Why is it that critics always take the road of criticizing?  I am so sick of reading blogs online or even bygone era of bricks and mortar printed magazine articles of regurgitated word vomit spewing uneducated opinionating on albums that they didn’t care to listen to in the first place. They know that in this era of here and now, attention seeking, fact unchecked, information overload age, the quickest way to be noticed is to criticize.   Stop being keyboard activists, judging things in a moment’s notice, and not taking the time to actually evaluate and “Critique”.

On that note (pun intended) Rock ‘n’ Roll fans unite and love this record!  Yeah that’s right. It’s okay to actually like a record, and I don’t mean the icon you hit when you are knee deep in an Instagram photo feed binge.  The Album is “The Road to Hell “performed by the band Sunstorm.

Years ago, Joe Lynn Turner got in touch with Frontier’s president Serafino Perugino and after discussions between the two, the idea of unearthing some classic melodic rock gems to craft the definitive Joe Lynn Turner, AOR album came about. This brought about the release of the first SUNSTORM album in 2006. Then came “House of Dreams” in 2009, “Emotional Fire” in 2012, and the definitively more hard-rocking “Edge Of Tomorrow” in 2016. (1)*

About three songs in to this album listening session, I already had about five tabs open on my Internet browser researching Maor Applebaum . Who is Maor Applebaum? And why you may ask? When a band records an album they are flexing their talents and writing skills to the maximum. But a good record can be turned into a bad record because it is not mixed properly and even mastered properly. I won’t dive into the details of why or how. Through rock history, there are some records that have been ruined due to either a sub par mix, bad sound design, and/ or poor mastering quality. When you have a laundry list of proven successful rock acts that you have mastered including names like Faith No More, Yes, Sepultura, to more recently the Butcher Babies.  Chances are the album is going to come out sounding like butter.  Track after track Maor exemplified exactly what a good mastering of a recording can do for an overall feel of an album. I want to start at the beginning of this record and when I get to the end start it over again because sonically it is pleasing to the ear.  (2)*

If you are at all a stranger to the story of Joe Lynn Turner’s career then do yourself a favor and click to open a separate tab on your internet browser and wiki stalk the mans story. From his early days with FANDANGO to his successful stints fronting RAINBOW in the early 80’s  and  his impressive solo career, the New Jersey-born singer has had his vocal talents on display for decades now.

“Road To Hell”  is a journey to hard rock heaven with everything you expect and more from a group of gentlemen that are seasoned veterans of their craft.  Soaring vocal melodies with anthemic lyrical support. Lead guitar runs from DGM’s Simone Mularoni hot enough to cut through galvinized steel.   What started on the previous studio effort “Edge Of Tomorrow” is ceremoniously continued featuring production from HARDLINE’s Alessandro Del Vecchio.

“The Road To Hell” track listing:

1. Only The Good Will Survive
2. The Road To Hell
3. On The Edge
4. Blind The Sky
5. My Eyes On You
6. Future To Come
7. Everywhere
8. Resurrection
9. Calling
10. State Of The Heart
11. Still Fighting

SUNSTORM is:

Joe Lynn Turner – Lead Vocals

Alessandro Del Vecchio – Hammond Organ, Keyboards, Backing Vocals

Simone Mularoni – Guitar

Nik Mazzucconi – Bass

Edo Sala – Drums  (3)*

*Sited

1. Wikipedia.com
2. maorappelbaum.com
3. joelynnturner.com/

By: Timmy D (Pullman Standard) / BackStage360

SUNSTORM

GENRE: Hard Rock, Melodic Rock
FOR FANS OF: Joe Lynn Turner, Rainbow, W.E.T., Revolution Saints, Hardline, Michael Schenker Fest, Graham Bonnet Band
RELEASE DATE: June 8, 2018

LABEL: frontiersmusicsrl

MASTERED BY: Maor Applebaum