Departure (Journey album)

{{use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Departure

| type = studio

| artist = Journey

| cover = Journey_Departure.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Cover art by Alton Kelley and Stanley Mouse

| released = February 29, 1980{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=Journey#search_section|title=RIAA certifications}}

| recorded = November 5–12, 1979

| studio = The Automatt, San Francisco

| genre = Rock, hard rock

| length = 37:49

| label = Columbia

| producer = Geoff Workman, Kevin Elson

| prev_title = In the Beginning

| prev_year = 1979

| next_title = Dream, After Dream

| next_year = 1980

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Departure

| type = studio

| single1 = Any Way You Want It

| single1date = February 1980

| single2 = Walks Like a Lady

| single2date = May 1980

| single3 = Good Morning Girl"/"Stay Awhile

| single3date = July 30, 1980{{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Journey&titel=Good+Morning+Girl&cat=s|title=Journey singles}}

}}

}}

{{Album reviews

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/departure-mw0000194387 |title=Journey Departure review |access-date=2013-07-05 |last=Franck |first=John |work=AllMusic |publisher=Rovi Corporation}}

| rev2 =Rolling Stone

| rev2Score = (favorable){{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/journey/albums/album/195518/review/5946245/departure |title=Album Reviews: Journey - Departure |access-date=2013-07-07 |last=Swenson |first=John |date=June 12, 1980 |magazine=Rolling Stone |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703192405/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/journey/albums/album/195518/review/5946245/departure |archive-date=July 3, 2007}}

| noprose = yes

}}

Departure is the sixth studio album by American rock band Journey. It was released on February 29, 1980, by Columbia Records.

Departure was Journey's highest-charting album to that point, giving them their first appearance in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 album charts, peaking at No. 8. The album includes "Any Way You Want It", the leadoff track and top 25 single.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZ2bT1mu97kC&pg=PA108 |page=108 |last1=Franck |first1=John |last2=Rivadavia |first2=Ed |editor=Chris Woodstra |editor2=John Bush |editor3=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |title=All Music Guide Required Listening: Classic Rock |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-87930-917-6}}

The album featured an edgier sound, thanks partly to the "live in studio" way the songs were recorded. The band went into The Automatt studio with 19 tracks, eventually trimming down to 12.

Three singles were released off Departure. "Any Way You Want It" reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the follow-up "Walks Like a Lady" reached #32. The last single was a medley of "Good Morning Girl" and "Stay Awhile" which only reached #55.{{cite web|title=Journey: Billboard Hot 100|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/journey/chart-history/hsi/|accessdate=2023-02-21|publisher=Billboard}} Record World called the medley "an epic ballad" with "healthy amounts of pomp and bravado."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=August 9, 1980|accessdate=2023-02-20|title=Single Picks|page=16|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/80s/80/Record-World-1980-08-09.pdf}}

Departure would mark the last full-time studio album appearance of founding member Gregg Rolie, and his penultimate recording with the band: his final contributions would appear on Dream, After Dream, a soundtrack album to the Japanese film of the same name, which would also be released in 1980. Rolie had become tired of life on the road and decided to leave the band after assisting in the selection of his replacement, Jonathan Cain, then of The Babys. Rolie sang lead vocals on only one song on Departure, the ballad "Someday Soon".

In 1986, Columbia reissued Departure on compact disc in the U.S. and Europe.{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Journey-Departure/master/80585|title=1986 CD reissue: Catalog numbers CK 36339 (USA) and CDCBS 84101 (Europe)|work=Discogs|publisher=Zink Media|access-date=2014-08-06}} They subsequently remastered the album in 1996.{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Journey-Departure/master/80585|title=1996 CD remaster: Catalog numbers 486667 2 (Europe) and CK 67727 (USA)|work=Discogs|publisher=Zink Media|access-date=2014-08-06}} BMG/Columbia remastered Departure again in 2006 for European, Japanese and American listeners,{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Journey-Departure/master/80585|title=2006 CD remaster: Catalog numbers MHCP 1169 (Japan), 82876895442 (Europe) and 88697 00119 2 (USA)|work=Discogs|publisher=Zink Media|access-date=2014-08-06}} adding bonus tracks 13 "Natural Thing" and 14 "Little Girl". Dave Donnelly at DNA Mastering in New York City led the 2006 project.{{cite book|title=Liner notes, CD # 88697 00119 2|page=14|publisher=BMG Music Entertainment|year=2008}}