Okay, well as the Americans would say, my batting average on new albums this year has been pretty damn poor --- I think two out of six so far have impressed me --- but last week's offering from the Boss was never going to have been in doubt, nor was it, and I'm hoping this will help get me back on track and go some way towards redressing the balance. There
must be better albums getting released, even this early in the year! Come on, we're nearly a quarter of the way into 2012!
I've liked Lana Lane ever since I heard “Lady Macbeth”, though I have to say some of the tracks from her other albums have somewhat underwhelmed me, but then I've tended to listen to them on playlists rather than as an album all the way through (I know, shame on me!) so I can't really say that any particular album has disappointed me, though her covers project, “Gemini” did fail to impress. But then, so did Fish when he tried the same on “Songs from the mirror”, and that's the only one of his albums I don't rate. Lana has a new album out this year, her first in four, so I'm expecting a big return to form and a serious thumbs up.
El Dorado Hotel --- Lana Lane --- 2012 (Think Tank)
For those of you who don't know, Lana is married to producer, musician and basically everything supremo Erik Norlander, and he usually plays on and produces her albums, as well as co-writing with her. He's of course involved here again, with a guest appearance by Asia's John Payne, not only singing (well, backup singing) but also playing mandolin! This I have to hear.
Big, growling guitars, heavy organ and rolling drums greet us as “A dream full of fire” opens the album, an epic, almost progressive rock piece, a long opener but not the longest on the album, but at just under eight and a half minutes it's plenty to sink your teeth into, to whet the appetite that has been waiting since 2008's “Red planet boulevard” to be satisfied. And satisfied it looks to be, as the song rocks along as it gets into its stride, Lana's voice as distinctive and strong as ever, certainly not seeming in any way dulled from four years of inactivity. Norlander is a constant presence on the keys, ever by her side, both as husband and musical partner, while guitar duties are taken by no less than five guys, giving the album, not surprisingly, a very heavy, guitar-centric feel, while yet allowing plenty of scope for Norlander to express himself as only he can on the keyboards.
A great running bass line more than halfway through is complemented by what sounds like cello, but isn't credited as such so perhaps that's on the banks of synths Erik Norlander is using. Either way, it sounds really impressive and just adds to the overall soundscape. On first listen this comes across as very similar to “Lady Macbeth”, which in my opinion is no bad thing, as that's my favourite of her albums. Great guitar solo, though who's playing it I couldn't tell you, as there are, as mentioned, five candidates. The song actually fades out on the solo, then we're into “Maybe we'll meet again”, with a huge, powerful keyboard intro very close to Europe's “The final countdown”, a mid-paced rocker with some really nice choral vocals (keyboard made?) and another great soaraway guitar solo. I have to admit, looking at the title I thought this would be a ballad. It's not. Though I'm confident there will be at least one, as Lana Lane does truly exceptional lovesongs.
The title track, as such --- it's actually called “El Dorado” --- comes in on spooky synth and strings, with gorgeous Spanish guitar, restrained percussion giving the song a very low-key feeling, and it seems indeed to be a somewhat epic (six minutes) rock cruncher, with heavy guitar and solid keyboard, Lana's voice passionate and yearning, the Spanish guitar really characterising the song and providing its identity. It's not clear from the lineup, but I'm going to guess that it's Mark McCrite who's behind the Spanish guitar, as he mentions the song is one of his favourites, and he
is one of the guitarists. Erik Norlander's keys certainly give the song a very progressive rock feel too, a lot of drama and intensity in a slowburning song that seems like it could go on forever.
There's very little short here, with most of the tracks heading over the five minute mark, many well over that, and “Darkness falls” is no exception, coming in at a respectable five minutes eight seconds. It starts off slowly, with more Spanish guitar and humming synth, then breaks into a dark rock groove a little in, sliding back into the soft, gentle melody and then back out again, with great backing vocals from John Payne. A beautiful acoustic or Spanish guitar solo (how do you tell the difference?) a little more than halfway in, which is then taken up by the electric guitar and runs all told for about a minute before Lana comes back in to take the song to its conclusion.
The shortest track is next, in “Hotels”, acoustic piano led with some nice guitar backup and a soulful vocal from Lana, decrying the life on the road as she sings
”I live in hotels/ A life I know well/ My personal Hell/ So very lonely.” Beautiful strings accompaniment opens up the song, piano keeping the melody with some brass, again probably Norlander on the synth as no trumpet or trombone player is credited. This is the first ballad, and certainly worth waiting for as Lana's soft, almost breathless vocal carries us along and into her world of room service and tour buses, which can of course have very much a downside.
Oh no! I'm shocked --- shocked! --- to hear Lana use vocoder on her vocals on “Believe”! Why? Oh why? She does not need any electronic processing of her voice: it's fine as it is. Well, luckily it's only sporadic use, but it really grates on me. Damn, I hate vocoders, in case you didn't already know. The song? Oh yeah. It's a mid-paced AOR style rocker, kind of in the Journey or Styx mould, but it's damn hard to concentrate on anything after that shock. The first, hopefully the only disappointment on the album so far. I must admit, Norlander's frequent use of what I have to term “the Europe riff” on his keys is also quite annoying. Once is okay I guess, but he's using it almost as a signature now, and come on man, “The final countdown” was a decade and a half ago now. I think they have the high ground here!
Good heavy guitar opening then to the other short track, “Life of the party” just about edging the four minutes, and it's a good straight-ahead rocker which certainly gives the five guitarists a chance to cut loose. I must say, I've heard John Payne's voice a little now (though not that much) but I have yet to hear this mandolin he's rumoured to play. Heavy organ adds to the song as it trundles along --- this will be good when played live, I have no doubt. Next up is “Gone are the days”, opening on choral synth but quickly breaking into a boogie rocker that rocks with energy, bopping along on an almost three-chord-boogie that reminds me in places of “Through the rain” from “Love is an illusion”. It's really a powerful rocker, and features a curious spoken word outro which may be Norlander, hard to say, but the voice sounds very English, so it could be John Payne. Some great guitar work though, and the bitter shock of the vocoder use is already a fading memory.
“Moon god” opens on wild guitar and organ, but that damn vocoder is back! Just when I'd wiped it from my mind, or as good as. Goddamn it! You would not believe how much I hate vocoders. I think the only time I can take them is when ELO used them back in the seventies and eighties. The track: concentrate on the track. Yes. Well, it's a mid-paced rocker that goes through some changes over its five minute length, with a really nice acoustic guitar bridge which is then joined by electric guitar and forms a great instrumental break about three minutes in, then goes back to heavy rock for the remainder of the song.
The closer is a new venture for Lana. An eleven-and-a-half-minute progressive rock epic, “In exile” opens on beautiful acoustic guitar and strings --- hints perhaps of Payne's much-anticipated mandolin there? --- and a soft, gentle vocal from Lana complemented by tender acoustic piano from her husband. Solid, ballad-style percussion cuts in, joined by some evocative electric guitar, which on the third minute crashes into life with heavy chords as the synth swells behind it and the drums get heavier, then it all drops back to a gentle acoustic guitar and piano melody.
In true prog-rock style though, it changes focus, as a funky bass taps out the new rhythm and guitars and keys join in an extended instrumental section, part of which is a great guitar solo and which stretches the instrumental break to almost four minutes, pulling in seventies-style Mellotron, staccato drumming and snarling guitar and ending on a drumbeat pulled from Marillion's “Misplaced childhood” as Lana comes back in, the piano backing her with the strings gently ushering the song along into its eighth minute. A complete stop then before the bass kicks things off again and drums and guitar are added along with some brassy-sounding synth, another great guitar solo which takes the piece, Pink Floyd-style, to the tenth minute before another breakout guitar solo finishes proceedings off, handing over to Norlander's synth, the two then combining to take the piece to its conclusion.
This is definitely one album that's been worth the wait, and it sets me up, as I knew it would, with a decent chance to turn things around. If the albums I review from now on end up being this good I'll soon forget the likes of “A brief crack of light”, “Whose side are you on” and “How to dismantle a U2”. There wasn't really any doubt in my mind this would help redress the balance: I've been waiting for a new Lana Lane album for years now (four, to be precise) and am delighted to be able to report that the wait is now over, and the album is everything I hoped it would be.
TRACKLISTING
1. A dream full of fire
2. Maybe we'll meet again
3. El Dorado
4. Darkness falls
5. Hotels
6. Believe
7. Life of the party
8. Gone are the days
9. Moon god
10. In exile