Well Jan has definitely uncovered some gems in this Lost Songs album. It is certainly a female classic rock collection and as Jan explains in the CD sleeve the songs were left behind because she didn't want to be pigeon holed into this female rock genre.
I was expecting badly mixed and produced old recordings but was pleasantly surprised with the quality and clarity. There is some background noise, hissing and some songs sound muddy, but then again this is to be expected from resurrected DAT tapes.
Track 3 - Old Man Says sticks out as one of my favourites with excellent drumming and up tempo toe tapping rock goodness.
Track 9 - Your Mind is Amaze has fantastic deep and raunchy guitar sounds and cool riffs. Turn it up loud and destroy your speakers!
A few tracks let the album down for me, including Burger Generation (Track 10), it wafts along and the vocals are too piercing. The background hissing is also unbearable.
Just as I was getting a little tired of some mediocre tracks, I was brought out of my slumber for tracks 15 & 16, On Ice and Blissfully Unaware. These are two great songs that stand out in their own right.
The last two songs on the album don’t fit at all and are drum and bass style remixes, maybe they should have stayed Lost Songs as it just doesn't feel right.
Overall if you are a Jan fan, what are you waiting for?
Jan Hellriegel’s love affair with music started when she learned classical piano as a child, and as a teenager she took vocal coaching from Dame Sister Mary Leo, whose protégés included Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.
Her first foray into recording was with her brother Rob's band Working With Walt, before forming all-girl indie pop-rock band Cassandra's Ears at Otago University. They developed a strong following, toured relentlessly and released two self-funded EPs before disbanding in 1989.
Hellriegel signed to Warner Music NZ as a solo artist in 1990. Significantly, she was their first local signing and at the time the first NZ female singer/songwriter to be picked up by a major for a full development deal.