Allmusic's review was laudatory, saying the album "is a powerful one, unleashing each member's instrumental prowess at one point while consolidating each talent to form an explosive outpouring of progressive jazz/rock the next." They highly praised the variety and uniqueness of each song, the playing of the musicians, and the group's ability to create a blend of jazz, rock, and classical elements that was unconventional yet accessible. They concluded "the album never strays from its intensity or its creativity", and added that Valentyne Suite

Valentyne Suite

Valentyne Suite is a 1969 album by Colosseum. It was Vertigo Records' very first album release, and reached number 15 in the UK Albums Chart....

is similar and just as outstanding, even though Allmusic's official review of that album is largely negative.

UK Track listing

1. "Walking in the Park" (Bond) – 3:51
2. "Plenty Hard Luck" (Greenslade/Heckstall-Smith/Hiseman/Litherland/Reeves) – 4:23
3. "Mandarin" (Reeves/Greenslade) – 4:27
4. "Debut" (Greenslade/Heckstall-Smith/Hiseman/Reeves) – 6:20
5. "Beware the Ides of March" (Greenslade/Heckstall-Smith/Hiseman/Reeves) – 5:34
6. "The Road She Walked Before" (Heckstall-Smith) – 2:39
7. "Backwater Blues" (Leadbelly) – 7:35
8. "Those About to Die" (Greenslade/Heckstall-Smith/Hiseman/Reeves) – 4:49

US Track listing

In the United States, it was released in July 1969 on the Dunhill

Dunhill Records

Dunhill Records was started by Lou Adler, Al Bennett, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts in 1964 as Dunhill Productions, originally for the purpose of releasing Johnny Rivers recordings on Imperial Records. It became a record label in 1965 and was distributed by ABC Records...

 label with a different track list and a different cover.

1. "The Kettle" - 4:15
2. "Plenty Hard Luck" - 4:20
3. "Debut" - 6:13
4. "Those Who Are About to Die, Salute You - 4:47
5. "Valentyne Suite" - 15:18

1. "Valentyne Suite Theme One: January's Search" (Greenslade/Hiseman)
2. "Valentyne Suite Theme Two: February's Valentyne" (Greenslade/Hiseman)
3. "Valentyne Suite Theme Three: Beware the Ides Of March" (Heckstall-Smith/Hiseman)
   1. "Walking in the Park" - 3:49

Personnel

• Dave Greenslade
  Dave Greenslade
  Dave Greenslade is a British keyboards player. He has played in his own eponymous band, Greenslade, and others including Colosseum, If and Chris Farlowe's Thunderbirds....
  
   - organ, vibraphone, piano, backing vocal on "The Road She Walked Before"
• Dick Heckstall-Smith
  Dick Heckstall-Smith
  Dick Heckstall-Smith was an English jazz and blues saxophonist. He played with some of the most important English blues-rock and jazz fusion bands of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:...
  
   - saxophones
• Jon Hiseman
  Jon Hiseman
  Jon Hiseman is an English drummer, recording engineer, record producer and music publisher.-Career:...
  
   - drums
• James Litherland
  James Litherland
  James Litherland is an English singer and guitarist. He was born in Salford, England. He is the father of singer/producer James Blake.-Discography:With Colosseum*Those Who Are About To Die Salute You – 1968*Valentyne Suite – 1969...
  
   - guitar(except on "Backwater "Blues"), lead vocals
• Tony Reeves
  Tony Reeves
  Anthony 'Tony' Reeves is an English bass guitarist/contrabassist, noted for his "extremely prominent and complex bass sound" and use of electronic effects...
  
   - bass guitar
• Henry Lowther
  Henry Lowther (musician)
  Henry Lowther is an English jazz trumpeter.Lowther's first experience was on cornet in a Salvation Army band. He studied violin briefly at the Royal Academy of Music but returned to trumpet by 1960 though he sometimes played violin professionally...
  
  - trumpet on "Walking in the Park"
• Jim Roche - guitar on "Backwater Blues"