Escape (Journey album)

Escape
Studio album by Journey
Released July 31, 1981
Recorded Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California, Mid Spring/Early Summer, 1981
Genre Hard rock, rock, classic rock
Length 42:46 (original), 59:43 (reissue)
Label Columbia
Producer Kevin Elson, Mike Stone
Journey chronology
Captured
(1981)		 Escape
(1981)		 Frontiers
(1983)

Escape (stylized on the album cover as E5C4P3) is Journey's seventh studio album (and eighth overall), released on July 31, 1981. The album features four hit Billboard Hot 100 singles - "Don't Stop Believin'" (#9), "Who's Crying Now" (#4), "Still They Ride" (#19) and "Open Arms" (#2) - plus rock radio staples like "Stone in Love" and "Mother, Father".

Contents

Background and writing

Escape was the band's first album with keyboardist Jonathan Cain who replaced founding keyboardist Gregg Rolie after he left the band at the end of 1980. The album was co-produced by former Lynyrd Skynyrd soundman Kevin Elson and one-time Queen engineer Mike Stone, who also engineered the album.

An Atari 2600 game, Journey Escape, was made based on the album.

Reception

Mike DeGagne of Allmusic awarded Escape four-and-a-half stars out of five, writing, "The songs are timeless, and as a whole, they have a way of rekindling the innocence of youthful romance and the rebelliousness of growing up, built from heartfelt songwriting and sturdy musicianship".[1] Colin Larkin awarded the album four out of five stars in the 2002 edition of the Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music.[2] In the 2004 edition of their album guide, Rolling Stone were less favourable, awarding the album two-and-a-half stars out of five, which was nonetheless an improvement from Dave Marsh's one star rating in the 1983 edition of the publication.[3]

In 1988, Kerrang! readers voted Escape the greatest Arena-oriented Rock album of all time.[4] The following year, the magazine ranked Escape #32 in "The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time".[5] A 2000 Virgin poll saw the album voted the 24th greatest Heavy Metal/Alternative Rock album of all time.[6] In 2001, Classic Rock ranked the album #22 in "The 100 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time".[7] In 2006, the same publication recognized the importance of the album's contribution to popular music in the 1980s by including it in their "The 200 Greatest Albums of the 80s" as one of the twenty greatest albums of 1981.[8] Originally a progressive rock band, Journey experienced strong resentment from many music critics after they embraced the pop sensibilities of the 1980s with smash hits like "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Open Arms";[9] Q magazine ranked Escape 15th in its "Records it's OK to Love" in 2006.[10]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Jonathan Cain, Steve Perry, and Neal Schon, except where noted. 

No. Title Length
1. "Don't Stop Believin'"   4:11
2. "Stone in Love"   4:26
3. "Who's Crying Now" (Cain, Perry) 5:01
4. "Keep on Runnin'"   3:40
5. "Still They Ride"   3:50
6. "Escape"   5:17
7. "Lay It Down"   4:13
8. "Dead or Alive"   3:21
9. "Mother, Father" (Matt Schon, Schon, Perry, Cain) 5:29
10. "Open Arms" (Cain, Perry) 3:23

Personnel

Additional personnel

Chart positions

The album has been certified 9x Platinum by RIAA since its July 31, 1981 release[11] (Only their Greatest Hits, at 15x, has sold more copies).

Escape had the fifth highest selling debut of 1981, just behind Bella Donna from Stevie Nicks.

The highest chart position was #1 on the Billboard album chart where it stayed for a week (removing Stevie Nicks' Bella Donna from the top spot), in September 1981.

Album

Billboard Music Charts (North America)

Year Chart Position
1981 Pop Albums 1
1983 The Billboard 200 139
1984 156

UK Album Chart

Year Chart Position
1982 Album Chart 32

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1981 Don't Stop Believin' Mainstream Rock 8
Pop Singles 9
Stone in Love Mainstream Rock 13
Who's Crying Now Mainstream Rock 4
Pop Singles 4
1982 Open Arms Pop Singles 2
Adult Contemporary 7
Mainstream Rock 35
Still They Ride Pop Singles 19
Adult Contemporary 37
Mainstream Rock 47

UK Singles Chart

Year Single Chart Position
1982 Don't Stop Believin' UK Top 75 Singles 62
Who's Crying Now 46

References

  1. ^ Mike, DeGagne. "Journey Escape review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/escape-r10637/review. Retrieved March 26, 2011. 
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin. Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (2002)
  3. ^ Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004)
  4. ^ The Best AOR Albums Of All Time. Kerrang!. October 29, 1988. Archived at rocklistmusic.co.uk
  5. ^ "The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time". Kerrang!. January 1989. Archived at rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  6. ^ Heavy Metal/Alternative Rock – All Time Top 50. Virgin. 2000. Archived at rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  7. ^ "The 100 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time". Classic Rock. Christmas 2001. Archived at acclaimedmusic. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  8. ^ "The 200 Greatest Albums of the 80s". Classic Rock. 2006. Archived at acclaimedmusic. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  9. ^ Marsh, Dave. "Sez Who? Bands & Singers Critics Love to Hate". New Book of Rock Lists. Sidgwick & Jackson. 1994.
  10. ^ Guilty Pleasures!: Essential Playlist of the 115 Records it’s OK to Love. Q magazine. September 2006. Archived at rocklistmusic.co.uk
  11. ^ "RIAA Gold & Platinum Database". 1994-11-14. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&title=escape&artist=journey&perPage=25. Retrieved 2009-06-06. 
Preceded by
Bella Donna by Stevie Nicks		 Billboard 200 number-one album
September 12–18, 1981		 Succeeded by
Tattoo You by Rolling Stones
Journey
Studio albums
EPs
Live albums
Soundtrack albums
Compilation albums
Videos
Documentaries
Tours
Escape Tour (1981) · Frontiers Tour (1983) · Raised on Radio Tour (1986) · Revelation Tour (2008–2009) · Eclipse Tour (2011–2012)
Games
Related
Articles
Bands
People
Book · Category