Time Signature Darkness falls...

Genre: progressive rock/metal

Lana Lane (and her husband and producer Erik Norlander) has the ability to create sophisticated music that takes its starting point in hard rock, but adds a progressive and artistic touch. Some of her releases are symphonic while others are more progressive.

This is a smooth blend of melodic metal, hard rock and AOR wrapped in a velvety cloth of progressive metal. While not technically complex or quirky, or even challenging to listen to - like a lot of progressive metal is - the album still avoids the straight jacket of conventional popular rock music, which is reflected in the the considerably long song length (only 'Hotels' is shorter than four minutes, while the majority of tracks on the album are between five and six minutes of length with 'A Dream Full of Fire' and 'In Exile' clocking in at 8 minutes and eleven minutes respectively. Moreover, the album is permeated by both the sophistication and sounds of 80s progressive pop/rock plus several there is an overall sense lushness that characterizes this album, achieved through guitar harmonies, synths, choirs, acoustic guitars, the use of floor bass as well as mellow, often exotic sounding, passages and breakdowns.

In essence a hybrid of 80s progressive rock and melodic metal and hard rock "El Dorado Hotel" contains plenty of heavy and hard rocking parts, but there is also a ubiquitous feel of 80s pop and AOR, so it might not appeal to all metal heads. Generally, I think this is a very interesting and enjoyable listen which is easy to the ears. One thing that annoys me endlessly is the use of vocoder effect in "Believe"and "Moongod" (and it annoys me because it is associated with present day tasteless pop music) - but apart from that, they not bad track tracks.

Fans of 80s art rock and 80s prog rock as well as fans of more accessible progressive metal and hard rock should check this sophisticated release out.

ovidiu In 2010 still the latest studio album for the queen of symphonic metal and what a pleasure to review this superbe album!RED PLANET BOULEVARD is serious and mature album,new studio album for one of the most wonderful female vocalists in today's metal music!This woman has the same vocal register like ANN WILSON from HEART,it's,basically,the perfect copy voice of the much famous Heart vocalist!!LANA LANE has this warmth and passion in her wonderful voice...when we hear LANA is like hearing an angel singing!In the soft and calm register,she is absolutely magnificent-the feeling of her voice is touching even the most insensitive person...is melting the ice!!On the other hand,in the powerful and muscled songs,the clever and intelligent rage in her voice is transmitting other sensations!This is pure vocal art,wizzardry and definitely LANA LANE is one of the most beautiful voices in rock music today!RED PLANET BOULEVARD album is a following to the ambitious GEMINI one...not at all with leftover tracks,but a bunch of excellent new compositions,diverse and catchy from the first to the last one!Almost 70 minutes of pure ear candy and the pleasure of a good quality audition of an album without any weak song...that's quite rare today!LANA LANE is on top of her maturity both compositional and vocal ,and her husband and ""partner in crime"" ERIK NORLANDER, is giving,as usual,a strong hand on this album too!RED PLANET BOULEVARD is modern and diverse,it's loaded with excellent compositions and majestic musicianship ,all this are serious ingredients to make a high quality musical product!By the way...the artwork...the cover is excellent too!5 STARS for an excellent piece of true art!

ovidiu WARNING!MASTERPIECE!This is s superbe album made by one of the most wonderful female artists in prog rock and in music ,generally speaking!LANA LANE is very similar with AN WILSON from HEART-Practically she has the same vocal register with the famous vocalist from HEART!The same warmth and purity in voice,the same register and tone-and that's wonderful!LADY MACBETH is a highlight in LANA LANE's career,an album inspired by the famous play of WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE,and proves that a serious book is 100 % the guarantee for a serious musical album!It's really excellent how the message of the music and the text fits with the very inspired and intelligent music offered!LANA LANE's voice is simply heavenly and the passion transmitted with her's interpretation gives the listener an excellent vibe to fell the burning passion for this album!The mix between more fast songs-the midtempo ones and the slow ones-the real strong point of LANA -proves that a perfect balance and equilibrium between the songs is one of the keys of it's majestic message!Song after song-the succession of them is so logical and clever-it's very intelligent balance between the rapid and slow ones 100 %!!!ERIK NORLANDER with his stellar keyboard solos is absolutely amazing-the sound is so modern and efficient-marvelous-it's symphonic prog metal at it's best!!Definitely a modern concept album and a true triumph for the lady of melodic symphonic metal-an artist which deserves a wider recognition and admiration!A wonderful female voice that is giving to each song something superior ,a touch of passion and intense sensitivity !5 STARS for a marvelous album!