The
Lec Zorn Project is the personal AOR
vision of the bass player Lec Zorn,
who is the lead conductor and architect.
He did not work alone on the perfection
of it though; the album features three
vocalists, such as Tracy White (Shotgun
Symphony), Lars Safsund (Work Of Art)
& Pierre Wensberg (Prisoner),
and top class musicians as shown in
the guest list: Eli Hludzik (Dakota),
Eric Ragno (Takara, Vox Tempus), Michael
Riesenbeck (China Blue), Mike Walsh
(Departure), Phil Vincent & the
mighty Tommy Denander. I'm sure
the AOR purists out there already
can tell, but there's more in
this than meets the eye!
Imagine you came
across a parcel done up in glittering
paper and you were curious to see
what's inside, so you start
in haste unpacking it just to discover
a little gem in the bottom. This is
exactly the case of LZP. I didn't
expect nothing like this, nothing
almost comparable with the fantastic
AOR provided by Pride Of Lions "Roaring
Of Dreams". Yes, this is a high
quality, pure 80s US AOR release and
thank God it didn't escape our
attention. It would be a criminal
negligence, by all means! In other
words, "It Began In The Underground"
is full of passion, zest and soaring
melodies. In fact, it's an ode
to the classic AOR sound and no wonder
that sounds totally 80s. Arrangements
and production bring out the details
of Zorn's songwriting ability
throughout the whole record. Dominant
keyboard lines along with brilliant
guitar work and some outstanding vocals
will lead you to AOR fantasy zones.
Journey, Survivor, Kansas (listen
to the amazing cover of "Play
The Game Tonight"), Styx, Asia,
Shooting Star, Genesis, Pride Of Lions
& Radioactive are the inspiration
and as a result past meets present
in perfect harmony.
There's no
song that comes short of anything
at all, during this brilliant journey
back in time. On the contrary, each
and every one of the tracks bubbles
over with enthusiasm, because all
of LZP members are avid AOR die-hards.
In many ways "It Began In The
Underground" is really a splendid
album from start to finish, although
it declares its unoriginality in every
way possible. Much to my surprise,
as it's a self-released record
that came out of nowhere, I rank it
among the best AOR albums of 2007.
That goes without saying!
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