VALENTINE (Hugo) – Soul Salvation (2008) *HQ*

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Yesterday we featured the classic, first VALENTINE album, and you need to hear too the very good comeback record “Soul Salvation” they did in 2008, self-released and now a pretty hard to find CD.
Fronted by gifter singer Hugo Valenti and with almost the original 1990 line-up intact (except new drummer Mike Morales), Valentine 2008 follows the musical path of Hugo the solo artist. This is to my ears more or less a new Hugo solo album stylistically. The original ‘Valentine’ album was a little tougher and a little more rocking.
This comeback “Soul Salvation” 11-track album is filled with glorious AOR anthems and midtempo ballads which the band has written over the years – both new and old tunes. The title track, as example, was penned 1990. However, the whole album has been recorded in 2008.
Yes, they could have used a bigger drum sound, perhaps sharped guitars… but c’mon, we had a new Valentine album after all! And the songs are beautiful. The hands-in-the-air classic ’80s sounds of ‘Dream On The Way’, ‘Soul Salvation’ (great vocals!), ‘Wait’ and the standout anthem ‘Every Time You Go Away’ worth this album alone.

On a moodier note, ‘Pickin’ Up The Pieces’ delivers a tougher sound as does ‘One More Chance’ with it’s lush chorus and great harmonies. ‘I’ll Be The One’ is more acoustic based and has an almost campfire tinge to it. I think it offers a nice change of pace and showcases a different side of Hugo’s vocals.
‘Love Is All We’re After’ is a kind of wistful pop-rock / AOR ballad and an interesting way to close the album. Other ballads are of course included and ‘Love Song’ is one of the better ever from Hugo, a strong vocal performance and it features another big Steve Perry-like output.

Great songs rule the day. You can forgive the less polished production in light of some tasteful, commercial and old-school sounding AOR. Hugo sounds great and it is brilliant to see the guys in Valentine back in action delivering some magic.
One for fans of Hugo solo / early Valentine, and the straight forward traditional Journey-esque AOR.
Highly Recommended

01 – Dream On The Way
02 – Pickin’ Up The Pieces
03 – Soul Salvation
04 – Interlude
05 – Love Song
06 – One More Chance
07 – Pages
08 – Every Time You Go Away
09 – I’ll Be The One
10 – Wait
11 – Love Is All We Are After

Hugo: Vocals
Adam Holland: Guitars
Gerard Zappa: Bass
Craig Pullman: Keyboards
Mike Morales: Drums

BUY
www.amazon.com/Soul-Salvation-Valentine/dp/B001O7VTEO