Lane, Lana - Queen Of The Ocean

Year of Release: 1999
Label: Limb Music Products
Catalog Number: LMPR 31502
Format: CD
Total Time: 68:29:00

Whilst Annie Haslam, longtime face and voice of Renaissance, goes through life being labeled as the "leading lady of prog," she can expect some fierce competition in years to come. Not so much where the timbre of her voice is concerned but more as an answer to the ever-growing revival of progressive rock, we can now welcome from the States: Lana Lane. Together with members of the famous band Rocket Scientists (Lana is wife to keyboardist Erik Norlander), this Lana Lane has been, just like her Mexican friends in Cast, very productive in a very short period of time. This has resulted in albums such as Love Is An Illusion, Curious Goods, Garden Of The Moon, the EP Echoes From The Garden and Live In Japan. Trying to conquer Europe, please add Queen Of The Ocean to the list.

Augmented with the bonus track "Through The Rain" and two tracks recorded live in Japan ("Escher's Staircase" and "Symphony Of Angels") this new offering from Lana Lane situates itself in the higher regions of the current progressive world. Her voice gets very close to that of the Wilson sisters from the famous band Heart. Even the rhythm guitar in "Night Falls" sounds likes an outtake from "Barracuda!" "Let Heaven In" opens with nice guitars evolving into pure AOR. The rhythmic "Frankenstein Unbound" precedes the nicely balanced "Souls Of The Mermaids," a song where the percussive elements produce some nice contrasts. Fireworks galore during "Rainbow's End," what with the splendid drumming of Tommy Amato, the sharp synths of Erik Norlander, and the biting guitars of Neil Citron through which the bass of Tony Franklin shines in all its glory. Franklin certainly isn't unknown to lovers of AOR, having been a member of both The Firm and Blue Murder. He plays fretless bass throughout the album, yet this is at its best in the softer songs such as "Without You."

Contrary to the previous albums, Norlander has used more of his vintage seventies keyboard sounds. So do expect a fair amount of Mellotron, Hammond, Fender Rhodes and Mini-Moog in order to add the necessary sounds and atmosphere. The album was produced by Norlander, and as a "finishing touch" it is once again released in a wonderful sleeve design by Polish surrealist Jacek Yerka: the icing on a brilliant cake!

Tracklisting:
In The Hall Of The Ocean Queen (1:42) / Night Falls (7:14) / Queen Of The Ocean (9:52) / Let Heaven In (6:43) / Frankenstein Unbound (5:26) / Souls Of The Mermaids (5:40) / Rainbow's End (6:07) / Without You (8:07) / Bonus Tracks: Through The Rain (5:59) / Escher's Staircase - Live In Japan (6:24) / Symphony Of Angels - Live In Japan (7:15)

Musicians:
Lana Lane - vocals
Neil Citron - guitars
Mark Mccrite - acoustic guitars, electric rhythm guitars, background vocals
Tommy Amato - drums, percussion
Tony Franklin - fretless bass
Erik Norlander - Mellotron, Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes piano, Minimoog, Yamaha & Alesis synthesizers, vocoder & background vocals

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: March 1st 2000
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: www.lanalane.com
Hits: 4254
Language: english