JORN - review added 9th July 2010
Album Review: Dio (2010)
For fans of: Hard Rock... and, er, covers of Dio tracks
There's no getting away from it, Jorn Lande is a vocal God. He has always worn his influences - David Coverdale, Ronnie James Dio and more - on his sleeve, and has never been shy of putting out his own spin on classic rock songs.
The sad passing of Jorn's hero Dio clearly had a profound effect, inspiring him to not only re-record some the great man's lesser known tunes, but to write a brand new track; simply entitled 'Song For Ronnie James'.
Jorn, along with Willy Bendiksen on drums, Tore Moren, Jgor Gianola, and Tor Erik Myhre on guitars, and Nic Angileri on bass, have created an effective tribute with "Dio". They have stayed reasonably true to the originals, although Jorn's traditional ultra-heavy guitars and bombastic rhythm section are there in abundance.
The stand out moment (of the covers) is the epic interpretation of 'Sacred Heart'. Definitely a big WOW track. The original - 'Song For Ronnie James' - is rather splendid too and shows the legendary singer a lot of due respect.
"Dio" is a good enough album. It doesn't add anything to the original work, but it's nice to see this collection of rarer cuts rather than the obvious choices like 'Holy Diver' and the other usual suspects. You won't go far wrong buying this, although you'd be better off buying the originals. Jorn himself would probably agree.
Check out... Tracks 1 and 9.
Track List:
01. Song For Ronnie James
02. Invisible
03. Shame On The Night
04. Push
05. Stand Up And Shout
06. Don't Talk To Strangers
07. Lord Of The Last Day
08. Night People
09. Sacred Heart
10. Sunset Superman
11. Lonely Is The Word - Letters From Earth
12. Kill The King
13. Straight Through The Heart (Live)
Label: Frontiers Records
Artist's website(s): Jorn | MySpace | Facebook
