Jorn Lande has certainly proved himself one of the most
dedicated personalities of Rock music. He is also one of the most talented –
after all, what else but talent could have propelled him to records dozens of
albums with one band or another. Alice Cooper, Ayreon, Millenium, Eric Singer,
Rudolph Schenker, Masterplan, Tobias Sammet…the list of highly regarded bands
and musicians he’s worked with goes on and on…..
With the aptly-titled “Dukebox” AFM Records have released a
retrospective of Mr Lande’s solo material. To pick a couple, we find songs such
as the Dio-esque ‘Soul of the Wind’ and hook-laden ‘Lonely Are the Brave’ (both
these tracks from the “Lonely Are the Brave” album of 2008).
Frankly I’ve always hated the inherent arrogance of these
‘Compilations/Greatest Hits’ type of things. After all, if you don’t have
certain songs in your record collection then just get hold of the album and if
you already have those songs…well, then what’s the point in buying the
compilation!
Anyway, for those yet unfamiliar with the band, Jorn distils
the classical elements of Hard Rock (Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Dare, Magnum,
Rainbow…..) into songs dominated by a soulful and European singing style that
emphasises every single note. These songs could be quite standard fare for this
music genre but one can’t deny that they’ve been produced to very high
standards.
The bottom line is that “Dukebox” contains some great songs
but notwithstandingly remains a pointless release.
