Neal Schon Reveals Journey Recording A ‘Virtual Album’

Journey is in the midst of recording its first new album in nearly a decade. Co-founder and leader Neal Schon revealed to SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk, that although all in self-quarantine, their is a true band effort, explaining, “I've been taking advantage of this time off writing music, correlating a lot with John Cain, and Narada Michael Walden, and Randy Jackson, and Arnel (Pineda). And we are off and running. We have five new songs in the making right now. Hopefully a single coming out in July some time.”

Schon spoke about the set, which mark's the band's first studio effort since 2011's Eclipse: “It’s a virtual record right now. but I am looking forward to getting together in the same room. . . Narada lives close by. I’m working in his studio and I’m laying down tracks with live drums and guitar, much like I’ve done with many, many records. So, it’s a comfortable situation for me; I like playing with guitar and drums. It’s a great way to create, especially rock.”

The pandemic force Journey to scrap its 60-date summer trek with the Pretenders. Neal Schon was pressed about when he can feasibly see the band back on the road: “Judging by everything that I’m looking at right now about touring and when touring is expected to come back, I don’t know. I really think that, until there’s an antidote, it’s not going to be safe for people to be in large groups like that.”

Neal Schon told us that the same exact thing that alienated the rock press back in the day, was what was driving Journey's album sales and concert attendance: “I've always felt, that Journey, y'know, has been a special band — even from the very get go — and that we were bringing something different from the table. And even at the height with Steve Perry in the '80s, that we were getting panned all the time by every writer, I never paid any attention to it, because I almost felt that the band was so musical and musically diverse; there really wasn't any type of music that we couldn't play. So, I think that a lot of writers got a little frustrated with it, 'cause they couldn't put us in a box with other bands and compare us. We came from so many different musical angles. I thought it was something that set us apart.”