Review by Jack on April 21, 2002.

Boy, this was and is a hard album to sit through. Heralded as progressive symphonic rock, Lana Lane and her impressive cohort of buddies, consisting of Mark Boals (ex Yngwie Malmsteen) and Vinnie Appice of Black Sabbath and Dio, to name but a few. One would assume “Project Shangri-La” would be an interesting and rather accomplish record, right? Wrong, “Project Shangri-La” is one of the most dried up and boring excuses to waste an hour of your precious time.

Uninspired and boring classical power rock ballads make up the entirety of this record. Lana Lane’s vocals are so bland and vocally unimaginative, that once you have heard the first one or two tracks, you generally get the gist of the whole album, and it would be a pointless exercise to continue listening to this drivel.

As a side note to you all classical/opera music lovers out there: the 10th track on “Project Shangri-La” is a cover of Henri Maske’s ‘Time to Say Goodbye’, also made famous by Andrea Bocelli. I don’t really know if this will whet one’s appetite for Lana Lane’s music, I truly hope it doesn’t.

I cringe and cry every time I subject myself to this worthless album. Many an individual from the metal/rock press has claimed that Lana Lane’s voice has improved and matured through each of her albums, with “Project Shangri-La” being the culminating point. It actually terrifies me to think about how much worse one person can get as a singer. If you have the desire to listen to some really bad female vocals in a power rock vein, then “Project Shangri-La” is the album for you. However, do not ever try and dig up her back catalogue, I shudder at the results.

Bottom Line: Well you can judge by the score that “Project Shangri-La” is clearly not a corker of an album. Suffering from bad song-writing, bland vocals and boring musical arrangements, it is time for Lana Lane and friends to take up pottery or flower pressing.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 4
Musicianship: 1
Atmosphere: 3
Production: 5
Overall: 2

Rating: 3 out of 10

Review by JD on March 10, 2014.

In the 80’s,I remember the more mainstream/commercial metal and hard rock. I liked it all to a point, because it lead me into a life and career that has span since them. When the scene collapsed because of many factors. It was time for it and it became the money and not the music. This is why I am skeptical towards the bands that revive the whole thing. Some are good; because they bring something new to it… others are just cartoonish and are less than entertaining.

Coming from France, Heaven’s Colt is an act that brings the nostalgia of the 80’s to today - all sung in French. Sounding like a totally direct cloning of such greats as AC/DC, Saxon, Airbourne and the whole glam thing, they truly do copy every note and riff from all of the greats, without being ashamed of it as they never change a single thing. No real progression has come, no evolution or anything – just using their hero’s music for their own. Simply put, they are just a tribute band faking it rather than a real act.

Each song has a riff closely ripped off from somewhere, like the AC/DC like "Labor Du Vice" or the full Kiss rip off of "Alcoola" shows a band that has no real talent to write original riffs. I have never heard such a blatant burglary of music in my life, and hope that this band gets nothing from their complete farce of an album other than dropped from their label and sued over and over again for copyright infringement from all the bands they have ‘borrowed’ from.

I cannot condone this sort of thing. If this band may have been a tribute band, this all would be a non-issue and they could go on their merry way, but because this sorry band are passing the music they make off as original it makes my stomach turn. My advice to Heaven’s Colt is to disband and they can all go work in the vineyards’ or digging graves. Copiers are one thing… musicians that see to ‘steal’ everything is a whole horse of a different color.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 4
Atmosphere: 2
Production: 4
Originality: 0
Overall: 3

Rating: 2.6 out of 10