(Los Angeles, California 1 June 1998) Following her highly successful first tour of Japan in April of 1998, symphonic rock vocalist Lana Lane announces the release of LANA LANE LIVE IN JAPAN. The album was recorded at Club Citta in Kawasaki, Japan, just outside of Tokyo, to a packed house of electricity charged fans and followers.

LIVE IN JAPAN contains a deluxe selection of vivid live performances of 11 unforgettable songs from Lana's first four albums: LOVE IS AN ILLUSION, CURIOUS GOODS, GARDEN OF THE MOON and ECHOES FROM THE GARDEN.

The thunderous opener, "Garden of the Moon", brings the five - piece backing band onstage and gets the crowd moving with a combination of orchestral and tribal rhythms from drummer Tommy Amato and bassist Don Schiff. Mix in this with blazing solos from guitarist Neil Citron and keyboardist Erik Norlander and a heavy rhythm section groove held down by guitarist Mark McCrite. Lana appears onstage at the end of track to begin the song "Coloured Life", which is best described as The Beatles meet Led Zeppelin in a flash of texture and orchestration.

Next comes the eerie, driving Deep Purple inspired treasure from GARDEN OF THE MOON, "Destination Roswell". The track comes alive with a pulsing, hypnotic freight train rhythm feel from Schiff and Amato underneath Lana's distantly haunting verses and harmony - laced, menacing choruses. "Seasons" spreads out across the Club Citta hall with its spacious mix of McCrite's acoustic guitar, Norlander's vocoder and lush harmonies from the backing band.

The title track from LOVE IS AN ILLUSION rocks the house with its formidable assault in the form of heavy stereo rock guitars from Citron and McCrite. The classically memorable bridge brings ether to earth with Norlander's lush synthesizer chorale, reaching a symphonic climax with the singing harmony guitars. Lana brings the track to a thunderous conclusion with a burning high vocal out chorus performance.

The crown jewel from GARDEN OF THE MOON comes next with "Under the Olive Tree". The dynamics of this song are fully realized as it reaches from the warm electric piano and acoustic guitar opening all the way up to the anthemic chorus sung in rich harmony by Lana and McCrite over the heavy rock groove of Amato and Schiff. Citron and Norlander spin contapuntal lines throughout the song drawing the audience into the mystique of this moody rock anthem.

Continuing in the spirit of anthems is "Moongarden", the namesake of the GARDEN OF THE MOON disc and spiritual center of that album. The Led Zeppelin - like texture of McCrite's acoustic along with Citron's electric guitar adds weight and impact to the Lana's full range vocals, which tranform from soft to soaring.

An unexpected surprise on LIVE IN JAPAN is the acoustic performance of the classic melodic rock ballad from LOVE IS AN ILLUSION, "Through the Fire". Executed by Lana, Citron and McCrite alone, the two acoustic guitars and three voices fill the Kawasaki hall with a flash of tone, depth and substance that can only come from acoustic instruments and human voices. A creative turn on a Lana Lane classic, "Through the Fire" shows the range of emotion and timbre in Lana's voice, laid out clearly without any masking from studio orchestration.

A highlight of the recording is "Escher's Staircase" from CURIOUS GOODS. The hypnotic guitar patterns from Citron and McCrite float mysteriously over the heavy rock groove from Schiff and Amato with deep symphonic atmospheres from Norlander's synthesizers expanding the track into the next dimension. Lana's vocal captivates the listener with the depth of field that only a large live hall can provide.

Closing the set is the orchestral power ballad from LOVE IS AN ILLUSION, "Faerie Tale State of Mind", written by Lana and demonstrating a fireworks display of vocal acrobatics. The soaring chorus "Of you I dream" created a sea of waving arms as Lana graciously dedicated this song to her Japanese fans who had, through their unending support, brought her 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean to this unforgettable concert performance.

The encore of the show and last track on the LIVE IN JAPAN album is the Lana Lane favorite, "Symphony of Angels". The audience's enthusiasm for this track is evidenced in the energetic performance by the band and Lana as they delivered this symphonic rock masterpiece to the eager Club Citta audience. For the first time ever, this track was performed in its entirety complete with the classical string breakdown in the piece's center, framed by solos from both guitarists, McCrite and Citron.

In the fine tradition of her internationally acclaimed studio albums, LANA LANE LIVE IN JAPAN brings the studio to the stage in a powerhouse performance of sound and spectacle. The recording was captured to multitrack with audiophile precision so that this unforgettable event can be revisited again and again.

NOTES FROM THE PRODUCER'S DESK (from album's the liner notes)

This album was recorded at the very first Lana Lane show of her first Japanese tour in April, 1998. It encompasses songs from Lana's first four studio albums, LOVE IS AN ILLUSION (1995), CURIOUS GOODS (1996), GARDEN OF THE MOON (1998) and ECHOES FROM THE GARDEN (1998), and features the core musicians from those discs.

To capture the feel of the live show, I mixed the album from the stage perspective, which is of course how I heard the music during the concert. To the left is Mark McCrite, who covers rhythm guitar and acoustic guitar and also delivers very strong harmony vocals. Since Mark is an excellent lead singer himself (he is the frontman of Rocket Scientists), it was a tremendous privelege to have him on the tour. I think Mark's voice really helps to capture the character of the studio recordings in the live shows.

To the right side of the stereo field is Neil Citron. Neil covers lead guitar and also adds backing vocals. Neil played on a few tracks on Lana's debut album, LOVE IS AN ILLUSION, but his deep involvement with the project began on her second album, CURIOUS GOODS. In addition to co-writing many of the songs on CURIOUS GOODS (including "Escher's Staircase" and "Symphony of Angels" that appear on this live album), Neil was really able to stretch out and explore his very fluidic soloing style on that album. I think the addition of Neil's solo style is an integral part of the Lana Lane sound. What Neil started on CURIOUS GOODS expanded on GARDEN OF THE MOON, and I think that his innovative approach to the guitar will continue to evolve on future Lana Lane recordings.

More towards the center of the mix, the Lana Lane rhythm section is comprised of Tommy Amato on drums and Don Schiff on the NS/Stick. The NS/Stick is a very interesting new bass instrument designed as a collaboration between Chapman Stick inventor Emmett Chapman and Steinberger Guitars inventor Ned Steinberger. The NS/Stick was first recorded on Lana's ECHOES FROM THE GARDEN album which was released on the same day that this live recording was made. To my knowledge, this Lana Lane concert was the first appearance of the NS/Stick in a live performance as well.

Don's bass style is an interesting mix of jazz, funk, R&B and progressive rock. Don has always been a fan of the melodic bass playing of Paul McCartney as well the aggressive angular playing of Chris Squire. I think Don synthesizes the two styles well. CURIOUS GOODS featured bassist Tony Franklin, who of course has a slightly different style with an emphasis on fretless bass. On this album, Don plays two songs that were originally recorded by Tony, "Escher's Staircase" and "Symphony of Angels". I think Don's approach is an interesting turn on the original versions of those songs.

Tommy Amato has drummed on almost every Lana Lane song recorded. There are only a few exceptions, and one of them is "Faerie Tale State of Mind" from LOVE IS AN ILLUSION. Tommy has always been a fan of this song, and after four years of recording, he finally got to play it on this tour. Tommy brings a new dimension to this orchestral feeling track with his heavy groove and broad fills. "Faerie Tale" was new to Don as well -- Mark McCrite actually played bass on the studio version of this song! The Schiff / Amato rhythm section really adds weight to this spacious track and presents it in a new light.

As for myself, bringing the elaborate keyboard arrangments from the studio to the stage was certainly a challenge. I chose to base the keyboard sound around a Hammond B3, which was graciously supplied by the Club Citta' staff. This sound was extended through two Alesis QS8 synthesizers and several Alesis modules using my own samples of Mellotron, Moog and other instruments. On top of the Hammond was my venerable vocoder, which I have used on every Lana Lane album to date. This choir - like texture fills out the background vocal harmonies and adds a really nice symphonic edge to the music. Although it was certainly a difficult piece to carry all the way to Japan, I think that the resulting sound was worth the trouble.

Lana' vocal performance on this recording is an impassioned one. After releasing albums in Japan for several years, this was Lana's first chance to meet the fans who have so unwaveringly supported her music. I think that the sincerity and appreciation she feels for the fans really shows in her vocal delivery. The vocal sound on the live album is a bit different than on the studio albums. As you can imagine, it is not practical to use delicate tube microphones on stage, but in exchange for this tradeoff, there is the fabulous sound of the live hall, which is something that no studio effect can reproduce. I think this hall sound extends the vocal greatly and displays a side of Lana Lane that has only rarely been heard in the past.

So sit back and enjoy this very energetic performance of Lana Lane Live in Japan. For everyone in the band, this album is a very fond recollection of that fantastic night. I hope the album is equally memorable for you, the listener.

Erik Norlander

Los Angeles, June, 1998

 

© 2003 Think Tank Media

---