Jorn Lande ~ Dukebox (hits comp) (album review) ... If Dio & Coverdale had a love-child!

Style: tribute, hard rock, classic rock, heavy metal
Label: AFM
Year: 2009
Home: Norway

Members: Jorn Lande ~ vocals
Jorn Viggo Lofstad, Tore Moren ~ guitars
Sid Ringsby, Morty Black ~ bass
Willy Bendiksen ~ drums

Additional: Stian Kristoffersen, Jan Axel Blomberg ~ drums
Magnus Rosen ~ bass


Norwegian metal singer JL should be more known. Those I've encountered who know his name or one of the many bands he's been a part of - Vagabond, Masterplan, Allen/Lande, Avantasia, The Snakes & Ark - praise him without hesitance, everyone else should discover him. His music ranges from power metal to more bluesy metal to thrash, but the range is smaller than not. He's got a groove that keys right into 70's metal & its Judas Priest or bust in his book & he's not interested in wavering from his focus. His solo output doesn't waver too much from the influences of his musical mentors & that might be what makes JL so pleasurable. He might be nearly obsessed with Ronnie James Dio & David Coverdale, I've earlier reviewed his album Dio of covers of guess who, & could step into Dio's shoes with no problem ... & he did play with Heaven & Hell after Dio's death actually alongside Glenn Hughes ... but what makes JL's vocals & music so pleasurable is how comfy a fit that is. JL is no weak imitation. He might be influenced by Dio right down to song structure & lyrical subjects, but JL makes it his own all the way. When he's not in Dio mode he's in Deep Purple era Coverdale mode. The problem though is the imitation, deliberate or just organic, is its sometimes a bit too imitative. Songs begin to sound more alike then not, which means they sound more like Whitesnake bootlegs than not, or more properly when Whitesnake went power metal, which they didn't do & that's where JL picks up where Coverdale leaves off. But, on the whole JL has the pipes to always keep it high quality if not the most interesting & sometimes the imitator is worth checking out just as much as the original. Dukebox collects sixteen of his solo hits together from his first five solo album spanning 2000 to 2008, excluding his 70's classic rock covers album Unlocking The Past. It seems like an obvious place to start when discovering JL, but it has some interesting quirks. It is a good introduction to JL, without doubt, for the new fan, but there's nothing here for old fans. There's no unreleased, B-sides or demos. It fails in providing for old fans. Maybe JL was disappointed too many times spending money on an album for one iffy new song. If that's the case I can forgive him as he's thinking smart & not greedy like every other musician. Okay, there is sort of something here for old fans in that two songs from his third album Out To Every Nation are new versions & while all the songs are previously released they have been remastered. It's not much, but its something. But, even for new fans there's a quirk. This is JL's second compilation. His first The Gathering brought together both solo songs & songs from some of his bands, making that a more diverse compilation. But, due to contractual issues he re-recorded his solo hits with his new band for that release. Though, I can't say which version is better as I've not heard many of the originals, but The Gathering is loved by JL fans so he certainly didn't do any damage to his catalog & maybe improved it. Old fans thus might find The Gathering interesting if they want alternative recordings with a different line-up, so that's the album for them. The quirk with Dukebox is that for all but the last two solo albums JL collects here The Gathering re-recordings. So, this ends up being a collection of a collection with two solo albums featured instead of the band songs. We get JL the songwriter but not how the music has changed over the decade. But, this is JL. It really hasn't changed as mentioned already. Even with the originals here instead it would sound as one cohesive set of songs, unlike what many compilations sound like, now it just sounds a bit more cohesive since all the songs are by the same band. Thus, for listenability it's a strong release. My thinking is if you're a casual fan you might be happy with this one album & that's all you'll want. With sixteen tracks this is thus a good buy & its just JL & not his bands. If you're a casual fan you won't necessarily care if you don't have the original versions. If you do want to go back & hear the originals, start anywhere. If you like this you'll love everything else JL has done & all the albums get good reviews. Just maybe avoid The Gathering, no reason to duplicate now that you've gone from new fan to old fan.

Jorn ~ Dio (album review) ... Doing Ronnie proud!

Style: tribute, hard rock, classic rock, heavy metal
Label: Frontiers
Year: 2010
Home: Norway

Members: Jorn Lande ~ vocals/10 string bass
Tor Erik Myhre, Tore Moren, Jörn Viggo Lofstad, Igor Gianola ~ guitars
Ronny Tegner, Tommy Hansen ~ keyboards
Espen Mjøen, Steinar Krokmo, Nick Angileri ~ bass
Stian Kristoffersen, Willy Bendiksen ~ drums

There is no denying the influence of late frontman Ronnie James Dio from Elf to Rainbow to Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell to his own group Dio. His voice, ubiquitous hand gestures, his elfish yet powerful stature & his songwriting has contributed much to heavy metal over the past decades. Where his legacy will go in the future is unknown, as really his influence is based on himself & not an array of songs like Lennon/McCartney. Consider that Dio only had a few certified hits early in its career; while RJD's time in Black Sabbath had its shares of musical stumbles even if many fans prefer him over Ozzy; few go around singing Rainbow songs, which is often just as much about guitarist Richie Blackmore than it is RJD; & as for Elf or Heaven & Hell ...? How will we remember RJD? The future it almost doesn't matter as right now RJD is the great icon whose voice can send shivers down your spine. Some of his ex-Dio bandmates have even toured as Dio's Disciples performing his songs & supposedly some unfinished material was handed over to the band by his widow. Books have been written & more are on the way. Right now, that's not a problem. Right now, there can not be enough tribute to the late singer. He deserves the honors. Thankfully, he got many in his lifetime. He died knowing where he stood in the metal pantheon. While the future may not necessarily dwell on him as we do now, it is only the fault of hindsight for we can still see the beginning of heavy metal not so many decades ago & that its just as much the personalities as anything else that has created the world & sound of metal. Where RJD might have lacked a hit he made up for it with an epic, literally, writing style that helped inspire many others that would have hits. He gave to heavy metal something that went beyond just some good songs - he gave a vision ... he also gave us the devil sign, regardless of what Gene Simmons claims. Everyone has to invent something ... yet RJD still gave the claim to his grandmother ... so there, Gene. Actually, my Italian father-in-law likes to do it to the tv so the football team he doesn't like will lose. I don't know if its works. Metal singer Jorn Lande, going simply by Jorn in his solo career, has done something many musicians might not dare to do - he released a tribute album covering RJD's songs. Who would have the courage to step into RJD's shoes, particularly so soon after his death? More importantly, who would dare? The irony is that the album was under construction before RJD's death, it became a tribute to the deceased by accident not intention. But, regardless of timing, who would think they could give justice to RJD's voice & an attempt a whole album to prove their skill? Well, Jorn is a pretty talented & experienced guy who can handle everything from blues to metal to pop. More importantly, he knows he's not RJD & he knows what he can do & shouldn't do & what he can do. This translates into not imitating RJD but trying to instead find the soul of RJD. & he indeed finds that soul & creates a pot of gold & a worthy tribute. Dio collects together the Dio songs: "Invisible", "Shame On The Night", "Push" "Stand Up & Shout", "Lord Of The Last Day", "Night People", "Sacred Heart", "Sunset Superman", "Lonely Is The Word - Letters From Earth", "Straight Through The Heart", "Kill The King" & "Don't Talk To Strangers" plus Jorn's original composition "Song For Ronnie James". Yes, one will notice my earlier thesis in play here - not a lot of hits that people may immediately know. Jorn has actually deliberately aimed for a collection that goes for the lesser known parts of RJD's pen & not the big hits. It would be nice to hear "Holy Diver", but its covered by every metal band in every rehearsal studio every where - I speak from experience playing the song in bands. Choosing lesser known songs might take some pressure off of Jorn's shoulders. We may not recognize the Black Sabbath song "Night People" so we don't critique it as harshly. On the other hand, we're liable to realize that RJD was more than just the hits. The hits were a side-effects of a very full career & have more to do with marketing than RJD's creativity. But, even if we choose to critique Dio harshly, Jorn has created a fine tribute that feels like RJD. It doesn't necessarily sound like him, he doesn't have RJD's vocals, but Jorn doesn't sound like he's overly straining to sound like someone's he's not. He's just having a good time. & one gets the feeling that RJD would approve of the effort ... maybe even go "I like those songs ... oh wait, they're mine!"