Dutch maestro Robby Valentine returns with an album of contrasts mixing Pop/Rock with his love of the Classical works of Chopin etc.
Written by: Explorer
ARTIST: Robby Valentine
ALBUM: Separate Worlds
LABEL: Valentine Music Productions
SERIAL: RV202002
YEAR: 2020
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Netherlands
LINEUP: Robby Valentine – All Vocals, All Instruments
TRACK LISTING: 01 Separate Worlds * 02 Invincible * 03 Where Did My Heart Go? * 04 How Could I Touch The Sky? * 05 Santa Zorra * 06 Waltz in C# Minor * 07 Nocturne In C# Minor * 08 I Can’t Live Without You * 09 Flight Of The Bumblebee * 10 Waltz In Db Major * 11 Nocturne In Eb Major * 12 Winding Road
RATING: 95/100
Background
A new Robby Valentine album is always welcome for me, and it seems that Robby has been using his time recently in putting together, in his words a (Classical) Pop album. This is a very different album from his most recent releases and puts the emphasis firmly on his love for classical music, which as anyone with a passing interest in him will know that this is very much part of his musical makeup.
The Songs
Of the 12 tracks on the album, there are 6 that first appeared on the ‘Peter Strykes sings Robby Valentine’ album, which saw a very limited release back in 2009. The songs this time feature Robby taking over the vocals and are all really quite beautiful. There’s no real rocking out here, it’s all very much Robby doing big ballads, which he is so adept at executing.
‘Invincible’, is a delicate song that builds to a lovely climax, and ‘Where Did My Heart Go? ‘, is a pastoral, yet bold sounding tune, whereas ‘Santa Zorra’ is a dramatic piece of Pomp and Circumstance that only Robby could pull off.
‘How Could I Touch The Sky? ‘, is reminiscent of the likes of ‘God’ from his third solo album and is as good a rock ballad you’ll hear this or any other year. ‘I Can’t Live Without You’, once again is a dramatic piece and is something that I could quite easily picture Queen doing, and the last of the reworked songs is ‘Winding Road’ which is a stately, quite regal way to end the album.
Of the classical pieces on offer of which there are 5, all of which most people will be familiar with, and they all demonstrate just what a fantastic piano player Robby is, and it’s easy to see where Robby gets a lot of his influences from. The only real new track on show is the album opener and title track, which is marvellous and is a perfect marriage of his classical and Pop/Rock influences; hence I guess why Robby was enthused to make this album.
In Summary
I make (or have made) no secret of my love of Robby Valentine’s very singular approach to his music. It’s big, bold, and bombastic and, I’ll keep going with the ‘b’s’ here, brilliant. The album is available to buy over at his official website, but as yet not appeared on any streaming sites.
Video
Where Did My Heart Go?
