{"id":36011,"date":"2014-01-06T09:27:43","date_gmt":"2014-01-06T14:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=36011"},"modified":"2014-01-06T09:27:43","modified_gmt":"2014-01-06T14:27:43","slug":"the-ragged-saints-the-sound-of-breaking-free-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/the-ragged-saints-the-sound-of-breaking-free-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ragged Saints | The Sound of Breaking Free<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist\/News Editor —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"TheIf you\u2019re looking for that melodic rock \u201csurprise hit\u201d of 2013, the album that sneaked in under the radar from an unexpected source (Germany\u2019s Power Prog label) and just blew away the competition, look no further than The Sound of Breaking Free<\/em>, the 2013 debut from Finnish rockers The Ragged Saints. It\u2019s rare that a brand new, mostly unknown band can hit the scene with a near flawless debut album, but that\u2019s what The Ragged Saints have delivered here.<\/p>\n

The band makes it clear that they\u2019re not trying to reinvent the wheel here. They\u2019re playing simple, straightforward melodic hard rock, and they do it with an irresistible style and energy. Points of comparison, in terms of style as well as quality level, are W.E.T., Giant, Pink Cream 69, Sunstorm and fellow Finns Free Spirit. The Sound of Breaking Free<\/em> has such a classic melodic rock sound \u2013 the rocking, catchy hooks, the lush melodies, the choruses you want to sing along with instantly \u2013 that if it were a Frontiers release you\u2019d expect to see Jim Peterik, Jack Ponti or Dennis Ward listed in the credits. It just has that veteran\/all-star vibe. <\/p>\n

The Ragged Saints cover all the bases here. There are eleven songs on The Sound of Breaking Free<\/em>, all in the 3-4 minute range and none you could call filler. The guitarists find the perfect mix of flashy solos and fun melodies, the rhythms are tight, and vocalist Markku Kuikka has a combination of power and emotion that\u2019s very reminiscent of David Readman (hence the PC69 comparison). Actually, this is what Pink Cream 69\u2019s comeback album should have sounded like. Aside from a couple of detours into AOR and bluesy, Whitesnake\/Voodoo Circle territory, this is very much in that classic 1989 melodic rock style.<\/p>\n

Sampling even a few seconds of \u201cBefore Time Goes By,\u201d \u201cNever Walk Away\u201d or the title track (or hell, any other song for that matter) ought to be all it takes to sell you on this one. The Sound of Breaking Free<\/em> is an absolutely fantastic debut and a real melodic rock gem from a band that should be on every melodic rock fan\u2019s radar in the years ahead. Had it crossed our paths earlier it would have been a definite Top 10 of 2013 contender. Is it too early to start wishing for a second Ragged Saints album?<\/p>\n

Genre: Melodic Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nTomi Julkunen (g)
\nTony Bite (g)
\nJukka Hoffren (b)
\nMiikki Kunttu (d)
\nMarkku Kuikka (v)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tThe Sound of Breaking Free
\n2.\tA Place Where I Belong
\n3.\tDon\u2019t Let Me Go
\n4.\tI\u2019ll Never Give Up on Love
\n5.\tLove Won\u2019t Fade Away
\n6.\tWe Are the Same
\n7.\tWhile the World is Burning
\n8.\tNew Beginnings
\n9.\tNever Walk Away
\n10.\tBefore Time Goes By
\n11.\tThe End<\/p>\n

Label: Power Prog<\/p>\n

Website: www.theraggedsaints.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist\/News Editor — If you\u2019re looking for that melodic rock \u201csurprise hit\u201d of 2013, the album that sneaked in under the radar from an unexpected source (Germany\u2019s Power Prog label) […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":36024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,2901,8596,8594,8595],"class_list":{"0":"post-36011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-melodic-rock","10":"tag-power-prog","11":"tag-the-ragged-saints","12":"tag-the-sound-of-breaking-free"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}