Year : 2003 (Japan Edition 2004)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 114 mb
Bio:
Hugo Valenti started his career as frontman for the band Valentine.The band was orignally signed with Columbia Records and released their debut album in 1990 through Warner Bros. Records. The bands video for the song “No Way” was consistently featured on MTV. Valentine also wrote and performed songs for the movie “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter Is Dead” starring Christina Applegate. Valentne's ballad "Never Said it Was Gonna be Easy" was recently ranked by Classic Rock Magazine as the #1 'Greatest Power Ballad You've Never Heard'.For the 2nd release, the band changed their name to Open Skyz and released their album through RCA/Giant Records. Produced by Ritchie Zito (Eddie Money, Cheap Trick, Heart, Cher) and Rob Jacobs. (Don Henley, The Eagles, U2), the album provided several singles, including the top 20 AOR single “Every Day Of My Life”. The band went on to tour with acts such as Mr. Big and KISS. After years of touring and searching for their dream, the band broke up. Hugo went on his own making his debut solo album recognized throughout the AOR community.Constantly being compared to Steve Perry, he started fronting his own tribute band to keep his voice strong while releasing two more solo albums "Time On Earth" and "Fire In The Night" and partnering with Josh Ramos, (formerly of The Storm, Two Fires and Hardline) to complete Ramos/Hugo album. Hugo's next project was getting together with Valentine for a one time album project called "Soul Salvation" which was released 2008/2009.Hugo has many songs written and when time permits he will put out another solo project. Right now he's enjoying his time with VOYAGE, a musical tribute to Steve Perry and Journey featuring world class players top in their field.
Album:
We featured the first 2 HUGO albums already, and you need to hear his third and final effort ”Fire In The Night”, here in its Japanese edition.Also known as ‘Hugo 3’, for this album Hugo Valenti put down his deal with Escape Music and released ”Fire In The Night” by himself, and in Japan via Ｍａｒｑｕｅｅ ／ Ａｖａｌｏｎ.Originally released 2003 in the USA only, “Fire In The Night” is perhaps HUGO’s finest moment regarding songwriting / performaces. This time he added a ‘harder’ factor to the classic Journey-esque AOR sound, kinda a mix of his 1990 work with Valentine and his first 1997 solo album. Sure, going independent put him on a budget (drum sound could be better) but musically “Fire In The Night” is top notch.Be aware this 2004 Japanese Edition is a collectors item for its limited release and slightly different mastering.The disc starts with the barn burner Hand In Hand. With driving guitars, this melodic hard rocker belongs to a handbook on how to write songs that sound like Journey. It is very good. Next, It’s The Love is a splendid piece of uptempo AOR.There’s more gems in Dawn, I’ll Learn To Live Without You, (Don’t Wanna) Say Goodbye Tonight, Everytime You Walk Away alternate between uptempo melodic rock charm, midtempo AOR, and sweet smooth balladry.Hugo’s performaces are passionate, energetic when needed, emotional most the time with the Steve Perry soul floating all over.You can’t go wrong with HUGO – classic AOR / Melodic Rock fans & collectors need this one.
Line Up:
Hugo Valenti - Vocals - See also: ex-Valentine, ex-Open Skyz, Hugo's Voyage
Eddie Jelley – Guitars
Gus Karras – Guitar
Gerard Zappa, Joe Cumia – Bass
Chuck Valenti – Drums
Lance Millard – Keyboards
Production:
Artwork – Ron Smith
Liner Notes [歌詞対訳] – 金子みちる
Liner Notes [解説] – 藤木昌生
Photography By – Andrew Blatz
Producer – Hugo (29), John Mennen
Written-By – Hugo, John Mennen (tracks: 1)
Tracklist:
01. Hand In Hand
02. It’s The Love
03. Prelude – 4Ever Endeavor
04. Fire In The Night
05. I’ll Learn To Live Without You
06. Dawn
07. Just So You Know
08. (Don’t Wanna) Say Goodbye Tonight
09. Everytime You Walk Away
10. Just To Be With You Tonight
11. Here I Am
12. Hold Me
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
