With
each album release the surprise effect diminishes, which means, in fact,
that Lana Lane has developed a type of music she can call her own; that
the name Lana Lane stands for a certain quality, time and time again.
When you add the unique sound of her voice to a cover from the
same sleeve-designer, the result is a class release from Lana, her
husband Erik Norlander on keyboards, the other Rocket Scientists and
guests like Vinnie Appice (a.o. Dio, Black Sabbath) and Mark Boals (a.o.
Yngwie Malmsteen). Whereas
the debut album mainly took place in the AOR world, she wisely decided
to follow a more symphonic direction and the elaborate arrangements from
Erik Norlander match perfectly. Since
he was hired as a producer and knows Lana inside out, he found the
possibility to fit in his keyboard performance in such a way that it
doesn't become the main subject of the arrangement. Just
listen to the opening song and you'll know what I mean.
The organ and keyboards are, somewhat, floating in the
background. From
this album on, Lana gets more involved in the writing process and her
way of composing has matured. An outstanding example is 'Before you go', not only because
it's built on a strong melody, but also because it contains a subtle,
coloured cellosound, which reopens a new world.
Surprisingly enough, I perceive the magic of "Homburg"
from Procol Harum throughout the track and that should be regarded as a
big compliment! In
"The beast within you" the applied dose of clavichord
contrasts with the rock-guitars and the hammering drums, consequently
contributing to the unique character of this song. Oriental
atmospheres glancingly floating in “Tears of Babylon”. The
rhythms appear, again, to fuse together Prog and AOR in "Life is
only a dream", but, with all the will in the world, what follows is
inexcusable. Together with
singer Mark Boals (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen), Lana covers the well known
"Con te partire" under the title: "Time to say
goodbye". I have no
problem with her singing it at private parties, but to push Andrea
Boccelli into Lana Lane's faithful public’s throat, is too far
fetched. Our
Italian friends will welcome this with open arms, but it seems Lana, as
well as Boals, just wanted to prove they’re more than just rock
singers. As far as I’m
concerned this is a totally superfluous track where the only thing they
really demonstrate is that they can’t cope with it and they rather
shout than sing. They
should stick to their own material like the throbbing “Redemption part
II” which is the instrumental continuation of the opening track.
In principle, this should be the end of the album, but a bonus
track is added : “Romeo and Julia”, a song canned during the
recordings of “Secrets of astrology” with Arjen Lucassen, Ed Warby
and Tony Franklin. Included
is a howling solo from Arjan. Yet again, not really strong enough to
burn the label <quality> onto one’s buttocks. “Shangri
La” is, consequently, not a real step forward, but another
confirmation of Lana Lane’s talents and the excellent co-operation
between partners complemented by their circle of friends. Reviewed
by : John “Bobo” Bollenberg Translated
by : Walter “Haha” Haentjens
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