Departure

Departure is the 6th studio album by the classic rock band Journey. It is their first album to reach the top ten – specifically the #8 spot – in Billboard 200. This album is the last to feature one of Journey’s original members, keyboardist Greg Rolie. After this, Rolie was replaced by Jonathan Cain, who was know for previously working with The Babys.

Departure marks the end of Journey’s three-studio-album long transition into mainstream rock, their first one being Infinity in 1978, and their second one being Evolution in 1979. This was one of their most experimental albums. Departure producer Kevin Elson explains:

This album represents more facets of the band, because they enjoy playing lots of different music… There’s real good rock, some ballads, a little blues, some jazz — this album is a departure in the sense that there’s more variety of material. A lot of solos, and even some vocals, have been done ‘live,’ so there’s more of a feel.

Their next album, Escape, conveniently their first album of mainstream rock, was their first and only album to reach the #1 spot on Billboard 200, and is one of their most popular albums to date.

Journey’s frontman, Steve Perry, explained how the album got it’s name:

We named it that because there’s going to be a little bit of a musical change. We’re departing from some of our roots and keeping some.

Perry also stated that the name meant that they were going to departure from their original viewpoint about studio recording.

The name of the album also originated from a quote that can be found in the CD booklet and vinyl sleeve of the album which says “Join us for our departure into the 80’s,” noting that this album was released in 1980.