10 Songs That Caused Huge Rifts In Bands
2. Open Arms - Journey
Over the course of their career, Journey went from being one of the greatest fusion rock bands to the darlings of the radiowaves under Steve Perry. Though the band had many hits with Perry before, it wasn't until the release of the song "Open Arms" that the group really started to take off.
On the other hand, Perry's initial presentation of the song to the band was not as pleasant. After performing it with pianist Jonathan Cain, guitarist Neal Schon jokingly remarked that the song sounded a bit "too Mary Poppins" for the band to play. After relentless mocking in the studio, Schon finally laid down a guitar part for the song which fit perfectly with Cain's melody.
Once the band hit the road with the song, Schon began to see it in a new light. Unbeknownst to the band, they had hit upon the formula for what would become the power ballad. Instead of being greeted by devoted fans, the band's concert audiences started to blow up to gigantic proportions. After one particular night, Schon came offstage telling Perry the song really kicked ass, leaving Perry a bit perturbed about the sudden change of heart. Even if the honeymoon period was a bit strange, "Open Arms" is still essential to anyone interested in 80's rock.