Along with the Unlocking The Past all-covers album (read the relative review in the link above), JORN LANDE offers the second part of his late 2006 'combo' series, in order to encounter the fans' request for more material and to make some of JORN's earlier work more available (as said in the artist's official site). And this is not a bad move at all; a better move for the Frontiers label would be to issue both albums as a DCD release, right?
The Gathering is simply what the title says. JORN LANDE compiled this album with some of his earlier works, in order to present what he's been up to from the beginning of his career. The wonderful DAVID COVERDALE-ish voice he owns, the excellent singing, the distinctive 'vibe'...the progression is here. Thus, the ex-ARK / MILLENNIUM / MASTERPLAN / THE SNAKES singer sums up a pile of tunes that should not be considered as a 'best of' release but more as an 'updated' selection of tracks that needed to sound better. In this specific part, the unique personality of Tommy Hansen (cannot really name all the bands he's been the producer for...) lent a helping hand and the rest is now available for our audio pleasure.
Most tunes come off JORN LANDE's solo career, while Where The Winds Blow goes back to the ARK days, Gonna Find The Sun is taken from THE SNAKES 1998 release Once Bitten and Hourglass presents the MILLENNIUM era. Not to forget, My Own Way was already released through the LANDE/ALLEN collaboration in 2005. Any tune remaining should be of some 'bonus track' kind of the past, I guess.
Wherever any song may come from, the final mix is very good and surely depicts the capability of JORN in singing really magnificently, be it Hard Rock or Heavy Metal music. One of the most exciting voices the last years, this JORN selection is the first thing to purchase if you wanna make yourself familiar with the man. Then, you'll search for his entire discography, one way or another.