What Are Journey’s 5 Biggest US Hits?

If you had told rock fans in the 70s that we might one day be parsing through the many hits in Journey’s catalog to find the five biggest, they might have thought you’d lost it. The band originally struggled to find any footing in terms of their commercial prospects.

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That all changed when they became one of the biggest bands of the 80s. They gave us a slew of hits, and these five were the biggest on the US charts.

5. “Only The Young” Hit No. 9 in 1985

Journey took a bit of a break following the massive success of Frontiers in 1983. Their next album wouldn’t arrive for another three years, by which time Steve Perry had delivered a hit solo album. But they managed to stay chart-relevant in the interim thanks to this roof-raiser. They originally recorded “Only The Young” for Frontiers, only to remove it at the last minute. The soundtrack for the high school wrestling drama Vision Quest proved to be just the right outlet for this song about the unstoppable nature of youth.

“Don’t Stop Believin’” Hit No. 9 in 1981

You might be surprised that this song doesn’t rank better on this list. Truth be told, it was just one of many smashes from the band’s breakout 1981 album Escape. But it certainly has sustained thanks to its impact on pop culture. Speaking of impact, Jonathan Cain brought this title into the group as one of the first things he did when joining. He, Steve Perry, and Neal Schon then caressed it from there, providing one of the earliest examples of what this songwriting triumvirate could do.

“Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” Hit No. 8 in 1983

People get a good chuckle remembering the overblown video for this song. But let’s not sleep on the effectiveness of it. Thanks to that churning synth riff and the crunching guitars, it wastes no time grabbing your attention. Add to that Steve Perry’s powerhouse vocal, which perfectly matches the urgency of the music. “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” took on an important role in Journey’s career as the first single from Frontiers, the album that proved that Escape was no fluke.

2. “Who’s Crying Now” Hit No. 4 in 1981

Rock bands didn’t often choose slow songs as lead singles, at least not in the 70s. The fact that Journey went with a ballad from Escape is telling. It showed that these guys understood that their audience was changing. They wanted to get into the thick of emotional stuff as much, if not more, than rock out. Give credit to Neal Schon for delivering a heartfelt guitar solo to punctuate matters. Once this song cleared the path, it opened the door for the rest of the album to go nuclear.

1. “Open Arms” Hit No. 2 in 1982

Journey’s biggest hit caused some friction in not one, but two bands. Jonathan Cain first wrote the music for his previous band, The Babys, but it was shot down by lead singer John Waite. Most of Journey also thought the song was way too soft to be part of the band’s output, let alone a single. But Cain and Steve Perry, who also helped with the writing, held their ground. In the end, when you have someone with the pipes of Perry, it’s hard to resist letting him go to town on songs like this.

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