5 Journey Songs That Prove 1981 Was The Best Year Of Their Career

In 1981, Journey dropped their major breakthrough collection, "Escape," an album perfectly poised between the band's groovy art-rock past and their adult contemporary future. It had just enough grit for old fans and plenty of gloss to attract new ones, and the superior musicianship the players had honed through their years together. Tunes like "Mother, Father" and "Stone in Love" showed off the band's growing range and captivated listeners for another round of FM-oriented rock, even after co-founding member Gregg Rolie left the band. Before that trailblazing release, the band launched "Captured," a 2-million-copy seller of a live LP that picked up performances during their Departure tour from 1980. It gave an extended 1981 presence to a unit that was fast becoming a mainstream staple.

The songs that charted from this milestone collection over the span of 1981 represent a fanned-out hand of sounds and subjects; abiding love, searing infidelity, teary-eyed break-ups, and angsty family drama all made appearances. Every song carried the band's musical genes and showed off the various vibes they were capable of striking. Helped along by a major presence on the newly launched MTV, Journey made 1981 into a pivotal year, with some of the most defining songs in rock that helped send their scarab-shaped spaceship into the stratosphere.

Journey may sing about love that lasts long-term, but they also know when it's time to call it quits. Instead of moping, the gang turns up the fire and points fingers like nobody's business. The opening lines of "The Party's Over (Hopelessly in Love)" hit the root of the problem without holding back: "You never call me up / When I'm alone at night / What can this poor boy do / When he's hopelessly in love with you?" But there's no downtrodden minor-key moaning or undue sorrow cast over this upbeat rocker. It's a declaration of done-ness, an empowering bop where calling it quits is the only move, and it's done with directness, honesty, and a melody so spry it makes your heart dance, even if it's breaking at the time.

This single gave the live album "Captured" chart presence between studio releases, coming ahead of what would become Journey's pinnacle hit-producing L.P. It was a perfect run-up that kept Journey on the radio until the new material from "Escape" was out in the world, and it turned into a Top 40 tune that made spring of 1981 a celebration of moving on. The party may have been over, but the good times were just getting started.

Has a musical tale of love on the cusp of collapse ever had such a singable chorus? "Who's Crying Now," the inaugural single from "Escape," incorporates the eerie textural touches and emotional restraint that display Journey's impressive maturity, with lyrics that explore romantic tension without casting judgment. Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain's lyrics give even-handed coverage of the situation: "It's been a mystery / And still they try to see / Why something good can hurt so bad / Caught on a one-way street / The taste of bittersweet / Love will survive somehow, some way." It hits like sing-along couples' therapy you could crank up in your car as you cry your eyes out over your own complicated entanglements.

"Who's Crying Now" became Journey's second-highest charting single, gliding into the No. 4 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1981. That's a mighty long-lasting run, considering the tune was released in July and took a 21-week total run on the charts as it found its way to the Top 10. The band ended up with both a summer song and a fall bop, from an album that still had hits waiting in the wings.

"Don't Stop Believin'" has one of the most unforgettable choruses in rock history, one that inspires sing-alongs even decades after its release. The story of an unnamed pair of dreamers finding each other on the mean streets and coming together despite their differing backgrounds ("Just a small-town girl / Livin' in a lonely world / She took the midnight train goin' anywhere / Just a city boy / Born and raised in South Detroit"), the song hit all the right notes and struck all the right feels. When it finally arrives at the "Don't stop believin'" chorus that comes at the tail end of the song, hearts are ready to explode with hope for all the so-called "Streetlight people / Livin' just to find emotion / Hidin' somewhere in the night" — which sounds like it could be all of us at some point.

Journey dropped more than just another single when they sent "Don't Stop Believin'" into the world and celebrated a No. 9 smash by mid-December 1981. This song became a cultural touchstone, a tune so unabashed in its hopefulness that it turned into a Gen X anthem — and spilled over into the millennial masses, thanks to appearances in films and TV shows, including an affecting 2009 "Glee" cover. It popped back onto the U.K. charts in the late aughts and became the most downloaded 20^th century song back in 2019. Journey had the juice to keep us all believin' long past 1981.

Lovelorn and besotted to the max, Steve Perry became the voice of millions when he launched into "Open Arms," a ballad of surrender that helped hopeless romantics express the emotions they couldn't find words for. This is another clear-eyed look at a complicated relationship moment, one where things haven't gone smoothly, but the fight to hold on continues. Perry's admission of devotion is so relatable, it could be a Hallmark apology card: "So now, I come to you with open arms / Nothing to hide, believe what I say / So here I am with open arms / Hoping you'll see what your love means to me."

Arena rock fans looking for a song to hold up their lighters to (the pre-smartphone light-up move, for those too young to remember) had the perfect piece for the occasion whenever Journey played live. The heartache vibes pushed the song to the No. 2 spot in February 1982 and gave Perry and team their highest-charting song ever. Journey became a timeless act even without reaching the very top of the commercial Christmas tree; for a band with no No. 1 tunes and the rockers who love them, this might as well be the top spot. Shining their lights all along the rest of the branches was enough to earn them a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — and permanent residence in the hearts of their biggest fans.

Nostalgic longing for the old days cropped up in "Still They Ride," Journey's version of a Bruce Springsteen-like character story that slowed the tempo without turning into a romantic love song. Instead, this tale of small-town boundaries and the passage of time put a cruiser named Jesse in the spotlight; his return to the town where he made his name becomes a ghostly visit, with spectral memories haunting the main drag. "Still they ride," Steve Perry wails, "on wheels of fire / They rule the night." This is the moment you realize your glory days are behind you, and Journey was the right band to capture the mournful pining in musical form.

The band drove "Still They Ride" into the Top 20, peaking at No. 19, though it took until July 1982 for the achievement. If anything, it proves their ability to maintain a hit-making presence by taking a 1981 release into the following year. It would tide fans over while the band finished touring for "Escape" and worked on what would become their blockbusting 1983 follow-up album, "Frontiers." Maybe when the band called it "Still They Ride," they were referring to their plans for radio domination throughout the '80s. Even if they didn't, the idea of "Journey"-ing onward after a banner year is more like precognition for a band with such a fortuitous name.