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Journey
When one thinks of the archetypal power-ballad powerhouse Journey, it's hard not to automatically picture an arena full of fans hoisting cigarette lighters. While singer Steve Perry's voice was custom-made for Journey's heartbreaking love songs, guitarist Neal Schon had the hard rock chops to fire up their numerous melodic anthems, the combination making them one of the biggest bands of the 1980s. They started out as a prog-rock/fusion-oriented offshoot of Santana, but didn't break through until Perry was brought in to front the band in the late '70s. Nevertheless, after Perry's departure, the band eventually reunited and carried on with Perry sound-alike Steve Augeri, playing for thousands of enraptured fans and recording new material.
For the generation that grew up during the Reagan Era, Journey will always be associated with the sweaty palms and stomach-churning anticipation of grade school dances. Orgasmically dramatic break-up songs employed pulsating synthesizers, massive guitars, and innumerable vocal tracks backing up Steve Perry's pleading falsetto. With this astonishingly successful formula, Journey defined the blow-dried power-ballad that ruled '80s FM radio.
A new journey has begun for Journey. The musical adventure which was launched 25 years ago, achieved eight multi-platinum albums and carried a place in history as one of rock's most popular bands, is back on the road for the first time in a dozen years, with a new album on the way. A group that has evolved and grown through changes of personnel, Journey is once again exploring it s soulful rock with a new line-up and a new attitude.
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Artist Biography - Journey
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 "There's a different energy to this band," says Neal Schon, the guitarist around whom the band was originally formed in 1973. "We're more daring. The new blood has kicked the music in the butt. We're stretching a bit and we're going to take the audience on a different journey." The first tangible result was "Remember Me." Featured on the Armageddon Soundtrack.
Jonathan Cain, who's been the band's major co-writer since 1980, says it was the desire to play live which truly prompted the formation of this new Journey. "If it wasn't fun, we wouldn't be doing this. We wanted to make Journey music again; we wanted to rock again. We could have just recorded in the studio but we make music to play in concert that's where it comes to life. It's important to dance with the fans."
The journey back began with one ironic step. With singer Steve Perry unable to tour, the band turned to a singer whose career appeared cut short because many thought his band sounded too much like Journey. "It's weird," says Steve Augeri. "Initially, it was a detriment and I used to deny it. Now it's resurrected my career. But we were born on different days from different parents, led different lives, grew up listening to different artists, and you can hear it in my voice even if the timbre's the same. I scream in my own way and relate in my own way."
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, playing numerous instruments and singing in basement bands, Augeri became a session vocalist and background singer on concert stages – sort of. For one unnamed artist who was performing on stage, he actually sang from behind the curtains, amps and in the stairwells. Arena headliner Ted Nugent would go backstage and try to crack him up while he was singing. But he'd also pat him on the back, encouraging him, saying "Some day you'll be out there."
It seemed that day would never arrive. In the late 80's and early 90's, Augeri was the lead singer for Tall Stories, a band many considered a grittier, East Coast version of Journey – including Schon. "I remember driving around with a friend and hearing them on the radio. I said, ‘Sounds like a rocked-out Journey. If we're ever able to start our ship again, this guy could pull it off."
But grunge killed Tall Stories and, after a stint with Tyketto, Augeri hung up his microphone to settle down with a "real" job as a maintenance manager putting Gap stores together when they fell apart. So when a buddy who had moved to Marin County, and became Schon's guitar tech, called to tip him off that Journey was looking for a singer, Augeri was uncertain. "Forget the fame and fortune," he says. "I always dreamed of being able to make music. When it didn't happen, it was painful. Besides, I hadn't sung for two years." He told his friend he'd send a tape but never did. Eventually, his friend put together a tape himself and sent it to Journey.
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For more information , enjoy the official homepage of Journey
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