Who could have guessed that a Christopher Cross song would have so much traction in the metal world?
This is at least the third heavy cover of the song that I’m aware of. British metal icons Saxon recorded it in 1988, and the extra-vowel-loving thrash act Speeed, featuring members of Annihilator and Seven Witches, remade it in 1999.
Of the three, this cut from Jorn’s recent Frontiers Records release, Bring Heavy Rock to the Land, is also my favorite.
Norwegian wailer Jorn Lande is, in my opinion, one of the top hard rock vocalists out there today. He mixes the best elements of big voices like Ronnie James Dio and David Coverdale for a bold, powerful and classic delivery. That voice brings some much-needed power to the song.
Unlike the avalanche of Ronnie James Dio tributes that are sure to be headed our way in the coming months, Jorn Lande’s tribute was begun some time ago, when the metal legend was still very much alive. That, to me, puts it in a different league as a heartfelt tribute to the man and his music rather than a cold cash grab taking advantage of a tragic loss. That’s felt from start to finish on a record that is respectful, celebratory and would have been just as poignant if released before Dio’s death.
Jorn takes an interesting approach in selecting the songs, opting for songs that are meaningful to him rather than the “big” songs that might be expected.
Jorn Lande makes his return to Masterplan on their latest effort, Time to Be King, and it makes all the difference.
The band’s 2007 outing, MKII, without Lande at the helm, was an OK effort, but he was definitely missed. This record makes the absence obvious. With Lande on the mic, they’re a much more powerful outfit.
Projects that feature a who’s who of artists from a genre usually disappoint me. No matter the gathering of talent, it usually just doesn’t quite gel. One exception to that rule in the past has been Tobias Sammet’s Avantasia. Once again, for the most part, he overcomes that with the double release of The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon. A big difference is that Avantasia remains Sammet’s vision, rather than taking on the characteristics of the other artists.
What he doesn’t overcome is the curse of the double album. Typically, they only contain enough really good material for about one record and some uninspired filler. It could be because I started with Angel of Babylon and was just tired by the time I got to the middle of The Wicked Symphony, but Angel seems to be the much stronger release of the two.
I've long been an admirer of Jorn Lande's voice. It's classic in every sense of the word -- powerful, distinctive and memorable. He also surrounds himself with top-notch musicians who can deliver solid hard rock numbers. So I always look forward to a new record, and "Spirit Black" doesn't disappoint.
The title track lets the listener know right away what the record is about. It opens with a grooving heavy riff, big soaring vocals from Lande and a memorable melody. Actually, I could almost say repeat that formula 10 times and leave the review at that, but the record deserves more. When I say "repeat the formula," I certainly don't mean to imply that all of the songs sound the same. While all in a similar framework, there are some interesting variations. "Below" opens with a little bit of a funky lick. After the expected big opening guitar riff, "I Walk Alone" settles into a bluesy groove for the verse, with a strange guitar effect uner the vocals that sounds almost like a spacy reggae lick.
As with most of Lande's work, there's a very heavy influence of early Dio. It crops up most prominently in "Road of the Cross" with its chunky, chugging guitar riff and exotic lead melodies. It's got one of the better choruses on "Spirit Black" and serves as one of the best tunes here.
The "formula" does often make for some less than memorable numbers, though, and you can expect a few on each record. Here, you have "Rock and Roll Angel," which after a nice acoustic opening, gets kind of vanilla in the heavier parts. Likewise, there's not much memorable about "World Gone Mad." At other times, though, it works to perfection. "The Last Revolution" is a classic hard rock number featuring one of Lande's better vocal deliveries, while "Burn Your Flame" is a ripping old school rocker with shades of Led Zeppelin and some of Whitesnake's earlier, more raw work.
There are a couple of off the wall tracks here that get different results. "City Inbetween" has a bit of a strange melody with some Zeppelin influence on the chorus, but the big harmonized chorus comes off as a little cheesy to my ears. The other, album closer "The Sun Goes Down," gets a much better reception despite being stranger. An ethereal, atmospheric bit gets the song started with the focus entirely on Lande's vocals. The song is a little poppy in places, and the explosive synth effects sometimes sound like the soundtrack for a Star Wars-style space battle, but somehow they work. The huge, epic guitar solo certainly doesn't hurt either. It's an interesting track that bears further listening.
"Spirit Black" delivers exactly what fans expect from Lande and Co. There aren't many surprises, but that's not always a bad thing. It's certainly not here.
Epic albums with big-name guest stars are an iffy proposition. The expectations those all-star lineups create can be a bit of a letdown. That was the case for me with the latest effort from Ayreon, which I found a bit boring. On this record, though, the guest stars get bits that better reflect their own musical styles, and the result is more along the lines of what you might expect.
The side project of Edguy’s Tobias Sammet, Avantasia appeared on the scene in 2000. Sammet released two ambitious records, "The Metal Opera Part I" in 2001 and "The Metal Opera Part II" in 2002, then faded into the background until last year, when new EPs popped up in advance of this record.
The guest lineup is short, but impressive. Former Kiss drummer Eric Singer provides the backbone for the record. Alice Cooper, Jorn Lande, Michael Kiske, Amanda Somerville and Roy Kahn are among the guest vocalists. Rudolf Schenker lends some guitar work to help out producer/guitarist Sascha Paeth.
"The Scarecrow" starts with a bang. The huge, slightly exotic riff of “Twisted Mind” grabs you immediately and stays with you. It sets the standard for what will come later on this record, namely big, memorable melodies. The obligatory “epic” 11-minute title track follows. I normally find those songs more than a little self-indulgent, but “The Scarecrow” is the exception. The song flows well without a lot of filler material to stretch it out.
Things take a dip from there, as Sammet explores a more typical power metal sound with “Shelter from the Rain.” Then things get really odd. “Carry Me Over” sounds like a 1980s electronic pop song, and Somerville delivers an over-the-top pop diva performance on “What Kind of Love.” It made me wonder if I had warped into some kind of bizarro world after the incredible power of the first two numbers.
When the Iron Maiden-flavored opening licks of “Another Angel Down” kick in, they’re very welcome. It brings some sanity back to the world. Lande delivers an incredible vocal performance on the song, as usual, and it gets the record back on track. What’s most welcome on this record, though, is Alice Cooper’s guest performance on “The Toy Master.” Make no mistake, this isn’t an Avantasia song. Who wrote it is beside the point — this is an Alice Cooper song. The twisted number sounds like it came straight from Cooper’s “The Last Temptation,” and is far and away Alice’s best song since the “Brutal Planet” record. It clears out the cobwebs left by that little sidetrip into ’80s pop.
The final portion of the record is a mixed bag. “Devil in the Belfry” is the best of the bunch, a quite enjoyable speed/power metal number. “Cry Just a Little” is a skippable ballad that also has a lot of 1980s overtones, as does the more rocking “I Don’t Believe in Your Love” which reminds me a bit of the Scorpions. (Not sure from the album notes what songs Schenker plays on, but I’d guess this is one.) The final track, “Lost in Space,” is, not surprisingly, a spacy mid-tempo number with a little progressive influence. It’s one of the middle-of-the-road numbers here. Not as good as the first two tracks or the Cooper song, but the best of the ’80s-influenced half of the record.
"The Scarecrow" plays on the same kinds of influences that you hear in Sammet’s regular band, Edguy, but takes them in slightly different directions. It’s a very varied record covering a lot of styles, and while it occasionally misses the mark, it delivers more than its share of exciting and memorable music. It’s a great record that you’ll be humming long after listening to it.
