Journey guitarist Neal Schon says any future reunion with classic-era singer Steve Perry couldn’t make the band any more successful than they currently are.
Speculation has ebbed and flowed over the years that Perry – who returned to the stage in 2014 and is currently working on a solo album – might one day rejoin the band he fronted from 1977 to 1987 and 1995 to 1998.
But Schon argues that, while he’d still be willing to discuss the move, it wouldn’t mean the band would generate more cash.
The guitarist tells Freep.com: “What people don’t understand is that we couldn’t possibly be doing better right now, even if he was with us.
“It’s taken a lot of hard work to build it back up, but you know what? We’re here again. We’re sitting there.
“And management is the first to tell me it couldn’t possibly be bigger.”
The chances of a follow-up to Journey’s 2007 album Eclipse remain uncertain, but Schon says they’ve be increased by his experience of returning to Santana for reunion record Santana IV.
“The coolest thing was that we didn’t have to talk about it or work at it to make it come together,” he reports. “We just went in the studio and played.
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“I brought in a few ideas, so did Gregg Rolie, and Carlos Santana brought in a whole bunch of ideas, and we just chipped away at it.”
While Santana consider making another album, Schon is concentrating on Journey once more. The band, fronted by Arnel Pineda since 2007, now includes returned drummer Steve Smith after the dismissal of Deen Castronovo following his legal problems.
”I think right now we’ve got it going on,” says the guitarist. “In the earlier shows we did, we tried to cram more songs in with less segues, less solos for myself and Jonathan Cain and Steve Smith and everybody else.
”But really, I felt like the audience liked it better when we had them in. We’ve now put them back in, and I think we’ve got a good starting set here. And we’re going to be rehearsing more and more stuff.”
Their current tour winds up in San Francisco on September 4, with Santana also playing at the final show.
Journey US tour dates
Aug 30: Chula Vista Sleep Train Amphitheatre, CA
Sep 01: Santa Barbara Bowl, CA
Sep 02: Wheatland Toyota Amphitheatre, CA
Sep 04: San Francisco AT&T Park, CA
