Journey will deliver hits at Lakewood show, talking new album

Journey is back on the road this summer, with Steve Smith returning on drums and with Arnel Pineda singing songs that former vocalist Steve Perry made famous in the late 1970s and early ‘80s (as well as other material).

Plenty of people wish Perry would return to Journey. And for his part, guitarist Neal Schon maintains he’d welcome Perry if he wants to perform with the band.

But according to Schon, one thing Perry fans shouldn’t count on as a motivation to bring about a Perry/Journey reunion is the lure of a lucrative tour.

“You know what people don’t understand is that we couldn’t even possibly be doing better right now even if he (Perry) was with us,” Schon said in a mid-May phone interview. “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 one to tell me it couldn’t possibly be bigger.”

The band plays Lakewood Amphitheatre on Wednesday with the Doobie Brothers and Dave Mason.

The fact is, Schon is perfectly happy with Journey as things stand. And there’s little reason for him to think otherwise.

As he mentioned, Journey has done what many considered highly unlikely — if not downright impossible — by regaining its stature as one of rock’s most bankable arena and outdoor amphitheater headlining bands — despite the absence of Perry, who sang the band’s many hits (“Open Arms,” “Any Way You Want It,” “Who’s Cryin’ Now” and “Don’t Stop Believin’,” to name a few).

The rest of the Journey lineup is now the same as the one that recorded the band’s two biggest albums, 1981’s “Escape” (which sold 10 million copies) and 1983’s “Frontiers” — with Schon on guitar, Jonathan Cain on keyboards, Ross Valory on bass and Smith, who handled drums from 1978 to 1985 and 1995 to 1998, back on board, replacing Deen Castronovo.

(Castronovo was fired from Journey after his indictment last June on multiple charges of domestic violence. The drummer has since gone through rehab for alcohol and drug problems that have plagued him at various points during his musical career.)

The group has released four albums since Perry’s departure — “Arrival” (2001),” “Generations” (2005), “Revelation” (2008) and “Eclipse” (2008). Some band members have balked at doing any further writing and recording because the plummeting sales of albums in the internet age make it hard to justify the expense and effort that go into making a new album.

But Schon hopes to reverse that thinking and said he has a number of song ideas in hand and plans to start writing soon with Pineda. He thinks the success of “Santana IV,” his recent reunion album with the classic early lineup of that band, will convince his bandmates that a new Journey album can be viable.

For now, Schon will be busy touring with Journey into September.

Along with the hits, Schon said fans can expect Journey to dust off a song or two that hasn’t been performed in years (such as “Line of Fire” from the 1980 album “Departure”) and do a little stretching out instrumentally.

“I think right now we’ve got it going on,” Schon said.