Jorn
The Gathering

February 2007
Released: 2007, Frontiers Records/Zink music
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Anders Sandvall

Finally, the Norwegian ex-Masterplan singer Jorn Lande is back with a new solo album; in fact, he’s about to release two solo albums at the same time. Many fans (including me) have waited a long time to hear from this Northern God, but this isn’t a brand new studio album; it’s an album with new recordings of old songs and new remixes of his older songs. Jorn says “I’m trying to give my fans a chance to check out some of my earlier work from before I joined Masterplan, some songs that I believe stick out and deserve a second chance in history”.



Normally I’m against every attempt at trying to make money on older material being re-released in a new packaging, but this album feels justified in many ways with regard to how many great songs Jorn has in his back catalogue. Many of his older albums are also out of print today, so there’s another reason why this album is needed.



Jorn shows us again and again why he deserves to be called one of the world’s greatest singers. Altogether the album contains 16 tracks with songs from the first three solo albums: WORLDCHANGER, STARFIRE, and OUT TO EVERY NATION. There are six tracks from the first album, two from the second, and three from the third. There are also songs from Jorn’s time with other acts like Ark’s “Where the Winds Blow”, The Snakes’ “Gonna Find the Sun”, “Hourglass” from Millenium, and finally “My Own Way” from the project Russel/Lande. All of the songs are great in their own way and the tracklist is absolutely flawless in my opinion. In fact, this album is so darn great that I’m out of words. The quality of the material is so high that it’s impossible to pick out any favorite song; the entire album is my favorite.



Jorn brilliantly produced the album and Tommy Hansen did the remixing on some of the tracks. It’s heavier than the original productions and they have also updated the sound a great deal.



THE GATHERING is a great way to discover one of the world’s greatest living singers. If you haven’t heard Jorn or any of his work before then invest in this album and I can promise that you aren’t going to be disappointed. Jorn can’t do anything wrong; even if he starts up a jazz act I’m sure it would going to sound good as hell. Even the cover of the album is perfect and reflects the essence of the music. THE GATHERING is a great substitute while waiting for a new mind-blowing, ass-kicking studio album by the mighty Jorn Lande.



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