VALERIAN ??Intimations of Sorrow?
(City Canyon Records)
Running Time : 44:32
City Canyon Records, would barrage me with emails about their artists, so at some point I thought, what do I have to loose and contacted them, with views to review some of their stuff. I ?m glad I did ! One of the CDs they did sent was VALERIAN?s ?Intimation?s of Sorrow?. VALERIAN are some Finnish guys that look a bit out of place. But let that not deter you since their music is quite excellent, very potent stuff indeed. Think of a good 80s hard rock band, with big pop/alternative hooks (Think ROXXETE meets the BANGLES ?! or something ?! But a tad more sorrowful), in the choruses. The best of both worlds really. Think of a mellower, acoustic FAITH NO MORE, a ?lies? kinda era GNR, a lil THE CULT, a little emo, throw in hints of ALICE IN CHAINS and a bit of CHRIS CORNELL perhaps. Also pour in a lil bit of RHCP funky skagness and a bit of MOTLEY and BRYAN ADAMS ?! Sounds like it couldn?t work?. Doesn?t it !? Well it does work! VALERIAN pulls it off remarkably. Fusing all those different influences, they still sound original. They have 3 songs that could be huge hits. I mean they could become really big, like all of the aforementioned bands, were. Behind the rather dull, cover that only has a big red V, crossed over by the band?s name and the title, we have 10 little unpolished, rock gems. The ?hits? are namely, ?Liar?, an anathema, to the powers that may-be, for not caring enough for what?s going on, in this world. ?Never bring me down? with it?s cool syncopated rhythm and super catchy chorus and the soul stirring, stupendously long titled, elegy of ?Nothing will ever take me away from you?. (From the archives of a serial killer). Still songs such as the spunky punky RAMONES meets AXL ROSE blitzkrieg pop/bop of ?Love gone Loco?, the cool ?Summer gone?, the road trippin ?Homesick? and the more emotive ?Mine Forever? and ?Angel of Death? (no don?t worry ? it ain?t a SLAYER cover !!! Nor is it a THIN LIZZY one! or for that matter a HAWKWIND one either.Heck there would still be another 50 bands with ?AOD? songs too, but I ain?t gonna bother!!!) with it?s superb solo, could not be considered in no shape, sort or form fillers, quite the opposite, I ?d say! The band is tight; their singer is oozing with charisma, managing to sound like Chris Cornell one minute, David Bowie subsequently and himself, the next, although he sounds a bit too whiny at times. (Rock, your Socks off, more often, mate!) the tunes are instantly gripping and still grow even more with a couple of spins. Production values are quite high, well the production is vintage, really, but punchy, so unless they get much heavier, I see nothing wrong with it. My only suggestion ?d be to give them guys a visual make over, so as to look more ahem a little more dandy and flashy. It?s good enough to sound good, but in this fickle world we live in, you need to look the part too. Bandanas are bananas! Woo hoo! Oh and drop the spectacles, or wear tinted ones, or go for lenses, u need to woe the strumpets, savvy, laddy /singer ?! Having said that I need to report that VALERIAN are the BEST band, bar HANOI ROCKS (and perhaps a couple of more acts that I might forget, or might be an acquired taste) that has ever come out of the land of the thousand lakes and a million bands. Way better than the hookless whine-a-thon of HIM and operatic yawn of NIGHTWISH. Get them on TV and they could be huge. I can see them going stratospheric, if they keep producing songs of this caliber, at his rate, get a little rockier, get the look right and get the timing right.
8,5/10