“I know it’s been a long time coming“, so begins the unexpected return of Steve Perry. Fans have been waiting literally decades for the former Journey lead singer to return and finally he has.

The new album was teased for a day on Perry’s website before being fully announced.  Long expected, but kept completely under wraps from media, Traces dropped in October, 2018 and the world was once again graced with The Voice.  The last time Perry sung was on Journey’s underappreciated 1996 album Trial By Fire.  Within two years of its release he was replaced in the group by Steve Augeri.  Occasional pop-ups would happen, such as when he sang Don’t Stop Believin’ during the Chicago White Sox World Series run in 2005.  More recently he popped in at several concerts by the band The Eels in 2014, including a stop in LA where he sang several Journey songs.  Then nothing, for four more years.

So why now?  The last time Perry recorded a solo album was 1994’s For The Love Of Strange Medicine (FTLOSM), which in all honesty , while a good record, did not set the world on fire.  His tour of medium-sized theaters was great though. The night I saw him, and I’m sure every other night of the tour, he would talk to a tux and tails coat as though he were the critics talking OF him:  “I heard you retired”, “I heard you lost your voice”.  This was 24 years ago, what would that voice sound like today?

Thankfully the answer is really damn good! There’s no way a 69 year old Steve Perry could sound like he did in Journey’s heyday, he even admits that he and other singers (Jimi Jamison of Survivor mentioned) were in an unspoken war of who could sing higher.  What comes across on Traces is more of an extension of his sound on Trial By Fire, a great singer who has matured his sound.

It would be unjust to not mention the impetus for his return was a year and a half long relationship from 2011 – 2012 with Kelly Nash, a woman who at the time was in a battle with breast cancer.  She unfortunately did not survive but made Perry promise to “not go back into isolation”. Listening to the songs, and reading the lyrics she obviously had a profound influence on him. It still took several years, but here we are today.

Opening with the most uptempo song on the album No Erasin’, Traces kicks off on a high note. Very reminiscent of latter Journey and FTLOSM, Perry has remarked that many of the songs are written with a High School look at the world.  I would assume why he then remarks about the backseat of the car.  Regardless, it’s a strong start to the album.

We’re Still Here and Most Of All follow and slow down the pace, but really allow his voice to shine.

Up next No More Cryin’ has a different bluesy beat that I haven’t heard him sing before.  The chorus and coda are very Journey-esque though leading into a nice guitar solo before the final chorus.

That brings up one of the best tracks of the album, In The Rain. To get an idea of how long Perry was working on Traces, this was one of two songs he had written prior to his girlfriend’s death that he did not show her.  Sung in a more hushed timbre, it’s a beautiful piano driven ballad that in context is heartbreaking.

Sun Shines Gray brings the tempo up effectively.  Very similar to the style of songs on Trial By Fire. 

You Belong To Me slows down the tempo again with one of the best vocal performances on the album.  Easy To Love follows with a sort of Motown feel.  A very catchy chorus will be echoing in your head almost immediately.

That brings up the sole cover song of the set, George Harrison’s I Need You. Prior to the album’s release I had seen Perry with a co-write on the song which is odd considering it is a cover, but it’s only credited to Harrison in the booklet.  The song fits in perfectly with feel of the rest of the album.

We Fly ends the standard edition of the album.  Starting off a cappella, Perry sets the stage with a moving vocal.  Knowing what happened to his girlfriend, it’s apparent that it’s a love song wishing for a different ending.  A very strong, heartfelt song.

Traces like many albums today, was released in two formats, the standard ten track edition and the deluxe edition, which includes five additional songs.  Who wouldn’t want 50% more Steve Perry is my question?

October In New York is an homage to 40s crooners.  Backed by strings, you can picture Perry singing with a big Frank Sinatra microphone flanked by his big band, cigarette smoke all around.

If You Belong To Me sounded like Motown, Angel Eyes IS Motown. This sounds like what the Four Tops or The Temptations would have sounded like if Perry joined one of those bands instead of Journey in the 70s.

On Trial By Fire the US release of the album had a “hidden” track called Baby I’m A Leaving You which was odd for Journey as it’s reggae. Call On Me is the son of that song, the same piano/drum reggae beat.  Of note is towards the end of the song, the woman laughing is Kelly Nash, whom Perry has said had an infectious laughter.

Could We Be Somethin’ Again is a nice boy/girl relationship mid-tempo song.

Similar to the standard edition closer We Fly, the deluxe edition of Traces ends very theatrically. Blue Jays Fly has the same hushed singing with Perry wishing that his girlfriend ‘was still here’.  Again heartbreaking but such an effective song to end the album as it just fades off to nothing.  How this didn’t make the standard album is puzzling.

After 22 years of silence Steve Perry returns in a BIG way.  No it’s not the rocker who co-wrote Separate Ways or Anyway You Want It, but an older version of the guy who wrote Faithfully and Open Arms. Traces is an absolute triumph.  At 69, to wait another 22 years for a follow-up will be tough, so i hope we have more new music much sooner than that. Until then though an hour of new music with Perry singing makes the world a better place.

Oh and NO, he’s not rejoining Journey, get over it.

Website: http://www.steveperry.com