Artist/ Band: Lana lane
Title: Red Planet Boulevard
Label: Think Tank Media
Year of Release: 2007
Artist/ Band Link (click for more details)

The Review:

Lana Lane has been very busy in 2007 with two albums, a covers album called ‘Gemini” and a all new studio release, Red Planet Boulevard. On Red Planet Boulevard I noticed a heavier element, heavier than Secrets of Astrology in fact. The only difference is this one has a more hard rock vibe on par with 70’s and 80’s icons Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio. Joining Lana Lane are husband Erik Norlander (keyboards & bass), Ernst van Ee (drums) and Peer Verschuren (guitar). Erik Norlander pulls double duty this time around with two instruments thus making a quartet. I’m not sure the reason but the results are great and that’s what counts.

One of the other differences is the more straight forward approach of most of the songs. Not too much though, just enough to give a more accessibility to more fans. I believe the reason for this sound is evident that the keyboards are in the background more than previous releases and the guitar is right up there in the mix. The first three songs are evident of this formula. My feeling is that this was done by Erik Norlander so to differentiate the Lana Lane music from his own and Rocket Scientists. I could be wrong but it makes sense to me.

Songs that I find as my personal favorites are the opener “Into The Fire,“, “Jessica “, “Lazy Summer Day” and the title track, which is an instrumental homage to the album much like how Genesis did on A Trick of A Tail, Wind & Withering and Duke to name a few. The rest of Red Planet Boulevard is a very good but I gravitate towards those songs. I’m proud to say that Red Planet Boulevard, while not progressive rock, it’s a great hard rock album. In times like these where hard rock sounds so samey and stagnant, RPB is a refreshing release and very recommended to her loyal fans as well as fans of the afore mentioned bands.

Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on March 20th, 2008

Tracks:

1. Into the Fire [5:10]
2. The Frozen Sea [5:05]
3. Capture the Sun [7:23]
4. Jessica [6:00]
5. Stepford, USA [4:04]
6. Shine [4:29]
7. Lazy Summer Day [5:43]
8. No Tears Left [5:32]
9. Save the World [6:20]
10. Angels and Magicians [6:01]
11. The Sheltering Sorrow [4:48]
12. Red Planet Boulevard [7:56]

Reviewed Discography

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