The Revolution Saints Return With The Positive Soaring "Rise"

Revolution Saints return with their third album for Frontiers Records entitled "Rise". And it's another melodic rock oasis in a desert of mediocrity. As the old school rock scene continues to devolve and lose it's identity, bands like the Rev Saints are keeping the torch lit, albeit barely. Lead vocals are again handled by Deen Castronovo and Jack Blades from Night Ranger. Deen is the estranged drummer from the band Journey who's recently found greener pastures with the hard rock collective, The Dead Daisies. "Rise" is a logical continuation of the first two albums with the same emphasis on precise musicianship, soaring vocals and pounding drums. The in house production from Frontiers Music ends up working for The Revs. But admittedly some folks who follow the record label would prefer more outside help both with the production and the songwriting. With that said it appears Serafino Perugino's record label saved their best material for Deen, Jack and guitar whiz Doug Aldrich. Both Doug and Jack ended up helping out with songwriting, and I think that helped with the consistent sound of the album. There are more earth tones and the songs work well with Deen's soaring tenor.

To say the Rev Saints are part of the Journey family tree, would be an accurate statement. However, the drum sound is more rough and tumble and these boys end up making more noise in general. But it's easy to envision a new Journey record sounding like "Rise". There are many radio ready tracks on this album.

The lead single "When The Heartache Is Gone" is a straight out rocker with melodic keyboard flourishes and rich harmony vocals. Deen's vocal performance secures his place as the rightful heir to all things Steve - both Perry and Augeri. "Rise" is about optimism and overcoming adversity. Doug Aldrich toys with his guitar, bending the strings quickly and fluidly. The solo even has some stuff that sounds classical. "Price We Pay" has a nice low key intro that echoes Journey in the post-Perry era. The song is a duet between Jack and Deen and really has hit single potential with Aldrich channeling Neal Schon's soulful style leads.

The album's title track is a bit more of an uptempo headbanger about rising above the challenges of life. Alessandro Del Vecchio provides keyboards for this and other tracks. His main goal throughout the project is to give the sound some torque. The keys make these tunes far more interesting and melodic. "Coming Home" is a perfect example of this. Deen's vocal is gold and the melody really hits its stride on the chorus. This is another song for a rock radio format that values singing in the car.

"Closer" almost sounds like an outtake from the recent Gioeli Castronovo album from two years ago. The production is airy enough to allow the listener in to hear some passionate crystal clear vocals from Deen and some well placed harmonies from the rest of the band. Doug Aldrich lays down a vintage 1989 guitar solo which is icing on the cake. "Higher" is a rocker with both Deen and Jack throwing down some powerhouse vocals. The message and the lyric will recall the Damn Yankees, but the melody is far different from DY's "High Enough". These lyrics continue to be autobiographical for Deen Castronovo and Jack Blades who have both weathered various storms. The good news for everyone else is that it's totally relatable and inspiring.

"Talk To Me" is truly a standout track.  It has an atmospheric beginning which eventually settles into a memorable mid-tempo threesome between Jack, Deen and a sultry female vocalist. The song fades out with Deen holding court above Doug's guitar. The tandem is a great combination. "It's Not The End (It's Just The Beginning)" feels like the perfect next song, or an extension of what "Talk To Me" started to do. The sequence of songs makes perfect sense to me and really is helpful for the listener. So far the production on this record is clean and fairly uncluttered, shattering the notion that the Frontiers team is making everything sound cookie cutter. At times, in the past, this may have been true. At least on this record there is little evidence for that. Alrdrich completely shreds on "Not The End". I could have listened to a 12 minute version of this song.

"Million Miles" is a Journey fan's delight both with Deen's vocal and the guitar-keyboard interaction. Many of these songs would have been well suited for Revelation or Arrival. "Win or Lose" begins with a growl from Aldrich followed by Deen's faithful tenor. Castronovo has evolved into an elite melodic rock vocalist who puts smiles on the faces of people who haven't heard any decent new music lately. The end track, "Eyes of A Child" features a solo Jack Blades vocal and piano by Del Vecchio. It's a really nice song but feels a little out of place on this collection because of how stripped down it is. The strength of the melody and the message ultimately overcomes it's differences with the rest of the album and you'll be glad you heard it. Tommy Shaw co-wrote the song with Blades.

This is certainly a great third album. But make no mistake without Deen and Jack's involvement with this project, it might be another run of the mill melodic rock outing. Yes, the songs are mostly very good. But it comes down to veteran performers delivering the goods song after song. And if you boil it down further, it's the golden voice of the man who could be singing lead for Journey right now - Deen Castronovo. Of course I highly recommend this album for true fans of melodic rock.

Album rating 9.5