BEST OF LANA LANE 2000-2008

This is a compilation album featuring (re-mastered and sometimes re-mixed) studio and live material that was originally featured on albums released between the years 2000 and 2008, plus two previously unreleased tracks. While it is called a "best of" album, I think it would be more appropriate to call this massive 2CD set a retrospective. The 29 tracks are gathered from as many as 13 different releases, including the "regular" studio albums Secrets Of Astrology (2000), Project Shangri-La (2002), Lady Macbeth (2005), and Red Planet Boulevard (2007); the "specialty" albums Ballad Collection II (2000), Covers Collection (2003), Winter Sessions (2003), and Gemini (which is really covers collection II) (2006); the live DVD releases Storybook: Tales from Europe and Japan (2004), and 10th Anniversary Concert (2005); as well as the Erik Norlander solo album Into the Sunset (2000), his solo live album Stars Rain Down (2004), and the Erik Norlander & Friends Live In St. Petersburg DVD (2006) (all featuring Lana on vocals). Some of the tracks taken from the live DVD's were released on CD here for the first time.

The tracks that are of special interest here are, of course, the two that were previously unreleased: namely, Phantom's Theme and Memory Lane. The former is a pleasant piano dominated ballad that would not have been out of place on the ballad collection albums, while the latter is a catchy uptempo tune in rather typical Lana Lane style. These two tracks make this compilation worthwhile for a fan like me (it can be streamed for free on the band's official website), but I would not recommend it as an introduction to Lana Lane. Despite its title, it does not really represent the best of Lana Lane. Despite being packed with excellent material, it fails to showcase the brilliance of this great band. By no means is it an acceptable replacement for the albums from which the featured songs were taken. Indeed, most of these songs are best heard in their original contexts, and newcomers are advised to begin there instead.