's most successful tour to date, landing them in the Top 10 year-end touring chart with more than 1 million tickets sold, and earning them the prestigious
Billboard "Legends Of Live" touring award. March 2019 saw the release of
"Escape & Frontiers Live In Japan", a live DVD/CD set from their concert at the Budokan in Tokyo featuring the band's first-ever performances of the albums
"Escape" and
"Frontiers" in their entirety.
JOURNEY has also received a star on the
Hollywood Walk Of Fame and were inducted into the
Hollywood Bowl Hall Of Fame. Additionally, the band is the subject of the award-winning documentary
"Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey" about the band's resurgence upon adding
Arnel Pineda as lead singer after founding member
Neal Schon discovered the Philippines native on
YouTube.
JOURNEY will team up with
TOTO for a North American tour in February, March, April and May.
Last August,
Schon gave a college radio simulcast interview to
WMSC and
WNUW where he discussed the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for the band's upcoming studio album. He said: "I learned how to play keyboards better than ever during the pandemic, which I'd never really done before. And that's where our first single [
'The Way We Used To Be'] came from. [I sent it to]
Jonathan [
Cain, keyboards], and he did the lyrics on it and put a rough vocal on it. And then we had
Arnel sing it, and we cut it and re-cut it in the studio, and it was just released. And a lot of people went, 'Wow, man. I love it.' 90 percent of people love it; the other 10 percent went, 'I don't think it sounds like
JOURNEY.' I go, 'I never wrote it to
be a
JOURNEY song.'"
According to
Schon, he and his bandmates had written over 30 new songs for the upcoming
JOURNEY record. "Some of 'em are unmistakably
JOURNEY without sounding like another song that we have; it just sounds like a new version of the band," he said. "It's ballistic, man. And there's no lack of guitar on this record. So I'm excited about it getting out there. I think any guitar player out there is gonna love this record, because I'm just kind of unleashing on this record — like I do a lot live, but sometimes hold back in the studio. I don't think it's O.D.ing on the guitar at all and going overboard, but I like to check out the times and where I see music going. I usually have a pretty good gut instinct about it, and I feel like the late '60s, the time and era of early
Jeff Beck with
Rod Stewart and [
LED]
ZEPPELIN when they first came out,
Jimi Hendrix, the
CREAM with [
Eric]
Clapton and
Jack Bruce and
Ginger Baker, that whole era, there's a lot of younger kids out there, younger generation, that never got to experience that era. So I'm feeling like that is the era that I grew up in and that's what I truly love doing and the type of music I love playing, so I'm going more there and I'm writing for that, to be able to do that on stage. And I think it's really gonna trip some people out, when we finally do get this album out there and can combine it with all the hits that we do have."
He continued: "There's certain songs that are being mixed by
Bob Clearmountain, that mixed our
'Raised On Radio' record, and he's made it sound really amazing, really pulled it together. You have mixers out there sometimes that have this incredible ability to take work that you've done throughout a year, even though they were recorded at separate times, and different sounds here and there, and they pull it all together and they make it sound like it's a tight album that has a focus sound-wise."
Neal added: "The whole album, there's not a filler on the record; that's what I can tell you. I look at it, and I'm listening to it now, and many others that have known our music for a long time that have very good ears have said, 'Look, this is the modern-day-and-age
'Escape'. I think this could be the next
'Escape' for you guys.' And I think that's a bold statement, but honest to God, I feel like it's that good."