Escape (Journey album)

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Escape

Cover art by Stanley Mouse
Studio album by Journey
Released July 31, 1981
Recorded Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California, April - June 1981
Genre Hard rock, arena rock
Length 42:46
Label Columbia
Producer Mike Stone, Kevin Elson
Journey chronology

Captured
(1981)		 Escape
(1981)		 Frontiers
(1983)
Singles from Escape
  1. "Who's Crying Now" / "Mother, Father"
    Released: July 1981
  2. "Don't Stop Believin'" / "Natural Thing"
    Released: October 1981
  3. "Open Arms" / "Little Girl"
    Released: January 1982
  4. "Still They Ride" / "Raza del Sol"
    Released: May 1982
  5. "Who's Crying Now" / "Don't Stop Believin'"
    Released: August 1982
  6. "Stone in Love" / "Only Solutions"
    Released: October 1982

Escape (stylized as E5C4P3 on the front of the album) is the seventh studio album (and eighth overall) by American rock band Journey, released on July 31, 1981. It topped the American Billboard 200 chart[1] and 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)[2] - plus rock radio staples like "Stone in Love", "Mother, Father" and the title track "Escape". It was a massive success, being certified 9x platinum by the RIAA[3] and selling over twelve million copies worldwide. Only their Greatest Hits, at 16x, has sold more copies. Escape is the band's most successful studio album and is recognised by fans and critics as one of the greatest and most successful arena rock albums of the 1980s.

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 and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [4]
Rolling Stone [5]

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".[4] Colin Larkin awarded the album four out of five stars in the 2002 edition of the Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music.[6] Rolling Stone reviews were less favourable. The first review of 1981 by Deborah Frost marked Journey as heavy metal posers and the music in the album as easily playable by any session musician. In the 2004 edition of their album guide, Rolling Stone awarded 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.[7] The same critic years later wrote that "Journey, originally a progressive rock band, 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".[8]

In 1988, Kerrang! readers voted Escape the greatest AOR album of all time.[9] The following year, the magazine ranked Escape #32 in "The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time".[10] A 2000 Virgin poll saw the album voted the 24th greatest heavy metal/alternative rock album of all time.[11] In 2001, Classic Rock ranked the album #22 in "The 100 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time".[12] 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.[13] Q magazine ranked Escape 15th in its "Records it's OK to Love" in 2006.[14]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Jonathan Cain, Steve Perry and Neal Schon, except where noted. 
Side one
No. TitleWriter(s) 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
Side two
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
6. "Escape"    5:17
7. "Lay It Down"    4:13
8. "Dead or Alive"    3:21
9. "Mother, Father"  Matt Schon, N. Schon, Perry, Cain 5:29
10. "Open Arms"  Cain, Perry 3:23

Personnel
Don't Stop Believin'
"Don't Stop Believin'" was the second single extracted from the album and became very popular after its use in movies, musicals and television.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Band members

Production

Charts

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

Album
Year Chart Position
1981 Billboard 200 (USA)[1] 1
RPM100 Albums (Canada)[15] 6
German Albums Chart[16] 49
1982 UK Albums Chart[17] 32
New Zealand Albums Chart[18] 36
1983 Billboard 200 (USA) 139
1984 Billboard 200 (USA) 156
2006 Oricon Japanese Albums Charts[19] 124
2011 Top Pop Catalog Albums (USA)[1] 9
Singles
Year Title Chart Position
1981 "Who's Crying Now" Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[2] 4
Mainstream Rock (USA)[2] 4
RPM100 Hit Tracks (Canada)[20] 3
"Don't Stop Believin'" Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[2] 9
Mainstream Rock (USA)[2] 8
RPM100 Hit Tracks (Canada)[21] 9
"Stone in Love" Mainstream Rock (USA)[2] 13
1982 "Who's Crying Now" UK Singles Chart[17] 46
"Don't Stop Believin'" UK Singles Chart[17] 62
"Open Arms" Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[2] 2
Mainstream Rock (USA)[2] 35
Adult Contemporary (USA)[2] 7
RPM100 Hit Tracks (Canada)[22] 2
New Zealand Singles Chart[23] 49
"Still They Ride" Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[2] 19
Mainstream Rock (USA)[2] 47
Adult Contemporary (USA)[2] 37

Preceded by
Bella Donna by Stevie Nicks		 Billboard 200 number-one album
September 12–18, 1981 		Succeeded by
Tattoo You by The Rolling Stones

Certifications

Country Organization Year Sales
USA RIAA 1994 9x Platinum (+9,000,000)[24]
Canada CRIA 1983 3x Platinum (+300,000)[25]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Escape Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved July 14, 2013. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 "Escape Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved July 14, 2013. 
  3. ↑ RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for albums by Journey. Retrieved on June 30, 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mike, DeGagne. "Journey Escape review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved March 26, 2011. 
  5. ↑ Frost, Deborah (October 29, 1981). "Album Reviews: Journey - Escape". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 17, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2013. 
  6. ↑ Larkin, Colin. Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (2002)
  7. ↑ Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004)
  8. ↑ Marsh, Dave. "Sez Who? Bands & Singers Critics Love to Hate". New Book of Rock Lists. Sidgwick & Jackson. 1994.
  9. ↑ The Best AOR Albums Of All Time. Kerrang!. October 29, 1988. Archived at rocklistmusic.co.uk
  10. ↑ "The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time". Kerrang!. January 1989. Archived at rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  11. ↑ Heavy Metal/Alternative Rock – All Time Top 50. Virgin. 2000. Archived at rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  12. ↑ "The 100 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time". Classic Rock. Christmas 2001. Archived at acclaimedmusic. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  13. ↑ "The 200 Greatest Albums of the 80s". Classic Rock. 2006. Archived at acclaimedmusic. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  14. ↑ Guilty Pleasures!: Essential Playlist of the 115 Records it’s OK to Love. Q magazine. September 2006. Archived at rocklistmusic.co.uk
  15. ↑ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 35, No. 12, October 17 1981". Library and Archives Canada. October 17, 1981. Retrieved July 14, 2013. 
  16. ↑ "Album – Journey, Escape". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved July 14, 2013. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 "Journey Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 14, 2013. 
  18. ↑ "Journey - Escape (album)". Charts.org.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved July 14, 2013. 
  19. ↑ "ジャーニー - クイーンズライクのアルバム売り上げランキング" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved February 17, 2013. 
  20. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 35, No. 12, October 17 1981". Library and Archives Canada. October 17, 1981. Retrieved July 14, 2013. 
  21. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 35, No. 21, December 19 1981". Library and Archives Canada. December 19, 1981. Retrieved July 14, 2013. 
  22. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 36, No. 8, April 03 1982". Library and Archives Canada. April 3, 1982. Retrieved July 14, 2013. 
  23. ↑ "Journey – Open Arms (song)". Charts.org.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved July 14, 2013. 
  24. ↑ RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for albums by Journey. Retrieved on June 30, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Gold Platinum Search for Journey". Music Canada. Retrieved July 14, 2013. 
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