Review by Andy Hawes for MPM
Oh I say!!! If you are a fan of classic Soft Rock/AOR of the Chicago/Journey variety, you better hold onto your hats and buy yourself some stronger trousers because the new AOR supergroup Generation Radio might just have some of the best music of this kind to appear since the end of the 1980s!
Comprising former Chicago frontman Jason Scheff, Rascall Flatts multi-instrumentalist Jay DeMarcus, current Journey drummer (and Steve Perry soundalike) Deen Castronovo (replaced on current Generation Radio live dates by ex Tom Petty drummer Steve Ferrone while Castronovo tours with Journey), Rascal Flatts second guitarist Tom Yankton and Nashville session guitarist and ex-Keith Urban tour guitarist Chris Rodriguez, Generation Radio have set a mighty high benchmark with ‘Lights Go Out In Paradise’, the second single from their upcoming debut album due out in August on Frontiers.
This is the kind of soft AOR to make grown men weep. It’s the kind of AOR that bathes you in a soft pink and fluffy glow while layers of keyboards caress your soul and while guitars crunch politely in all the right places and occasionally demand to be heard on a coolly melodic lead refrain.
And the vocals! Good grief…the vocals! Layers of exquisite harmonies surround the listener in cotton-wool clouds while the leads vocals (by Castronovo in this case, but truth to tell any of them could easily take the lead on it) soar majestically like golden eagles in a glorious summer sky. This is music to warm your heart and soothe your soul.
Coming across like a glorious mixture of Chicago (circa their 19 and 21 albums in particular), Raised on Radio era Journey and any of Rascal Flatts’ more Rock-flavoured moments, Generation Radio pool their very considerable talents and many years of experience to create the perfect summer Soft Rock/AOR anthem with ‘Lights Go Out In Paradise’.
It’s the perfect taster for the album (along with excellent first single ‘Why Are You Calling Me Now?’)
If this kind of thing floats your boat, for goodness sake set your diaries for 5th August 2022 when the album drops. It’s gonna be a MONSTER!
Social Media:
https://www.facebook.com/GenerationRa…
https://www.instagram.com/generationr…
https://twitter.com/genradioband
