Livin' Just to Find Emotion: Journey and the Story of American Rock

The single most downloaded song on the internet from the 20th century isn't one by the Beatles, Prince, or Madonna. It's the signature song of one of rock's most enduring acts: Journey. "Don't Stop Believin'" transcended its early 1980s roots and became an inspirational anthem for sports teams, start-ups, people fighting life-altering ailments, and more. The band's long and complicated history, with its myriad stylistic and lineup changes, is the subject of historian and lifelong fan Golland's book. Refreshingly, this is not the standard band biography. Golland brings an academic approach to the subject, placing Journey within its proper historical musical context. Though it is clear that Golland loves Journey's music, he also provides an overdue critical take on the group's overall sound. He also discusses issues of musical influence versus appropriation. It is rare, and valuable, to find such insight in books like this. Readers don't have to be Journey fans to appreciate this cerebral approach to a biography about the band. For casual readers and scholars alike.

Monmouth University history professor Golland leaves no stone unturned in this fine-grained chronicle of the rock group Journey. Formed in 1973 as a 'progressive rock' band, Journey's lackluster sales had Columbia Records close to ending their contract in 1977, when 'crooning tenor' Steve Perry joined as frontman, bringing with him a sound inflected by the smooth, 'beguiling' vocals of Black soul singer Sam Cooke. The band's 1981 album Escape featured such hits as 'Who's Crying Now' and 'Don't Stop Believin', ' which catapulted the group to superstardom. Following a burned-out Perry's 1987 departure, 'Don't Stop Believin' ' cemented the band's legacy as a nostalgic cornerstone of white American culture whose songs are piped through ballparks and used by TV shows and movies. Golland meticulously colors in the band's artistic conflicts and power struggles, paying particular attention to Perry's decision to leave, but he's at his most convincing when he interrogates the racial dynamics at play in the band's success. Under Perry, Golland contends, the group's music could border on a 'modern form of minstrelsy, ' capitalizing on 'the racial backlash of the '70s by producing music rooted in soul and rhythm & blues for a largely white, working-class audience... that didn't want to listen to Motown because it was 'too Black' but was perfectly happy listening to five white dudes play... hot Motown wax."' Golland's passion and precision make this a pleasure.

"Livin' Just to Find Emotion: Journey and the Story of American Rock affords music lovers with a career-spanning overview of the band's achievements. In Golland's skillful hands, this bookprovides readers with an engaging assessment of Journey's timeless albums. From the group's early forays into jazz and progressive rock through the artistic and commercial heights of Escape and Frontiers, Golland underscores Journey's vaunted place among rock 'n' roll's pantheon of all-time greats."

"A fascinating story of Journey, investigating the band dynamics, the clash of egos, and the sheer talent it took for a 1970s San Francisco band to rise to the top of the music industry. It's not just a tale of corporate rock and ambition, but also the re-segregation of rock music after the racial integration of the '60s. A compelling read that had me checking out songs all the way through!"

All too often, Journey is dismissed by uber-serious critics and high-minded fans as unworthy of serious analysis. Lucky for us, David Hamilton Golland disagrees. In a comprehensive and thoughtful volume, Golland skillfully traces the group's tumultuous fifty-year history. He paints complex portraits of its current and past members and cleverly unpacks Journey's identity as a "corporate" rock band by documenting the legal maneuvering and empire building that underpins its massive success. Most importantly, however, Golland never loses sight of what made Journey a household name: its magical catalog of smash hits. You won't stop reading.

A welcome study of one of rock's most enduring musical fusions... In Golland's careful hands, Journey's story, and their music in particular, receives a much-needed critical treatment... To Golland's great credit, Livin' Just to Find Emotion will find you absentmindedly humming 'Don't Stop Believin' and other Journey mainstays in the same breath in which you reconsider the racial and cultural dynamics that brought them to rock's highest heights in the first place.

With the ear of a fan and the eye of a historian, Golland does a great job chronicling all of the members' various offshoot bands, side projects and mini-and-semi reunions.