California-based singer Lana Lane has been a well-known name among fans of symphonic and prog rock for years. As not all her solo albums were released in Europe, we know her in the Netherlands mainly from her contributions on the CDs of Ayreon, Ambeon and Rocket Scientists. The latter group is the band of her husband and musical partner Erik Norlander, who produced Project Shangri-La. In the booklet
… accompanying the CD, Lana writes that Erik and she went through a tough, emotional period. They had just started recording this CD, when the WTC disaster in New York took place on 11-09-2001. As a result, plans were canceled to record some tracks with their friend Arjen Lucassen in the Netherlands. Fortunately, you don't hear any of these problems when you listen to the album. The material is a lot firmer than on the predecessor The Ballad Collection and is among the best that Lana Lane has ever recorded. Highlights are the powerful (Life Is) Only A Dream and Before You Go, written by Lane himself. The only downside is the Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partiro) sung together with Mark Boals, which cannot match the original by Andrea Bocelli. For the rest Project Shangri-La is a great album that should also appeal to fans of Within Temptation and After Forever. (MvP) The only downside is the Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partiro) sung together with Mark Boals, which cannot match the original by Andrea Bocelli. For the rest Project Shangri-La is a great album that should also appeal to fans of Within Temptation and After Forever. (MvP) The only downside is the Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partiro) sung together with Mark Boals, which cannot match the original by Andrea Bocelli. For the rest Project Shangri-La is a great album that should also appeal to fans of Within Temptation and After Forever. (MvP)more
