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Used, 2nd hand.

COLOSSEUM: Valentyne Suite [Rare original with gatefold album cover. On spiral Vertigo swirl label.
Track listing: 1. The Kettle (4:25) 2. Elegy (3:10) 3. Butty Blues (6:44) 4. The Machine Demands A Sacrifice (3:52) 5. The Valentyne Suite: Theme One: January Search (6:25) Theme Two: February Valentyne (3:33) Theme Three: The Grass Is Always Greener (6:55)
Dave Greenslade / Organ, Vocals – Dick Heckstall-Smith / Sax – John Hiseman / Drums – Tony Reeves / bass – James Litherland / guitar, vocals.

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Vertigo Swirl Vinyl: The Story Behind Our Endless Fascination 🎵

This is without any doubts an immortal master-peace of modern music. It sounds like it was recorded yesterday, not back in 1969!!! One of the best albums of all time.

This is one of the best “Proto-progressive blues albums” in the late 60s, the turning point of their career, by which you start getting an inkling of the difference between the song-structured mini-suites, regarding suck experimental rock blues or other usual rock and roll songs in the vein of “The WHO” in the sixties, and the first attempt to explore some other “music territories”, within the hard blues scheme. Recommended, as the first great generational “split” from the sixties!!

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Used, 2nd hand.

Colosseum – Valentyne Suite
Label: Vertigo – VO 1, Vertigo – 847 900 VTY
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Released: 1969
Genre: Jazz, Rock
Style: Blues Rock, Psychedelic Rock

A1 The Kettle
A2 Elegy
A3 Butty Blues
A4 The Machine Demands A Sacrifice
The Valentyne Suite

B1a Theme One – January Search
B1b Theme Two – February Valentyne
B1c Theme Three – The Grass Is Always Greener…

Bass Guitar – Tony*
Design [Inside Cover Design] – Linda Glover
Directed By, Arranged By [String Quartet] – Neil* (tracks: A2)
Drums [Uncredited], Other [Machine By] – Jon Hiseman
Guitar – James*
Liner Notes – Jon Hiseman
Music By – Colosseum
Organ, Vibraphone, Piano – Dave*
Photography By – Marcus Keef*, Peter Smith
Producer – Gerry Bron, Tony Reeves
Saxophone – Dick*
Words By – Pete Brown

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Released on a Vertigo ‘wirl” label, with the wording ”Vertigo” below the spindle hole, in a fold-out cover.
The tracks B1a to B1c appear on the label styled as ”Part 1” instead of ”Theme One”.

Used, 2nd hand.

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This is one of the pivotal progressive bands that emerged in the second part of the Sixties. Unfortunately the progressive world was more impressed by KING CRIMSON, so in my opinion COLOSSEUM is a bit underestimated prog rock band. In 1968 the founding members were drummer Jon Hiseman, tenor sax-player Dick Heckstall-Smith and bass player Tony Reeves, later joined by Dave Greenslade (keyboards), Dave Clempson (guitar), Chris Farlowe (vocals) and Mark Clark, he replaced Tony Reeves.
COLOSSEUM made three studio albums: “”Those Who Are To Die We Salute You”” and “”Valentyne Suite”” (both from 1969) and “”Daughter Of Time”” (1970). The music is a progressive mix of several styles (rock, jazz, blues) with lots of sensational solos and captivating interplay. After COLOSSEUM was disbanded in 1971, most of these members formed or joined known groups like HUMBLE PIE (Clem Clempson), ATOMIC ROOSTER (Chris Farlowe), GREENSLADE (Dave Greenslade re-united with Tony Reeves) and COLOSSEUM II (founded by Jon Hiseman). The second album “”The Valentyne Suite”” is considered as their best. It sounds mature and varied with the epic title-track as the highlight: it’s build up around a mind-blowing solo on the Hammond organ by Dave Greenslade and great guitar work by James Litherland. And if you like brass (I don’t!), Dick Heckstall-Smith delivers stunning tenor-saxophone

I was completely blown away by this album. Especially since I never warmed-up to their following effort, “Daughter of Time”. “Valentyne Suite” was their second and final album with the original lineup of keyboardist Dave Greenslade, bassist Tony Reeves, guitarist/vocalist James Litherland, drummer Jon Hiseman, and saxist Dick Heckstall-Smith. Reeves and Litherland would be the ones to defect from the band after this album.

“Valentyne Suite” was the very first album ever released on the “swirl” Vertigo label (if you own the version on Bronze Records, you have the reissue, which was issued after the band made the move to that label in ’71). Without a doubt, this is by far the most interesting John Mayall-related album I have ever heard (Heckstall-Smith and Reeves had played in Mayall’s Bluesbreakers). “The Kettle” is a rather rocking number, dominated by heavy use of guitar. “Elegy” is a rather jazzy piece complete with strings. Great piece. “Butty’s Blues” is, as you expect, a bluesy-piece, but you get lots of CHICAGO or BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS-like horns. “The Machine Demands a Sacrifice” is more hard rocking, blues-influenced number then unexpectedly (at the end) finds the band doing a bizarre experiment that reminds one of Krautrock bands that would appear in the next couple of years. The album closes with the totally amazing title track, divided in to three movements. This is basically Dave Greenslade’s time to shine. The music is just unbelievably intense, and you should check out Jon Hiseman’s drumming! I can hardly believe it!

Amazing album, and for those who don’t mind jazz and blues in their prog rock, you should get this album.