Valensia has been around for awhile but has managed to fly under the radar for most of his career due to Japanese only releases, and a quirky sound. His albums basically fall under the heading of "experimental
Queen" music, taking that classic rock band and twisting it up with some new flavors and influences that border on Euro techno at times. His melodies are infectious and especially on his first few releases he dazzled with such addictive tunes as "Gantenbrink" and "Thunderbolt". But while the music could definitely be classified as
AOR-like,
Valensia never unleashed his true metal side. And still hasn't really, but let's just say that he's more than just ready to rock.
Metal
Majesty "This Is Not a Drill" is basically
Valensia Clarkson and his brother David Clarkson doing Euro Metal with lavish Highlander-era
Queen stamped all over it. Every nook and cranny is infested with the sound. In fact,
Valensia who does indeed has his own singing voice, opts for the majority of the record to copy Freddy Mercury, right down to the high falsettos. Those craving for a resurrection of metallic
Queen music will be all over this, but for the rest, there seems to be something lacking at times. The biggest drawback to the disc however is
Valensia insisting on copying not only the style of
Queen but mimicking Freddy Mercury to the very last note and perhaps with even more pomp. This can create fidgety boredom at times, and will scare off anyone that just can't take that opera-gone-rock style of singing.
Valensia handles not only the singing, but nearly every aspect of this production, from the writing to the instruments, to the producing himself, he's there doing it all. Oh except the bass. His brother David handles that. Thus the music seems like an overly calculated production, the master tweaking every single last note for perfection. It robs the disc of a certain amount of warmth that comes from the differences of having a room full of musicians each with their own stylistic stamps.
AOR "band" (it was two people, do two people make a "band"?) Amaze Me, stumbled onto the same formula and were also plagued with the same difficulties, despite having some great tunes.
"This Is Not a Drill" is still a fairly high quality product, these festering problems aside, and anyone that can stomach
Queen's way over the top, overkill on the bombastic, will find this a nice disc to reminiscent with, because frankly, there's rarely a drop of innovation to be found here, but for a few tracks, and some treasured moments, they manage to hit upon something special.
Valensia's skills as a pianist are on display for
"His Highness Hybris", which begins with a classical flair and a touch for the dramatic.
"The Moon" is fantastic and very much full of itself, but the structures are well built and there's a flash of inspiration within. Guitar fans can soothe themselves with
"Maiden Head" which takes you back to the time when guitar heroes flourished - the 1980s, with a flourish for the extreme and bubbly crystal clean notes.
"Metal Majesty" the song is a worthy trip indeed, an ominous beginning and warps into a full throttle track that takes the breath away. Many parts, many flavors and a lot to love.
"Deborah" is a lovely ballad, and in my opinion an example of what he does best - showcase the voice balancing between his more natural sound and the Mercury knockoff, add in plenty of piano and some catchy guitar riffs and just let the melody carry you away. The highs are so sweet it hurts.
"Everytime it Rains Again" is another bullseye hit killer that would have fit on his last solo disc "The Blue Album". Sure, the chorus leaps headfirst into "A Night at the Opera" territory, but all that surrounds worms its way into the heart.
And then there are the problem songs, many of which over time have managed to find their place. Be warned however, those without a strong liking for the already way overly mentioned rock band, will find themselves annoyed by the blatant reproduction of the sound. But the original formula was a winner so I suppose why let it die with the band?
"Magic Chemistry",
"Wonder Ful Life" are two stunning examples of what can come out of breathing new life into an old flame. Upbeat and never missing an opportunity to lay every instrument down in all of its full frilly glory.
Others seem to lack that special flair such as
"The Extra Terrestrial" and
"License to Chill", but there is so much music packed onto the disc that a few tunes that bomb are hardly noticeable when faced with fifteen of them. Which may just be too many. There's not enough variety between track one and track fifteen to support this much similar music, thus the disc is best nibbled at in bits and pieces than single sitting marathons, which wears the listener out quickly after so many songs. It is of note that this Lion release includes four more tunes as a bonus that the Japanese did not get upon its land of the rising sun debut over a year ago, and the extra material can be applauded despite the fact it makes the disc run a little bit too long.
Admittedly my first reaction to the disc was not exactly that of an overly interested listener, it was too much like
Queen and not original enough for my initial tastes, thus I wished to knock it down from its pedestal for not having the guts to take that leap into fresh uncharted waters. But let's analyze the situation for a moment. How many bands have pulled a similar trick and managed to build their own fanbase, especially after the outfit they attempt to copy has withered and died?
Kingdom Come doing Led Zeppelin, The Snakes mining that 70s
Whitesnake sound to much delight, and the legions of those wishing to be the next Manowar. Unless the releases are lackluster and just crap stuck on a disc, they are met with much acclaim and rightly so, and how many people wouldn't just kill to hear a band properly rip off "Rising" era
Rainbow with a
Dio clone at the vocal helm and a Blackmore-ite on the six string? Exactly.
So this is for those dreaming of
Queen, with all that you loved about the band intact, and the benefits of modern production technology. It is not as metal as the moniker claims, yet it is a thoughtful hard rock tribute of brand spanking new material by a man that truly loves and seems to worship the blueprints of the originals. Fitting and worth a look.
Written by
Alanna Tuesday, October 12, 2004
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