Let’s start with the blindingly obvious, shall we? Because when it comes to Revolution Saints you almost have to.
The three-piece is just about the most glittering lineup for this sort of thing you can imagine. Joining ex-Journey man Deen Castronovo (a man who was surely born to do this?) are bassist Jeff Pilson (known for his work with Foreigner and formerly of Dokken) and guitarist Joel Hoekstra (of Whitesnake and formerly of Night Ranger).
They’re calling this Revolution Saints MK II because the band were reborn with this personnel for last year’s outing and clearly they aren’t interested in grass growing under them, because here’s the follow-up less than 12 months later.
“Against The Winds” itself has a slightly cinematic opening. The type of album that wants to be grandiose. But let’s be honest if you like AOR, this is a wet dream.
And that’s kind of the case for all of it. Take “Changing My Mind”. It might have the plot of a miniseries (there’s always a girl and a shot at redemption) but the solo from Hoekstra is perfect.
That’s why Revolution Saints work. Their musicianship is so good, even the harder edge of “Fall On My Knees” is balanced out by some keyboards from Alessandro Del Vecchio (he also composes most of it and Produces). The more Eagle Eyed among you may spot him as Frontiers Records in-house guy, and therefore you know what’s coming, right?
Of course, that being the case, there’s a sprinkling of ballads. You wouldn’t expect- or want- it any other way, would you? In that case “Can’t End It Right Now” is here to sort you out.
Mostly, though, this has its signature sound and is happy with that – “Lost In Damnation” is a wonderful example of that, actually and (at the risk of repeating myself) the solo here makes it worth getting the album alone.
There’s the odd surprise along the way too. Not that they’ve gone “metal” but “Will I See You Again” is more energetic and fists in the air than you might have imagined, which only serves to make “Show Me Your Light” sound even more epic.
As ever with Revolution Saints records there are no dips and no bad songs. They have a total mastery of what they want to achieve, which means even down amongst the deep cuts there’s a skill. “Save All That Remains” underlines that as much as anything does.
When I was young, there was a video (look it up, kids) with Poison’s Brett Michaels’ explaining that their music was an escape and there’s a bit of that here, “Been Said And Done” for sure, doesn’t concern itself with the horror of 2024 much and if “Divine Wings” is more spiritual, then it soars appropriately.
Right to the end and “No Turning Back”, ‘Against The Winds” maintains its vibe – and in many ways, its strength is also its slight weakness because this is polished to within an inch of its life, with no rough edges and no danger.
That all being said, this like every other Revolution Saints record is exactly what the band wanted it to be when they made it and what the legions of AOR fans around the world both expect and demand.
You won’t find a better example of this type of thing anywhere.
Rating 8/10
REVIEW: REVOLUTION SAINTS – AGAINST THE WINDS (2024)
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