JOURNEY's JONATHAN CAIN Says STEVE PERRY's Return To Concert Stage 'Needed To Happen'

JOURNEY keyboardist Jonathan Cain has commented on ex-JOURNEY singer Steve Perry's recent return to the concert stage, calling it "great" and saying that it was something that "needed to happen."

Perry made three surprise guest appearances with EELS in late May and early June, prompting JOURNEY's current frontman, Arnel Pineda, to write in a tweet that Perry would be welcome to reclaim "his righteous place."

During a brand new interview with writer Michael Cavacini, Cain was asked for his thoughts on Perry's return to music. "I think it's great that he broke the ice and went out with the EELS and performed," he said. "I think it needed to happen. You get a monkey off your back. You get out in front of the people and feel what that feels like. I'm very happen for him that he has embraced this concept of, 'This is who I am today and I don't sing like I used to sing.' I think he'll enjoy it and embrace it."

Cain continued: "He deserves to be out there on stage. I think it's wonderful. I could never understand why he seemed to be in recluse mode, hiding away somewhere. When you're Steve Perry, one of the greatest voices of all time, you should be on a stage where you belong. So, good for him. I'm happy he's out there flexing his chops."

Cain also reiterated his view that JOURNEY may be done releasing new music. JOURNEY's last studio album, "Eclipse", was released in May 2011. The Walmart exclusive debuted on The Billboard 200 album chart at No. 13 — eight spots lower than the band's previous album, 2008's "Revelation" — which also went on to hit No. 1 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart.

"It's a lot of money to make a CD," Cain told Michael Cavacini. "Unless we're able to go back in and give people what they want, it doesn't make sense. And they want the old stuff… and they already have the old stuff."

He continued: "For me, you put the symphony in there and do a symphonic record. Do the hits with a symphony. That's what I'd do because that's what they want. But I don't know if Neal [Schon, guitar] wants to write that stuff. He's sort of resistant to going back and writing that kind of material.

"You have to really embrace it, who you are, and look at it square in the eye and say, 'This is what JOURNEY is, like it or not.' He feels like, 'I wanna' rock!' And I say, 'Well, there's a certain pop sensibility that's missing that you've got to admit we have.' And that's Perry's kind of thing. Perry had that pop sensibility. I followed his lead, he followed mine… and Neal added the rock edge to it. With Perry missing from the mix, do you ever get back to it? I don't know. I think I know how to start, but everybody has to be willing to get on the same page and make classic JOURNEY music. So, that's where I'm at. If everybody is willing to make a legacy album like 'Arrival', I'm in. If you're not, I'm not."

Perry — whose rumored return to JOURNEY has been the cause of rock gossip and band denials for several years — performed two JOURNEY classics with EELS — 1981's "Escape" power ballad "Open Arms" and 1979's "Departure" album standout "Lovin,' Touchin', Squeezin'" — but didn't attempt to hit the highest notes, telling Classic Rock magazine, "I sounded more like Otis Redding than I did in JOURNEY; and I love Otis, so that's not a bad thing. But after twenty years, wherever you hit that golf ball is where it lands. I just wanted to go out there and hit the ball. I was pretty pleased with what I pulled off."