Don't Stop Believing by Journey

Go on, tell us your high-school memory connected to this song. We’ll wait. For Journey, this song was something of a turning point: As formed by two ex-Santana members, the group started as a psychedelic/prog band with a preference for long instrumental jams. They tightened up considerably when singer Steve Perry joined in 1978.

Though they’d made three albums without him, Perry’s voice came to define the sound of the band. A further shakeup came in 1980, when one of the Santana guys (keyboardist Gregg Rolie) left. New keyboardist Jonathan Cain (who’s been in a poppier band, the Babys) also took over as one of the main songwriters.

“Don’t Stop Believing” was the opener of 1981’s Escape album, and became one of the definitive prom ballads. Note the odd bit of structure in “Don’t Stop Believing”: The chorus containing the song’s title doesn’t happen until the song is nearly over.

Steve Perry is a big fan of The Sopranos, and refused to license this song for the series’ famous final scene until he knew exactly how it would be used. So for at least a few weeks, Perry was one of the few people alive who knew about that ending.

So you think the challenge of this song would all be in the vocals? Well, you’re wrong. Journey guitarist Neal Schon is no slouch either, and he gets off a few fancy runs early in the song…Get through those and you should be fine.

The drum part’s a heavy one too, as the kick is on the downbeat and the strong hand is very consistent.

Now, as for the vocals: Don’t be fooled by the moderate ranking; it’s a workout with some ripping high notes. Remember than you can sing it down an octave and still score fine, but we recommend doing it in full Steve Perry glory.

Still around, after some changes: Journey broke up in 1986 and stayed broken up for a full decade. The classic lineup made one comeback album in ’96, then Steve Perry jumped ship. The reunited band has had three lead singers since then.