WINTER SESSIONS

3.5 stars, really. Despite what the title may suggest, this is not one of those "Christmas" or "holidays" albums that plague so many artists career one time or another. It´s a rather "quieter" CD from great singer lane Lane. And a very underrated and maligned work. I guess lots of people - me, included - were disappointed at the time of its release by the lack of the usual powerful mix of classic/hard rock/symphonic prog mix she became famous for. But nowadays I can say I appreciate this record very much. Much of the problem here seems to lay on the poor tracklist sequence and a couple of bad song choices. Other than that this is a fine record.

The CD opens with two rather slow and slightly bland numbers: What a World and Spirit Of The Gypsy. Not bad songs in any way, but, really, you should start an album with something powerful to win the listener over and the fourth track (December Moon) would do that with flying colors. I really don´t understand why she and her husband producer Erik Norlander did not pick this one up as the opener. There are also four covers here. As usual they chose some challenging material, since both A Whiter Shade Of Pale and California Dreamin´are very well known (and overplayed) classics. And, again as usual, they handle them with such respect and power you´ll enjoy them even if you heard them a million times already. However, the two other covers, the jazz standards I´ll Be Seeing You and Ill Wind, are out of place here and although very well performed, are not Lane´s best style and break the CD´s continuity. Twice.

Other than those missteps, the remaining stuff is excellent, with the cover of Rocket Scientists (Norlander´s previous band) Carry Me Home being a highlight. Also they produce one of their best and most poignant ballads in the form of Winter Song, a track I´ve cherish since the very time I heard it. NOt surprisingly you´ll hear terrific, tasteful arrangements and the high quality production values of Mr. Norlander, one of the best keyboard players nowadays. He never overplays and knows how to handle those vintage instruments like few people can do.

Conclusion: personally I´d like to give Winter Sessions a four star rating, but really the two jazz covers and the poor track list sequence spoils the potential greatness of this work. But still it is still a very good record and if you like melodic, well arranged and impeccable performed stuff, you should try this one.