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The Ragged Saints: The Sound of Breaking Free
The Ragged Saints The Sound of Breaking Free Album CD Review

The Ragged Saints: The Sound of ...

(Melodic) Hard Rock
3.5/5.0

Guitarists Tomi Julkunen and Toni Bite probably said something like, "Hey! We could do that too," after seeing a Whitesnake show. So the duo decided to start a band and began writing songs of traditional hard rock. In due course, more friends were added to the band and The Ragged Saints were formed, now releasing their debut album The Sound of Breaking Free.

The Ragged Saints The Sound of Breaking Free Band Photo

The Ragged Saints: looking spiffy.

In promotional material the founders admit, honestly, that they had no intention of reinventing the wheel, just create and play traditional melodic hard rock ala the Eighties. That's basically what you get in these 11 songs, but with mixed results.

The Saints definitely understand the genre: strong riffs, beefy rhythm section, and zippy leads wrapped in melodic hooks and strong vocal harmonies. But everything seems to run together, with only a few songs really catching my attention and rising to the top. Those songs are the title cut with a great hook in the refrain and some sharp guitar work; Love Won't Fade Away and We Are The Same with more an AOR arena anthem feel, especially the latter song and it's vocal arrangement; and possibly A Place Where I Belong because it catches some of nuance Whitesnake bluesy feel. Again, The Ragged Saints are good musicians with good ideas and lots of enthusiasm; they accomplished their goal of creating Eighties hard rock. While The Sound of Breaking Free will likely not turn up in my iPod anytime soon, if you like this style you should check them out. Nice album art.


The Ragged Saints The Sound of Breaking Free - Album Teaser





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In Short

The Ragged Saints are good musicians with good ideas and lots of enthusiasm; they accomplished their goal of creating Eighties hard rock.

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