CURIOUS GOODS

Lana Lane's second album is a bit harder edged and more progressive than the first one. Even if it was released only the year after the debut, they already had a new set of great songs at their disposal. Not quite as strong as the material on the debut, but very good nonetheless. In a sense they here took the formula of Love Is An Illusion and expanded upon it a bit. There is a somewhat broader set of sounds and influences, and as noted above there is a somewhat harder edge and slightly more adventurous spirit, but overall Curious Goods is generally continuous with the debut. The band once again sounds completely confident and professional, as writers, as performers, and in the recording studio. You get the feeling that they know precisely what they want to do, as well as precisely how to do it. They have the vocal, instrumental, and artistic "resources", most bands can only dream of.

This album too opens with an instrumental, as has become a trademark of the band's albums (This instrumental is part one of the title track). The next two tracks, Emerald City and Escher's Staircase, are great songs, but after that there is a slight drop in quality. There are absolutely no weak songs as such, but not every song is up the band's highest standards. Heart Of Dawn (on which Norlander uses a keyboard sound that Rick Wakeman used in the 80's) is an instrumental introduction to Take A Breath, and these two work well enough. Reverie is a jazzy ballad that perhaps is slightly too long for its own good. Symphony Of Angels return to the rockier style once more and this song has become a live favourite for the band.

There are apparently two different versions of this album. Mine is the 2002 version with re- recorded vocals; re-mixed and re-mastered. I have not heard the original 1996 version. Another difference is that whereas the 1996 version includes a cover of the Steely Dan's Do It Again, the 2002 re-issue features instead a cover of the James Bond theme You Only Live Twice. Both versions are featured in the special edition 2CD package.

Overall, this is definitely a good album, just not among the band's best.