Can you name a rock and roll vocalist with more range and who has ever sung with more human emotion than Steve Perry? There have been many incredibly gifted rock and roll singers with great range and emotion. Names like Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, Ann Wilson of Heart, Roger Daltrey of The Who and Freddie Mercury of Queen have all recorded amazing vocal performances. Yet Steve Perry seemed to have that extra gear that maybe only Freddie Mercury could have reached in range. Nonetheless, no one has ever sounded like Steve Perry. No one ever will.
The only disappointment we have ever had with Steve Perry was his disappearance from the music business for over twenty years. It’s none of our business why he left, and it’s not the topic of this article. However, we just wanted to say that we really missed Steve Perry and we wish we had more Steve Perry solo material to listen to. This article, the Top 10 Steve Perry Songs from his solo albums will look at just that. We will not be covering the great work he did with Journey. We have already covered those songs. This Top 10 Steve Perry songs list will take a look at the three solo albums Steve Perry has released along with the material form his unreleased album that was eventually issued on his Greatest Hits package.
We hope you enjoy this article. We had an amazing time putting it together because it was so enjoyable to listen to all of these incredible vocal performances from the great Steve Perry.
# 10 – No More Cryin’
One of the best rock and roll news stories of 2018 was the return of Steve Perry. We open our Top 10 Steve Perry songs list with a track from his comeback album entitled Traces
. “No More Crying,” was the second single released from the album.
# 9 – She’s Mine
On ClassicRockHistory.com we constantly write about the year 1984. It was such an incredible years for rock music with some of the most legendary albums in history released. Can anyone say Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The U.S.A
or Prince’s Purple Rain.
Nonetheless, our favorite album released that year was undoubtedly Steve Perry’s first solo album entitled Street Talk.
We could have filled this entire Top 10 Steve Perry songs list with tracks from that great album. However, we have to choose wisely. The first song to appear on this list form that album is the heartbreaking song “She’s Mine.” This one sent shivers through anyone who has ever dealt with the issues of someone trying to steal your lover away. The emotional anguish that Steve Perry displayed in his performance was just further proof of his brilliance as an artist and his genuine spirit as a human being.
# 8 – Missing You
This beautiful song “Missing You,” was released on the album For The Love of Strange Medicine.
The song was written by Steve Perry and Tim Mine. This is probably as haunting as Steve Perry ever got on record.
# 7 – Captured By The Moment
What is so magical about this incredible song is the low register that Steve Perry sings in during the verse. It’s probably the lowest Steve Perry has ever sung in record and it is mesmerizing as he shifts vocal registers from the verse to the pre-chorus and onward into the chorus. On just about every song Steve Perry sings we want to scream it’s his best vocal performance ever. The talent is so extraordinary.
# 6 – Against The Wall
The song Against The Wall was released on the greatest hits album entitled Greatest Hits + Five Unreleased
. The + Five Unreleased part of that titled stemmed from five tracks that were originally recorded for the follow up album to Street Talk
which was tentatively titled Against The Wall. The album was shelved and the songs later appeared on the greatest hits package and as bonus tracks on For The Love Of Strange Medicine
album.
# 5 – No Erasin’
“No Erasin’ was the first single released from Steve Perry’s comeback album entitled Traces. The song was actually released a few weeks ahead of the album. As soon as we found out about the release, we did a story on it while we could not stop playing this incredible song.
# 4 – I Believe
The bass line, the drums, and the groove on this one was addicting as you could get. That Motown feel juxtaposed against Steve Perry’s killer vocal gave birth to a song to die for, if you know what I mean. “I Believe,” was released on the Street Talk
Album. The song was written by Steve Perry, Randy Goodrum, Craig Krampf and Duane Hitchings.
# 3 – You Better Wait
It took Steve Perry ten years to follow up his first solo album with another solo effort. For The Love of Strange Medicine
was released in 1994. The music scene had changed dramatically in ten years from 1984 to 1994. You can sense the change in the production on the album. Nonetheless, Steve Perry’s voice was still as strong and magical as it was on Street Talk.
Our favorite track from the album For The Love of Strange Medicine
was the album’s first single “You Better Wait.” The song was written by Steve Perry, Paul Taylor, Lincoln Brewster, Moyes Lucas, George Hawkins and John Pierce
# 2 – Foolish Heart
If we ever want to define the term for groove ballad, we could just play this amazing track. Steve Perry’s “Foolish Heart,” was released on the Street Talk
album. The song was issued as the fourth single from the record. It was a huge hit for Steve Perry as it became a top 20 single. We also always loved the one shot video of this song.
# 1 – Oh Sherrie
There are times when you hear a new song on the radio for the first time and you are just frozen until the second the song ends. That is what it was like when most people heard the opening notes to this incredible piece of music. Hands down, this is one of the greatest songs to come out of the 1980s. The success of this song fueled many rumors that Steve Perry would leave Journey. That turned out to be not true for the moment as Steve Perry continued with Journey for another 12 years even after the success of this amazing single and solo album.
