Lana Lane - Garden of the Moon Reviews

LANA LANE - GARDEN OF THE MOON

REVIEWS

(Special Edition)

" One of the best of Lana Lane's earlier albums now has new life thanks to this super 2CD set, which combines the melodic Garden of the Moon album with select tracks from its follow-up, the EP Echoes from the Garden, plus a few other goodies. For the completist, this is a must have collection.

Disc One is chock full of classic melodic hard rock featuring Lana's lush and powerful vocals. Songs like "Destination Roswell" and "Moongarden" contain catchy and intelligent lyrics, slick guitar playing from Neil Citron, Danelle Kern, and Mark McCrite, and symphonic keyboards from Erik Norlander. While the songs on Garden of the Moonare not as heavy as some of Lana's more recent recordings, there is still a great mix of melodic metal and progressive rock here, as evident on the bombastic "Evolution Revolution." For a more poignant performance, check out Lana's gorgeous vocal strains on "Seasons" and "Under the Olive Tree", two breathtaking pieces that show another, mellower side to the singers repertoire.

Disc Two kicks off with a remixed long version of "Frankenstein Unbound", a heady prog-metal number that gets things into high gear quickly. Following are tracks from the Echoes from the Garden and Echoes from the Ocean EP's, plus two interesting tidbits; a cover of the David Bowie and Pat Metheny song "This is Not America", plus a live version of "Symphony of Angels" recorded with Rockets Scientists from Germany in 1997.

It is a pleasure to get so much diverse Lana Lane in one package. Here's hoping the US catches on to what Japan already knows, that this talent truly is a star. "

Pete Pardo, Sea of Tranquility website, USA, June 27, 2002

www.seaoftranquility.org

"Garden of the Moon is American singer Lana Lane's third studio album. She has also released a live album [Lana Lane Live in Japan]. For me this CD was a first and at the same time overwhelming introduction. Lana turns out not only to be a fine singer, she also has an outstanding band, of which keyboard player Erik Norlander is the most important member. After all, he took care of the great sounding production and he wrote more than half of the songs. What's quite remarkable is there is no bass on this album. The basics are formed by Tommy Amato's drums and the Chapman Stick played by Don Schiff, who has also done part of the compositions. Fans of melodic hard rock, symphonic rock and progressive rock would do good to check this CD out. You will be confronted with a singer with a clear though powerful voice and a band that isn't afraid to use an out-of-the-oridinary song structure more or less. In itself the album is not too heavy (only "Evolution Revolution" with its weird instrumental intro is really uptempo) and it is mostly mid-tempo material though with a stirring character. Listen, for example, to the stirring "Moongarden" that varies constantly. This is a CD that you have to hear a couple of times before you can really appreciate its value. It took me 2 or 3 times, but take it from me: "Garden of the Moon" definitely has something to offer in the progressive / symphonic genre!"

Michel van de Moosdijk, Aardschok magazine, Holland, December 1998 -- translated from Dutch by Carola Klapwijk

"Today's "Garden of the Moon" encompasses under a unique sound that the first two albums foretold: the hard "unwrought" moments of the debut with the artistic scherzo of "Curious Goods". And it does this absolutely."

Chris Kissadjekian, Metal Hammer magazine, Greece, December 1998

" Following up "Curious Goods" ('96), this third album by Lana Lane is fabulous. Trust me, listen to this (especially to tracks 2 & 6), even if you are predjudiced against female vocalists. Anyone into melodic hard rock and heavy metal will be moved strongly by this album. Compared to the last album ["Curious Goods"], the guitar has been given a bigger role and is out in front, and this gives the sound a stronger hard rock / heavy metal edge, yet there are still the familiar symphonic arrangements (with lots of keyboards). Along with catchy melody lines, Lana Lane's singing is stunningly persuading. Some tunes may not be directly moving, but I can say that this album is definitely her best to date. Also, as a bonus track for the Japanese edition, a live version of "Symphony of Angels" is added, and it is really nice too. "

Score of 96 points out of 100.

Kaz Hirose, Burrn! magazine, Japan, March 1998

" Regular readers of these pages will already know how Lana's last album "Curious Goods" got me in full hyperbole mode, and it's gratifying to have a follow-up to review without an disproportionate delay. So no preamble, let's get to the music.

After the moody opening instrumental "River of Stars" you're launched into, the patently X-files approved, "Destination Roswell". First impressions are of a more direct and guitar-orientated approach than seen on "Curious Goods", closer to the material on her debut album "Love is an Illusion". In some ways it reaches you more on an emotional level rather then the cerebral design of the last album. The vocals are also intimate and eerie in the verses which makes an interesting contrast, and overall I find myself wanting to describe it as "impressionistic melodic hard rock" painting a musical picture around you rather than shouting "look at what I just drew"!

Fabulous class-encrusted rock then follows with "Seasons" which is not unlike Legs Diamond around the time of their "Out on Bail" album. A lot of fine qualities are combined, but the overall impression is about restrained power, rather like driving a super car around city streets (or even better, through a tunnel!) at moderate speeds, just to feel power available at a second's notice. The lyrics are still thought-provoking, but the music makes a more categorical statement.

"Evolution Revolution" rocks with some real venom, but nothing is ever that straight-forward with Lana as it has a shimmering, introspective mid-section -- probably just as well, as your average drummer would expire maintaining the opening pace through a seven minute song... "Eternal Waters" almost sounds like classic late 1970s UFO with a vague progressive edge, but "Under the Olive Tree" and "Dream of the Dragonfly" are much more complex and resourceful along the lines of "Curious Goods".

The production from Erik Norlander is even better than on "Curious Goods" and doesn't suffer from even the merest hint of compression. It's a wide-angle lens on the music and particularly has a sharper, more developed drum sound. This Japanese version also a bonus track in the shape of a live version of "Symphony of Angels" recorded in Germany with Norlander's band The Rocket Scientists, which is cool and almost more complex than the original studio version.

As a third release, this avoids the dangers of being a reworking of either of the previous efforts, while still combining elements of both. In many ways it winds up being more of an AOR album rather than the more overtly progressive second album. Initially it feels more emotional but then the lyrics draw you into interesting visions -- stimulating in many ways. There are whole levels of different musical dimensions displayed on many manifold plains that you'll pleasure in finding and reaching. An album that lives and breathes its best qualities with the listener. "

Ian McIntosh, AOR Basement, Scotland, March 1998

" This is the third album of the American female vocalist Lana Lane. Her debut "Love Is An Illusion" from 1995 was a good commercial sounding melodic rock/AOR album. The follow-up "Curious Goods" that was released in 1996 was a bit darker and more progressive, there were still some melodic parts, but mostly this album was heavier and not so good as her debut. Now, she has released her third album entitled "Garden Of The Moon", distributed in Europe by the German progressive label Limb Music. I thought the album was even more progressive and heavier (there are 3 guitarists!) than earlier releases of her, but after listening to the whole CD, I was pretty satisfied because "Garden Of The Moon" sounds very melodic happily. Producer was Erik Norlander. The musicians on e new album of Lana Lane are mostly unknown except for the drummer Tommy Amato who played with Paul Sabu for many years. Although there are only 9 tracks on the CD, of which 2 are short instrumental progressive sounding pieces, this album sounds pretty nice. "Destination Roswell", for example, is a good uptempo melodic AOR rocker that sounds like her first album. But the best track is "Under The Olive Tree". This is a fantastic AOR song, a bit like Jaime Kyle, and probably the best track Lana Lane has done so far. It has a great classy chorus that gets repeated a lot of times, so it will be stuck in your head after hearing it once. The rest of the album is nice melodic rock with a bit AOR influences. I can recommend this CD to fans of open minded female AOR/Melodic Rock. "

Strutter magazine, Holland, Janauary 1999

" The least which one can say about Angular Records (the label of Stefan Kost which originated as the neo-progressive rock division of Musea) is that it can certainly show eclecticism in its recruitment. " More than progressive" is his credo and it is completely the case. After the neo-progressive debates, the label hardened the tone of its sound with progressive metal inclinations ("Eternity X...") and then arrived at Lana Lane, who widens the palette of the label towards a strong rock n' roll American FM sound.

Miss Lane is not a beginner: it is her third album to date. Without knowing her preceding opuses, one can say from the start that this artist does not miss any paces in her selected musical genre. It would seem that the contribution of Erik Norlander (the Clive Nolan of the other side of the Atlantic would be a good description) is in almost equal proportion to the contribution of Lana herself. Composition, recording, mixing, keyboards ... his investment in the project seems to be quite decisive! Lana Lane herself admits to have the feeling of haven risen to a higher level because of Erik Norlander, but also, because of her work with the rest of the musicians of the group who form a compact unit, focused and effective.

The rhythm section is typically American, solid and tight. There are no less than three guitarists who generally harden the sound, but they can also create moments of spase acoustic tranquility sometimes. In contrast, one finds the keyboards of Erik Norlander and the voice of Lana Lane who expresses a certain reserve in her way of singing. This contrast between the energy of the band with the vocals without ornaments is very interesting. One could compare the music of this album to people like Lita Ford or Pat Benatar, but it is more sophisticated and more elaborate. Admittedly, that does not correspond strictly to the guns that patrol the progressive microcosm, but their heart and talent will definitely challenge you nevertheless."

Phillippe Gnana, Harmonie magazine, France, January 1999

" Erik Norlander already known by his works with the symphonic rock group Rocket Scientists and his solo album, having a producer like working attitude and strongly into Prog-Rock, and Lana Lane a singer who express her emotion straightly. Both of the 2 albums released by the project band Lana Lane led by these two personalities had the melodic and emotional attractiveness, thought the two albums had a rather different direction and by that fact the listeners weren't sure of which direction they will take.

The first album "Love Is An Illusion" features more simply approached songs, and by that , people got the impression that the more direct melody sung by Lana is their strong point, but the second album "Curious Goods" there are more prog-ness with the colorful and complex arrangements are featured and people got the impression that this more crafted direction has it's own charm as well.

So in short, by listening to these two albums, people got the impression that they have two directions (which came from the two personalities which lead this project group) and got confused feeling on which direction they should better keep focus on. Or even imagine, with these two different minds, could they find a well balanced finishing point (like the first two albums) in the future.

And here at their third album "Garden Of The Moon" they came up to a more matured result, with a directly moving melody, and an authentic Hard rock style were used to give a more straight ahead feeling, but still keeping the well crafted arrangements. Here they came up with the perfect blending of the two different personalities. So we've asked several questions to these two to search how they approached the recording and their feelings to come up to this result.

... we can see that the sound of this project comes from the mixture of Lana as the emotional singer and Erik as the crafty arranger. And as long as they keep their tight relationship I suppose they will keep bringing a romantic hard rock sound to us. Now, from the mixture of dreamy pop sense and hard-core progressive arrangements we've got a rising star of authentic hard rock. "

Ho-no-o ("Eternal Flame") magazine, Japan, April 1998

" Music creates a visual small cosmos together with imagination of the listener such great effect runs through the album Garden of the Moon. With the sound of natural colored image comes into the senses of the listeners. With their third album Lana Lane has achieved the ideal image of themselves where Lana Lane, the singer, is one of the most promising female musicians in the rock scene.

Since I heard some of the rough mixes of this album I was pretty much convinced that Garden of the Moon would be the best album. It has a definite musical direction and at the same time has great fulfilling melody lines which stuck in my ears for a while. It's not that this is only impressive, the sensibility of the music is built into my mind and stays there like a scar -- it gave me great impact. Although the music is very much guitar oriented, at the same time it has elements from progressive rock and together with transparent crystal like vocal gives Lana Lane beauty. On the advanced cassette of the rough mixes there were four songs Destination Rosewell, Seasons, Under The Olive Tree and Dream of the Dragonfly which I believe are some of the highlights of the album. Everything from the melody to the dynamics and the flow is brilliant and the melodies will stay in your mind in a good sense.

Erik Norlander who is the producer, songwriter and keyboard player of Lana Lane is also known as a leader of a progressive/symphonic rock band called Rocket Scientists whose supported Lana Lane from a progressive rock point of view. On the other hand, Lana, herself, learned flute and piano then later joined a top-40 band cover band, so it seems that she was not particularly into progressive rock. Whether this is true or not her cousin might be Davey Vain who later formed the band Vain. It seems like Lana has a musical background from hard rock. Having gone through Alley Opera she joined a band called Tres Max in Los Angeles but the keyboard player left the band to join the Nelson tour. The drummer from Tres Max introduced Erik to Lana and then she sang on the Rocket Scientist first album Earthbound where they started there activities together.

In 1995 Lana Lane's first solo album Love Is An Illusion was released which was made with the support of the members of Rocket Scientists. The mysterious artwork gave attention to lots of people. The artist is from Poland named Jacek Yerka, his works have been used for Lana Lane's albums since then. It is the kind of artwork that I can hear the sound from. Lana Lane's albums always starts with a prelude and end with a postlude which seems like a progressive rock approach whereas songs like Through the Fire and Through the Rain are hard rock approach and those songs give Lana Lane such an attractive sound. Lana Lane herself is a very attractive singer but her beauty is enhanced by the songwriting, arrangement and musicianship.

Their second album Curious Goods was released in 1996. On that album Tony Franklin ex from The Firm, Blue Murder and Whitesnake played bass having been introduced to Lana by Neil Citron. This is where the studio version of Symphony of Angels was included. Symphony of Angels was a great song, but the rest of the songs I found somehow mediocre. In other words, it seems that they were still looking for their direction. Whether to go for a more progressive rock oriented way or hard rock way. So the reason for their being able to come up with such a great third album is probably because they knew - they had decided what to do. To have good songs and to make the best use of Lana Lane as a singer those must have been the main theme on this album. In addition to members from the second album Lana Lane, Neil Citron, Tommy Amato, Erik Norlander, front man from the Rocket Scientists Mark McCrite joined and also Don Schiff who plays the Chapman Stick played on the recording. And one other thing which is worth mentioning is that a female guitar player Danelle Kern joined the recording who plays very impressive heavy rifts. I am not sure about her musical background but I heard that she comes from a heavy metal field and on those four songs that I mentioned earlier she plays impressively. The use of Danelle gave Lana Lane's sound even a better fusion between hard rock and symphonic arrangement. The best song of the album which I think is the prelude River of the Stars this prelude and the post lude Garden of the Moon were taken from the lyrics of Moongarden. This opening and the ending which I think are edgy and sharpness of the rhythm implies the direction of the album.

This new album definitely has the roots of hard rock which is one of Lana Lane's roots and as background Erik Norlander's sophisticated sound wall. As on the previous two albums the way they build up their symphonic sound is superb and the musicianship of the players which brings songwriting to another level and the skill of the producer. All these things come across on this album. The songwriting of Destination Rosewell was inspired by the fact that they visited Sedona, Arizona where there had been a UFO accident 50 years earlier. This song represents the best part of Lana Lane herself and all the other musicians. Destination Rosewell is followed by Seasons. This sequence gives a nice contrast between dynamic and static. Under The Olive Tree which is co-written by Tulley Winfield and Don Schiff is such a grammatical piece - it is breathtaking.

The sound on this album is visual which I think is the beauty of Lana Lane's music. The combination of the artwork of Jacek Yerka gives even more of a fantasy feel. The bonus track on this album is a performance by Rocket Scientist where Lana sings as a guest singer. She sings emotionally which gives me more expectation of her live performance in April. This new album is worth listening to over and over again. It is full of lots of great expression. This new album shows the real power of Lana Lane. "

Liner notes to the original 1998 Japanese release by Masa Ito, January 1998 -- translated from Japanese by Mariko Kawahara

" One of the real benefits of running a magazine like Feedback is that sometimes, just sometimes, you are sent an album of such brilliance and magnitude that it literally leaves you scratching your head and thinking "how come I have never heard of this artist before?" Such was the case when I was sent the most recent Lana Lane release. I then contacted Erik Norlander, who kindly sent me another three albums, along with one from Stefan Kost in Germany. That album "Garden of the Moon" is amazingly enough the only one that is available in Europe, with the rest being Japanese releases. It surely can only be a matter of time until they are all available over here, because there albums are wonderful. Lana has a tremendous voice and by joining with the brilliant Rocket Scientists has produced some wonderful work. Of course Rocket Scientists are a great band in their own right, but here they provide the basis of a group that includes three guitarists! Erik Norlander (keys, vocals), Tommy Amato (drums), Mark McCrite (guitar, vocals), Don Schiff (chapman stick, NS bass) of the Scientists are joined by Neil Citron (guitar, vocals) and Danelle Kern (rhythm guitar).

And so onto the first of her albums that was released this year (including the re-worked debut there have been four!). "Garden of the Moon" is the only one readily available in Europe, as it has been released on the German based Angular Records (who, like Inside Out, are now distributed by SPV). With Lana's backing band again Rocket Scientists plus Neil and Danelle, the music really jumps. Having essentially produced two very different albums the idea behind this release was to combine the two, which is done extremely effectively indeed. Lana sounds most at home here, and after a short instrumental it is into the driving commercial rock number "Destination Roswell". I would have thought that this would have been perfect for the AOR radio in the states as it is a great song, with a wonderful chorus, and the subject matter is very much en vogue at present. This sounds almost as if it were recorded totally live as there is a vibrancy and vitality. With Danelle concentrating on providing a very heavy rhythm guitar, Mark concentrating on acoustic and harmony, and Neil working on harmony and leads there is very little in the way of crossover.

This is a symphonic rock album that definitely works on all levels. If you want hard rock, it is there too (just listen to "Evolution Revolution"), but never do guitars manage to swamp the rest. Overall, and considering this is the easiest to get as well, this would be the studio album that I would use as an introduction to Lana. "

Kev Rowland, Feedback Magazine, UK, January 1999

" I admit to you that this is the first time that I have written about this American singer, whose success never exceeded the Japanese borders ... until now! Indeed, two albums already exist on the Japanese market [webmaster's note: Lana's first two albums are 'Love is an Illusion' and 'Curious Goods']. "Garden of the Moon" is thus the first that is distributed in our territory [Europe]. Do not pass up this excellent album of AOR rock n'roll that is executed masterfully by the excellent singer Lana Lane. The sound is excellent and the style someimtes points to Saraya (snif, snif!) or Heart. The music is more heavy than Alanah Myles on titles like "Evolution Revolution ". "Garden of the Moon" is a great album. The principal titles to be hear are "Under the Olive Tree", "Eternal Waters" and "Destination Roswell"."

Olivier, Foxmetal, France, February 1999, Score 8.5 out of 10

" This album is nothing short of absolutely sensational from start to finish. Everything about it is absolutely spot on. From the powerful superbly sung vocals through the riffing and soloing electric guitar, the rich and contrasting lead and textural synths/keys work, the muscular and propulsive rhythm section, the practically perfect production and the sheer quality of the songwriting - everything is in place to make this one of the most powerful and dynamic quality rock albums of the decade. The expressive feel to the awesome guitar riffing, the flow of the luxurious synth work and the sheer range of moods, along with the emotional compositions superbly delivered, makes this the album that Heart should have made after "Bad Animals". In the right place, at the right time with the right push on any one of several obvious singles on this amazing album, both the artist and the album would be enormously successful without a shadow of a doubt. It seems almost criminal that this album shouldn't be absolutely massive in terms of sales and popularity throughout the world. Prepared to be thrilled and excited by one of the best female rock vocalists around on as good a melodic rock album, that is positively thunderous in its execution, as good as it gets."

Andrew Garibaldi, CD Services, Scotland, 1999, Score 10 out of 10