Frontiers Out Now
Line-up:
Jorn Lande – vocals
Alessandro Del Vecchio – keyboards
Sid Ringsby – bass
Tore Moren, Jgor Gianola – guitars
Francesco Jovino – drums
Tracklist:
Lonely Nights
Winning
New York Minute
Needles And Pins
Love
I Do Believe In You
Nightlife
Bad Attitude
Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)
Mystery
The Rhythm Of The Heat
Hotel California (Remastered – Bonus Track)
The Final Frontier (Radio Edit – Bonus Track)
Die Young (Radio Edit – Bonus Track)
Naked City (Radio Edit – Bonus Track)
Ride LIke The Wind (Remastered – Bonus Track)
It appears that the mighty Jorn may have taken a bit of a misstep in his career with the recent release of Heavy Rock Radio II: Executing the Classics. The overwhelming consensus, online at least, has brought much wrath and consternation from his fanbase. Some lament the distraction of yet another covers album keeping him from recording new material. This may be a valid point, but after an amazing album as Life On Death Road, maybe he’s decided to churn out some easy releases. As extensive a catalog of original music this man has, I can bet there will be new material coming soon. Another complaint was the song selection. Frankly, I think this run of material was even more interesting than the last Heavy Rock Radio as the cuts are much deeper this time, some of which I’ve not heard in years. Maybe people are too young to recall some of these tracks? Score one for the aged I suppose.
Jorn is one of those singers who can literally sing a phone book (hell, he could sing a Norwegian phone book for all I care) and make it sound great. He’s been one of my favorite vocalists for a while now, and I’ve found very little by him I’ve not loved to some degree. Putting that aside a moment, I want to commend the band for a phenomenal job of presenting these songs the way they did. Credit is due here in a big way as they’ve taken songs not necessarily geared for a metallic interpretation and handled it like the pros they are. For me, that helped my enjoyment of this album as much as the last. Hearing “Winning,” “New York Minute,” “and “The Rhythm of the Heat” with a harder edge gave new perspective for these songs I’ve heard thousands of times. The songs like “Lonely Night,” “Needles and Pins,” and “Mystery” fit easily into the Jorn Songbook as he tends to be at his best delivering melodic metal and of course Dio. The only track I could live without was the Manfred Mann “Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)” as I was never a big fan of the original, if I’m being honest.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Hate Heavy Rock Radio II: Executing the Classics if you must, but not just from a fanboy stance, I thought this was a very entertaining album. Jorn and his band delivered a great product. Of course, I would love to hear some new material from him, and again, I suspect that is coming sooner rather than later. I think cover/tribute albums are a way for an artist to release new music and gives them a chance to pay tribute to songs that influenced them as well as not having to put too much effort into writing a new album. Again, this may be a legit complaint to have, but cut the man some slack. Just be thankful he’s still out there making music and still sounds amazing.
Written by: Chris Martin
Ratings: 8/10
https://open.spotify.com/album/0yDZwMe2YGuRb9BoxOCQWA
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