Album review: DECARLO – Lightning Strikes Twice

Frontiers [Release date 24.01.20]

DeCarlo are Tommy DeCarlo (who has been a member of Boston since 2008) and co-founder (and son) Tommy DeCarlo Jr., along with drummer Dan Hitz.

The songs have been written over a number of years, the oldest dating back to 2011. Spending so many years with Boston it will come as no great surprise that much of the music has a hint of Boston. It can be heard in the use of the keys, handclaps on ‘Stand Up’ and they even have a short instrumental, ‘Into The Storm’, another musical idea much loved and used by Boston.

Lyrically it is nothing deep but then the emphasis is on fun in the songs and the title track and ‘Stand Up’ are uplifting melodic rock tunes. ‘Gotta Go’ is a keyboard led AOR delight with Tommy DeCarlo handling all the instruments on this one. ‘Rock N Soul’ has a Bob Seger vibe to it, with some sax adding to the song’s appeal.

Tommy DeCarlo has a very melodic vocal, whilst his son adds in a nifty guitar solo in each song. They make a good team and this is a well-played, enjoyable album full of catchy melodic rock. It has a definite appeal to Boston fans and those who like 70s AOR/hard rock. ***1/2

Review by Jason Ritchie

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)