MusicRadar

Eschewing perks like buses and planes, Journey (l to r: Jonathan Cain, Arnel Pineda, Deen Castronovo, Neal Schon and Ross Valory) walk to their gigs. © Travis Shinn

Joe Bonamassa recently said that he could always count on Kevin to give him the "brutal, honest truth." Is Kevin very blunt with you?

"Kevin has his opinions, but I have my opinions, too. And I'm known as Mr Subtle, which is basically brutal, too. [laughs] Kevin and I locked horns a lot of this record. I fought with him, sure, but it was because I didn't want to do a typical Journey record."

Last year, I spoke with Kevin, who said that there were "opposing forces in Journey." He claimed that "some members want it to be a heavy rock band, while others want to have big hit ballads."

[laughs] "Well, that's no secret to anyone. I like playing it all. But if I were given my choice, I'd pick eight rock songs and two power ballads. That's the way I've always been.

"Ever since Jonathan joined the band, he's tended to bring in the big ballads, and I bring the rock. What's different about this record is that I finally stood my ground and said, 'No. We're not doing the same fucking thing. I'm not interested in the same record over and over and over.' We have so many ways to go – grooves, cool tempos, heavier songs that aren't three minutes long. That's what I'm interested in exploring. I want to take some chances."

You say that Jonathan brings in the ballads, but yet you're both listed as co-writers on all the songs. In what ways do you two collaborate?

"It varies. With some songs, I'll bring in the full musical bed, but Jonathan will work on the lyrics. Then there's songs that Jon brings in and I'll rearrange them - change the bridges, put in a different solo section, a different outro. It goes all kinds of ways, but we definitely collaborate."

How do you know when you've written a 'classic rock' song? You've got a few under your belt. Do you just feel it right away, or are you surprised when a song does so well?

"That's a good question. You know, Don't Stop Believin', for example, which is the song that just keeps on giving, it just doesn't go away. It grows and grows. When we recorded it over 30 years ago, I thought, Wow, this feels like it could be big. But I thought the same thing about songs that didn't hit it. When you have a good song, you know it, but ultimately the public decides what's gonna stick around.

"We have some great songs on the new record, but it's more of a conceptual album. Our diehard fans will love it. It's made for them, it's built for the stage. Will radio play it? Hard to say. I don't know what radio is anymore. On the other hand, the first single, City Of Hope, that I edited down to three and a half minutes, is number three at rock radio, and it's supposed to go to number one this week.

"Kevin and I went around and around on the radio edits. He felt that a lot of the songs were too long, and after a while I had to tell him, 'Enough. You're not touchin' my shit anymore. If you do, the record will sound like all the other ones. I'm not interested in that.'"

Around the web: