Maps of Music

Departure (1980)

Where the lyrics of Departure take you, and where it was really made.

Departure was the album that gave Journey its first top 10 entry, yet it was also the last studio album with founding member Gregg Rolie, who had quietly planned to leave.

Key places

Recorded at The Automatt, San Francisco (1979)

Recording site The Automatt — The band entered The Automatt studio in San Francisco on 5 November 1979 with 19 songs. The sessions produced the 12-track album that was released in 1980. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Departure: sixth studio album by the American rock band Journey
• Released February 29, 1980 by Columbia Records
• Highest-charting Journey album up to that point, peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard 200
• Opening track "Any Way You Want It" was a top 25 single
• Edgier sound partly due to the "live in studio" recording approach

Background

• Gregg Rolie's last full-time studio album appearance with Journey
• Rolie grew tired of life on the road and left after helping choose his replacement, Jonathan Cain of The Babys
• Rolie sang lead vocals on only one song, the ballad "Someday Soon"
• Rolie's final contributions came on Dream, After Dream, a soundtrack to a Japanese film, also released in 1980

Recording

• The band entered The Automatt studio in San Francisco with 19 tracks, eventually trimmed to 12
• Sessions ran about seven days, from 5 November 1979 (French Wikipedia)
• Producers Geoff Workman and Kevin Elson; Elson also handled live sound

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Journey is an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1973 by former members of Santana, the Steve Miller Band, and Frumious Bandersnatch.
• The band was originally called the Golden Gate Rhythm Section, intended as a backup group for Bay Area artists, before developing a jazz fusion style.
• The name Journey was suggested by roadie John Villanueva.

Members

• Current lineup includes Neal Schon (guitars, vocals), Jonathan Cain (keyboards, guitars, vocals), Deen Castronovo (drums, vocals), Arnel Pineda (lead vocals), Jason Derlatka (keyboards, vocals), and Todd Jensen (bass, vocals).
• Steve Perry was lead vocalist from 1977 to 1987, the band's most commercially successful period.

Career

• Escape reached number one on the Billboard 200 and produced "Open Arms" and "Don't Stop Believin'".
• Frontiers reached number two in the US and number six on the UK Albums Chart.
• "Don't Stop Believin'" was certified 18-times platinum by the RIAA in 2024, the top-selling digital track in US history.
• The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
• A farewell tour, the Final Frontier Tour, began in February 2026 after Jonathan Cain announced his departure.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Record World called the Good Morning Girl and Stay Awhile medley "an epic ballad" with "healthy amounts of pomp and bravado"
• The medley was the last single, and it only reached No. 55 on the chart

Reappraisal

• AllMusic (John Frank) gave the album 3.5 out of 5, saying it was built on the band's previous two albums while adding an edge to the arrangements
• Rolling Stone (John Swenson) treated the album as a fix for problems the band had carried over from its previous two records
• Rolling Stone wrote that the band had never rocked this hard, and that the band now worked at its best as a unit

Records

• Peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, the highest Journey album chart position to that point
• Gave Journey its first top 10 album on the Billboard 200
• "Any Way You Want It" reached No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100
• "Walks Like a Lady" reached No. 32
• The medley "Good Morning Girl" / "Stay Awhile" reached No. 55
• RIAA platinum certification in July 1980
• RIAA triple platinum certification in October 1994

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ja.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The Automatt sessions began with 19 songs, and the band cut the album down to 12 tracks.
• The band credited its "live in studio" recording method, in part, for the album's edgier sound.
• Steve Perry said the title reflected a gradual musical change: the band kept some of its roots while departing from them.
• The 1986 CD reissue by Columbia brought the album to compact disc in the U.S. and Europe.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ja.wikipedia.org

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