Winter Sessions, Lana Lane's brand new CD, sees the talented vocalist taking a break from the aggressive hard rock/prog metal style of recent releases,and moves to a more melodic, moody, and atmospheric direction. If you have heard and loved some of Lana's ballad's collections, this will be right up your alley, but there's also plenty of alluring keyboard work from husband Erik Norlander to please the rock and prog audience. Mixing new original songs with a few covers, Winter Sessions takes the winter theme to new heights, and proves that the concept isn't only about snow and Christmas.
Songs like "What a World" and "Spirit of the Gypsy" are addictive and moody pop songs with just a hint of jazz, with Lane's vocals just dripping with beauty and emotion. The cover of Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is given a great treatment, with Lane's passionate and powerful vocals soaring over the vintage sounds of Norlander's Hammond organ work, which is a real treat. Lana also covers the jazz standards "I'll Be Seeing You" and "Ill Wind" very well, with thanks to David Schiff's sax work, and she also throws in a fun version of the 60's classic "California Dreamin' " from the Mama's and the Papa's .
For those who still prefer Lana's more rocking side, check out the melodic rock of "December Moon", complete with heavy lead and rhythm guitar work from Peer Verschuren, as well as blazing Moog solos from Norlander. Even better is her version of the Rocket Scientist classic "Carry Me Home", a driving, memorable rocker that is thoroughly addicting, and a tune that Lana makes her own here and perhaps surpasses the original. For a taste of pure emotional beauty, there's "Carnivale (Let it Rain)", where Lana's vocals hit gorgeous high notes, supported admirably by Norlander's Mellotron strings and the dueling lead guitars of Verschuren and Neil Citron. I also want to note the excellent Stick work of Don Schiff ,the solid drums of Gregg Bissonette, and the lush acoustic & electric guitars of Mark McCrite, all three who play important roles on the 11 tracks on this CD.
What a way to send Winter off and greet Spring hello here in early 2004. Chalk up another winner for the Queen of Melodic Rock, Lana Lane, who brings us another solid, enjoyable album of quality music, this time toning down the bombast for a little food for the soul.
Track Listing
1) What a World (5:03)
2) Spirit of the Gypsy (8:21)
3) A Whiter Shade of Pale (4:58)
4) December Moon (6:06)
5) I'll Be Seeing You (4:04)
6) Carnivale (Let it Rain) (6:20)
7) Carry Me Home (5:33)
8) Ill Wind (4:24)
9) California Dreamin' (4:02)
10) Winter Song (5:02)
11) Terminus Pro Tempore (5:15)
Total Running Time (59:30)
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