Lana Lane - Garden Of The Moon | ||
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Album Cover: |
Label: Angular Records Producers: Erik Norlander Year: 1998 Total Playing Time: 52:19 mins:secs Review date: 6 March 1999 |
| Web site: www.angular-records.com
Email: | ||
| Rating: 8/9 | ||
| Verdict: This curious mixture of AOR & progressive rock found favour with me. | ||
| Sometimes you just take a chance on a record. I was browsing in a record store when spied this album. All that I could remember about Lana Lane was that Ian McIntosh at AOR Basement had mentioned them a few times in his column in SFK. I remembered that he had said good things about her, so this album came home with me. I don't know much about Lana Lane except that this is her third album. Producer, songwriter & keyboards player Erik Norlander says in the liner notes the first album was a commercial hard rock album and the second album was more experimental & progressive. This album is an attempt to fuse those two influences together to give a better idea of what Lana Lane's music is about. With the exception of Destination Roswell the garden theme is maintained throughout. My perception of the album is that it is a mixture of progressive metal, AOR and hard rock, with the emphasis on melody. and AOR/hard rock being the dominant influence. Heart is a name that springs to mind in places. Imagine a mixture of Heart & Dream Theater. It is a bit like the Storming Heaven album I reviewed elsewhere, it is difficult to pigeonhole. It might be hard to put a name to the type of music but I found it easy to like the album. However, I think a few people might find it a bit too 'quirky' for their tastes and come to the conclusion that it lacks cohesion. A few weeks ago I was thinking about compiling a list of my favourite albums from 1998 (nope, never did get round to writing the list) and this certainly one of the albums vying for the number one slot. Even though I listen mainly to hard rock and AOR, I find something with a progressive edge grabbing my attention (e.g. my No. 1 album - Dream Theater's Images & Words). The album begins and ends with a couple of instrumentals that are what you might expect from an act with progressive tendencies. Destination Roswell might deal with a somewhat jaded subject, but rocks along well in fairly commercial hard rock format. On 'Seasons' and 'Moodgarden' the Heart comparisons become valid. 'Moongarden' has a quieter passage that sounds like early Heart. On the heavier passages Chrissey Steele is more apt. 'Evolution, Revolution' is the 8 minute epic of the album. It contains all the progressive trademarks - fast paced rocking, quiet sections and widdly-diddly instrumental bits. 'Under The Olive Tree' has an orchestral opening before settling down to become a very acceptable slowish number with a hint of Heart. Eternal Waters sees the guitars taking a step forward again for a more traditional hard rock outing. 'Dream Of The Dragonfly' is a ballad that has Judie Tzuke as a possible comparison, before the second instrumental closes the album. 'Garden Of The Moon' is a curious mixture that might well fall between two camps - AOR fans & Progressive fans. This combination has found favour with me. | ||
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