Revolution Saints are out to bring back the big rock anthem (or should that be BIG rock anthem?) A band raised on hard-hitting solos, huge melodic breaks and massive choruses, Revolution Saints draw from the likes of Journey, Bon Jovi and Whitesnake and the only sign that this isn’t some long-lost gem from the eighties is the chrome-plated production job that gleams and shines in the light, capturing every nuance in perfect clarity. A supergroup comprising Jack Blades (Night Ranger), Deen Castronovo (Journey & Ozzy Osbourne) and Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake & Dio), Revolution Saints is a project born of a long-running love affair between the artists and the music they make and this self-titled debut is the result.
The album kicks off as it means to go on, with the huge ‘back on my trail’, taking uber-compressed guitars, blistering solos, expansive keyboards and the sort of chorus that suggests the writers consider ‘God gave rock ’n’ roll to you’ to be masterpiece of understatement. Thanks to the high-quality song-writing and excellent musicianship (especially from lead guitarist Doug Aldrich who plays, as always, like a man possessed) the music, which could in the wrong hands be anachronistic, sounds suitably powerful and will undoubtedly thrill those who miss the heavy, melodic leanings of the late-eighties’ giants. Maintaining the hard-hitting riffs, ‘turn back time’ is the sort of romantic anthem that comes on like a cross between classic Meat Loaf and Whitensake. With a gigantic solo at its heart, the song has a chorus that is custom made to be played over the close of any John Hughes movie you could care to name and there’s no doubt that Revolution Saints are out to make an album that is laden with memorable anthems. Arnel Pineda (Journey) turns up on the piano-led power ballad ‘You’re not alone’ which could easily come off one of the recent Whitesnake efforts with Deen’s drums propelling the track forward and Doug’s driving guitar riffs making sure that the whole thing never gets too soft. We’re back in heavier territories with ‘locked out of paradise’, a track that would make the perfect live opener, with Doug pulling some heavy riffs out of his bag of tricks and Deen employing a grittier vocal than on the earlier tracks. With its taut rhythm and radio-friendly chorus the track highlights both how powerful Revolution Saints can be and how much in debt to such bands the symphonic metal pack of today truly are. On ‘way to the sun’ Neal Schon pops up to lend his support and the result is a surprisingly understated song that has all the more power for not being overblown. It’s a true lighter-in-the-air moment and it’s a sad thought that it’s unlikely to get the same level of adoration that it would have achieved had it been released in the days before the airwaves were conquered by weak-ass r&b and X Factor clones. With a suitably climactic solo, ‘way to the sun’ is an easy album highlight and whilst the form is very familiar, the band pull this sort of thing off with such panache that you don’t mind and are happy just to let the music wash over you.
‘Dream on’ (not the Aerosmith classic) is a brilliantly realised slab of hard rock with big guitars and a bigger chorus that is custom built for stadiums and mass sing-alongs whilst ‘don’t walk away’ is a piano-led monster that is entirely unafraid of the Jim Steinman school of kitchen-sink song-writing. On the one hand I can see that, yes, it’s clichéd, but on the other hand it’s clear that the band so enjoy what they’re doing that it’s quite impossible not to get caught up in it. Taking a rather more theatrical cue, ‘here forever’ feels like a cross between Andrew Lloyd Webber and Europe but things get back on rockin’ track with the excellent ‘strangers to this life’ which is underpinned by Jack Blades’ throbbing bass work and given a lift by Deen’s powerful vocals. ‘Better world’ is another anthemic piece that benefits from a hefty keyboard presence and then ‘how to mend a broken heart’ surprises with a pile-driving riff from Doug who’s clearly minded to end the album with a powerful, guitar-led statement. Another highlight of the album, it shows that Revolution Saints have the necessary grit to mess it up with the giants of the melodic rock scene. The album ends with ‘in the name of the father (Fernando’s song)’ a wonderfully grandiose piece that sweeps towards its conclusion with an elegance born of lengthy experience.
How you feel about Revolution Saints, I suspect, will depend as much upon what decade you were born in as it will your taste in music. The quality of the song-writing, production and musicianship is world class and in continental Europe, where music fans remain more open-minded, I can see Revolution Saints making a strong name for themselves. In the UK, this fine album is more likely to appeal to those who grew up in the era of Bill and Ted, Kiss and Wayne’s world but Revolution Saints, I suspect, don’t care about any of this. This is very clearly a record that is made first and foremost for the musicians making it; a record born out of a strong passion for making music and it is this that elevates it above the pack. Not keen on reinventing the wheel, Revolution Saints is rather a record about perfecting the wheel that these musicians initially helped to invent and, as such, it is a glorious celebration of their art that need not be judged against any other standard than their own back catalogues. As such, it is a record that succeeds fantastically well and whilst I would recommend the uninitiated give it a listen first, anybody who was raised on Whitesnake, journey and their ilk will certainly love this.
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