Next is the third studio album by Journey, released in February 1977.[2] The band continued the formula from 1976's Look into the Future but this album also retains some of their progressive rock style from the first album. It is the last album to feature Gregg Rolie as the primary lead singer, and the last album to feature members of the band on the cover. "Spaceman"/"Nickel and Dime" was the single released from Next.
The instrumental "Cookie Duster" was listed in very early pressings of the album, though not actually included on the album. It was later released on Journey's Time³ compilation.
Although he did not contribute to Next, lead vocalist Robert Fleischman joined Journey shortly after the album's release as a songwriter and the group's first dedicated frontman, sharing lead vocal duties with Rolie during subsequent live shows. All of the songs on the album vanished from the band's live setlist after 1979 and two ("Spaceman" and "Here We Are") have never been performed live.
Retrospectively, AllMusicStephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "without a forceful lead vocalist like Steve Perry, the group lacks focus and a pop sensibility and its attempts at straight-ahead pop/rock suffer considerably as a result."[4] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff praised the album's variety and the "profusion of good songs", with the musical styles ranging from prog to sophisticated balladry to pop metal.[5]
