VALENTINE – The Most Beautiful Pain

If you opened this review greatly anticipating reading about a new release by the early 90’s Melodic Metal band Valentine (remember “Runnin’ On Luck Again”?), then you might be slightly disappointed. Don’t click that Back Button yet, as this review weaves a tale of a new studio album by an interesting musician named Robby Valentine.

Robby was born in the Netherlands and his first musical love was Classical Piano (the stuff made by Mozart and Chopin) until he saw a video of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The combination of Heavy Rock and Classical themes changed Robby’s musical direction forever. At a very early age, Robby realized he wanted to become not just a musician, but a “Rock Artist” … giving as much attention to the visual aspects (he has no qualms about wearing mascara) as well as to the audio aspects. The Most Beautiful Pain is actually Valentine’s seventh full studio release, with his very first one dating back to 1992. It’s a collection of seventeen tracks in total and it certainly is an interesting piece that undoubtedly draws some inspiration from Valentine’s Queen influences.

Thirty-seven seconds into this CD, you will sense that there is something different about Valentine’s form of “Melodic Artistic Rock.” The CD starts with the very catchy “I Should Have Known Better,” which is littered with keyboard (or sound) samples (a few sounding like something out of a Looney Tunes episode). Then, the wonderful Queen-like vocal harmonies hit, adding to the overall “artistic feel” and vibe of this release. The second track, “A New World,” is another memorable hit with more sound effects and Operatic vocal harmonies all interwoven into a heavy guitar track. After just the first two tracks, you’ll be taken aback by how much is actually going on, instrumentally, on both cuts. Robby plays most of the instruments on the release, with piano and keys being his passion, so overall you’re not going to find a lot of guitar solos.

On the track “One Of These Days,” Robby’s artistic abilities really come to the forefront. The difficult part is that this track largely requires an open mind to listen to, as the guitar line and keyboard fills have an artistic vibe comparable to a modern day Prince or Rick James. If Prince (or whatever symbol he calls himself nowadays) went Hard Rock, then this is quite possibly what he might sound like … and the interesting thing is that it works! Other moments like this (e.g., the forty-second “Back To The Future Theme,” etc.) are just as entertaining, and are abound on this release, which helps the music define its own originality.

Bottom line, this isn’t the heaviest release of the year, and several of the cuts require an “open mind” to truly appreciate them. One thing it does offer is Melodic Rock with an artistic flair that is different than anything currently on the market. There are a few lighter Pop moments interspersed between the heavier Melodic gems, but with a platter sporting seventeen tracks, some of that has to be expected. Its overall artistic diversity might be just the answer for bored palates that are craving something new and slightly askew.

Lineup

Robby Valentine – Vocals, Background Vocals, Grand Piano, Keyboards, Guitar, Bass, Production
Juan Van Emmerloot – Drums (on 4 tracks)
Nop Ton – Drums (on 3 tracks)
Johan Willems – Additional vocal harmonies