Journey and Valentine

[Aaron]

I'm very interested to see how Mac's reviews of the new Valentine CD and Journey's Revelation will compare. I've not yet had a chance to hear the new Valentine CD "Soul Salvation" but I have had the Ramos/Hugo release for a couple of weeks now. I'll say that the Ramos/Hugo effort is on par with Revelation. I like the layered vocals from Hugo and the overall up-beat groove of the Ramos/Hugo release. I'm still on the fence but I'm leaning toward giving the nod to the Ramos/Hugo CD. Has anyone else heard to whole Ramos/Hugo CD (and not the promo released version with the crappy mix)? If so, I'd like to hear what you think.

I'm waiting on the new Valentine CD with a lot of interest as they are my favorite band, just behind the current Journey line up. Mac, what's your input here?

Here's some input from another source:

HRH Revelation Review
http://www.hardrockhouse.com/NewReleases/Journey2.htm

HRH Soul Salvation Review
http://www.hardrockhouse.com/NewReleases/Valentine1.htm

[SteveForever]

where did you buy it Aaron?

[Aaron]

http://sto00.mailcar.net/catalog/index. ... =s&cLink=c

where did you buy it Aaron?

[Don]

Hugo's voice is nice but it would better if he could a add little baritone to it. I was checking him out on youtube and have to say that he seriously needs to go milli vanilli in his videos. Even with Valentine, his body language mimics Perry. Have someone else do the video's and it will be cool.

[Gin and Tonic Sky]

I picked up the new Valentine CD at Firefest. I haven't only gotten through the first bit of the CD, but what I ve heard so far is really good.

Agree with wot Gumbot says re hugo and a little bit of baritone, but thats just picking at little things . Hugo had some sort of cold/sore throat at Firefest. but even with that noticeable constraint, he was still able to deliver a more than enjoyable performance.

In my opinion, one thing that Valentine has in common with Journey is that that they both sound better live than they do in the studiol

[Aaron]

I now have the new Valentine CD in hand. My initial impression is damn it Adam Holland, where is that overdriven guitar tone that made me pick up the guitar? More to come ..

[Aaron]

I've had the Valentine CD a few days now. All I can say is wow, what a great cd. It doesn't have quite as hard of an edge as the S/T release, but what it lacks in edge, it makes up on smoothness. The cd flows well from song to song hitting the AOR requirement out of the park. Hugo's voice sounds awesome on the CD as well. All of the guys have writing credit for the record which says they're all working together on the record. +1 to Valentine.

All I can say is this record does not disappoint. The best songs from the record are:

1. Dream on the Way - a good rocker with a good message

2. Soul Salvation - An uplifting, smooth rock song

3. Love Song - A great ballad, the name says it all

4. One More Chance - An upbeat rocker trying to regain the one you lost ... that wasn't your choice to loose

5. Page - All I can for this one holy shit! A mid temp ballad about fixing what is about to be broken. This is the best song on the cd. What can be better than Hugo's vocals? Layered Hugo vocals. Those harmonies will give you goose bumps while Hollands guitar work fits seamlessly with the harmonies. WOW

6. Wait - This song has the closest thing to the Holland signature guitar sound I was looking for on the entire cd. I do not like remakes of any songs, period. However, this song is not recognizable to the original. It sounds great in an updated form. I didn't feel like I got ripped off with this song and that's saying a lot. Another gem.

This cd is worth a listen. In my opinion, it's better than Revelation as is hits the AOR mark well without feeling contrived. Not the rocker, ballad, rocker, rocker, ballad, ballad, rocker .... recipe that Journey kicks out.

As a side note, I was surprised to see that when I purchased the cd on Ebay from ash1965 that is was directly from Adam Holland so I know the band got the money!

http://www.valentinetheband.com/

http://www.myspace.com/valentineofficialband

The myspace link play has four songs from the cd available in full length for review.

L8r,

Aaron

[Gin and Tonic Sky]

Song no 2, Picking up the Pieces is really growing on me . Great song.

[JourneyQueen]

I purchased the Valentine CD at Firefest and I really like it alot especially the song Soul Salvation. This was the first time I had ever seen Hugo in person and it was unreal how much he looks, sings and acts like Steve Perry. Totally amazing! I also got the opportunity to meet Hugo and got my picture taken with him which was pretty cool! I actually like Journey's Revelation better than the Valentine CD as I love all the songs on Revelation.

[Rick]

This is a really good record that's very well written. Hugo sounds great, especially on "Pages", "I'll Be The One" and "Love Is All We're After". He's singing in a range that's perfect for his voice. Damn good vocals and great harmonies. "Love Is All We're After" is a very cool sounding song. It's got a throwback vibe to a band I can't put my finger on. Love this track. This is damn good melodic rock release. I wouldn't be surprised to hear a couple of these tracks on the radio. Really good stuff.

[Aaron]

Ditto brother. I'm jamming Pages right now on the old Sunfire. The song's harmonies are just fucking awesome. The radio fucks would be lucky to get permission to play this stuff. The whole band sounds great IMHO.

This is a really good record that's very well written. Hugo sounds great, especially on "Pages", "I'll Be The One" and "Love Is All We're After". He's singing in a range that's perfect for his voice. Damn good vocals and great harmonies. "Love Is All We're After" is a very cool sounding song. It's got a throwback vibe to a band I can't put my finger on. Love this track. This is damn good melodic rock release. I wouldn't be surprised to hear a couple of these tracks on the radio. Really good stuff.

[Abitaman]

Radio bites!! They don't know what is good, and they play way too many commericals!