MR

good stuff!

Here's Amazon's mp3 album sale site. Preview of all tracks available.

Ramo/Hugo- The Dream
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001JZ ... 299&sr=8-1

and the official site cd purchase page

Frontiers Records - The Dream
http://www.frontiers.it/default.aspx?ta ... bumID=4430

StoneCold wrote:good stuff!

I Don't Want To Say Goodbye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBaIENJ92QU&

You're Not Alone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXVA7xog17s&

excellent. thanks

who's on keys?

(Crazy)Dulce Lady wrote:

StoneCold wrote:
good stuff!

excellent. thanks

who's on keys?

Eric Ragno, but you knew that.

Very nice work Eric.

Thanks guys. I'm glad people are enjoying these tracks. I got to say, I really do love this album and I'm glad others do too. I love you friggin guys, I do this stuff for you.

Sounds great! Well done, Eric!

still in my most played list on the ipod!

chynablue wrote:Thanks guys. I'm glad people are enjoying these tracks. I got to say, I really do love this album and I'm glad others do too. I love you friggin guys, I do this stuff for you.

thanks! we appreciate it!!

Awesome, Eric!

Wow, those are really good tracks!

Hugo can't help but bring the Perry out. That first track is like a long lost "Escape" track. I'm really diggin' it.

I've had the CD for a while now and damn is it good. Eric's name is all over the writing credits for this cd. Congrats on such great writing Eric.

I'm anxious to see Mac's review the of the CD. I've had it quite a while now and I think the Ramos/Hugo cd is a great record. I'd also say it's better than Revelations. The cd is smooth, has great writing, has Hugo's voice and rocks with Ramo's guitar. I think Hugo's voice is what takes it over the top. We'll see how it shakes out with different reviewers as the comparison is inevitable.

Now comparing the Ramos/Hugo cd to Valentine, that will be the challenge!

It looks like Mac has the review up. 90% for Ramos/Hugo and 97% for Revelations. I don't think the gap is that wide as I'd call it damn near a tie giving the nod to Ramos/Hugo. For folks that have both records, how do you think they compare?

Thanks man, that is truly great praise. (Glad to see people are finding my name in the credits this time around - yayy!) The good/bad side of the issue is that both Ramos/Hugo & Valentine are constantly being measured against everybody's favorite Journey albums! This isn't a reflection of anything posted in this thread, but some of the reviews I've read have me hoping that people can understand this. It's great that people hear similarities between our records and Journey, and Hugo's voice (and his look, let's face it - what a great guy) will always invite the Perry comparisons. But this is just what his voice sounds like - and neither we nor Valentine went in trying to write a Journey record. Ours was initially a Josh solo release, and Hugo only came in to replace the previous singer (a metal singer btw) once all of the music was 100% written and recorded. While we're all heavily influenced by Journey & other classic AOR, we only do what we do, you know? The only harsh comments we've received were from die hard Journey fans who wanted this record to sound more like classic Journey! I think we a lot of us wish that every record sounded more like classic Journey! But nostalgia is a tough ruler to be judged by. People are fascinated by the lineup of this band, and what you have here is what it sounds like when you pull these people together to make music. But nobody intended to record a new Journey record. If it has some moments that are Journey-esque or some homages that remind you of classic AOR, all the better!

I liken it to when you date a girl because she looks a lot like your high school sweetheart, only to be crushed later to find that she has a completely different personality, style, etc....that she doesn't love you or cook for you the way that you remember that nostalgic crush from 25 years ago! So you never appreciate her for who she is, her identity, etc. I appreciate the people who have listened to these records with an open mind - your positivity encourages us to keep on doing what we do. That being said, I appreciate ALL your comments, even when they don't sound as sexy as I might like.

Thanks again for all your support. The new China Blue is just three weeks away - stay tuned to http://www.chinabluemusic.com!

Boy Eric, you hit the nail on the head with the old vs new girlfriend analogy. I was forever trying to replace one with as close a replacement as I could find. Got me in all kinds of trouble.

Glad to hear Hugo got the gig as we've been waiting for more from him and to have him collaborating with you and Josh is great. Hope you guys continue to work together and not become fodder for the "One off" thread.

Being that Escape is one of Journey's best albums, the comparison is definitely a compliment.

WOW!!! I believe this is the first time i heard your music. I am so blown away by it.I love it & can not wait for more. You learn so much on this board.

chynablue wrote:Thanks man, that is truly great praise. (Glad to see people are finding my name in the credits this time around - yayy!) The good/bad side of the issue is that both Ramos/Hugo & Valentine are constantly being measured against everybody's favorite Journey albums! This isn't a reflection of anything posted in this thread, but some of the reviews I've read have me hoping that people can understand this. It's great that people hear similarities between our records and Journey, and Hugo's voice (and his look, let's face it - what a great guy) will always invite the Perry comparisons. But this is just what his voice sounds like - and neither we nor Valentine went in trying to write a Journey record. Ours was initially a Josh solo release, and Hugo only came in to replace the previous singer (a metal singer btw) once all of the music was 100% written and recorded. While we're all heavily influenced by Journey & other classic AOR, we only do what we do, you know? The only harsh comments we've received were from die hard Journey fans who wanted this record to sound more like classic Journey! I think we a lot of us wish that every record sounded more like classic Journey! But nostalgia is a tough ruler to be judged by. People are fascinated by the lineup of this band, and what you have here is what it sounds like when you pull these people together to make music. But nobody intended to record a new Journey record. If it has some moments that are Journey-esque or some homages that remind you of classic AOR, all the better!

I liken it to when you date a girl because she looks a lot like your high school sweetheart, only to be crushed later to find that she has a completely different personality, style, etc....that she doesn't love you or cook for you the way that you remember that nostalgic crush from 25 years ago! So you never appreciate her for who she is, her identity, etc. I appreciate the people who have listened to these records with an open mind - your positivity encourages us to keep on doing what we do. That being said, I appreciate ALL your comments, even when they don't sound as sexy as I might like.

Thanks again for all your support. The new China Blue is just three weeks away - stay tuned to http://www.chinabluemusic.com!

I think for many people Journey's Revelation will be the Melodic Rock release of the year. It certainly set a standard for any genre releases that followed and most quality albums released after Revelation will be compared against it. In the case of the Ramos/Hugo release the comparison to classic Journey was always going to happen given the connections to the band over the years. In fact track 3, The Dream seems to play up to this and evokes a feeling that is all too often missing from Journey's own output.

Comparisons aside and with Revelation as this year's benchmark for quality I still feel that The Dream is the superior album. It's a much more cohesive piece and an enjoyable listen from start to finish. It doesn't start to tire over time the way Revelation has and is lyrically much, much stronger.

So the for me The Dream is the best Melodic Rock release of this year (and for some time before that). Well done gentlemen, I hope your efforts are rewarded with continuous strong sales and fan support.

Many thanks!

Although Hugo has completly ripped of DSB on track 3. He even is the "niiIItteee". Apart from that its a great Melodic Rock album

Actually, in the two tracks posted here, I think Hugo sounds more like Steve A. than Perry.

youkeepmewaiting wrote:Although Hugo has completly ripped of DSB on track 3. He even is the "niiIItteee". Apart from that its a great Melodic Rock album

I wouldn't take a three word homage ("in the night") to mean that Hugo "completely ripped off DSB". We throw that stuff in for you guys to enjoy...C'mon man it's rock & roll!

Thanks for the support, you guys really do rock.

Really good. I enjoyed it. Thanks. Actually, Hugo's voice reminds me more of Steve Augeri and even the song You're Not Alone reminds me of the Arrival period of Journey, which is a good thing.

chynablue wrote:

youkeepmewaiting wrote:Although Hugo has completly ripped of DSB on track 3. He even is the "niiIItteee". Apart from that its a great Melodic Rock album

I wouldn't take a three word homage ("in the night") to mean that Hugo "completely ripped off DSB". We throw that stuff in for you guys to enjoy...C'mon man it's rock & roll!

Thanks for the support, you guys really do rock.

Agreed, as I mentioned above, there'll be times the Perry'ism of Hugo's voice can't help but be there. I don't think he could do anything to stop it if he tried. Perry's Escape voice and Hugo's current are very similar.

Here's Amazon's mp3 album sale site. Preview of all tracks available.

Ramo/Hugo- The Dream
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001JZ ... 299&sr=8-1

and the official site cd purchase page

Frontiers Records - The Dream
http://www.frontiers.it/default.aspx?ta ... bumID=4430

chynablue wrote:

youkeepmewaiting wrote:Although Hugo has completly ripped of DSB on track 3. He even is the "niiIItteee". Apart from that its a great Melodic Rock album

I wouldn't take a three word homage ("in the night") to mean that Hugo "completely ripped off DSB". We throw that stuff in for you guys to enjoy...C'mon man it's rock & roll!

Thanks for the support, you guys really do rock.

No theres a few other bits in the song that are very similar to the chorus of DSB aswell... apart from that song though, nothing else really reminds me of Journey too much, which is a good thing really. Shame that the chances of these songs being done live by the complete band are very unlikley. I read somewhere that Ramos hasnt actually met Hugo? Hopefully they will get together and all do it live.

belar wrote:Actually, in the two tracks posted here, I think Hugo sounds more like Steve A. than Perry.

hands down, ramos/hugo over valentine for me. it just has a contemporary 2008 melodic feel to it. the strongest song on valentine is the title track soul salvation and even that is missing a little something imo.

and as i was listening this morning on my road trip, i too noticed that hugo sounded more like SA.

as i said on the noticeboard, people need to appreciate each of these cd's and rate them on their own merit. not using journey as a comparison and definitely not using revelation as a benchmark for quality. there is alot of great music out there besides journey.

check out andrew's noticeboard. those are some diehard music fans who have pointed me in the direction of some great music.

MCC620 wrote:[

hands down, ramos/hugo over valentine for me. it just has a contemporary 2008 melodic feel to it. the strongest song on valentine is the title track soul salvation and even that is missing a little something imo.

.

I agree Maria, ramos / hugo over the Valentine Soul Salvation. However I do think Soul Salvation's a pretty strong offering. Its been in my car since Firefest. "Picking up the Pieces" is a kicking track as are "Soul Salvation" and "One more chance"

Gin and Tonic Sky wrote:

MCC620 wrote:[

hands down, ramos/hugo over valentine for me. it just has a contemporary 2008 melodic feel to it. the strongest song on valentine is the title track soul salvation and even that is missing a little something imo.

.

I agree Maria, ramos / hugo over the Valentine Soul Salvation. However I do think Soul Salvation's a pretty strong offering. Its been in my car since Firefest. "Picking up the Pieces" is a kicking track as are "Soul Salvation" and "One more chance"

oh please don't get me wrong, i like soul salvation, nice addition to the first one and open skyz. just not grabbing me like ramos/hugo. i think the guitar on RH is edgier. make sense?

MCC620 wrote:

Gin and Tonic Sky wrote:

MCC620 wrote:[

hands down, ramos/hugo over valentine for me. it just has a contemporary 2008 melodic feel to it. the strongest song on valentine is the title track soul salvation and even that is missing a little something imo.

.

I agree Maria, ramos / hugo over the Valentine Soul Salvation. However I do think Soul Salvation's a pretty strong offering. Its been in my car since Firefest. "Picking up the Pieces" is a kicking track as are "Soul Salvation" and "One more chance"

oh please don't get me wrong, i like soul salvation, nice addition to the first one and open skyz. just not grabbing me like ramos/hugo. i think the guitar on RH is edgier. make sense?

yep makes sence

I like both albums for different reasons. Obviously I am partial to Ramos/Hugo because I wrote a lot of it...but I do enjoy the Valentine quite a lot also. No competition here and I'm sure those guys feel the same way.

For those who still haven't checked the record out, I've posted a new MP3 sampler featuring some of my favorite moments from the album, that you can check out at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la6OFLNYs2c

It includes a slide show of the making of the record. Tell me what you think.

chynablue wrote:I like both albums for different reasons. Obviously I am partial to Ramos/Hugo because I wrote a lot of it...but I do enjoy the Valentine quite a lot also. No competition here and I'm sure those guys feel the same way.

For those who still haven't checked the record out, I've posted a new MP3 sampler featuring some of my favorite moments from the album, that you can check out at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la6OFLNYs2c

It includes a slide show of the making of the record. Tell me what you think.

Damn, that sounds really good Eric. I believe I'll be picking that one up. Hugo sounds pretty damn solid there. Where did you guys record this album?

chynablue wrote:

youkeepmewaiting wrote:Although Hugo has completly ripped of DSB on track 3. He even is the "niiIItteee". Apart from that its a great Melodic Rock album

I wouldn't take a three word homage ("in the night") to mean that Hugo "completely ripped off DSB". We throw that stuff in for you guys to enjoy...C'mon man it's rock & roll!

Thanks for the support, you guys really do rock.

ok you did say "homage" you win!

Dude,

I'm with you. I LOVED it. And don't forget about that souring homage to LWOY from one of my other favorite bands. I love it too dude. The record is fuckin awesome. I'm still spinning it and Soul Salvation so it will take a while to sort that one out. Revelation has slipped by the wayside though. They are both great records.

Thanks for the slide show, it's really cool to see how things were going together as the record was recorded. And thanks for posting on the board. The Ramos/Hugo record is a seamless production that is so smooth. It's a great AOR cd!

If you really think about it, this year has been a phenomenal year for our board. We get a new Journey record, the Ramos/Hugo cd and a Valentine cd all in one year. It's has been a fine fine year for the music I enjoy the most. I'm not sure 08 will be topped. We are damn lucky to have these CD's available.

Cheers,

Aaron

chynablue wrote:

youkeepmewaiting wrote:Although Hugo has completly ripped of DSB on track 3. He even is the "niiIItteee". Apart from that its a great Melodic Rock album

I wouldn't take a three word homage ("in the night") to mean that Hugo "completely ripped off DSB". We throw that stuff in for you guys to enjoy...C'mon man it's rock & roll!

Thanks for the support, you guys really do rock.