Survivor is the eponymous debut album by American rock band Survivor, recorded & released in 1979. It is their only album with original drummer Gary Smith and bassist Dennis Keith Johnson. The recording sessions, overseen by A&R executive John Kalodner, were not without difficulties. First Ron Nevison replaced Barry Mraz as producer, and then the project had to be taken to Bruce Fairbairn in Vancouver to achieve a mix that was to Kalodner's satisfaction.[1] The album took eight months to finally be released.
The album lightly impacted the charts, managing a placement of #169 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the Spring of 1980. However, the opening track "Somewhere In America" was a regional hit in the Chicago area,[1] and the song "Youngblood", with its dramatic guitar intro, proved to be something of a blueprint for the band's smash hit of two years later, "Eye of the Tiger".
An additional song recorded for the album, "Rockin' into the Night", was rejected by Nevison as "too Southern"; it was given to .38 Special who turned the song into a hit.[1] The original Survivor recording finally became available in 2004 on the compilation Ultimate Survivor.
The single "Rebel Girl" was recorded about a year after the album sessions, though the Japanese release of the album on CD includes it as song number six. The 2010 reissue on Rock Candy Records appends the song as a bonus track.
The model on the cover of the album is actress Kim Basinger, as confirmed by the band's founding member Jim Peterik.[4]
