Valentine (USA)

Hard Rock, Melodic Rock , AOR , Blues Rock , Glam & Sleaze Rock , West Coast , Christian Rock
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Metalový král
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Valentine (USA)

Príspevokod užívateľa Horex » 19 Apr 2014, 00:38

Valentine - Valentine (Japan Edition) (1990)

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Year : 1990 (Japan Edition)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 169 mb


Bio:

It all started when childhood friends Adam Holland and Gerard Zappa began playing in various bands back in high school. Graduating to the Long Island club circuit along with Neil Christopher on drums, they always had a strong focus on writing, recording and performing original material. This led them to talented writer keyboard player Craig Pullman. Always looking for that certain special voice, their path eventually led them to Hugo. Valentine was formed.With a brief move to LA; major management, label and publishing deals soon followed. With the demos recorded by producer Neil Kernon, (Hall and Oates, The Romantics, Dokken) Valentine was signed to Columbia Records. They soon went into the studio to record their first CD. Soon after the recording was completed, personnel changes at Columbia forced the band off of the label before it’s release. Fortunately their A&R person moved to Giant Records taking Valentine with him. The band finally released their debut CD in late 1990 and the MTV video for “No Way”, featuring Aly Sheedy.Valentine also wrote and performed songs for the movie “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter Is Dead” Starring Christina Applegate. After many issues with Giant Records and personnel changes within the group, the band reformed as Open Skyz. After almost a solid year of writing without a label, a new deal with RCA/Zito soon followed. With much relief, the band headed back to LA, into the studio with producers Ritchie Zito (Eddie Money, Cheap Trick, Heart, Cher) and Rob Jacobs. (Don Henley, The Eagles, U2) This CD provided several singles, including the top 20 AOR single “Every Day Of My Life”.Adding Tom Maio on drums, the band headed out on tour opening for Mr. Big and Kiss. Once n Weary after almost a decade of music industry ups and downs, jumping from label to label to label, the members of Open Skyz went their separate ways. Hugo went on to record three critically acclaimed solo records (please add info), Adam headed down to Nashville as a writer with Murrah Music, Gerard became involved in the management side of the business and Craig continued writing with various collaborators. (including Adam & Hugo) Although the group always remained close friends and would write and perform together in various combinations, there was never an official Valentine/Open Skyz reunion.Until now that is. With an invitation to play at Firefest IV, Valentine officially reunited bringing Evolution drummer Mike Morales along on drums. The response at Firefest was so fantastic, it has inspirited the guys to go back and record new material for a 2008 release. After returning from the Firefest UK show, keyboard player, writer and archivist, Craig Pullman disclosed an amazing discovery to the rest of the band. He uncovered all of the completed Valentine demos that were going to be used for the second CD. As the band progressed into Open Skyz and changed musical directions, these songs were never recorded. A few of these songs did make it onto Hugo’s early solo CDs – “Crazy” , Find A Way” and “If You’re Ever Lonely”. The band has also decided to re record the classic ballad “Never Said It Was Going To Be Easy” from the original Valentine CD. According to guitarist Adam Holland “ This song was always one of our favorites.Somehow in 2008 it has taken on a totally different bluesy feel. We are all excited about it and looking forward to recording the new version”. Well there you have it. A new album Soul Salvation release date Nov 2008.

Album:

Towards the end of the hair metal era, Valentine released their debut album. Valentine’s sound was in the AOR/Melodic Rock style, with a little bit of hair metal flair for good measure. Valentine’s singer Hugo was a great new unheard talent, that should have propelled this band into mass appeal. He has a good range to his voice that is rarely heard amongst today’s rock singers.This CD has it all, solid musicianship, great vocals and good songs. Those that got their hands on this disc treasure it, and those that didn’t get it while it was in print, have paid through the nose to acquire a copy off of Ebay or the like. This CD has been out of print for years and has been selling for $60.00 or more.Sadly, this CD got very little promotion, and by 1994 the band had broken up. I vaguely recall Valentine being a guest on a second rate talk show ( I can’t remember which one) but that was about the extent of the promotion this band, and CD received. It is a shame as this is a very good disc that RRRsmall5very few people got to hear.This CD will likely appeal to fans of bands like Journey, Hardline and other of the melodic rock style.Valentine reunited last year, and have a new myspace page, where you can find out about the band’s latest happenings.Valentine recently put out a blog that their songs will be available for download via Amazon.com and I-Tunes, but they are not available as of yet. If you spot a copy of this CD, buy it, and give your significant other the ultimate Valentine!

Line Up:

Hugo lead vocals
Neil Christopher drums
Adam Holland guitars
Craig Pullman keyboards
Gerard Zappa bass

Tracklist:

01. Runnin' On Luck Again 5:54
02. No Way 3:46
03. Tears In The Night 5:29
04. Too Much Is Never Enough 4:51
05. Never Said It Was Gonna Be Easy 6:49
06. Where Are You Now 4:38
07. Naughty Girl 4:25
08. Once In A Lifetime 3:41
09. Someday 4:08
10. We Run 3:49
11. You'll Always Have Me 5:29


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Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

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Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
Odkazy na stažení všech alb naleznete pouze na našem blogu zde: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
Užívateľov profilový obrázok
Horex
Metalový král
Metalový král
Príspevky: 28124
Dátum registrácie: 21 Feb 2013, 19:14
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Re: Valentine (USA)

Príspevokod užívateľa Horex » 29 Nov 2018, 11:21

Valentine - Valentine (1990) (Rock Candy Remastered 2017)

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Year : 1990 (Rock Candy Remastered 2017)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans + Video
Size : 169 mb


Bio:

It all started when childhood friends Adam Holland and Gerard Zappa began playing in various bands back in high school. Graduating to the Long Island club circuit along with Neil Christopher on drums, they always had a strong focus on writing, recording and performing original material. This led them to talented writer keyboard player Craig Pullman. Always looking for that certain special voice, their path eventually led them to Hugo. Valentine was formed.With a brief move to LA; major management, label and publishing deals soon followed. With the demos recorded by producer Neil Kernon, (Hall and Oates, The Romantics, Dokken) Valentine was signed to Columbia Records. They soon went into the studio to record their first CD. Soon after the recording was completed, personnel changes at Columbia forced the band off of the label before it’s release. Fortunately their A&R person moved to Giant Records taking Valentine with him. The band finally released their debut CD in late 1990 and the MTV video for “No Way”, featuring Aly Sheedy.Valentine also wrote and performed songs for the movie “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter Is Dead” Starring Christina Applegate. After many issues with Giant Records and personnel changes within the group, the band reformed as Open Skyz. After almost a solid year of writing without a label, a new deal with RCA/Zito soon followed. With much relief, the band headed back to LA, into the studio with producers Ritchie Zito (Eddie Money, Cheap Trick, Heart, Cher) and Rob Jacobs. (Don Henley, The Eagles, U2) This CD provided several singles, including the top 20 AOR single “Every Day Of My Life”.Adding Tom Maio on drums, the band headed out on tour opening for Mr. Big and Kiss. Once n Weary after almost a decade of music industry ups and downs, jumping from label to label to label, the members of Open Skyz went their separate ways. Hugo went on to record three critically acclaimed solo records (please add info), Adam headed down to Nashville as a writer with Murrah Music, Gerard became involved in the management side of the business and Craig continued writing with various collaborators. (including Adam & Hugo) Although the group always remained close friends and would write and perform together in various combinations, there was never an official Valentine/Open Skyz reunion.Until now that is. With an invitation to play at Firefest IV, Valentine officially reunited bringing Evolution drummer Mike Morales along on drums. The response at Firefest was so fantastic, it has inspirited the guys to go back and record new material for a 2008 release. After returning from the Firefest UK show, keyboard player, writer and archivist, Craig Pullman disclosed an amazing discovery to the rest of the band. He uncovered all of the completed Valentine demos that were going to be used for the second CD. As the band progressed into Open Skyz and changed musical directions, these songs were never recorded. A few of these songs did make it onto Hugo’s early solo CDs – “Crazy” , Find A Way” and “If You’re Ever Lonely”. The band has also decided to re record the classic ballad “Never Said It Was Going To Be Easy” from the original Valentine CD. According to guitarist Adam Holland “ This song was always one of our favorites.Somehow in 2008 it has taken on a totally different bluesy feel. We are all excited about it and looking forward to recording the new version”. Well there you have it. A new album Soul Salvation release date Nov 2008.

Album:

Fronted by Hugo's (future Journey singer) smooth vocals, VALENTINE's awesome self-titled debut album has just been remastered for the first time by Rock Candy Records specialists.Easily, "Valentine" is one of the best AOR / Melodic Hard Rock releases of the beginning of the '90s. And in my book, a must have album.The release of "Valentine" in 1990 is one of the sad examples of bad timing and misfired opportunities by bad management and wrong music executives. If any '80s AOR / Melodic Hard Rock band should have made a huge international splash then this should have been the one.Formed in New York during the mid-Eighties and fronted by the sensational vocalist Hugo Valenti, the band soon made friends amongst the NY music business cognoscenti, leading to major management opportunities (Michael Bolton’s manager Louis Levin) and a coveted major label deal with Columbia Records.It was easy to see why they attracted such a passionate reaction, armed with music that was not only powerful and memorable but also displayed a songwriting ability that left the competition in the dust.Amazingly the band’s fortunes took a nose dive when executive changes at the label left them high and dry, forcing them to switch to another company, Giant Records, helmed by industry heavyweight Irving Azoff.Produced by Neil Kernon (Autograph, Queensryche, Lynch Mob) the album was eventually released in late 1990, and it received a great reception from the Melodic Rock aficionados.Packed with incredible songs, ranging from gilt-lined AOR such as ‘Runnin’ On Luck Again’ (featured in the movie Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead but not into the soundtrack CD), ‘Too Much Is Never Enough’, to the pomp blast of ‘Where Are You Now’.The strong melodic theme continues with the keyboard-heaven 'Someday', the terrific harmony-filled 'We Run', and the cutting 'Once in a Lifetime', combining a perfect blend of keys / huge guitar licks, killer vocals and catchy choruses.But the icing on the cake must surely be ‘Never Said It Was Gonna Be Easy’, one of the greatest power ballads of all time.I know many people lists "Valentine" as a cult classic, but for me it's an essential AOR / Melodic Hard Rock album in your collection.All in all a complete overview of what the genre was in the late '80s / early '90s: luxurious, bright, smooth and polished.Hard to find for many years, now with the clinical remaster by Rock Candy it sounds in all its glory.

Line Up:

Hugo - lead & backing vocals
Adam Holland - guitars
Craig Pullman - keyboards
Gerard Zappa - bass
Neil Christopher - drums

Additional Musicians:

Mark Radice - keyboards, synths
Terry Brock, Jon Fiore - backing vocals
Neil Kernon - various instruments, producer

Tracklist:

01. Runnin' On Luck Again 5:54
02. No Way 3:46
03. Tears In The Night 5:29
04. Too Much Is Never Enough 4:51
05. Never Said It Was Gonna Be Easy 6:49
06. Where Are You Now 4:38
07. Naughty Girl 4:25
08. Once In A Lifetime 3:41
09. Someday 4:08
10. We Run 3:49
11. You'll Always Have Me 5:29

+ Video "No Way" (Official Video)


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Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

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Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
Odkazy na stažení všech alb naleznete pouze na našem blogu zde: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
Užívateľov profilový obrázok
Horex
Metalový král
Metalový král
Príspevky: 28124
Dátum registrácie: 21 Feb 2013, 19:14
Kontaktovať užívateľa:

Re: Valentine (USA)

Príspevokod užívateľa Horex » 08 Feb 2022, 06:25

Valentine - Demos From The Attic (Limited Edition) (2021)

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Year : 2021
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 169 mb


Bio:

It all started when childhood friends Adam Holland and Gerard Zappa began playing in various bands back in high school. Graduating to the Long Island club circuit along with Neil Christopher on drums, they always had a strong focus on writing, recording and performing original material. This led them to talented writer keyboard player Craig Pullman. Always looking for that certain special voice, their path eventually led them to Hugo. Valentine was formed.With a brief move to LA; major management, label and publishing deals soon followed. With the demos recorded by producer Neil Kernon, (Hall and Oates, The Romantics, Dokken) Valentine was signed to Columbia Records. They soon went into the studio to record their first CD. Soon after the recording was completed, personnel changes at Columbia forced the band off of the label before it’s release. Fortunately their A&R person moved to Giant Records taking Valentine with him. The band finally released their debut CD in late 1990 and the MTV video for “No Way”, featuring Aly Sheedy.Valentine also wrote and performed songs for the movie “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter Is Dead” Starring Christina Applegate. After many issues with Giant Records and personnel changes within the group, the band reformed as Open Skyz. After almost a solid year of writing without a label, a new deal with RCA/Zito soon followed. With much relief, the band headed back to LA, into the studio with producers Ritchie Zito (Eddie Money, Cheap Trick, Heart, Cher) and Rob Jacobs. (Don Henley, The Eagles, U2) This CD provided several singles, including the top 20 AOR single “Every Day Of My Life”.Adding Tom Maio on drums, the band headed out on tour opening for Mr. Big and Kiss. Once n Weary after almost a decade of music industry ups and downs, jumping from label to label to label, the members of Open Skyz went their separate ways. Hugo went on to record three critically acclaimed solo records (please add info), Adam headed down to Nashville as a writer with Murrah Music, Gerard became involved in the management side of the business and Craig continued writing with various collaborators. (including Adam & Hugo) Although the group always remained close friends and would write and perform together in various combinations, there was never an official Valentine/Open Skyz reunion.Until now that is. With an invitation to play at Firefest IV, Valentine officially reunited bringing Evolution drummer Mike Morales along on drums. The response at Firefest was so fantastic, it has inspirited the guys to go back and record new material for a 2008 release. After returning from the Firefest UK show, keyboard player, writer and archivist, Craig Pullman disclosed an amazing discovery to the rest of the band. He uncovered all of the completed Valentine demos that were going to be used for the second CD. As the band progressed into Open Skyz and changed musical directions, these songs were never recorded. A few of these songs did make it onto Hugo’s early solo CDs – “Crazy” , Find A Way” and “If You’re Ever Lonely”. The band has also decided to re record the classic ballad “Never Said It Was Going To Be Easy” from the original Valentine CD. According to guitarist Adam Holland “ This song was always one of our favorites.Somehow in 2008 it has taken on a totally different bluesy feel. We are all excited about it and looking forward to recording the new version”. Well there you have it. A new album Soul Salvation release date Nov 2008.

Album:

Valentine “return” with a set of demo tracks recorded after their first album in anticipation for a second album that would never materialize. Yes, I’m aware they did technically release a second album as the band Open Skyz, but this was to be the second official Valentine release. Open Skyz featured songs that were not part of these demo sessions.First things first. Yes, these are demos and sound like demos, similar to ones that you hear from bands while searching for deep cuts on YouTube. If that type of quality is something that you don’t mind, you will find a collection that will make you scratch your head and wonder why these songs have been sitting in storage for so long. What an array of tunes!Opening track ‘Alone Tonight’ completely blew me away! This song is as good as their best stuff off of the debut. A track so sonically pleasing that I had to immediately play it several times before I completed listening to the whole album. Other songs reminiscent of the debut include the heavy drum thumpin’ ‘Grind the Axe’, high octane rocker ‘All Night’, and melodic first single ‘Sandy’. It’s easy to see why that song was selected as the first single. It encapsulates what this band was capable of delivering, showing they had so much more to offer had they been given the opportunity.Then there are the ballads. Although there are technically four ballads amongst the fourteen tracks, three of the four are more mid-tempo in nature. ‘Take Some Time’, ‘Never Gonna Let You Go’, and ‘The Light Shines Through’ are all good tunes, but not on par with ‘Tears In The Night’ and ‘Never Said It Was Gonna Be Easy’ off of their debut. The track that comes the closest, and the one true ballad, is ‘Calling’. An acoustic and keyboard ditty, Hugo’s vocals soar on this one and is very reminiscent of tracks off of his solo albums. The full band kicking in for an outro guitar solo adds a nice touch. A great way to end such a soulful song.A few experimental (but not too experimental) tracks shake things up as the band was trying out different styles slightly out of their comfort zone. ‘On My Way Back Home’ is an acoustic-based country-tinged rocker. Heavily influenced by Cinderella’s ‘Coming Home’ and sounding suspiciously like Danger Danger’s ‘Comin Home’, it is nonetheless a great track. ‘I’m Still Standing’ is on the verge of being heavy metal and is hands down the heaviest song ever performed by Valentine. It doesn’t start out that way, but just wait until you get past the 30 second mark. This song is to Valentine what ‘Inside Out’ is to Warrant. Finally, there’s my favorite experimental track, second single ‘Heart of the City’. A great atmospheric rocker with some great bass work from Gerard Zappa, holding down a solid rhythm that sets the mood slightly dark and foreboding. I love the interplay between him and guitarist Adam Holland, especially on the outro as Gerard lays down the beat while Adam wails with a closing solo.While all the songs have a demo quality to them, some tracks sound more “demo” than others. ‘This Love’ has a noticeable drop in quality and warbles occur from tape warped by age. Unfortunately, this type of low quality is just not enjoyable and will not be revisited by me, despite it being a decent track. This should have been kept off the album.There’s been some debate here in the offices of Rockposer Dot Com! about the quality of the recordings and if the sub-par recording should be held against it. My position is the band does not try to hide that these songs are truly “demos from the attic”. I’ve heard better demos, but I have heard others that to my ears are grating, screechy, and intolerable. My expectations for the sound quality were low, so that certainly helped prepare my mindset about what I expected to hear. What I didn’t expect was such great tunes! With the exception of one track, I was not bothered by the quality. A big contributor to that is the strength of these songs. As much as I love the debut, there are without a doubt some better songs on this album. The only question I have is…why were none of these used on their comeback 2008 album? While that album was decent, the material here is far superior and it’s a shame that these songs never had a chance to be reborn.

Line Up:

Hugo – lead vocals
Adam Holland – guitars
Craig Pullman – keyboards
Gerard Zappa – bass
Neil Christopher – drums

Tracklist:

01. Alone Tonight
02. I’m Still Standing
03. Take Some Time
04. Sandy
05. Heart Of The City
06. On My Way Back Home
07. Grind The Axe
08. Luv Honey
09. Never Gonna Let You Go
10. This Love
11. See No Evil
12. Calling
13. All Night
14. The Light Shines Through


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Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

Obrázok





Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
Odkazy na stažení všech alb naleznete pouze na našem blogu zde: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

Návrat na "HARD Rock, MELODIC Rock, AOR, BLUES Rock, GLAM & SLEAZE Rock"

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