There’s no doubt that sometime within the past few years, we’ve seen a resurgence of ’80s music.
I’m not saying that people are bringing back their boomboxes back out and blasting Cyndi Lauper (that’s what they did in the ’80s… right?). I mean that more and more artists are making 21st century music that greatly resembles the tunes from the days when Aqua Net and neon leg warmers were all the rage.
Robby Valentine: ’80s Glam Rock
Robby Valentine brings us a tune that sounds like it’s straight out of the ’80s, and he looks the part while doing it. The Dutch artist who brought us the hit single “Over and Over Again” in the early ’90s is back with his latest single, “Black Rain,” from his 10th studio album, Bizarro World. The album, part of a double set re-release with The Queen Album, dropped on March 2 (March 7 in the UK).
“Black Rain” starts out just the same way that so many Journey songs start, including the echoing lyrics. Although I must say, Valentine’s voice more resembles that of Andy Biersack of modern glam metal rockers Black Veil Brides. The ballad seems to speed up around the 0:45 mark, complete with upbeat drumming and powerful vocals. As Valentine proclaims that “black rain is falling down on me,” he seems to have gained some backup vocals for the remainder of the chorus.
The accompanying video largely features a girl running through actual black rain. It opens with a quite nice black and white aerial shot of an unspecified European city and closes on the standard band performance shot. If that’s not enough to keep you entertained, then you’ll enjoy seeing flashes Valentine playing a keytar at a waterfront with that classic ’80s hair band hairstyle.
The track is catchy in its vocals, but I can’t imagine this being a song that I’d choose to listen to on a regular basis. The tune just can become a bit repetitive, and I can’t seem to find any particularly profound meaning to it past the pretty boilerplate “you’re misunderstood but you’ll be okay in the end” fare. Valentine definitely put his all into this track, which I can appreciate, but it just doesn’t leave a memorable impression for me. If nothing else, I know I’ll be singing the line “black rain is coming down on me” for the next few days.
You can check more of Robby Valentine’s work here.