Frontiers Music Srl is excited to announce JORN's new album, 'Heavy Rock Radio', due for release on June 3rd!
One of the greatest rock singers of our time, Jorn Lande returns with a unique album of covers of classics from artists and bands that have meant something special to him, and helped forge this talented man's own unique style.
Through Jorn's extensive career, which includes more than 40 albums of mostly original songs, he has also recorded great versions of several rock classics such as Thin Lizzy's "Are You Ready", UFO's "On and On", Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers", and many more. Jorn also recorded a successful Ronnie James Dio tribute album, released in 2010. Every song JORN covers is treated with the utmost respect and "Jorn-ized" accordingly. A good example is his heavy sounding version of "I Walk Alone", first released by Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish).
"Heavy Rock Radio" is not an ordinary album of cover songs, it is truly a songbook of hits. Featured ' among others - are great versions of the Eagles' "Hotel California" and Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill", which gets the Jorn style treatment to become very powerful and epic, without losing its commercial touch. More great classics included are John Farnham's "You're The Voice", Queen's "Killer Queen", and two absolute melodic rock evergreen gems in Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" and Foreigner's "Rev On The Red Line".
The original concept of the album was to create a sort of jukebox of radio hits, but to avoid leaning too much on the pop side of rock, JORN decided to blend the tracklisting with a few more up tempo rock tracks as well, such as "The Final Frontier" by Iron Maiden ("probably the closest you get to anything commercial with Iron Maiden," says Jorn), "Live to Win" by Paul Stanley (a song which was also featured on the popular television series South Park), and a few hard rock classics show up as well from Deep Purple ("Stormbringer"), Dio ("Rainbow In The Dark") and Black Sabbath ("Die Young") to complete the mix.
Jorn says: "The most important thing was to treat these songs with respect towards the original versions, my goal was always to think that the original artist would be honoured and find my version relevant. At the same time my intention was never to try to compete with the original song and artist, but make it a strong alternative version to enjoy. At the same time it is a well deserved homage to these artists and bands, who influenced me strongly, and I have wanted to record these songs for quite some time but was always too busy writing and recording my own songs to make it happen. Originally I had a list of 40-50 songs I wanted to do, but I had to strip it down to about 15 songs before deciding on the final tracklist. This means that there are some unfinished business musically, and I will most likely record more of these songs in the future."
Since releasing the critically acclaimed Dracula "Swing of Death" album last year, Jorn has also been working on an album of brand new songs, which will be the successor to the 2013 Jorn album "Traveller", to be released in early 2017. Jorn's catalogue is getting too long to include in brief press statements, and his innovative and creative skills have led to him selling millions of albums worldwide and being a frequent entry on sales charts around the world including Billboard. Worth a mention is his years with German based MasterPlan, whom he recorded three albums with. Claimed to be the biggest selling Norwegian musical export, since the pop band A-ha, Jorn continues his rock crusade, and there are no signs of him slowing down yet.
The title "Heavy Rock Radio" came quite naturally, as the sound of this album feels like if it's tailor made for any rock radio station, and while Jorn's voice can be enjoyed on more than 40 albums in different rock and metal styles, this record is a special treat which will tide over all the fans waiting for the new original album which is being worked on at the moment.
Enjoy an album trailer:
'Heavy Rock Radio' tracklisting includes:
1. I Know There's Something Going On
2. Running Up That Hill
3. Rev On The Red Line
4. You're The Voice
5. Live To Win
6. Don't Stop Believin'
7. Killer Queen
8. Hotel California
9. Rainbow In The Dark
10. The Final Frontier
11. Stormbringer
12. Die Young
From JORN's Facebook page comes this album news update:
ALBUM IN THE WORKS -
Been recording some selected cover songs the last few months, and a new Jorn album is planned for an early 2016 release. I've recorded some of my favourite songs, and included a few that never had any obvious connection to the rock/metal scene, and hopefully it will give this album an unexpected twist. Naturally, I have also made sure to include a few great rock classics. The basic idea for this album was to choose some songs that meant something special to me when I was younger. That is why the variety of songs include everything from experimental pop of the 80's and 70's west coast music, to more classic heavier rock. I also wanted to go against the stream, as I'm tired of the political correctness that so many in the rock/metal world are concerned with.
This album is all about good songs and to record something enjoyable, making versions that are different, but at the same time a homage to the original artists. Music has many faces and expressions, and greatness lies within the song and it's performer, beyond style and category. Also, when you've been around for as long as I have now, it's liberating to go "off track" and try something different.
That said, my heart lies in rock music, but through the years I couldn't help thinking about how some great songs would sound if I tried to give them a certain "Jornish" flavour.
In the process I've had a list of 40-50 songs, but had to cut down to 11-12 tracks, which means I will probably have to do another album like this sometime in the future. Thinking about all the great songs that was ruled out, I already feel there are some unfinished business there, but we'll see what life brings. I usually prefer to work on my own songs, and when we started recording I thought it wouldn't be too difficult or time consuming, but man was I wrong! Maybe it's the greatness in the songs I chose that made me realize how great the original recordings are, and that people often take it too lightly when talking about recording other peoples work.
We've tried our best to make the songs our own, and some songs really worked out well, and I hope you'll like it. Album title, more info and artwork will be announced and uploaded very soon.
Frontiers Music Srl, is pleased to announce the release of a new exciting album written and performed by the two Norwegian Rock Stars Jorn Lande and Trond Holter entitled DRACULA “Swing of Death on January 23 in Europe and January 27 in North America.
This exciting concept album was inspired by the life of Count Vlad the III, Prince of Wallachia, widely known as Vlad, The Impaler or by his patronymic name Vlad Dracul(a). The whole story explores the inner struggle inside the multifaceted and engorging character that this mysterious 15th Century personality was, while also taking into account some of the metaphysical aspects that passed into literature, forming the whole basis of the vampire mythos.
Jorn Lande – who impersonates Dracula, is the main character of the album and the female parts are sung by Norwegian singer Lena Fløitmoen (representing Mina/Lucy from the Bram Stoker book). The drama of the story reveals Dracula’s inner battle, where he still remembers what true love was, and as he wandered the Earth for centuries with a thirst for blood, his loneliness and desire to be able to love again has led him to the brink of insanity. In the original Bram Stoker version, he leaves Transylvania by ship and when he meets Lucy's best friend, she reminds him so much of his first love Mina, that he becomes obsessed. His mission is to take her as his bride, and make her Queen of the dark.
Musically, “Swing of Death” is not like a typical rock opera or musical, since it has no storyteller or too many long instrumental parts and intros. It is an album that gets to the point with no detours and even if it exposes some diverse musical landscapes, it does include catchy and melodic songs with commercial radio potential. Vocally this release gives you everything from Jorn Lande’s past extensive catalogue all in one album. Jorn’s ability to be innovative and original while at the same time showing where his roots came from, is truly unique. Jorn and Trond’s musical influence when creating this epic masterpiece came mostly from 70’s era Meat Loaf, Queen, Alice Cooper, plus some other Classic and more contemporary Hard Rock elements. All mixed together with their own modern musical heavy rock style, Dracula “Swing of death” is something extraordinary. The lyrics are not limited to the old days of Bram Stoker’s era and could easily be a Dracula story of today.
A trailer for DRACULA is available here:
Track listing: Hands of Your God; Walking On Water; Swing of Death; Masquerade Ball; Save Me; River Of Tears; Queen of the Dead; Into the Dark; True Love Through Blood (Instr.); Under The Gun
Pre-order the album NOW via this link:
DRACULA “Swing of Death” features performances from:
Jorn Lande: Lead Vocals
Trond Holter: Guitars, Piano
Bernt Jansen: Bass
Per Morten Bergseth: Drums
Lena Fløitmoen: Lead and Background Vocals on “Save Me”; “River of Tears”, “Into the Dark”, “Under the Gun”, plus background vocals on “Swing of Death”
JORN LANDE FEATURED IN ONE OF THE WORLD'S LEADING GAMES "LEAGUE OF LEGENDS"
Norwegian Rock Icon, Jorn Lande appears as lead vocalist on the song "Lightbringer", launched on May 27th by Riot Games, Inc.
Jorn comments: "I have been working closely with music producer Christian Linke of Riot Games in LA, on a project called "Pentakill", which is basically a heavy rock band within the League of Legends concept.
"Pentakill" is the Valoran continents' most famous (and possibly only) rock band. Its members consist of champions from the game. It's very exciting to be a part of this new development in the gaming industry
and a fabulous opportunity to be able to reach out to millions of people worldwide in just a blink of an eye. It has been a great experience working with the productive and dedicated people of Riot
Games, and I am truly proud to be a part of this!"
Hear the song now via Youtube: http://youtu.be/oUiOylPbfV0
The music video is also showcased on Pentakill's website - > pentakillmusic.com - which is owned and operated by Riot Games, Inc.
