Album Reviews

What year did Journey form?  1973

What band were members in before forming Journey?  Santana

What Journey song is the top-selling iTunes catalog track?  Don’t Stop Believin’

How many Top 40 singles has Journey scored? 18

Who managed Journey? Herbie Herbert

What British drummer was an early Journey member? Aynsley Dunbar

Who is the current Journey lead singer, where was he discovered and from what country does he hail? Arnel Pineda, Youtube, Philipines

What single from what Academy Award® nominated soundtrack did not make it to either of these two Greatest Hits albums?  "Only Solutions," TRON

Now, the toughest question was the final one and I added it because of my involvement. I don't blame Perry for leaving it off the compilations. Back in 1982 I was hired to supervise the soundtrack to TRON and when it came time to choose a group to write the song that would appear in the scenes shot in Flynn's video game arcade, I wanted something "punky"—after all Jeff Bridges' character was a punk. The Police were really hot right then and that's the group I wanted. But, the soundtrack was going to be released by Columbia Records, and at the time Journey was their hot act and they insisted upon Journey. A Journey style power ballad didn't seem appropriate to me, so when I met with the band, I was pretty "punky" myself! I sat down and explained that they were not my choice and that I wanted something more in line with the attitude that Sting and The Police exuded. 

I bet they thought I was a major league asshole! But, if you go back and listen to "Only Solutions," the song they delivered, it sounds just like The Police! First of all, Steve Perry's range and tonality is actually up there with Sting's and he hit it! The drummer, who I guess was Steve Smith, made the jumpy Stewart Copeland moves and Neal Schon got Andy Summers' chorused guitar licks down! Plus I thought it was a really good tune with a solid, exciting hook and excellent harmonies. 

I was happy, but I bet the band wasn't. Speaking of unhappy during the final mix we inserted Wendy Carlos's symphonic finale featuring the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the huge Royal Albert Hall organ where we recorded the orchestra, a UCLA chorus recorded at Royce Hall and overdubbed synthesizers and it was sensational! But a phone call from Columbia's Walter Yetnikoff killed it. "End the movie with Journey song, or we're not releasing the album," he barked. And so Wendy's ending was cut and "Only Solutions" was spliced in.

The 20th anniversary DVD and I assume the later Blu-ray gives a choice of soundtrack endings. 

Anyway congratulations to Mr. Horton! Thanks to everyone who entered.