Not knowing anything about this album whatsoever other than the fact that Russell Allen is a bad-ass musician, I was shocked when I first put this CD in my player. The album is somewhat of a tribute to 70's era Rock 'n' Roll.  Any of the songs could have came off pretty much any Rock album from that era, however I do not think that any singer could have put that aggressive approach down quite like Russell did.
Russell Allen grew up listening to music like Bad Company and Free, so he decided to write an album of songs that could be plucked right from that era. He had help from various friends such as Michael Romeo (Symphony X guitarist), Jens Johansson (Stratovarius keyboardist) and Michael Pinella (Symphony X keyboardist) though Russell did do quite a bit of the recording. They have only played one concert it being an acoustic set at  BW&BK 6-Pack Weekend.
To say that I enjoy this album is pretty much an understatement. I have always been a fan of 70's era Rock just like Russell and hell I was not even born until '84, I just got good taste in music. This album clearly has influences from Lynyrd Skynyrd creeping through as well as Bad Company. The first two tracks have that signature Russell Allen vocal sound that is pretty rough and aggressive sounding which in my opinion totally blows away most singers' attempt at anything close. One thing that I thought the album was missing was more guitar solos. I was expecting with Michael Romeo wielding the axe on this album that there would be solos a plenty. That fact can be overlooked for the pure awesomeness of this album. It just has so many catchy songs that it will be dancing in your head after only one listen.
I think that any fan of Symphony X will love this album. To say it bluntly, this is the kind of music that Symphony X would be making if they were around in the 70's. I might be a little biased because I would love anything that has his awesome voice on. So, Symphony X fans go pick this up, and more traditional Rock fans give it a definite pick up.