North American syndicated rock radio show and website, InTheStudio: The Stories Behind History’s Greatest Rock Bands, explores an 80s classic, Journey’s 1981 album Escape, on its 35th anniversary.

In every journey there are crossroads, pivotal moments where paths must be chosen, where there are opportunities to change direction or to go straight ahead. The rock band called Journey never stuck to the straight path through an odyssey of twists and turns, changes and certainly, crossroads.

The first change came in 1978 when Steve Perry joined the band as lead vocalist, transforming Journey from an improvisational progressive rock band into a mainstream commercial success. In 1981 there was another turning point when keyboardist and songwriter Gregg Rolie, one of Journey’s original members, left the band. In came former Babys member Jonathan Cain, and his gift for melody, especially ballads, meshed perfectly with Steve Perry’s voice.

It was no accident that Journey’s first album with Jonathan Cain, Escape, went all the way to #1. Selling nearly ten million copies and staying in the Top 40 for more than a year, the band scored the hits, “Don’t Stop Believing”, “Who’s Cryin’ Now”, “Stone In Love” and Journey’s first # 1 hit, “Open Arms”.  

Neal Schon, Steve Perry, and Jonathan Cain share with InTheStudio host Redbeard an in-depth look at the making of Escape, with the musical choices that ultimately underscored the success of this classic album.

“(Escape) was an ambitious broad stroke of the brush... It tried to cover a lot of territory. We could have been killed for it, but Journey was in the place where that statement could be made, musically. They had the freedom to actually make an artistic statement and be heard. People were listening.” - Jonathan Cain

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