REVOLUTION SAINTS – Light In The Dark (Album Review)

Frontiers’ president, Serafino Perugino, is my hero.  He seems to be completely invested in saving the hard rock genre all by himself.  One of his “supergroup” creations, Revolution Saints have just released their 2^nd album.  Deen Castronovo (Journey, Bad English, Hardline), Jack Blades (Night Ranger, Damn Yankees) and Doug Aldrich (The Dead Daises, Whitesnake) are once again paired up with producer/songwriter Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline, Jorn) to create an absolute masterpiece.  Spoiler alert, I love this album… no sophomore jinx here.

Light In The Dark by Revolution Saints (2^nd album, released 10/13/17, Frontier Records)

Produced by: Alessandro Del Vecchio

“Light In The Dark” is an excellent first track.  Awesome hooks, uplifting lyrics and Doug’s guitar work takes center stage immediately.  Deen and Jack switch off lead vocals and it sounds amazingly natural.

The next song, “Freedom”, is a great up-tempo tune that sounds like a heavier version of Bad English’s “Forget Me Not”.  That prompts a thought – why not reunite Bad English with Neal Schon, Ricky Phillips and Deen Castronovo doing vocals?

“Ride On” has an incredible melody, thunderous drums and shows off the supreme musicianship of these three superstars.  I am glad that there are some faster tempo hard rock songs on this album.  It shows some growth in the Revolution Saints sound.  If you don’t know Doug Aldrich that well or aren’t sold on his talent, listen to this song from 2:11-3:04… you won’t ever question his talent again.

The first ballad “I Wouldn’t Change A Thing” is just WOW!!!!  A complete contrast to the prior song.  Being the shredder that Doug is, it’s unbelievable that he can match the emotional message of the song so well.  Literally a PERFECT song.  If you have read the stuff that Deen has been going through over the last 2 years, you’ll understand the emotional connection in the vocal melody.  This song gives me chills… got goose bumps just typing this…

In recent interviews, Deen mentioned that Doug was more involved in song structure.  You can definitely tell on tracks like “Don’t Surrender”, “Running On The Edge”, “Another Chance” and “Take Me Down”.  These hard rock songs are stronger, slicker, the guitars are more intense and fit perfectly with the catchy melodies.  Also, Deen sounds more confident as a vocalist.

A beefy guitar riff anchors the song, “The Storm Inside”.  Excellent tune, but I kept hearing something in my head that wasn’t on the recording.  After hearing this tune over five times now, I keep hearing David Coverdale doing the lead vocal.  Deen doesn’t sound like David, but the song is very Whitesnake-esque.

“Can’t Run Away From Love” is another great ballad.  This song sounds the most like Journey.  The passionate vocal delivery cements that Deen is as talented a vocalist as he is a drummer.

Remember when I mentioned that Deen should be the new lead singer in Bad English? What would it sound like? “Falling Apart” is a perfect sample.  Great song!

Me being the music nerd that I am, I ordered the Deluxe Edition CD/DVD.  So… Not only did I great 11 awesome studio tracks… but this version also has 4 live tracks, bonus DVD of those 4 live tracks, 2 videos of “Light In The Dark” and “I Wouldn’t Change A Thing” and video of the making of the album.  The live tracks are from their first ever live appearance (recorded in Milan, Italy) and sound great.

After seeing the video for “I Wouldn’t Change A Thing”, my expectations were high.  Revolution Saints did not disappoint. This album will be on my top 5 list of 2017 albums.  Light In The Dark is a MUST listen!!!!!

Thanks for reading.  Pooni out!

Also check out: Growin’ Up Rock Podcast

Buy: Revolution Saints

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