Deen Castronovo, Jack Blades and Doug Aldrich. Put these three titans together in a band and you have REVOLUTION SAINTS. Superbly handling drums and lead vocals is Deen Castronovo. Already renowned for his drum talents and backing vocals in Journey, Bad English and more, Deens excellent vocal talents are in the spotlight on this release. On bass, and co-lead vocals on a few tracks, Jack Blades is well known for his melodic, yet hard rocking approach to songwriting and playing via multiple classic albums by his main band Night Ranger, as well as with the Damn Yankees and the Shaw/Blades releases. On guitar, Doug Aldrich was excited to lend his fiery blues guitar attack to such a unique and melodic band. Doug, who just left Whitesnake after a fruitful 12 year run (including co-writing 2010s critically acclaimed "Forevermore" release) and also of Burning Rain and formerly of DIO, has a deep pedigree and is one of todays most respected guitarists. You can tell by the name - and the names involved - that Revolution Saints is not going to be your average rock n roll band. The record brings back the classic melodic rock style to where it should be: inspiring, uplifting vocals, soaring melodies and musicianship to die for. Simply put, it is completely badass.
8**N
The best way to describe this band and this release is ...
The best way to describe this band and this release is that Journey and Night Ranger had a baby and put the child on steroids. The best of Journey and Night Ranger combined is quite a sound. Castronovo has an unbelievably good voice and is one of the few people on earth who can sing like Steve Perry (who he sounds almost exactly like on this album). I have always loved Jack Blades and he is a bit understated on this album as the vocals of Castronovo drown out almost everything out. As if his vocals were not great enough, Castronovo's drumming is phenomenal. I have always loved Doug Aldrich since he played with Hurricane (who had Kelly Hansen on vocals who is now the lead singer for Foreigner). Doug then went on to play with Ronnie James Dio on the "Killing the Dragon" album which was an outstanding release that heralded the return of Dio to rock and away from the grunge junk that the industry dictated he put out. Finally, Doug ended up in Whitesnake and did an incredible job with David Coverdale. His playing on this album is no different from his hard hitting, no nonsense riffs and solos. The songs are also very upbeat and good to listen to on the way to and from work. This is the best supergroup since Damn Yankees and Jack Blades deserves credit for pulling off 2 supergroups in one lifetime (and credit for Night Ranger who are still outstanding). Outstanding work and worthy to place in your rock library.
M**N
Arena Rock returns
If you like Night Ranger, Whitesnake, and Journey then you will enjoy this CD. Do you remember when Damn Yankees came out in the 90's? This brings together Deen Castroneevo from Bad English/ Journey, Jack Blades from Night Ranger/Damn Yankees, and Doug Aldrich from Whitesnake. This is riff heavy rock and roll. Castroneevo can straight out sing. If you've seen Journey in their most recent lineup with Pineda as their lead singer, then you know that Deen sings some songs in concert and is backing vocalist as their drummer. Enjoyable to have him and Blades harmonize. This CD is good from start to finish. I hope that they continue in the future.
M**E
this is a great record. Not all
OK, this is a great record. Not all, but most songs are fantastic. If you like rock music with great melodic, radio friendly hooks, this is it. Dean is a fantastic singer (who knew), Blades is always awesome and Doug is just a monster guitar player. The album has tons of energy and the songs are just ear candy with soaring vocals. The fact that these guys are not all over the radio is exactly WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE MUSIC INDUSTRY!!! Great songwriting, great performances, great musicianship. BUY IT!
J**R
A pretty worthy debut album from Revolution Saints
Revolution Saints is another in the line of would-be super groups that are trying to bring back the AOR sounds of the 1980s. The band is comprised of lead singer/drummer Deen Castronovo, guitarist Doug Aldrich and bassist/backing vocalist/song writer Jack Blades. Considering that two out of these three guys (Castronovo and Aldrich) are my some of my all-time favorite musicians, I had rather high hopes for this release…..and they didn’t disappoint!The most intriguing thing about this album to me is the terrific vocal performance that Castronovo turned in. I mean who knew this guy sounded just like Steve Perry? His voice is a mixture of raw and gritty emotion that is sliced with a cleanliness that allows him to pull of this smooth style of music. The band’s songs are all really melodic and catchy throughout the album, but after a couple listens the ballads—while pretty good—tend to weigh the record down in the wrong direction. Another critique/criticism is that the album essentially sounds like a mixture of Journey and Eclipse. That didn’t bother me in the least as I love both those bands, but others have been less than thrilled with the overall sound of the band. You want 80s styled production? Well my friend, it’s here in the finest fashion. The album is chalked full of huge choruses and melody, pristine sound and crisp musicianship, and a terrific showcase of veteran melodic rock savvy that only these three could bring.While this album is better than I actually thought, it is not as great as I felt that it could have been. I recognized that a majority of the songs were not actually written by the band, but rather by another favorite of mine: Erik Martensson. I’m not totally sure why this is, but when you have guys like these musicians they are more than capable of writing their own tunes. It’s a good album overall, but sometimes you just tend to feel like they couldn’t craft their own unique sound, instead settling for the company decided was best for them.
