Artist: Valentine
Label: FireFest
Release: 2009
Duration: 44.27
Rating: 4.5/5
You know how it goes with a real AOR album? The moment a few seconds of it have spun, your heart has to skip a beat: “That’s it!” If that happens, you know you’re on the right track. Well, at least as a rule, that holds true in most cases. “Soul Salvation” is exactly that kind of album.
Valentine is the band fronted by singer Hugo Valenti, and after the debut “Valentine”, this is their second album. It follows in the footsteps of Hugo’s solo albums, but if the name doesn’t ring many bells, let’s turn to a much better-known one. This time we’ve got all the aces in our hands. Journey. Hugo’s vocal range is close to classic Perry’s, though that doesn’t mean the timbre is too. You can tell the guy grew up head over heels for the Journey catalog, and the way he fights his way through the verses is similar to the guidelines laid down by the one-of-a-kind Steve Perry. Hugo’s voice is thinner and even cleaner, but his range of optimal performance is actually close to Perry’s. Love Song is, of all the tracks on the album, downright shamelessly “Perry-esque”.
Add to that voice the seriously bombastic dynamics of all the songs on this album, which carry clearly defined, venomously catchy choruses that ignite the moment you come face to face with them, and the whole thing gets pretty close to AOR perfection. In that kind of swagger, the opener Dream On The Way stands out right away. A faster track with an excellent balance between riff and keyboards, with Hugo Valenti’s ultra-melodic vocals woven right in. Melodic polish is nothing foreign to it, and it’s Hugo’s voice that keeps taking that melodiousness up a notch. And of course the guys didn’t forget the masterful touch of layered vocal harmonies. So, Journey-style AOR song structures, with a less polished and refined production than today’s standards, sure, but still. Considering that AOR is a genre forgotten by God these days, any such “approximation” is very, very welcome.
There’s hardly any need for more words. An album without a single dull filler. The songs stand shoulder to shoulder, and of course the mandatory (tasteful, not pretentious) guitar solos are slotted into the instrumental middle sections, but otherwise this is an album that’s utterly soaked in all the melodic payoff rock music has to offer! If you’re into traditional “eighties” AOR sound that’s sworn deep allegiance to Journey, then don’t think twice, grab “Soul Salvation”!
Line-up
Hugo – vocals
Adam Holland – guitar
Craig Pullman – keyboards
Gerard Zappa – bass
Mike Morales – drums
Production
Valentine
Track list
1. Dream On The Way
2. Pickin’ Up The Pieces
3. Soul Salvation
4. Interlude
5. Love Song
6. One More Chance
7. Pages
8. Every Time You Go Away
9. I’ll Be The One
10. Wait
11. Love Is All We’re After
