Legendary rockers Journey released a new single, “The Way We Used To Be,” marking the band’s first new music since 2011’s “Eclipse.” Now, the band has announced their long-awaited new full length album, “Freedom,” set to be released later this year. Founding guitarist Neal Schon shared the news via his Instagram. “Teaser … it’s coming and it’s loaded,” Schon wrote.
Since forming in 1973, Journey has earned 19 top 40 singles, 25 gold and platinum albums and has sold around 100 million albums globally. The band’s greatest hits album is certified 15 times platinum. Their mega-hit “Don’t Stop Believin’” has been streamed more than 1 billion times. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, and 2018’s co-headlining tour with Def Leppard was the band’s most successful tour to date, landing them in the Top 10 year-end touring chart with more than 1 million tickets sold.
Schon previously said of the new album’s debut single, “The first song, ‘The Way We Used To Be’, came out of one of the many loops I’d written while the long downtime we all had to deal with. So utilizing my time and trying to keep fans in touch I started posting many jams and loops I created very quickly most every day. On ‘The Way We Used To Be’, I laid down the keyboard loop with over-dubbed rhythm and a little blues lead guitar and sent to Jonathan. He sent it back very shortly after with demo vocals and lyrics and I said to myself with a smile — we’ve still got it!
“I felt Jonathan nailed the lyrics and melody with haunting chorus ‘got to get back to the way we used to be.’ So this was the complete new beginning chapter for Journey — many more follow the same sequence with all of us collectively writing and working together. We now have over 26 songs that we’ve written and whittling it down to 10 or 12. We are very excited by all the new musical endeavors we’ve created together looking forward to getting back on the road to you.”
Schon also commented on the new Journey lineup featuring drummer Narada Michael Walden and bassist Randy Jackson. “You have to hear it for yourself. It still sounds very much like Journey thanks to the songwriting, my guitar playing, and the vocals. But the rhythm section is definitely a powerhouse. Narada has been known for years, and Randy Jackson is a completely monstrous bass player. Some people may not be aware of his work, but they have credentials that go way, way back. Randy and I have always been pretty in tune, and Narada and I are in tune. And now it’s coming together. It’s got a new strut to it.”
The tracklist for “Freedom”:
1. Together We Run (4:49)
2. Don’t Give Up On Us (5:23)
3. Still Believe In Love
4. You Got The Best Of Me (5:33)
5. Live To Love Again (5:30)
6. The Way We Used To Be (3:35)
7. Come Away With Me (4:02)
8. After Glow (5:22)
9. Let It Rain (4:40)
10. Holdin On (3:14)
11. All Day All Night (3:38)
12. Don’t Go (4:58)
13. United We Stand (5:05)
14. Life Rolls On (4:57)
15. Beautiful As You Are (7:10)
