JORN LANDE: Heavy Rock Radio Ii 'executing The Classics' (HEAVY METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Here we go again. Another cover album. It seems that the previous "Heavy Rock Radio" record was a success with the fans. Well, let's go for a second batch. The principle is simple: adapt more or less known songs to the Jorn Lande sauce and give them a heavy metal style. And one more album, one more! The interest? Strictly none. Except maybe for the man's unconditional admirers.

There's no need to underline the Norwegian's vocal talents for the umpteenth time, everyone has known them for more than twenty years. There's also no need to mention the singer's reverence for DIO, to which he devoted an entire album in 2010 and to which he pays tribute once again here with a cover of 'Mystery'. We won't hold that against him. On the other hand, we have the right to wonder about the interest, other than mercantile, of such a demolition of the original works. Or rather, about Jorn Lande's astonishing talent for making smooth and banal compositions that for the vast majority didn't deserve it, even though bringing a heavy touch to them is supposed to energize them. In this respect, the heavy metal cover of Russ Ballard's 'Winning' is a good example of complete failure.

"Heavy Rock Radio II" can be divided into two parts: platitudes and heresies. In the platitudes we'll put the songs to which Jorn Lande has absolutely nothing to bring, Bryan Adams' 'Lonely Nights', The Searchers' 'Needles And Pines', Deep Purple's 'Bad Attitude'. And we'll add tracks that have already been covered a thousand times with more talent by others. This is the case of Don Henley's 'New York Minute', which Herbie Hancock had revisited with genius and which Jorn fails to make his own, and Foreigner's 'Night Life', which loses all its groove here, a thousand miles away from the explosive and really dynamic version of Tina Turner.

In the category of heresies, 'The Rhythm Of The Heat' comes first. There are some icons that should not be touched, otherwise you'll get a red card and be permanently expelled from the field of good taste. Peter Gabriel composed this song in reference to Carl Jung's trip to Africa and his fascination for African rhythms. Playing this track in heavy metal style is nonsense. Worse, a sacrilege! Not everything is allowed, even to a singer of the fame of Jorn Lande. Everyone has the right to make mistakes, but with this unacceptable cover, the Norwegian doesn't just miss the point, he makes us wonder about his real understanding of the works he's tackling.

"Heavy Rock Radio II" is not only an album of uninteresting covers, it's also proof that complacency and lack of work can ruin the esteem one feels for an artist. Only a real honest and credible composition work will be able to make Jorn Lande's career take off again. Or a real risk-taking. Does he have the will and the means? I'm not so sure. - Official website

JORN LANDE

HEAVY ROCK RADIO II "EXECUTING THE CLASSICS"

FRONTIERS RECORDS

HEAVY METAL