Massive-lunged Norwegian vocalist Jorn Lande recently released two albums on the same day: The Gathering (a collection of songs from his pre-Masterplan days) and Unlocking the Past (10 classic-rock covers). Considering the albums' themes and contents, I may never know why these two titles weren't reversed. But I do know this: If you have even the slightest tendencies toward heavy and bombastic hard rock, you'll want to hear these discs.
The Gathering gathers 16 early songs dating back to at least 2000 – including tracks from his first two solo albums, Starfire and Worldchanger, plus his work with Ark and Millenium. Jorn's voice and style is built for multiple genres – from heavy metal to hard rock to AOR – and his Coverdale-meets-Dio delivery combined with his blond statuesque appearance practically defines the term "golden god."
Despite the fact that these songs have either been rerecorded or remixed, with mastering by Tommy Hansen, the sound quality varies. But The Gathering remains a fine and important 78-minute introduction to Jorn's vocal prowess and serves as a solid complement to his more-recent solo albums, Out to Every Nation and The Duke. Fans, meanwhile, will simply accept this album as a compilation that, in a better world, could have been labeled a hits package.
Track Listing:
1) Something Real
2) Gonna Find the Sun
3) Bridges Will Burn
4) Young Forever
5) Tungur Knivur
6) One Day We Will Put Out the Sun
7) Sunset Station
8) Hourglass
9) Gate of Tears
10) House of Cards
11) My Own Way
12) Worldchanger
13) Abyss of Evil
14) Where the Winds Blow
15) Christine
16) Big
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