Co-founding leader and guitarist Neal Schon is comparing Journey's next album to their 1981 masterpiece, Escape. Schon and the latest lineup of the group has been recording the album virtually due to the ongoing pandemic, which will mark the band's first studio set since 2011's Eclipse. In addition to Schon, Jonathan Cain, and frontman Arnel Pineda, the new lineup is rounded out by returning bassist Randy Jackson, and drummer Narada Michael Walden.
Ultimate Classic Rock reported during Schon's recent interview with Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM, he said of the new sessions: “It’s going really, really amazing. We’ve got like 13 new tracks in the can that Arnel is now singing on. But the band is on fire, man. I’m excited about this record. I believe we’ll start releasing things after the new year.”
Schon went on to say that's he's not done writing material for the album: “I’m really pushing to go for a diverse record, like we did with Escape, that has a lot of different elements to it. We (got) into some heavier R&B-type rock, like a 'Separate Ways' kinda vibe. . . The rhythm section is just solid. It sounds amazing. Before we get going, we’re obviously going to rehearse and put a new show together. We'll have plenty of time to hang and probably document a lot of the rehearsals so we can have somewhat of a new documentary to put out there with the new record.”