Valentine Album: “Soul Salvation”

I have been listening to Valentine's New CD "SOUL SALVATION" constantly since I bought it. Even my 2 teens dig some of the songs. Track 1, "Dream On The Way" is a great melodic rock song with beef to it. The guitar rips and who can deny the vocals by Hugo. Speaking of SOUL, each song is filled with it. The title cut, "Soul Salvation" is my personal favorite. Each song is it's own. The way the tracks are put in order, they run together very smoothly. The album is the perfect AOR-Melodic Rock, pure Valentine, pure Classic Rock. This album was made to be played LOUD. Crank those speakers. The guitars shine through so much, you can hear the talent screaching out of the speakers. The drums and bass go together like a peanut butter and jelly, PERFECT. The keyboards blend with the rest of the band like they should. And again, Hugo, his vocals are right on as usual. He is singing is own, not trying to sound like Steve Perry(though, he can't help that). The album does have a "Journey" feel to it, kind of like Journey's latest stuff. Soul Salvation has that "hum" to it. Something only a few bands can do. Do yourself a favor, buy this mp3, you won't be dissapointed. Just listen to the previews, imagine what the rest of each song sounds like. Ripping Guitar riffs, pure piano solos, and high soaring vocals from the one and only Hugo Valenti. This album should go down as one of the best releases of 2008/2009. Go ahead and treat yourself or buy if for the Classic Rock/AOR(Adult Orientated Rock)/Melodic Rock Fan in your life. You will be very happy you did. The songs are very addictive.

"Soul Salvation" is the second album by American AOR/melodic hard rock band "Valentine" released in 2008,closing a 20 year gap from the release of their self titled debut in 1988. It would be fair to say that through the intervening years "Valentine" has reached cult status amongst enthusiast of the particular genre while bringing to front their lead singer Hugo Valenti who would become a major figure in AOR due to his solo and project work.

"Valentine' reformed in 2008 to play the UK melodic rock festival "Firefest IV" and according to the booklet notes the warm reception they enjoyed led them to the recording of this second album "Soul Salvation". It is important to note that the album features most original members despite the intervening decades: Bassist Gerard Zappa, guitarist Adam Holland and key Player Graig Pullman reunite with Hugo, plus the addition of Mike Morales on drums.

Despite the consistency in line up, `Soul Salvation' does not fully recapture the approach of the original album- this release strictly follows the AOR/melodic rock path leaving behind most hard rock elements of their debut. Specifically Hugo lays his vocals in the soft/melodic style that defines his latest works while his original approach was considerably more aggressive. The recording is definitely guitar driven yet not as riff oriented as the debut, keyboards have an equally significant contribution on "Soul Salvation". Finally the original album was known to include a couple of faster rockers while the new album is for the most part standard tempo melodic rock. Favorite tracks include "Pickin' up the pieces", "One more chance" and "Every time you go away".

Overall "Soul Salvation" has the artistic quality to support the "Valentine" logo and was a total surprise for most fans as the announcement and release of the album occurred rather fast after their reunion show. Unfortunately it seems that "Valentine" has been put on ice once more in 2009.

I liked this CD however, it disappointed me in the guitar dept. I guess I was expecting a heavy dose of high throttle distorted guitar as was with the first Valentine disc with killer leads. The vocals by Hugo are phenomenal as I've been a huge fan since that disc and all through his solo CDs. The bass, drums, & KB are very good as well. It seems to have been recorded well however, the guitar is seriously lacking--Almost muffled sounding with no bite. I see that it is the original guitarist and I'm certainly not taking anything away from his playing but I was expecting the same fire as I had heard on the debut disc. Come on guys.....let the lightning strike again!!! You can do it!!!

Wow what a return, Soul Salvstion is a great cd!!! The tile track is one of Hugo's best!!! Hugo sounds great and the band is jsut as good if not better. The music seems inspired and the production is top notch. Dream On The Way starts the cd off on the right foot with a nice tempo song that is great all the way thru. The vocal ending of the song is great. Pickin' Up The Peices, another mid tempo song with Hugo and the band playing with a fire that begs to be noticed. I usually hate songs named Love Song, ot all that line, but this Love SOng, stings with passion. The guitar solo is one of the best on any Hugo cd. Hugo glides thru the vocal on this song, the high notes are clean and full of power. With the way One MOre Chance starts out with the urgent guitar and beat, I was really expecting a faster paced song, but the band keeps under control, which just servers Hugo's vocals better. The song seems like it could explode at anytime, but it never does, which just adds to the heat of the song. Hugo as always shined on the slower song, and the slower the song the more like Perry he sounds. With Pages, Hugo should have been in full Perry mode, but that is not the case. Pages is the weakest song to this point on the cd, it ends up picking up some steam, but it is the arrangement of the song that kills it for me, seems to busy. Everytime You Go Away, starts with a nice little vocal intro, then kicks into gear, becoming a nice mid tempo song. I really like the chours on this song, even though it likes a good hook to grab your attention. Would have liked a longer guitar solo on this song too. Ending reminds me of Girl Can't Help It from Jourey's Raised on Radio. I'll Be The One has a laid back feel to it that for some reason doesn't really grab my attention the first few times I listened to it. It has grow on me, but is lacking something, needs a little more punch to it. Has some nice vocal work to it. Wait has a catching chours to it and rock pretty good thru out the whole song. Some good keybaord work on this song too. Good soulful guitar solo in the song. Hugo's vocal is stunning, like the way the music stops for a few seconds and Hugo carries the song for that instance. Just adds to the strenght of the song. The last song Love Is All We're After is the worst song on the cd. I really do not care for this song. Hugo sings in a lower register, which he has done before to good effect, but here it is very distracting and annoying, The song has a very retro feel to it, which also for some reason I do not like.

Over all a very good return for the band. A couple of songs really hurt the cd, but the over all feel for the cd is good.

Thoroughly enjoyed this disc.Hadn't heard anything from them since self-titled album and Hugo's solo efforts.Quality of disc was excellent,shipped rather quickly and one to keep for the collection.I recommend if your missing that 80's hair style hard rock with weepy vocals.