Next (1977)
1. Spaceman
2. People
3. I Would Find You
4. Here We Are
5. Hustler
6. Next
7. Nickel and Dime
8. Karma
By the time Journey reached their third album, Next, it had become abundantly clear that something wasn’t quite clicking. The band, though packed with musical talent, found themselves in a classic early career crisis: critical competence, commercial indifference. This was the last gasp of the “pre-Steve Perry era” and, perhaps not coincidentally, the weakest of the trilogy. The sound of Next is one of a band trying too hard and succeeding too little.
By the late seventies, record labels were still willing to gamble – but they weren’t interested in passion projects. They wanted product. Return. Airplay. Journey’s brand of cerebral rock fusion wasn’t giving Columbia Records the bang for its buck, and the writing was very much on the wall. What the band delivered was technically polished, unquestionably sincere, and mostly admirable – but “quality musicianship” and “chart success” are rarely automatic bedfellows.
Rather like Look Into the Future before it, Next attempted to edge its way toward radio-friendliness, and again it misfired. The band might have been better served by going backward – back to the purer, jazz-rock hybrid of their debut. But the harsh reality was that few were buying that sound either, and commercial failure tends to provoke creative second-guessing.
It’s when Journey forgets about formulas and simply plays that they briefly touch greatness. The opening track, Spaceman, and the brilliant instrumental Nickel and Dime showcase a band in their natural element. Here, they sound like four musicians perfectly in sync – raw, complex, and compelling. It’s everything the rest of the album is not.
Unfortunately, much of Next is a faintly desperate grab at accessibility. It plays like a reluctant compromise, the sound of a band dragged by the collar toward something resembling marketability. Unsurprisingly, it appealed to no one in particular – save their loyal Bay Area following – and it quickly became obvious that change wasn’t just desirable, it was existential. Without a hit, the band was on the verge of extinction.
And then, of course, came Steve Perry – and a very different story began.
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