EL DORADO HOTEL

In Exile

There is simply no such thing as a weak Lana Lane album, and this one, their most recent album to date, is no exception. El Doroado Hotel does, however, have a somewhat different "feel" compared to previous albums. Most Prog fans would probably agree that the best two tracks are the opener and the closer. A Dream Full Of Fire is a rather typical Lana Lane number; a hard edged, progressive rocker. But it also features some uncharacteristic Middle- Eastern sounds in the middle section, to great effect. Next up is Maybe We'll Meet Again, a track that instantly reminds of Asia (the band, not the continent!). The song begins with a keyboard "fanfare" very much in the style of Geoff Downes. Since Erik Norlander has been co-writing (with John Payne) the material for the upcoming Asia featuring John Payne album, it is perhaps not surprising that some of that mindset would influence Lane Lane as well. Several Asia members even appear as guests here, including John Payne himself (providing backing vocals and mandolin!), Guthrie Govan (on guitars), and Jay Schellen (on drums). The title track is another very good song, featuring some wonderful acoustic guitar parts. Darkness Falls is good enough too, and Hotels is a gorgeous little piano ballad, but after that the album does take a turn towards less interesting material. The album reaches its lowest points with the pure Pop song Believe and the throwaway "party rocker" Life Of The Party. Gone Are The Days and Moon God are typical Lana Lane numbers, but as such they are somewhat predictable and less interesting than the material on previous studio albums. Overall, there is more of a Pop feel to this album than we have heard from them in the past. Not until the final track does the album really pick up again. Prog fans will be delighted to see a nearly 12 minute long epic here. But even if In Exile is indeed a good one, it falls far behind such masterpieces as the Astrology Suite from the Secrets Of Astrology album, for example.

El Dorado Hotel is a good album - no more, no less. It is somewhat different from most other albums by the band, and as such it is not really representative. In my opinion, it is one of their least good albums.

It took me a little time to get this album, Lana Lane´s previous CD Red Planet Boulevard showed some radical musical direction shift towards a much more AOR oriented stuff. Not that it was a bad move, but it did include some of the weakest stuff she ever recorded. And reading on the booklet that several members of John Payne´s Asia were playing on the record certainly didn´t dispel my fears she was even more deeply into that kind of music. Fortunatly, there was also the presence of her old Rocket Scientists colleages Mark McCrite, Don Schiff and Neil Citron to balance things. Besides, her husband, Erik Norlander, decided to stop playing to be John Paul Jones and concentrated in what he does best, meaning that his majestic and tasteful keyboards were on the forefront again.

Once I started to listen to the CD it was clear that the AOR tendencies are still around, of course, but with an edge and a much more inspired repertoire. In other words, those wonderful symphonic arrangements are present in force (the 11 minute In Exile being the best exemple, even if it is not exactly the best track). It seems that Lane had gathered the best of both worlds for a real strong and convincing album. It is ok that this is no Queen Of The Ocean, but still a real fine work that grows on you with every spin. There is great variety of styles and no fillers to be found here. As usual the performances are spotless: her voice is terrific but she is also a team player, giving the musicians plenty of room to contribute. The production is, as expected from anything Norlander produces, crystal clear.

It took Lana Lane five years to come up with a follow up to Red Planet Boulevard, against the usual 1 album per year during the mid 90´s to the early 2000s. But it was well worth the wait.

Rating: 4 strong stars.