Listening to this album, it’s starkly obvious that he loved the music of Ronnie James Dio. His performances are heartfelt and full of passion. I think one reason for that is that he already loved the songs. They are part of his musical DNA. When Jorn first began to make waves in the scene, everyone touted his similarities to David Coverdale. While there is some truth to that, Dio’s influence could be heard in his phrasing and aggression. Listening to his rendition of “Invisible”, the first Dio song on the album, it sounds like he’s waited his whole life to make this album. Dio’s voice and presence will never be duplicated, but Jorn‘s fire cannot be denied. The songs included, which cover Rainbow, Sabbath & Dio (the band), range from the obvious (“Kill The King” and “Stand Up And Shout”) to fan favorites (“Don’t Talk To Strangers”, Straight Through The Heart” and “Sacred Heart”) to less expected inclusions (“Sunset Superman”, “Push” and “Lord Of The Last Day”). There’s not a moment on the record that should not be there. The Black Sabbath medley of “Lonely Is The Word/Letters From Earth”, recently included on Jorn‘s own Unlocking The Past album, is chill inducing. “Shame On The Night” is a personal favorite on this collection as Jorn himself is lost in the song and it just fires me up when I hear it.

The inclusion of “A Song For Ronnie James”, written by Jorn as a musical salute to his idol, is more than fitting. The song is fantastic with it’s slow groove and soulful vocal. Having the lyrics comprised largely of Dio‘s song titles and phrases would come off cheesy any other time, but here its perfect. The best thing about this album is the way Jorn walks the line of staying true to the songs while still injecting his own personality into them. That said, there are no drastic re-workings, no acoustic versions; Jorn is a fan and it shows. He’s not trying to capitalize on his hero’s death. He’s showing his hero how much he loves him and what the music means to him.

Kudos to Jorn for releasing what I predict will be the only Dio tribute worth owning.

As with most of Lande’s work, there’s a very heavy influence of early Dio. It crops up most prominently in “Road of the Cross” with its chunky, chugging guitar riff and exotic lead melodies. It’s got one of the better choruses on “Spirit Black” and serves as one of the best tunes here.

The “formula” does often make for some less than memorable numbers, though, and you can expect a few on each record. Here, you have “Rock and Roll Angel,” which after a nice acoustic opening, gets kind of vanilla in the heavier parts. Likewise, there’s not much memorable about “World Gone Mad.” At other times, though, it works to perfection. “The Last Revolution” is a classic hard rock number featuring one of Lande’s better vocal deliveries, while “Burn Your Flame” is a ripping old school rocker with shades of Led Zeppelin and some of Whitesnake‘s earlier, more raw work.

There are a couple of off the wall tracks here that get different results. “City Inbetween” has a bit of a strange melody with some Zeppelin influence on the chorus, but the big harmonized chorus comes off as a little cheesy to my ears. The other, album closer “The Sun Goes Down,” gets a much better reception despite being stranger. An ethereal, atmospheric bit gets the song started with the focus entirely on Lande’s vocals. The song is a little poppy in places, and the explosive synth effects sometimes sound like the soundtrack for a Star Wars-style space battle, but somehow they work. The huge, epic guitar solo certainly doesn’t hurt either. It’s an interesting track that bears further listening.

Spirit Black delivers exactly what fans expect from Lande and Co. There aren’t many surprises, but that’s not always a bad thing. It’s certainly not here.

So I always look forward to hearing music where he is the driving creative force, not just a guest star. Fans won’t find any real surprises here. You know what you’re going to get with Jorn, and that’s just what Lonely are the Brave delivers. Take a whole lot of Holy Diver/Last in Line-era Dio, a little bit of Whitesnake at their best, some 1970s and ’80s arena rock, stir it all up, and it comes out a little like this.

Lonely are the Brave opens firmly in Dio mode, with the dramatic title track and the memorable chorus of “Night City,” which would not have been at all out of place on either of those aforementioned Dio records. “War of the World” opens with a catchy guitar riff and features another one of those huge, dramatic vocal melodies. Then the record clips on with the galloping rocker “Shadow People.”

I will admit that the latter half of the record does lose me a little. While there aren’t any bad songs there, they just don’t catch my attention quite as well as the earlier songs did. Things pick up with the ninth track, the epic “Hellfire” that reminds me a little of Dio-era Black Sabbath. (Yes, there’s an awful lot of Dio influence here, but in a very good way.)

The bonus tracks found on the record’s limited edition version leave me scratching my head about why they weren’t included on the regular record. The raw rock ‘n’ roll of “Stormbringer” is one of the strongest tracks on the record, and “Like a Stone in Water” rocks with big swagger on the main riff, but also features its more dramatic moments.

If you’re looking for some great traditional metal, it doesn’t get much better than Jorn. This record is no different. It’s Jorn Lande. If you’re familiar, that’s all you reall need to know.