Wednesday 26 September 2012

LINK: Erik Norlander - a tumultuous review


Erik Norlander
TGC - Definite Edition - Live in Gettysburg
Gonzo Multimedia
2012
Erik Norlander is almost known to everyone that’s dealing with atmospheric, rock, symphonic, progressive, instrumental, keyboard-driven music. He’s the main composer for Lana Lane and he had also formed the Rocket Scientists back in the late 80s.

“The Galactic Collective” was released in 2010 when Erik decided to re-record some of his beloved instrumentals from his solo albums along with a couple of tunes from Lana Lane’s works and some from Rocket Scientists that he had written. So, some may wonder what’s new in this release.

First of all, we’re talking about two separate releases. The first is “The Galactic Collective - Definite Edition” which contains two audio CDs and one DVD with more than two hours material. Erik has done something very ambitious and innovative here. He re-recorded those instrumental songs from the beginning, taped them in the studio, recorded them and delivered an ultimate package that’s containing music and video for over 4 hours! The first CD is the same one that was released in 2010 (same songs but re-recorded), the second one, “Echoes from the Collective” is a bonus CD that’s containing 4 songs, “Space: 1999”, “Sky Full of Stars" (piano & vocal version-amazing indeed), “Garden of the Moon” (long version) &”The Dark Water” (an extended version from “The Gallactic Collective” sessions that adds about four minutes to the epic suite with an additional guitar solo, synth solo and extended sound effects jam section) and of course, the magic moment comes with the excellent DVD.

You’ll get to know Erik, hear what he has to say about each one of the songs, see him play them on the studio along with a bunch of great musicians… his known guys Freddy DeMarco (guitars), Mark Matthews (bass) and Nick LePar (drums) and some special guests: John Payne (guitars, choral vocals), Lana Lane (choral vocals), Mitch Perry (guitars), Ron Redfield (guitars) and Mark McCrite (guitars). Believe me, as soon as you watch it, you’ll ask for more! This was one of the most gratifying DVDs I’ve watched in a while. I must confess that I enjoy it more than the live DVD…

“The Galactic Collective - Definite Edition” was mixed & produced by Erik Norlander & mastered by C.S Brown at Stuffy Room Studio at Murfreesboro, Tennesse. “Echoes from the Collective” was mastered by Erik Norlander except for “Garden of the Moon” (long version) which was mastered by C.S Brownduring during the original album mastering session in March 2010.

“The Galactic Collective - Live in Gettysburg” is also a DVD with 2 CDs that were recorded/taped at The Rites of Spring Festival in May 21, 2011, which was held, that time, in the iconic Civil War battlefield city of Gettysburg, Penssylvania. For this show Erik gathered two groups of artists from both the North (Akron, Ohio) and the South (Asheville, North Carolina) so as to play “The Gallactic Collective” entirely.

Erik has been asked to play a full two hour set and so in addition to “The Gallactic Collective” album, he added the songs “Capture the Sun” & “Secrets of Astrology” that he had written for the Lana Lane albums, “Red Planet Boulevard” & “Secrets of Astrology” which respectively fit to the whole celestial theme of the show nicely. For the end, he presented “Into the Sunset Suite” live for the first time ever!

The live show is very pleasurable… to watch and listen to… and I know that most of you (including me) will prefer to watch it and “steal” some of its enchanted atmosphere of that night. A great show to attend to… lucky those who did watch it. Artists who accompanied Erik that night were Freddy DeMarco (guitars), Mark Matthews (bass) and Nick LePar (drums) with special guest vocalists Lana Lane and Debrissa McKinney. “The Galactic Collective - Live in Gettysburg” was mixed & produced by Erik Norlander & mastered by C.S Brown at Stuffy Room Studio at Murfreesboro, Tennesse. The production is as astonishing as “The Galactic Collective - Definite Edition”.

The whole package is kinda irresistible, even if you do own “The Galactic Collective” CD, for we’re talking about 2 DVDs and 4 CDs here… well almost 8 hours full of progressive, instrumental, theatrical, atmospheric, symphonic, emotional, ambient, keyboard-laden music! I can’t think of any good reason why someone might miss this incredible music package. This is an acclaimed purchase for the fans of the genre and generally for all music lovers. It definitely deserves a place on Grande Rock’s “Hall of Fame” as it is perfect in any way!

PS: Click at: “Definitive Edition” & “Live in Gettysburg” to get more info about the tracklisting and the line-up of the releases. You can also listen to some songs there.
 


And check out the dedicated Gonzo artist page for Asia featuring John Payne, and for Erik solo

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