''Late Nite'' is the first solo album by

Neal Schon Neal Joseph Schon (born February 27, 1954) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist for the rock band Journey. He is the last original member to remain throughout the group's history. He was a memb ...

released in 1989. Bob Marlette played keyboards and produced the album. Several of the musicians were former Journey members

Gregg Rolie Gregg Alan Rolie (born June 17, 1947) is an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter. Rolie served as lead singer of the bands Santana (band), Santana and Journey (band), Journey – both of which he co-founded. He also helmed rock group The ...

Jonathan Cain Jonathan Leonard Friga (born February 26, 1950), known professionally as Jonathan Cain, is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the keyboardist and rhythm guitarist for Journey. He has also worked with the Babys an ...

, Steve Smith, and

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive, television presenter and musician, best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing b ...

as well as future Journey members

Deen Castronovo Deen Joseph Castronovo (born August 17, 1964) is an American drummer and singer best known for being a member of classic rock band Journey and hard rock acts Bad English and Hardline. He currently plays drums and sings for the bands Journey, ...

and

Omar Hakim Omar Hakim (born February 12, 1959) is an American drummer, producer, arranger and composer. His session work covers jazz, jazz fusion, and pop music. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Chic, Sting, Madonna, Dire S ...

Critical reception

In review of 24 June 1989 David Spodek of ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'', admitted that album showcases Schon's talent but the overall effect could be mixed. He wrote: "This sounds like nothing more than another Journey record, and may end up fading away fast with only die-hard Journey fans providing it with any support at retail."

Track listing

# "Le Dome" (instrumental*) (Schon, Marlette) - 1:07 # "Late Nite" (instrumental) (Schon, Marlette) - 6:37 # "Softly" (Schon, Marlette, Rolie, Burtnick) - 5:19 # "The Theme" (instrumental*) (Schon, Marlette) - 9:41 # "I'll Be Waiting" (instrumental*) (Schon, Marlette, Rolie) - 5:05 # "I'll Cover You" (Schon, Burtnick, Marlette) - 5:56 # "Rain's Comin' Down" (Schon, Cain, Marlette) - 7:06 # "Smoke of the Revolution" (Schon, Cain, Spiro) - 4:45 # "Inner Circles" (instrumental) (Schon, Marlette) - 4:38 # "Steps" (instrumental) (Schon, Marlette) - 5:32 # "Blackened Bacon" (Schon, Marlette, Newman) - 2:28 ^*except for background vocals.

Personnel

– guitars, arrangements (1-7, 9, 10, 11), lead vocals (3, 6-8, 11),

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

(11) *

Bob Marlette Robert Roy Marlette (born December 7, 1955) is an American record producer, recording engineer, mixer, and songwriter. His production, writing and mixing credits include Black Sabbath, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Shinedown, Seether, Saliva, Lyn ...

– keyboards (1-7, 9, 10, 11), arrangements (1-7, 9, 10, 11),

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

(11) *

– keyboards (8), arrangements (8) *

– bass guitar, backing vocals (8) *

– drums (2, 6, 7, 9-11) * Steve Smith – drums (3-5), percussion (7, 11) *

– drums (8) * Pastiche – backing vocals (1, 3, 5-7) * Lynn Mabry – scat (7) * Margaret Taylor – scat (7) *

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is noted for her Optimism, optimistic and Idealism, idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including Rock music, rock, Po ...

– backing vocals (8), vocal scats (8) *

Mark Spiro Mark Spiro (March 28, 1957 – March 28, 2024) was an American songwriter, record producer and recording artist.Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

– mastering at

Masterdisk Masterdisk is an American multimedia company in New York, located at 8 John Walsh Boulevard in Peekskill. They provide production services such as audio mastering, vinyl cutting and enhanced CD and DVD production. Their clients include such n ...

(New York, NY) * David Coleman – art direction * Nancy Donald – art direction * Randee St. Nicholas – photography * Carolina Bagnarol – management * John Griswold – guitar technician, studio crew * Richard Bandoni – studio crew * Laura Salazar – studio crew

References

Sources

* Liner notes from the album. {{Authority control 1989 debut albums Neal Schon albums Jazz fusion albums by American artists Columbia Records albums