REVOLUTION SAINTS-Light In The Dark

Frontiers Music srl

In February 2015 Revolution Saints shocked the melodic rock world in a very positive manner with the release of their monumental debut album. Doug Aldrich (guitar), Deen Castronovo (vocals/drums) and Jack Blades (bass/vocals) bundled their talents together and came up with maybe the best melodic rock record of that year. Soon after that Castronovo landed himself in a downward spiral resulting in his arrest, a bit of jail time and a broken relationship. Because of his problems he also lost his position as drummer with Journey. While Castronovo started to deal with his problems and entered a path to redeem himself Aldrich and Blades continued their careers with The Dead Daisies and Night Ranger and it seemed that a follow up for that first Revolution Saints CD was further away than ever. Early 2017 it became clear that the trio would reunite again for a gig at the Frontiers festival and in the same time would record that second album, again with producer/keyboardist/song writer Alessando Del Vecchio who had done such an excellent job on that first record. So, more than 2,5 years after that epic debut we have ‘Light In The Dark’, a record that is seen by the record label as a priority, as Frontiers will release is as normal CD, a Deluxe DVD/CD, vinyl and as a box including vinyl, the Deluxe edition plus a t-shirt. But what about the music on this CD? The surprise is obviously not there anymore, the quality, musicianship and song writing have not suffered although the best song of the CD, the grandiose ballad ,,I Wouldn’t Change A Thing’’ is a composition from outside the band. Label boss Serafino Perugino suggested this song that was penned by Mr Mister’s main man Richard Page to the band and Aldrich, Castronovo and Blades with Del Vecchio have outshined the original version by far. Especially the emotional singing of Deen Castronovo and the epic guitar solo of Aldrich are just beautiful and could bring a person to tears. It is actually amazing that a guy like Castronovo who has been around since 1983 with bands like Wild Dogs has always been seen as a great drummer but never as a classy vocalist. Some years ago he sang a few tracks on the Journey CD ‘Generations’ but it was on the first Revolution Saints album that his true greatness came to the surface in full bloom. I know that Journey have a great singer in Arnel Pineda but if I was Neal Schon I would know what to do. I mean, also the way Deen tackles the second ballad of the CD ,,Can’t Hide Away’’ is hearth warming, while he also is an ace during the more powerful and up tempo tracks like ,,Don’t Surrender’’ or ,,The Storm Inside’’. I have played this one for a few weeks now and the more I hear it the more I love it. My first impression deceived me a bit, I must admit. This record has everything a melodic rock record should have: great musicians, a powerful and rich sound, variation and the songs are out of this world as well. What more can you ask for? ‘Light In The Dark’ (would the CD title refer to Deen Castronovo’s battle?) has got it all!