Jorn – Heavy Rock Radio II – Executing The Classics

6/10

When doing a cover album, why not dress the songs in a complete different or maybe updated version. However he did put the “Executing The Classic” on the title so, well here it is; Jorns second cover album(or,well third isn´t it?). If you heard the first one you might get a bit disappointed in hearing that he is only using his angry cat voice instead of his deeper vocals here.

“Lonely Night” is the first song famed by Bryan Adams and the only difference is of course Jorns voice and the natural harder melodies. He does a very good imitation of Mr. Adams actually. Russ Ballard is an artist I only seen named here and there and that is still enough. The song “Winning” is a very watered out original probably and you can´t fix something that is broken can you?(not in this case sadly) However, it´s a feel good song.
Next up is a track by Don Henley (just as Russ Ballard, only a name I have seen in magazines never really listened to). “New York Minute” is the track and this is, for me, a stand out track. I need to listen to the original when I am done reviewing the album. When I saw “Needles and pins” I thought “Oh no…why!” But I think he has Jornified the song, and even so he could have done it heavier. You get a positive vibe from the song though.

“Love” is a song I haven´t even heard in its original form so it’s hard to compare to anything.
I am very happy when my fears of a complete disaster or close to it is thrown out of the window. The album is like an old cold slow starting car. Because when “I do believe in You” comes on I realize that there´s been so many tracks I haven´t heard before so for me it sounds just like any Jorn album. But far from his best work. Foreigners “Nightlife” is a song I have heard and I believe Jorn outdone the original (well a slightly better version). I had hoped for the Thin Lizzy song with the same name but yet again, he could have done it heavier.

It´s from here though that I react to the fact that he has used the same kind of screaming ,angry cat vocals almost the whole time. Not much change in the vocal range. We all know how good he handles his voice when he uses it more normal.
But we all thank you Jorn for choosing a slightly more modern Deep Purple song like “Bad Attitude” and not the song every person who ever tried his musical skills try out when starting playing Deep Purple covers.
I can´t stand Bob Dylan for more than a few seconds so hearing Jorn doing “Quinn the Eskimo” is as refreshing as the sun after heavy rain. And I never realized it was a Bob Dylan song. Never struck me like a song he would do. Now I have a song by Bob Dylan I can listen to. A question that pops up is that is “Mystery” a track who he wanted to be on the Dio tribute album but it didn´t make the final cut or was it a record company decision to leave it out there. Quite ok version.

All in all a very bumpy ride to listen to. Please! If you are about to release another cover album Jorn: Please rearrange the songs more even if it is songs that common person never heard of. That would make the record a more pleasant company.

Artist: Jorn
Title: Heavy Rock Radio II – Executing The Classics
Label: Frontiers
Date of release: 24/1-2020
Rating: 6/10
Standout track: New York Minute