FREEROCK SAINTS – Electric Passion (2017)
“Electric Passion” is the second, vibrant new album by FREEROCK SAINTS, the brainchild of Super Vintage founder Stavros Papadopoulos. In fact, FREEROCK SAINTS are Super Vintage members plus terrific female vocalist Areti Valavanopoulou, delivering here another hot, indeed electrifying passionate slice of classy bluesy (melodic) hard rock.
Situated between Ann Wilson, Sass Jordan and the edginess of Lee Aaron, Areti’s vocals are top notch with a soulful deep end, and the vehicle to drive her solid pipes are the punchy rhythm section and Stavros’ darn clean riffs and keyboard embellishments.
With a super-tight sound, the band prove they can handle the nuances of hammering out a robust collection of 13 heavy rock classic rockers.
Since opening track ‘Made for Freedom’ the album offers a refreshing flashback to when “guitar rock” ruled the airwaves with Areti’s distinctive voice powerfully mature and equally aggressive.
However, it’s ‘Passion City’ where the real guts of the band lay claim. A strident blues rocker, the song takes the swagger of the genre plus sharp riffage to create an original spine-tingler.
One thing I really liked on this new FREEROCK SAINTS is the melodic approach on some songs.
While the band’s first opus was mostly groovy hard rock oriented, here we find some numbers such as ‘Reason to Live’ and especially ‘Rocking in the ‘Fast Lane’ which are definitely Melodic Hard Rock with an ’80s feel. Fantastic songs.
On ‘Sing Child’ Areti put out a delivery that bags of power and confidence, a song with an intense guitar work, absolutely top drawer. With the great riffs / solos all over and hook in the chorus, I was immediately impressed.
‘Southern Sky’ is just as good, before the pace slows a bit with ‘The Reason Why’, a moody number with some vintage Heart on it.
I can’t find a weak spot through the track list, being ‘Blind’ a fluid midtempo with great atmopheres, ‘Funky Mama’ indeed a shuffle foot-tapping funky cheerful cut, and ‘Why Lie?’ a in-the-air rocker akin a female-fronted Whitesnake.
As its its title states, ‘Soul Train Ride’ adds a lot of soul to the verses but in the backbone this is a true hard rocker, while closer ‘First Water’ provides a calmer coda (including acoustics) to end this superb album in great form.
I am truly surprised by FREEROCK SAINTS new album “Electric Passion”.
The band’s debut was already a very good album, but here the band have scaled to higher heights.
All songs are good, there’s hard rock, melodic hard rock and bluesy classic rockers all served with a rarely seen quality in all departments. The vocals soar, drums & bass are granitic, and the guitar work varied and impressive.
You can hear an undeniable passion and commitment both of which ooze through on each track.
I can’t recommend “Electric Passion” enough, honestly, a terrific album from every corner.
HIGHLY Recommended
01 – Made for Freedom
02 – Reason to Live
03 – Rocking in the Fast Lane
04 – Passion City
05 – Sing Child
06 – Beautiful Dissonance
07 – Southern Sky
08 – The Reason Why
09 – Blind
10 – Funky Mama
11 – Why Lie?
12 – Soul Train Ride
13 – First Water
Areti Valavanopoulou – vocals
Stavros Papadopoulos (Super Vintage) – guitars, keyboards
Lazaros Simitis (Super Vintage) – drums
Jim Moralis (Super Vintage) – bass guitar
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