Taking that midnight train going anywhere…
I grew up listening to early Journey on the radio (they were a Bay Area band after all). As soon as Steve Perry showed up that pretty much stopped cold.
So you have two camps when it come to Journey, pre-Perry and Perry eras. The early material was very different and not “bubble-gum” pop at all.
They even did instrumentals like this piece from the eponymous first album (”Journey”).
Topaz
https://youtu.be/4xGRVRS_bFI?si=JdZ7fm3vwCw1J_sn