Lane, Lana - Covers Collection
Year of Release: 2003
Label: Think Tank
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 51:41:00Lana Lane is often called the Queen of Progressive Rock, a title well deserved, as she has released several excellent albums. In 2000 she released Secrets Of Astrology, her heaviest album to date, where she was joined by, amongst others, Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon, Star One) and Ed Warby (ex-Gorefest, Ayreon, Star One). But in the past she has also recorded several covers, like "In The Court Of The Crimson King" (King Crimson) and "Season's End" (Marillion), and with Erik Norlander (co-writer, producer, keyboard player and husband), these songs ended up similar to the original songs, but yet with a different touch. Now Lana has recorded a whole album of covers, spanning the 70s through to the 90s. As Lana, besides Erik Norlander, has no band to support her, the album features many guest musicians, including Greg Bissonette (ELO, Joe Satriani), Nick D'Virgilio (Spock's Beard) and Ed Warby (Ayreon) on drums, Mark McCrite (Rocket Scientists), Arjen Lucassen, Neil Citron and Gabriel Moses on guitar, Tony Franklin (Blue Murder, Whitesnake) on fretless bass and string players Novi Novog (Viola) and Cameron Stone (Cello).
The album holds various known songs, like "The Wall" (Kansas), the, a bit obvious, "Kashmir" (Led Zeppelin), "Hold Your Head Up" (Argent), with Erik Norlander not just on keys, but also on bass guitar and ? guitar! Very surprising, but it sounds very good. "Soaring," is a song from a band that they only recently discovered (Aviary), and Lana's expressive vocals fit very well in this song. "Innocence" (Enuff Z'Nuff) is a ballad with a bit of an ELO sound. Lana Lane is very good at ballads, so there are more ballads on the album: "I'll See You In My Dreams" by Giant, although I would swear I have heard this song by another band, but I cannot remember which band it was, with excellent keyboards, but I miss the edge of the original a bit.
Queen is a band that, in my opinion, should not be covered as no one can ever reach the same level as Freddy Mercury did. But Lana's vocals do fit with the track on the album, "Don't Try So Hard," and Novog's solo is also great, so it is nice to listen to, again with Norlander on guitars and keys. The one song they should have skipped is the Scorpions classic "Still Loving You;" it is a typical Lana Lane song, with excellent vocals and the string arrangement takes the place of the haunting guitar riffs of the original song, which gives it a quite different sound, but still, the original sounds much better, with more power in the music. "Weep In Silence" by Uriah Heep was originally recorded for an upcoming Uriah Heep Tribute album, but Lana Lane was "allowed" to add the song to Covers Collection. As always, all good things come to an end. But what an end this Covers Collection album has: "Stargazer" by Rainbow, which was recorded during the recording sessions for Lana's Secrets Of Astrology album, late 1999 / early 2000 in Holland. As Cozy Powell had sadly died earlier that year, they recorded the song as a tribute, with fabulous drumming by Ed Warby and a fantastic guitar solo by Arjen Lucassen that would make Ritchie Blackmore jealous, followed by a superb cello solo by Cameron Stone and an excellent keyboard solo by Norlander.
An album with covers always brings mixed emotions, as everyone has his or her own feeling with a song, and one will prefer the original while another loves the cover. No matter how you feel about the covers on this album, one thing is for sure: Lana Lane has the unique talent to interpret the songs in her own way and thus not merely copying songs; she brings them in her own unique style and grace. The production is excellent and the artwork is great, a trademark of Lana's albums, and the booklet has a story with each song, giving you some background information on the why and what. The Covers Collection is a surprising album and a worthy addition to your collection of classic songs.
[This review originally appeared June 2003 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]
Tracklisting:
The Wall (Kansas) / Kashmir (Led Zeppelin) / Soaring (Aviary) / Hold Your Head Up (Argent) / Innocence (Enuff Znuff) / I'll See You In My Dreams (Giant) / Don't Try So Hard (Queen) / Northern Lights (TNT) / Still Loving You (Scorpions) / Weep In Silence (Uriah Heep) / Stargazer (Rainbow)
Musicians:
Lana Lane - vocals
Erik Norlander - keyboards, bass and guitar
Gregg Bissonette - drums (1-9)
Tony Franklin - bass (1, 2, 11)
Mark McCrite - guitar, vocals
Novi Novog - viola (1, 3, 7)
Cameron Stone - cello (2, 11)
Gabriel Moses - guitar (8)
Nick D'Virgilio - drums (10)
Neil Citron - guitar (10)
Ed Warby - drums (11) Arjen Lucassen - guitar (11)
Robert Soeterboek - vocals (11)
Discography:
Love Is An Illusion (1995)
Curious Goods (1996/2002)
Garden Of The Moon (1998/2002)
Echoes From The Garden (1998)
Live In Japan (1998)
Love Is An Illusion 1998 Version (1998)
Ballad Collection (1998)
Acoustic Live in Tokyo (1999) (promotional release only)
Queen Of The Ocean (1999/2005)
Echoes From The Ocean (1999)
Secrets Of Astrology (2000/2005)
Ballad Collection (2000)
Project Shangra-La (2002)
Covers Collection (2002/2003)
Lana Lane and Erik Norlander - European Tour 2003 Souvenir CD (2003)
Winter Sessions (2003)
Return To Japan (2004)
Lady Macbeth (2005)
Gemini (2006)
Red Planet Boulevard (2007)
The Best Of Lana Lane 2000-2008 (2008)
Storybook - Tales From Europe And Japan (2004) (DVD)
Genre: Progressive Rock
Origin US
Added: December 20th 2004
Reviewer: Marcel Haster
Score:
Artist website: www.lanalane.com
Hits: 4059
Language: english
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