When I recorded an interview with guitarist Doug Aldrich in October we talked about the upcoming release of a new Burning Rain album in March called “Face The Music” - http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/interviews/3485-ni-rocks-interview-with-doug-aldrich-the-dead-daisies-burning-rain-etc.html - Frontiers have now issued a press release about the album and released the first single – “Midnight Train” (which is included on the Friday NI Rocks Show this week).


Full press release is provided below -


 

Burning Rain is the hard rock band founded by guitarist extraordinaire Doug Aldrich (Revolution Saints, The Dead Daisies, ex-Whitesnake, Dio) and vocalist Keith St. John (Montrose, Kingdom Come). They will release their fourth studio album, ‘Face the Music’, on 22nd March 2019 via Frontiers Music srl and have made a first single and video from the record available to coincide with its announcement.


When asked why they chose to release ‘Midnight Train’ as the first single, Aldrich explains that “it’s been some time since the last BR record, and we wanted to come out swinging! ‘Midnight Train’ encompasses the sound of Burning Rain. It sounds fresh and heavy. I thought it was a cool lead-off track to reintroduce the band. People normally have different ideas about favourite songs and there are a number of tracks that could have been first, but we just went with ‘Midnight Train’.”



“The message in ’Midnight Train', albeit fully ensconced in carnality, is about wanting something so brutally bad when you can't have it,” adds St. John. “The main character here is basically a deeply tortured soul during all the daytime hours. The phallic likening to the train and its track, along with the blackness, the bed of nails and the cravings of the night are meant to further fortify the extremity of sexual addiction.


Doug had all the basic music together including bass, drums and all when he first played me a demo of the song and I loved it immediately. The first experimental vocal track I scatted out had the basic framework for the chorus, which we both felt had good potential, but the original verse began with a higher, bluesier part that seemed to not quite fit. After I fashioned a new verse with a lower, more growly approach, we both felt it really complemented the chorus and we knew this track was in good standing!”


Burning Rain was established in 1998 by guitarist Doug Aldrich and vocalist Keith St. John. After meeting via mutual friends, they commenced work on what would become their self-titled debut album. That 1999 record established the band as a hungry yet seasoned group of musicians. Although the album received a limited release, it attracted rave reviews from fans and critics alike for its take on heavy, blues-y hard rock. The following year a follow-up entitled ‘Pleasure To Burn’ showed off a matured Aldrich and St.John collaboration and gained even higher praise.


In 2001, Aldrich joined Dio but departed in 2003 after being approached by David Coverdale to join a newly reformed Whitesnake, while St. John joined forces with guitar legend Ronnie Montrose. During his years in Whitesnake, Aldrich started working on new music for Burning Rain which eventually saw the light of day in 2013 as the album ‘Epic Obsession’. This third release was again met with enthusiasm. Aldrich would eventually leave Whitesnake and join The Dead Daisies and Revolution Saints, which left Burning Rain on an extended hiatus.


Now, finally, a new album is ready for release! ‘Face The Music’ is a blues driven hard rock record and is a true tour-de-force. With a renewed line-up featuring the amazing Blas Elias (Slaughter) on drums and bassist Brad Lang (Y&T), the album evokes the classic 70’s hard rock scene, but also stays true to the band’s sound. One thing is for certain, Burning Rain has made the long wait for new music well worth it.


“FACE THE MUSIC” TRACKLISTING

1. Revolution

2. Lorelei

3. Nasty Hustle

4. Midnight Train

5. Shelter

6. Face The Music

7. Beautiful Road

8. Hit And Run

9. If It's Love

10. Hideaway

11. Since I'm Loving You


Signed LP’s & CD’s - https://frontiersrecords.pmstores.co/burningrain