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Artist: Jorn |
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On
May 16th this year the world of rock was shocked when Ronnie
James Dio lost his fight with stomach cancer and passed away. One of the
true shining lights who was an inspiration to many and a legendary singer that will be greatly
missed. But one legacy that Dio did leave behind as well as the
memories of his great performances was an awesome back catalogue of great rock tunes,
ranging from this days with Elf, Rainbow and Black Sabbath and his own solo
material under the Dio banner. One
man who regards Ronnie as a great light of inspiration is Norwegian vocalist Jorn
Lande. Lande has said on many occasions that Dio was one of his idols, so much
so that over the years he has covered a number of Dio songs in with his live shows. This
album was originally created before Dio was diagnosed with stomach
cancer and was originally meant to be an album that would showcase what a guiding light he and
his music have been to Lande over the years. But
as tragedy stuck the world of rock in May, the album will now be a
prominent reminder of
the legacy that Dio left behind. Lande
could have easily put together an album of classic, more commercially
known Dio
songs, but instead this album focuses on the more obscure and less known
tracks from Dio’s solo albums. The
album gets underway with Jorn's own tribute entitled ‘A Song For Ronnie
James’, a song in which Lande manages to capture song titles from
Ronnie’s career and make them into a rock montage paying tribute to the
great man himself. But
it’s the remainder of the album that really shines from me, starting
things off with one of my favourite tracks off the 'Holy Diver' album
‘Invisible’. Lande along with his band of Willy Bendiksen on drums,
Tore Moren, Jgor Gianola and Tor Erik Myhre on guitars and Nic
Angileri on bass, they have reproduced a great tribute album and this
track is just one of the many highlights with Lande at his vocal best. Things
continue with another track from 'Holy Diver' ‘Shame On The Night’.
Again Lande just captures the essence of the song superbly and the musicians under him
deliver the goods. It
over to 'Killing The Dragon' for the next song ‘Push’, this is a real treat
to hear again and once again Lande does the song proud. Not one of the
more well known Dio songs but that is whole point of the album, to
highlight the lesser known songs and to show what a great vocal and lyrical
force Dio was. The
first track I heard from the 'Holy Diver' album was the opener which blew
me away then and Lande really punches out the vocals on this
classic. Ronnie always had a great range mixing the real rock classics with some
sublime mid tempo ballads. One track from his solo material that really
equaled the more mellower songs he did with Rainbow is the start of 'Don’t Talk To Strangers’, but as we all know, this one builds into a
great Hard Rock anthem, so don’t expect anything different on this
album. A classic Dio track covered perfectly as only Lande can. One
of my favourite albums from Dio was the concept album 'Magica' and that
album features on this album with the epic ‘Lord of the Last Day’.
Once again Lande does Ronnie proud whilst adding a real heavy feel to this superb
track. This
superb album continues with the rocker ‘Night People’ and the
sublime ‘Sacred Heart’, another of my all time Dio tracks, this one
highlights was a great songwriter Dio was. Classic Dio, even if you're not
familiar with all his music this one contains all the Dio traits that made
the man and his music what they are today. Another
of the great mans lesser known songs that I really enjoy is ‘Sunset
Superman’, with Lande delivering some of his finest vocals on this one, then
it’s a track that Lande fans will find familiar ‘Lonely Is The Word Letters From Earth’. A song Lande covered
previously on
his 'Live In America' album. The album comes to a close with two tracks that stand out as some of Dio’s most loved, first up it’s the classic ‘Kill The King’, then the album closes with a live rendition of ‘Straight Through The Heart’, which rounds off a great album that I’m sure Ronnie would have approved of and one that celebrates the man and his music in the best possible way, by a man who is more that just a fan. Add to that the fact that Lande has been chosen to sing live with Heaven and Hell alongside with Glenn Hughes, all goes to show what Dio means to Lande. A show not to be missed. |
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| Tracklisting:
01
Song For Ronnie James |
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