Jorn Lande, has come a long way from being a relatively unknown young lad, without a tache, to a full (on) metal mustachio-bearded shining golden metal god!
Facial hair, shenanigans aside, the guy has been extremely consistent, in both his performances, on and off the stage, coming up with really good solo albums frequently and partaking in some of the most illustrious side-projects that there are, out there (Avantasia, Ayreon, Allen/Lande etc). He’s also kept touring throughout the years bringing heavy rock to the land (!) that so desperately needs it and he was even summoned to stand in, for the great and late, Ronnie James Dio, after his passing as a special lead singer for Heaven and Hell!
Jorn the “band”, after some 3 years, which saw the release of a tribute and a live album, has now come up with a new studio effort. The pompously titled, “Bring Heavy Rock to the Land” does not deviate from the Jorn canon at all, delivering the goods of heavy rock, as it promises to.
Having grown up, in the era when Whitesnake and the Dio fronted bands, like Rainbow and Sabbath ruled, their magic has rubbed of and inspired the band members and so, their music pays tribute, exactly to the style of music that the aforementioned bands helped popularize!
“My Road” is a mysterious opener, not terribly long, but most certainly soul stirring,with its eerie and rainbowesque, air...
“Bring Heavy Rock to the Land” the eponymous track, is far better than it’s rather long title, would suggest. When I first read the title, I thought, how the fu#$, do yo put such a long sentence to a meter, how do you make it rhyme, while keeping the whole thing, from sounding lame and cheesy. Well, this song, is answer to those queries!
“A Thousand Cuts” is a song, about the crafting of art, what it means to be an artist and all that, and while, it's got some nice ideas and melodies, it’s 8 minutes of duration and some inherent cheesiness, keep it from being a firm favorite.
“Ride Like The Wind” is such a predictable, choice for a rock cover and it has been done, by tons of other artists before, but – why not! It works! And makes me wish I was Christopher Cross only younger, cause I’d be stinkin’ rich! (hahaha)
“Chains Around You” is one hell of a tune, a really catchy “Purple/Rainbow” combo, that however is completely original, it just has that vibe, with a bit of JLT’s charm as well, as in the bridge/chorus section, Jorn’s voice, has a ring, very similar to JLTs, when he’s belting out stuff ! Bravo!
“The World I See” is a typical Jorn, composition, in every aspect, a bit reminiscent of the general style of later-day Dio, with some sweeping key-scapes that keep it, from going in a heavier direction and a beautiful solo, towards the end.
Some might be quick to recognize “Time To Be King” as being the title as well as a song of Masterplan’s, fourth album. And those people would be quite right! This is indeed THAT song, but with an alternative orchestration/version that Jorn proposed, but wasn’t used. Which version one likes, would probably be a matter of personal preference, but I must say that both have their merits as well as similarities and differences. I personally like ‘em both, just for the record.
“Ride To The Guns” could be a sing-a-long, number, as it’s chorus tries to pass it for, but it ain’t terribly good. It ain’t bad either! It doesn’t scream filler, but it’s probably a little too silly to be taken too seriously! I totally can see that the band wanted a fast tune at this point, to keep the album from becoming monotonous, but still, we’re not talking perfection here. Then again, some albums, by once mighty bands, would love to have a song such as this, to save ‘em from total suckage, but this is telling of how low some people have fallen. My verdict reads: mediocre.
“Black Morning” has a folksier and laid back almost soulful feeling, quite reminiscent of some stuff, on David Coverdale’s sophomore album “Northwinds” with a tint of recent Skynyrd thrown in for good measure. Beautiful!
The bold proclamation of “I Came to Rock” closes the normal program, in a great fashion and there’s also another song in the form of “Live And Let Fly”, which is billed as a bonus track and is in fact a bit of a pastiche of various riffs and fragments used and unused in the album mixed with some mild rip-off’s from some Dio songs etc… and shaped into a funky fast paced, little rocker, that ain’t too shabby – but it ain’t too great either. Just some fun on the side I guess, as it indeed has a feelgood vibe, running through it!
Overall, Jorn, both the man and the band keep rocking as hard as they’ve ever done in the past, his “majesty” still maintains his magnificent golden voice and backed up, by some pretty strong material and his trusty companions, he keeps on bringing heavy rock to the land! Long may he keep doing that, then! Hup, Hup, Hurray!!!
Facial hair, shenanigans aside, the guy has been extremely consistent, in both his performances, on and off the stage, coming up with really good solo albums frequently and partaking in some of the most illustrious side-projects that there are, out there (Avantasia, Ayreon, Allen/Lande etc). He’s also kept touring throughout the years bringing heavy rock to the land (!) that so desperately needs it and he was even summoned to stand in, for the great and late, Ronnie James Dio, after his passing as a special lead singer for Heaven and Hell!
Jorn the “band”, after some 3 years, which saw the release of a tribute and a live album, has now come up with a new studio effort. The pompously titled, “Bring Heavy Rock to the Land” does not deviate from the Jorn canon at all, delivering the goods of heavy rock, as it promises to.
Having grown up, in the era when Whitesnake and the Dio fronted bands, like Rainbow and Sabbath ruled, their magic has rubbed of and inspired the band members and so, their music pays tribute, exactly to the style of music that the aforementioned bands helped popularize!
“My Road” is a mysterious opener, not terribly long, but most certainly soul stirring,with its eerie and rainbowesque, air...
“Bring Heavy Rock to the Land” the eponymous track, is far better than it’s rather long title, would suggest. When I first read the title, I thought, how the fu#$, do yo put such a long sentence to a meter, how do you make it rhyme, while keeping the whole thing, from sounding lame and cheesy. Well, this song, is answer to those queries!
“A Thousand Cuts” is a song, about the crafting of art, what it means to be an artist and all that, and while, it's got some nice ideas and melodies, it’s 8 minutes of duration and some inherent cheesiness, keep it from being a firm favorite.
“Ride Like The Wind” is such a predictable, choice for a rock cover and it has been done, by tons of other artists before, but – why not! It works! And makes me wish I was Christopher Cross only younger, cause I’d be stinkin’ rich! (hahaha)
“Chains Around You” is one hell of a tune, a really catchy “Purple/Rainbow” combo, that however is completely original, it just has that vibe, with a bit of JLT’s charm as well, as in the bridge/chorus section, Jorn’s voice, has a ring, very similar to JLTs, when he’s belting out stuff ! Bravo!
“The World I See” is a typical Jorn, composition, in every aspect, a bit reminiscent of the general style of later-day Dio, with some sweeping key-scapes that keep it, from going in a heavier direction and a beautiful solo, towards the end.
Some might be quick to recognize “Time To Be King” as being the title as well as a song of Masterplan’s, fourth album. And those people would be quite right! This is indeed THAT song, but with an alternative orchestration/version that Jorn proposed, but wasn’t used. Which version one likes, would probably be a matter of personal preference, but I must say that both have their merits as well as similarities and differences. I personally like ‘em both, just for the record.
“Ride To The Guns” could be a sing-a-long, number, as it’s chorus tries to pass it for, but it ain’t terribly good. It ain’t bad either! It doesn’t scream filler, but it’s probably a little too silly to be taken too seriously! I totally can see that the band wanted a fast tune at this point, to keep the album from becoming monotonous, but still, we’re not talking perfection here. Then again, some albums, by once mighty bands, would love to have a song such as this, to save ‘em from total suckage, but this is telling of how low some people have fallen. My verdict reads: mediocre.
“Black Morning” has a folksier and laid back almost soulful feeling, quite reminiscent of some stuff, on David Coverdale’s sophomore album “Northwinds” with a tint of recent Skynyrd thrown in for good measure. Beautiful!
The bold proclamation of “I Came to Rock” closes the normal program, in a great fashion and there’s also another song in the form of “Live And Let Fly”, which is billed as a bonus track and is in fact a bit of a pastiche of various riffs and fragments used and unused in the album mixed with some mild rip-off’s from some Dio songs etc… and shaped into a funky fast paced, little rocker, that ain’t too shabby – but it ain’t too great either. Just some fun on the side I guess, as it indeed has a feelgood vibe, running through it!
Overall, Jorn, both the man and the band keep rocking as hard as they’ve ever done in the past, his “majesty” still maintains his magnificent golden voice and backed up, by some pretty strong material and his trusty companions, he keeps on bringing heavy rock to the land! Long may he keep doing that, then! Hup, Hup, Hurray!!!
