Regarded as one of the best Jorn Lande recordings, ”Hourglass” is the only album he has made as front man for MILLENIUM, the USA band created by guitar virtuoso Ralph Santolla. Long time out of print, now has been digitally remastered by Divebomb Records under the title “Hourglass: The Complete Sessions” including 6 bonus tracks and new artwork, presented in exclusive at anywhere
Also featuring contributions from legendary keyboardist Don Airey (RAINBOW, OZZY, WHITESNAKE) and talented Howard Helm (ex REFUGEE and recently featured here on the blog in ALDENFIED), Hourglass exposed to a wider audience the then up-and-coming Norwegian vocalist Jorn Lande.
Mixing melodic hard rock melodies and melodic metal riffs, this is one of those rare albums that’s practically flawless from start to finish with an equal dose of power and catchiness.
You can tell as soon as album opener “Power To Love” kicks in that Hourglass has a totally classic hard rock feel, only with a heavier edge and plenty of soul. Comparisons to Rainbow and Whitesnake are inevitable given Don Airey’s presence and the fact that Jorn sometimes sounds more like David Coverdale than David Coverdale does.
Lande is one of the most dynamic and powerful vocalists in the genre, and his presence alone takes the band to a higher level. Comparison’s to Jorn’s solo albums are appropriate as well.
In fact, Ralph Santolla played guitar on JORN’s ‘Starfire’ album. Santolla’s melodies and solos further lock in that classic hard rock / melodic metal sound.
There isn’t a weak track on the entire record, but if I have to mention standouts title track “Hourglass” and “Masquerade” are absolutely killer songs, and the soulful bluesy ballad “I Will Follow” has that classic Whitesnake feel in a big way.
Lande vocals on some of the other cuts such as “Superstar” and “I Still Believe” call to mind Jeff Scott Soto and his Takara project, but overall Millenium has a quite distinctive sound thanks to Santolla’s unique guitar playing.
The grand piano passages supplied by Dag Stokke (TNT) on “No More Miracles” are beautifully performed and quite refreshing to hear alongside the synthesiser. The upbeat ”Rocket Ride” has a very catchy chorus with the feeling of an radio single, a song with a strong second half of the ’80s vibe.
Then “Chasing Time” sounds like it would have been right at home on the debut Phenomena release, very classic, punchy hard rock with an edge.
It’s well known JORN love for ’80s music, no matter the genre, so it’s not strange the band recorded some classic tunes during the same sessions, not included into the original release but featured here as bonus tracks, plus two other songs that didn’t make it into the final tracklist.
There’s a very melodious take on JEFFERSON STARSHIP classic “Jane”, an impressive cover of RAINBOW’s “I Surrender”, a killer updated re-work of MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP’s staple “On And On”, and an extended, fabulous version of SWEET’s “Love Is Like Oxygen”.
01 - Power To Love
02 - Wheels Are Turning
03 - Hourglass
04 - No More Miracles
05 - Superstar
06 - Rocket Ride
07 - I Will Follow
08 - I Still Believe
09 - Masquerade
10 - Chasing Time
BONUS TRACKS:
11 - Rain
12 - Anybody
13 - On And On (Michael Schenker Group cover)
14 - I Surrender (Rainbow cover)
15 - Jane (Jefferson Starship cover)
16 - Love Is Like Oxygen (Sweet cover)
Jorn Lande - lead & backing vocals
Ralph Santolla - lead guitar, keyboards
Shane French - lead & rhythm guitar
Manfred Binder - bass
Oliver Hanson - drums, percussion
with:
Don Airey (Rainbow, Ozzy, Whitesnake) - keyboards
Dag Stokke (TNT) - keyboards, grand piano
Howard Helm (Aldenfield, Refugee) - keyboards
Tracy Labarbera - additional vocals, keyboards
turbo turbob
MILLENIUM (Jorn) – Hourglass: The Complete Sessions [remastered +6] (2017)
 |
