Forgotten Gems-Saint-s/t

If you of a certain age you probably recall a time when AOR bands ruled the airwaves. Whether you enjoyed that style or not is up to you. For myself I liked some bands but it seemed like for every solid band like Journey you had two annoying bands like Loverboy. AOR to me is a style I have to be in the mood for, but having it burned into my eardrums in the early 80's has giving me somewhat of an appreciation for bands that do it right. That brings me to an overlooked gem in this style. Not to be confused with the christian metal band of the same name and not to be dismissed for the lame album cover, this Saint played pure AOR with some hard rock touches. Their self-titled debut was released in 1984 and was hard to find. Retrospect released it on CD in 2006, but has since gone out of print. So were they any good? Opener "Desperate Times" is so much like Journey that you might be wondering if it was some bonus track that was left of the "Frontiers" album. Much of this album has definite similarities to what Journey did between 1978 and 1983 with maybe a touch of Foreigner thrown in. They don't earn many originality points for that approach, but if you are going to copy someone you may as well copy the best. I am not trying to dismiss Saint as just a copy band because that's not fair or entirely true. They possess a good knack for controlling the melodies and pace. Every song has plenty to offer for fans of AOR. When I am in the mood for this kind of music I frequently find myself pulling this one out for a spin. Definitely worth tracking down.