{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox album | name = Valentyne Suite | type = Album | artist = Colosseum | cover = Colosseum_ValentyneSuite.jpg | alt = | released = November 1969<ref>{{cite periodical |title=Album Reviews |periodical=Melody Maker|date=November 22, 1969 |page=22 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Melody-Maker/60s/69/Melody-Maker-1969-1122.pdf |access-date=15 September 2021}}</ref> | recorded = Spring and summer 1969 | venue = | studio = | genre = {{hlist|Psychedelic rock|progressive rock|jazz rock}} | length = 35:00 | label = Vertigo (UK) | producer = Tony Reeves, Gerry Bron | prev_title = Those Who Are About to Die Salute You | prev_year = 1969 | next_title = The Grass Is Greener | next_year = 1970 }}
'''''Valentyne Suite''''' is the second album released by the band Colosseum. It was Vertigo Records' first album release,<ref>{{cite book |last=Stump |first=Paul |title=The Music's All that Matters: A History of Progressive Rock |date=1997 |publisher=Quartet Books Limited |isbn=0 7043 8036 6 |page=80}}</ref> and reached number 15 in the UK Albums Chart in 1969.<ref>[http://www.theofficialcharts.com/artist/_/colosseum/ Colosseum chart history], The Official Charts. Retrieved July 29, 2011.</ref> The album peaked at number 18 in Australia in 1970.<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated |publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=71}}</ref>
Though the song "The Kettle" is officially listed as having been written by Dick Heckstall-Smith and Jon Hiseman, a credit which is confirmed by Hiseman's liner notes for the album, bassist and producer Tony Reeves later claimed that it was written by guitarist and vocalist James Litherland.<ref>{{cite web|date=July 2003 |url=https://dmme.net/interviews/reeves |title=Interview with Tony Reeves |website=Let it Rock |accessdate=September 2, 2023}}</ref> The song's riff was later interpolated in three songs, notably "Ya Mama" by Fatboy Slim.<ref>[https://www.whosampled.com/Colosseum/The-Kettle/ WhoSampled entry for "The Kettle"]</ref>
{{Listen |filename=Colosseum_Valentyne_Suite_January.ogg |title=Colosseum – "Colosseum – Valentyne Suite, Theme 1 – January" |description=30 seconds (<10% of 6:20) |format=Ogg}}
==Reception== {{Album ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name="AllMusic">{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r33687}}</ref> }} AllMusic derided the first three tracks, referring to "The Kettle" and "Butty's Blues" as, "tarted-up 12-bar blues", and claiming that "Elegy" was beyond James Litherland's abilities as a vocalist. They were more approving of the rest of the album, and described Dave Greenslade's solo on "The Valentyne Suite" as, "something to offer a challenge to vintage Keith Emerson, but with swing." They were critical of Litherland and Reeves's playing on the song, however, and concluded, "In retrospect this might not quite be the classic it seemed at the time, but it remains listenable..."<ref name="AllMusic"/>
==Track listing== ''Valentyne Suite'' was originally written with "Beware the Ides of March" as the final movement, but since "Beware the Ides of March" had already been released in the UK on ''Those Who Are About to Die Salute You'', "The Grass is Always Greener" was substituted for the final movement in the UK release.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} Compact Disc issues of the suite follow the track listing of the UK release.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} {{tracklist | headline = Side one | title1 = The Kettle | length1 = 4:25 | writer1 = Dick Heckstall-Smith, Jon Hiseman | title2 = Elegy | length2 = 3:10 | writer2 = James Litherland | title3 = Butty's Blues | length3 = 6:44 | writer3 = Litherland | title4 = The Machine Demands a Sacrifice | length4 = 3:52 | writer4 = Litherland, Heckstall-Smith, Pete Brown, Hiseman }} {{tracklist | headline = Side two | title5 = The Valentyne Suite" *"Theme One: January's Search" (6:20) *"Theme Two: February's Valentyne" (3:37) *"Theme Three: The Grass is Always Greener" (6:52) | length5 = 16:49 | writer5 = Dave Greenslade, Heckstall-Smith, Hiseman }}
==Personnel== ===Colosseum=== *Dave Greenslade – Hammond organ, vibraphone, piano, backing vocal on "The Machine Demands a Sacrifice" *Dick Heckstall-Smith – saxophones *Jon Hiseman – drums, machine on "The Machine Demands a Sacrifice" *James Litherland – guitars, lead vocals *Tony Reeves – bass guitars
===Guest musicians=== *Neil Ardley – conductor on "Butty's Blues", string arrangement on "Elegy" *Barbara Thompson – flute on "The Machine Demands a Sacrifice"
==Charts== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |- ! Chart (1969–70) ! Peak<br/>position |- ! scope="row" | Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref name=AUS>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|page=71|isbn=0-646-11917-6}}</ref> | align="center"| 18 |- {{Album chart|UK2|15|date=19691123|rowheader=true|accessdate=May 28, 2025}} |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Colosseum}}
{{authority control}}
Category:1969 albums Category:Colosseum (band) albums Category:Vertigo Records albums Category:Bronze Records albums Category:Albums produced by Gerry Bron