Metal Majesty

Metal Majesty is essentially pomp rock icon Valensia and his other personality – moving away from the pomp and ceremony of trading off Queen riffs to 'paying tribute' to a heavier God – Whitesnake, Blue Murder and er, Queen. And boy – does he 'pay tribute'! Kingdom Come's classic debut remains one of my favourite albums from its era. However, at the time it gained notoriety for all the wrong reasons – and it went on to sell a truck load. I enjoy it for what it is – a blatant 'borrowing' of Led Zeppelin riffs, updated and Americanized for what was – at the time – a huge market for hard rock. History is repeated with Valensia's 'borrowing' of material for his new release. Had this Metal Majesty album any chance of selling 2,000,000 units, I would think that Mr. Coverdale and Mr. Sykes might be talking to their lawyers. There's plenty on offer here to mull over! While the music will have listeners diving into their memories for where the riffs originated, there is no denying the strength of the material, or the energy of the delivery. Quite literally, it sounds like Freddy Mercury joined Whitesnake. Queen's The Miracle album meets Whitesnake 1987 and the debut Blue Murder. Regardless of the 'influences', this remains a highly enjoyable listen, made even better by the big fat production sound and the quality of the performance. The energy of Valensia's delivery is highly addictive and fans of The Snake or John Sykes, not to mention establish Valensia fans will find a lot to like here. Additionally, the album is far superior to the debut album This Is Not A Drill. Better songs, better production and more addictive hooks. From the opening bars of Still Of The Night, er, sorry, We Rocked, those memories of Kingdom Come flood back – not to mention the memories of Whitesnake's 1987. Valensia has come extremely close to matching the guitar play of John Sykes and while the vocals are more his own, the Coverdale/Sykes mannerisms are there for all to hear. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.