NEPTUNE BLUE

Neptune Blue was produced by Lana Lane's husband and long-time musical partner Erik Norlander, the keyboards player for Rocket Scientists, and for this album too. Besides, we have Jeff Kollman on electric guitar (Alan Parsons Live Project), Mark McCrite on acoustic & rhythm guitars, bass & backing vocals, and Don Schiff on Stick (both members of the Rocket Scientists too), Greg Ellis on drums (who played with Rocket Scientists in their album Oblivion Days) and John Payne, of Asia fame, on backing vocals only. Norlander was also a member of Asia feat. John Payne, with whom he played in their 2014 album Recollections - A Tribute to British Prog.

Lana is the owner of a strong good voice remaining intact over the passing years, Erik comes with some neat symphonic organ passages, like the intro of the opener, the compositions are OK, so, the real question is: is there some element here preventing this album from sounding absolutely like Asia-like AOR? And the answer is no, there are the usual guitar breaks & solos coming over in their expected place & order, the more or less pyrotechnical drums fills, and a band as tight as this kind of music requires. That's not bad, whenever you are the kind of person who feels comfortable with music featuring a certain rocking edge, but no complexity beyond well-known time signatures & conventional harmony.

The more distinctive moments of the album are probably to be found in the track 4 Come Lift Me Up, with its refreshing acoustic strumming setting the mood and pace on a different vibe, and the closer, which brings out the most of a sensible balladist that Lana has to offer, and features a great guitar solo over choral background towards the end.