Decarlo 'Lightning Strikes Twice'            Frontiers Music srl

This could be one of those albums destined to be a cult classic; under-appreciated by a wider audience but loved by the discerning few who hear it and take it to their hearts.

Tommy DeCarlo has been the singer with Boston since 2007 but this is his first recording under his own surname and he’s joined by his son, Tommy Jr, on guitar. This is a very fine collection of soft rock songs; nothing particularly original, in fact some of it is quite derivative, but it’s top quality and immensely likeable.

The opening salvo of ‘Better Days’ and ‘You Are the Fire’ are very polished and perhaps the most Boston-like. The slow songs are a strong point for both Tommys. ‘The One’ is a tender and melodic tune but ‘Still in Love’ is even better – a piano ballad that Dennis DeYoung would be proud to claim and Tommy Jr delivers a magnificent solo at the end of this one. There’s other good songs too, like ‘Gotta Go’ and also ‘Rock ‘n’ Soul’ which features some tasteful sax playing.

Some of it might sound familiar. The intro to ‘Give Love a Try’ is very similar to ‘Juke Box Hero’, Stand Up (Play Ball) has the synthesized hand-claps you know from songs like ‘Centrefold’ and the title track is almost pomp-rock in the style of Donington’s favourite bee-swallowers, Touch.

This is not one for my Metalfiend colleagues but if you’re feeling loved-up and mellow you might want to give this a try.