“Escape” Is NOT Journey’s Best Album

SHOCKER: Escape Is NOT Journey’s Best Album

Hold onto your leather jackets, classic rock fans, because we’re about to crush a sacred cow, Journey’s 1981 blockbuster Escape is NOT their best album. Yes, it’s got the mega-hits: “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Open Arms,” and “Who’s Crying Now”, but beyond those stadium-sized anthems, does it really hold up?

Escape may be the most popular, but it’s far from the peak of Journey’s musical powers. Critics argue the album plays it safe, leaning heavy into radio-friendly ballads and formulaic arena rock. Steve Perry’s vocals? Untouchable. Neal Schon’s solos? Shimmering, but the soul, grit, and experimentation? MIA.

Compare it to 1980’s Departure or even the criminally underrated Infinity (1978) and Escape starts to look like a polished product rather than a passionate record. Infinity introduced Perry’s golden pipes and dared to fuse prog-rock with melody. Departure took creative risks and delivered bangers like “Any Way You Want It.”

Let’s be honest, Escape was engineered for commercial glory. It succeeded, sure, but it also marked the beginning of Journey’s descent into soft-rock predictability. If you’re ranking heart, edge and musical adventurousness, Escape gets dethroned, fast.

Bottom line? Escape may be the album that made Journey household names, but it wasn’t the one that made them legends.

Sorry, Believin’. Real fans know better.