QUEEN OF THE OCEAN

Finally Lana Lane is on PA!!! I was wondering when this great singer would be featured here. And now I´m glad that I can finally review the first CD I heard of her. I remember I was walking past a CD store when I heard her singing and was imediatly amazed by her voice. I bought the album right away and I still think it´s one of her best ever. For the ones not very familiar with her name, she is the wife of Erik Norlander (Rocket Scientists), a terrific player who also arranges, engineers and produces her CDs, plus do some songwriting. Lane has a incredible voice, very strong and unique that places in a league of her own. Fortunatly, she is also a team player and her discography serves as a great display of skillful musicians and fine instrumental parts as well as her powerful vocals.

I always thought that her mixture of progressive keys, hard rock guitars, pop sensibilities and nice vocal harmonies as something quite original and yet very accessible. it is no coincidence she has a very ecletic audience, being appreciated equally by metallers, progheads and pop fans. And certainly Queen Of The Ocean is her crowning achievement. Sorrounded by som eof the best musicians around: Norlander on keyboards, guitarrist and singer Mark McCrite (also from Rocket Scientists), bassist Tony Franklin (The Firm), lead guitarrist Neil Citron and drummer Tommy Amato.

The tracklist is quite impressive and varied: there you have the 9+ minute progressive epic of the title track (yes, with lots of instrumental parts), the heavy prog tune Night Falls (one of the many highlights of the album), the almost heavy metal Frankenstein Unbound (a perfect display of her powerhouse vocals and blistering guitar/moog/hammond solos), as well as soulful ballads (Let Heaven In, Without You). Lane can sing just about anything. All tracks are very well performed, laced with creative and tasteful arrangements, featuring the 70´s vintage sound of Norlander´s keys..

For the lucky ones like me, who could get a hold on the CD edition with three bonus tracks, the treat was even better: Throught The Rain is a fine exemple of how the band work as whole with some absolutely amazing vocal harmonies (plus another outstanding guitar/Hammond solos), while the live recordings of two Lana Lane´s classic, best known songs, Escher´s Staircase and Symphony Of Angels are simply perfect and quite superior to their studio original versions. the latter is probably her best song ever and this perfomance is absolutely breathtaking, just listen to the instrumental fills and the subtle, but gorgeous, drumming at the end.

The crystal clear sound (courtesy of the ever talented Norlander both as engineer and producer) makes this one of the most interesting albums of my entire collection. Simply essential to anyone who likes exquisite melodies with elaborated arrangements and magnificient playing.

Rating: even if Queen Of the Ocean is not entirely progressive, there´s no denying that this is a true classic, and a must have for anyone who likes melodic progressive rock. 5 stars with honors.