Description
Label Review.
2019 album. Original vocalist in Santana and Journey.
Our Overview.
When you’re a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, you don’t have a lot to prove. But legendary singer-songwriter and keyboardist Gregg Rolie , who holds that rare distinction as a founding member and original lead vocalist of both Santana and Journey , and who has also been a mainstay of Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band since 2012, demonstrates that he’s at the top of his game with the release of Sonic Ranch (Megaforce Records), his first feature-length studio album in 18 years.
A wide range of Rolie’s illustrious musician friends contributed to Sonic Ranch - among them are his onetime Santana mate Michael Shrieve on drums, as well as bass extraordinaire Alphonso Johnson. And he features not one, but two guitar heroes: Steve Lukather, who plays on the gutsy blues rocker “They Want It All” and the stunning album opener, Give Me Tomorrow,” and fellow Journey alum Neal Schon, who appears on the soulful ballad “Breaking My Heart” and the sinuous groover “Lift Me Up."
Sonic Ranch’s first single is “ What About Love.” The thunderous sing-along epic sees Sean Rolie displaying his own formidable guitar chops. “The song inspired by Ringo Starr and his message of peace and love,” Rolie explains. “I had started writing it, and I would and play around with it at soundchecks with Ringo. It sounded really good, so I took it home, found the bassline, and Sean produced and engineered it. Rolie wrote all of the 13 tracks on the album, with the exception of “They Want It All,” which he penned with Andre Pessis and Kevin Chalfont, and the piano-driven show stopper “Look into the Future,” which he co-wrote with Diane Valory and Neal Schon - the song originally appeared on Journey’s album of the same name in 1976.