Label: Frontiers Music Srl.
Release date: 24.01.2020
Production: Jorn Lande
Genre: Hard Rock
Rating: 8.5 / 10
People like to call Jorn Lande Norway’s biggest musical export, right behind the eighties pop icons A-Ha. That’s debatable, of course. But one thing is for sure: he’s one of the finest vocalists in hard rock and metal of our time. There’s no debate about that If anyone qualifies, it’s Lande. Over the past two decades he’s left an indelible mark on the metal and rock scene. Simply with his unique vocal approach, which walks the line where the best you can pull out of Ronnie James Dio on one side and David Coverdale on the other meet. On that front, Jorn is a vocal one-of-a-kind with an incredibly strong expressive character. As such, he’s always been a key element that noticeably shapes the artistic face of the material that has been created, or is being created, on many albums, whether we’re talking about Ark, Masterplan, Brazen Abbot, the Allen / Lande project, or his solo career, in which he’s racked up a heap of excellent hard rock albums. As a vocalist, Jorn currently has his name on over 40 different albums.
Years ago, Jorn Lande already put out compilations of cover songs. On them he liked to focus mostly on the idols who’ve always been big role models for the singer and with whom he honed himself into an outstanding rock vocalist. Dio, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, UFO, Deep Purple. That’s no secret. Back in the nineties, Lande shot to fame as the vocalist of The Snakes, when he had to imitate Coverdale, and from there his career took off in large part thanks to hugely successful covers, especially of Whitesnake and DIO. “Heavy Rock Radio II– Executing the Classics” is actually already Jorn’s fourth compilation of this kind and the second one titled “Heavy Rock Radio”, which only confirms that the audience demand for such releases (artistic moves) is big enough. Once again, the selection is a colorful cross-section of the singer’s musical affinities and leanings. The second part ventures into somewhat softer, more radio-friendly territory and is in any case very interesting to discover.
Jorn Lande and his crew of seasoned musicians have certainly delivered another intense “Jornification” of the arrangements, and all these reworkings of the originals found on this new compilation ignite in harmony with the already proven “Jornisms.” Anyway, this Jorn “jukebox” has served up hours of studio fun and comes across as entertaining and relaxed all the way through, but not every track grabs you with the same force, which would be a utopian expectation anyway. The hit songbook includes a really interesting selection, among others, such as the Deep Purple cover of Bad Attitude, a souped-up take on Gabriel’s The Rhythm Of The Heart, with Mystery Jorn once again bows to the timeless figure of Ronnie James Dio, there’s the fun Night Life, originally by Foreigner, plus Don Henley’s New York Minute or I Do Believe in You, which belongs to Pages. Then there are versions like the seriously spiced-up cover of the folk song Quinn the Eskimo (The Might Quinn), which was once tackled by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Gotthard and the universally known and otherwise untouchable singer-songwriter ace Bob Dylan. The opener is a cover of Bryan Adams’ Lonely Nights, which Uriah Heep also covered way back when, and Needles And Pins (orig. The Searchers) is there too, a song that’s been the subject of such endeavors by many, including Smokie, Ramones, Tom Petty and Cher. Russ Ballard’s Winning, which Carlos Santana also once reworked, is quite a surprise inclusion.
It’s no secret that the label Frontiers Music Srl. is gratefully breaking up the time gap Jorn needs to release a new solo studio album this way, “honoring” his fans with a little “candy” in between. It went even further. As bonus tracks, this compilation includes radio-edited versions of some of the covers that appear on the compilation “Heavy Rock Radio 1” (2016), which is meant to partly satisfy those who don’t have the first part, or who are simply curious about what’s on it. The whole thing as a package is a pretty hefty chunk that you’ll have to chew your way through. In any case, you have to be a Jorn fan first and foremost, otherwise the effort is all for nothing.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list;
1. Lonely Nights
2. Winning
3. New York Minute
4. Needles And Pins
5. Love
6. I Do Believe In You
7. Nightlife
8. Bad Attitude
9. Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)
10. Mystery
11. The Rhythm Of The Heat
Lineup:
Jorn Lande – vocals
Alessandro Del Vecchio – keyboards
Tore Moren – guitar
Jgor Gianola – guitar
Sid Ringsby – bass guitar
Francesco Jovino – drums
