A Little Slice of Heaven From Boston

Certain bands have a signature sound. With the changing decades certain bands like Heart and Foreigner traded in '70s open highway appropriate blasting off the speakers rockers for the more polished '80s studio engraved way of making music. As is true with any art form it's comforting to know some outfits stay as true to their core essence as possible. Nobody's gonna tell them how to make their music on their terms. Boston is one such group. Since the 1970s car stereo classic "More Than A Feeling" erupted into the stratosphere this band stays true to its guitar oriented rock. You could easily contend what Boston gives the audience is comfort food for the ears. "Heaven on Earth" the first single from "Life, Love, and Hope" promises to satiate your rock urges in the space of 3 minutes, 38 seconds. You know you're getting smoldering, manly vocals to go along with riffs that would sound right at home in 1976. The lyrics summon up yet another mishmash of lover's angst. You know the type...that whole "I thought love would be enough for me in this life" sort of theme. For good measure we're treated to the image of a tormented soul out in the rain who's so desperate for the need of his woman's touch that he doesn't even feel the rain. The song's framework doesn't incorporate any widespread outbreak of cutesy tricks either with guitar or drums. No matter who's called in to service as musicians of the people, bands that dish out nothing more than a solid belt of FM radio goodness don't fade away as the trends twist this way and that. Boston has something in common with that other big time Beantown band we know as Aerosmith. Aerosmith's sound has and always will revolve around Steven Tyler's weather beaten voice and Joe Perry's blazing guitar. Although Brad Delp's rocking out with the heavenly arena goers at this point, his influence on "Heaven on Earth" can't be denied. Curly Smith does the drummin' thing admirably. He's a prime example of a guy in a band who's not trying to blow the other members off the stage/out of the recording studio. He's a role player comfortable with the shoes he has on. One can reach for optimism and hope the rotating roster of members doing vocal duty on the album, one which apparently began its journey from newly hatched to full grown adult back in 2003, works in the bands favor. Not only does founder Tom Scholz take a turn at the mike but so do Brad, Tommy DeCarlo, Kimberley Dahme, and David Victor. "Heaven On Earth" smartly follows the hard rock formula of success. Give the audiences enough juice to bring them to the edge of their seats but don't forget you're nothing if not workmanlike in how you work the crowds into that lather. There are definitely times that, at the end of the day, all you want from your rock is meat and potatoes. Grab a sturdy knife, guys. Dinner is served.