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4. Journey
The case for: This Bay Area group’s combination of big guitars and bigger hooks (see “Separate Ways,” “Wheel in the Sky,” etc.) has helped them move over 80 million units worldwide. And is there a person alive who hasn’t sung along with the chorus of 1981’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” at least once?
The case against: All that commercial success couldn’t buy critical praise. 1983’s "Rolling Stone Record Guide" gave each of Journey’s then-existing LPs a one-star rating, and the band is often lumped into the same category as bland-yet-bankable acts such as Foreigner and Styx. A string of sound-alike singers have filled in for Steve Perry for many moons.
Induction precedent: AC/DC (2003)
