Journey "Trial by Fire"

Trial by Fire is the tenth studio album by American rock band Journey. Released on October 22, 1996, the album marked the reunion of the classic 1980s lineup, which had not recorded together since 1983's Frontiers. Trial by Fire was produced by Kevin Shirley, who continues to produce the band's albums. The first album to feature bassist Ross Valory since Frontiers and the last to feature vocalist Steve Perry and drummer Steve Smith until the latter rejoined Journey in 2015.

Trial by Fire includes the Top 20 hit and Grammy nominated single "When You Love a Woman", which reached No. 12 and No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts respectively. "Message of Love", "Can't Tame the Lion" and "If He Should Break Your Heart" were released as singles and received radio airplay.

The album reflected a growing maturity with the members of Journey and could be loosely termed a concept album with many tracks reflecting a more overt spirituality in lyrical content. The title track, for example, is taken directly from Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians.

Trial by Fire was Journey's last album featuring vocalist Steve Perry and the only one to not be accompanied by a supporting tour. That was due to internal disputes over a tour (originally scheduled for the summer and fall of 1997), as a result of Perry's hip injury as he prolonged getting the necessary surgery. If the band had toured, that tour wouldn't have started until over a year after the album's release. Perry left the band feeling that he was being forced out. He was unsure about whether or not/ when to have necessary surgery and because of pressure to tour sooner than later. Drummer Steve Smith also quit citing that the band without Perry didn't interest him.

On November 9, 1996, the album peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and was eventually certified platinum in the United States by the RIAA. The band did not receive another platinum award until Revelation in 2008.

Trial by Fire is Journey's first studio album in ten years following the release of Raised on Radio in 1986 and the band's subsequent split. In the years after the split musicians Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain formed supergroup Bad English and released two albums in 1989 and 1991, while lead singer Steve Perry released his second solo album, For the Love of Strange Medicine (1994). While on his solo tour in 1994, it became apparent to Perry that "underneath it all, I was missing more and more being the singer in Journey than I ever thought I would." When A&R executive John Kalodner of Columbia Records suggested that the band members reform, Cain, Perry, and Schon began writing together. According to Perry, the band wanted to "see if we had the spark to write again" instead of simply reforming for a comeback tour.

Steve Perry said the band did not try to reinvent themselves on the album: "Nothing sounds more pretentious than someone being something they're not. One of the things we've always known is that there are certain musical directions that fit what [our] chemistry is about. We're going to sink or swim being what we are and not by trying to reinvent ourselves and not by trying to be the flavor of the month."

Track listing

1. "Message of Love" Perry, Schon, Cain, John Bettis 5:34
2. "One More" Perry, Schon, Cain 5:28
3. "When You Love a Woman" Perry, Cain, Schon 4:07
4. "If He Should Break Your Heart" Perry, Cain, Schon 4:23
5. "Forever in Blue" Perry, Cain, Schon 3:35
6. "Castles Burning" Perry, Cain, Schon 6:00
7. "Don't Be Down on Me Baby" Perry, Schon, Cain 4:01
8. "Still She Cries" Perry, Schon, Cain 5:04
9. "Colors of the Spirit" Perry, Cain, Schon, Bettis 5:41
10. "When I Think of You" Perry, Cain 4:21
11. "Easy to Fall" Perry, Schon, Cain 5:15
12. "Can't Tame the Lion" Perry, Cain, Schon 4:32
13. "It's Just the Rain" Perry, Cain 5:19
14. "Trial by Fire" Perry, Schon, Cain 4:41
15. "Baby I'm a Leavin' You" (Hidden track) Perry, Cain, Schon 2:49
16. "I Can See It in Your Eyes" (Japanese-only bonus track on the original CD release, later added to the 2006 CD reissue) Perry, Schon, Cain 4:12