CoronaVinyl Day 51 (AOR): Escape by Journey

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Chances are, you are very familiar with AOR, even if you're not familiar with the name.  It's an acronym for "album-oriented rock," which is generally thought of these days as the more polished "classic rock" from the mid '70s to early '80s, from bands like Boston, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Styx, Survivor, and Journey.

AOR was born out of the late '60s and early '70s, when most popular music was played on AM radio, and FM stations were prohibited from running the same programming as their AM counterparts, so FM DJs and station managers had more flexibility to become creative.  They began playing songs other than just what musicians released as singles, so non-single tracks from albums that would not normally be played on AM radio were played on FM radio.

That evolved into AOR, which essentially focused not only on the "hits," but the albums as a whole, so songs that would normally never be played on Top 40 radio stations might have huge followings.  Think of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," which was never released as a single, but has been one of the most popular and lauded rock songs ever, thanks to the AOR format.  AOR then evolved into what became "classic rock" radio stations.

But enough with the history lesson.  Journey's 1981 album Escape -- the band's seventh studio album -- is considered by many to be the pinnacle of AOR.  It has landed at the top of several lists of the greatest AOR album of all-time, and it is on various other "greatest ever" lists in broader categories.

Escape was the band's first album without founding member and keyboardist (and original lead singer) Gregg Rolie -- a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, both as a member of Journey and Santana.  Jonathan Cain was brought in to replace Rolie, coming from The Babys.  Cain made an immediate impact, co-writing all of the songs on Escape.

The album was a smash, going to #1 on the Billboard album charts (the band's first and only #1 album in the U.S.) and eventually going platinum nine times in the U.S., making it the band's best-selling studio album ever.  Escape also featured the band's signature song, "Don't Stop Believin'," which hit #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as three other Top 20 songs, "Open Arms" (#2), "Who's Crying Now" (#4), and "Still They Ride" (#19), not to mention AOR radio staple "Stone in Love."  The album was such a success that there was even an Atari game released in 1982 based on the album, called Journey Escape.

All in all, it's not only a perfect example of AOR, but also just a really good rock album.  "Don't Stop Believin'" has become so ubiquitous that you forget what a great song it is, setting aside that there is no South Detroit (unless you count Windsor, Ontario).  With half of the album having been hits or classic rock radio staples, there aren't too many "deep tracks" on the album, but the other five songs are excellent.

The Spotify version of the album has four extra songs at the end, including three live songs.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Keep On Runnin'"
Since we're all familiar with "Don't Stop Believin'," I wanted to highlight a different song on Side 1.  "Keep On Runnin'" is a fast-paced, catchy rock song that has a wicked guitar solo and a nice Steve Perry prolonged note.  It's one of those songs that could have easily been a huge hit.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Dead or Alive"
"Dead or Alive" is probably the hardest rocking song on the album, which is why I like it.  The guitar riff is great, complemented by Cain's piano.  The song is frenetic, and sounds like it could be the song playing during a chase scene in an '80s action movie.