Journey ‘Haven’t Given Up’ on New Album
Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain said the band haven't abandoned the idea of making a new album, and that he and guitarist Neal Schon were aware of what they had to do to achieve the goal. Their last studio outing was 2011’s Eclipse, which was their second with frontman Arnel Pineda.
“We haven’t given up on making a new CD; it’s just that the market has changed so much,” Cain said in a new interview with MyGlobalMind.com. “We have to be careful when making a new offering. We have to map it out, so it makes sense economically. Bands burn money! They are money burning machines!”
He added: “I’m encouraged that we can do one. I think Neal and I are going to have to rope Arnel in. We know what we need to do. I have been making Christian music, and it has given me a mastery of putting things together. When I come to the studio, I have everything arranged and ready to go. If we apply that approach, we should be able to knock things out in a week or two. That is why I think we have to be a little organized about the recording.”
Cain noted that, although the “door has always been open” to the return of classic-era vocalist Steve Perry, he was comfortable with regarding 1996 album Trial By Fire as their last work with him. “It was very, very good,” he said. “For the amount of gas we had in the tank being all together and the drama that was going on around us; we are lucky that we even made it!
“There were so much indecision and uncertainty; we knew that we were on the edge of a cliff with it. It was originally supposed to be a farewell with four or five gigs just to say goodbye. Then Neal had the idea of making an album. We had to coax Steve into it, but when the three of us got around the piano, the ideas were coming just like in the old days. The beauty of the reunion was that we hadn’t lost a beat.”
He admitted he wished the lineup had made more albums, but said of Trial By Fire: “I think it makes a statement and we sounded great. It wasn’t the old Steve that was making that album with us. You can tell he was at odds with things, and what can you do? You just have to be happy with what was happening. It was a miracle record for me, and I’m sure Neal feels the same way.”
Cain’s memoir Don’t Stop Believin’ was published on May 1. Journey tour the U.S. with Def Leppard starting on May 21.