GENERATION RADIO, the semi-country/rock supergroup formed by Jay DeMarcus (Vocals, keyboards, and bass, from Rascal Flatts) and one of the great AOR voices of all time Jason Scheff (Lead vocals and bass, formerly of Chicago) follow up their acclaimed 2022 debut that also featured Journey’s Deen Castronovo with album number two, cleverly titled ‘Take Two’.
Unfortunately for these guys, Deen returned to Journey full-time, leaving them one vocalist short, but the drums have been capably filled by the amazing Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers).
The first part of the album follows the path of the debut, a sparkling mix of high-tech AOR and country tinged numbers. It is noticed that the pace has dropped somewhat – this is a slower and more ballad heavy record. There are only 2 cracking AOR tunes in the first 7.
Sadly things don’t get any better with the second half. A pointless trio of cover tunes (Whitesnake’s Here I Go Again, Chicago’s You’re The Inspiration and Kenny Loggins’ I’m Alright) waste the listeners time and would better be left for a live album perhaps.
That leaves the last two songs – both mid-tempo ballads again, one country, one AORish.
A major step back in quality from the excellent and still very enjoyable debut.
