Label : Think Tank Media
Review by Tony Cannella
Ever since her excellent debut, “Love Is An Illusion” was released in 1995, the queen of progressive rock Lana Lane has enjoyed a stellar career and has released albums at a prolific pace, rarely going more than a year between releases. Her last release was 2007’s “Red Planet Boulevard”, which was followed by almost five years of…, nothing (recorded material wise). Now, Lana returns from her hiatus with her new album “El Dorado Hotel”, and man I have to say, it is great to hear that voice once again. One thing that has always been constant is the fact that Lana Lane has surrounded herself with some top musicians and collaborators. In addition to her husband, keyboardist, producer, co-writer Erik Norlander, some other big names are on board, artists like John Payne of Asia, ex-Racer X guitarist Bruce Bouillet lend their massive talents along with longtime Lana Lane collaborators Mark McCrite, Neil Citron and Don Schiff and it’s a virtual who’s who of some great talent. The 8 ½ minute opener “A Dream Full of Fire” is pure Lana Lane and a great return to form, it is also the song that sets the tempo for the album. “Maybe We’ll Meet Again” has got a nice accessible mid-tempo quality to it, similar to “Let Heaven In” from the excellent “Queen of the Ocean”. Lana continues to be able to straddle the line between accessible AOR type music and intricate progressive rock passages effortlessly. “El Dorado” features a slower, more melodic tempo. Other highlights include: “Darkness Falls”, “Hotels”, “Believe” and “Moon God”. The whole thing is brought to its conclusion by the almost 12-minute epic “In Exile”. “El Dorado Hotel” is Lana Lane at her majestic, melodic and progressive best and is a solid addition to her ever expanding catalogue. Quietly and somewhat under the mainstream radar, Lana has put together a career based on consistency and when you look at her body of work you realize just how consistently good her music has been throughout the years and “El Dorado Hotel” is no different. It is hard to believe that it has been 17 years since her debut (where has the time gone?) but “El Dorado Hotel” just goes to show that Lana Lane has not only progressed but gotten better over the years. “El Dorado Hotel” brought a huge smile to my face and is one of those albums that you’ll want to hear again and again.
Rating – 95/100
Tracklist
- A Dream Full of Fire
- Maybe We’ll Meet Again
- El Dorado
- Darkness Falls
- Hotels
- Believe
- Life of the Party
- Gone Are the Days
- Moon God
- In Exile
Line Up
- Lana Lane – Vocals
- John Payne – Harmony and choral vocals, mandolin
- Mark McCrite – Guitars, bass, choral vocals, programming
- Bruce Bouillet – Guitars
- Neil Citron – Guitars
- Freddy DeMarco – Guitars
- Guthrie Govan – Guitars
- Erik Norlander – Keyboards, additional guitars, bass and programming
- Don Schiff – NS/Stick
- Mark Matthews – Bass
- Jay Schellen – Drums
Links
MySpace * ReverbNation * Site