Relive Journey’s greatest songs and moments with this biography that unearths their complex story, based extensive interviews and research.

“Golland leaves no stone unturned in this fine-grained chronicle of the rock group Journey.... Golland’s passion and precision make this a pleasure.” – Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“A welcome study of one of rock’s most enduring musical fusions.” – Salon

Since exploding on the scene in the late 1970s, Journey has inspired generations of fans with hit after hit. But hidden under this rock ‘n’ roll glory is a complex story of ambition, larger-than-life personalities, and clashes. David Hamilton Golland unearths the band’s true and complete biography, based on over a decade of interviews and thousands of sources.

When Steve Perry joined jazz-blues progressive rock band Journey in 1977, they saw a rise to the top, and their 1981 album Escape hit #1. But Perry’s quest for control led to Journey’s demise. They lost their record contract and much of their audience. After the unlikely comeback of “Don’t Stop Believin’” in movies, television, and sports stadiums, a new generation discovered Journey.

A professional historian, Golland dispels rehashed myths and also shows how race in popular music contributed to their breakout success. As the economy collapsed and as people abandoned the spirit of Woodstock in the late 70s, Journey used the rhythm of soul and Motown to inspire hope in primarily white teenagers’ lives. Decades later, the band and their signature song remain classics, and now, with singer Arnel Pineda, they are again a fixture in major stadiums worldwide.

"The single most downloaded song on the internet from the 20th century isn’t one by the Beatles, Prince, or Madonna. It’s the signature song of one of rock’s most enduring acts: Journey. “Don’t Stop Believin’” transcended its early 1980s roots and became an inspirational anthem for sports teams, start-ups, people fighting life-altering ailments, and more. The band’s long and complicated history, with its myriad stylistic and lineup changes, is the subject of historian and lifelong fan Golland’s book. Refreshingly, this is not the standard band biography. Golland brings an academic approach to the subject, placing Journey within its proper historical musical context. Though it is clear that Golland loves Journey’s music, he also provides an overdue critical take on the group’s overall sound. He also discusses issues of musical influence versus appropriation. It is rare, and valuable, to find such insight in books like this. Readers don’t have to be Journey fans to appreciate this cerebral approach to a biography about the band. For casual readers and scholars alike." - Library Journal, Starred Review

"Monmouth University history professor Golland leaves no stone unturned in this fine-grained chronicle of the rock group Journey. Formed in 1973 as a ‘progressive rock’ band, Journey’s lackluster sales had Columbia Records close to ending their contract in 1977, when ‘crooning tenor’ Steve Perry joined as frontman, bringing with him a sound inflected by the smooth, ‘beguiling’ vocals of Black soul singer Sam Cooke. The band’s 1981 album Escape featured such hits as ‘Who’s Crying Now’ and ‘Don’t Stop Believin’,’ which catapulted the group to superstardom. Following a burned-out Perry’s 1987 departure, ‘Don’t Stop Believin’?’ cemented the band’s legacy as a nostalgic cornerstone of white American culture whose songs are piped through ballparks and used by TV shows and movies. Golland meticulously colors in the band’s artistic conflicts and power struggles, paying particular attention to Perry’s decision to leave, but he’s at his most convincing when he interrogates the racial dynamics at play in the band’s success. Under Perry, Golland contends, the group’s music could border on a ‘modern form of minstrelsy,’ capitalizing on ‘the racial backlash of the ’70s by producing music rooted in soul and rhythm & blues for a largely white, working-class audience... that didn’t want to listen to Motown because it was ‘too Black’ but was perfectly happy listening to five white dudes play... hot Motown wax.”’ Golland’s passion and precision make this a pleasure." - Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"A welcome study of one of rock’s most enduring musical fusions… In Golland’s careful hands, Journey’s story, and their music in particular, receives a much-needed critical treatment… To Golland’s great credit, Livin’ Just to Find Emotion will find you absentmindedly humming ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ and other Journey mainstays in the same breath in which you reconsider the racial and cultural dynamics that brought them to rock’s highest heights in the first place." - Salon

"With the ear of a fan and the eye of a historian, Golland does a great job chronicling all of the members’ various offshoot bands, side projects and mini-and-semi reunions." - Houston Press

"Well-paced, exhaustively researched, with in-depth analysis of the Journey catalog and the background stories of various key members of the group, Livin’ Just to Find Emotion is a great read for any fan of classic rock and those who like an epic tale of triumph, tribulation, and redemption." - The Aquarian