This Is Not A Review: Jani Lane - "Catch A Falling Star"

A lot has been said about Warrant and Jani Lane over the years, much of it not positive.

I’m not here to defend or mock them.

Sure, “cherry pie”, wasn’t an anthem for a generation (unless you’re referring to a generation of strippers), but if you were a straight male of a certain age (say a shy, immature teenager) when that video came on MTV, you probably enjoyed the video for its objectification of women (remember this is years before the internet gave us instant porn).

And if you were of that certain age and a girl wanted to make out with you to Warrant’s song, “heaven”, maybe you have fond memories of that also.

You can laugh now, but I remember honestly being impressed when Jani Lane recorded a solo acoustic version of the Warrant song “I saw red” in 1990. Putting aside all the cheese that was so much of the 80’s hair metal, Jani Lane really did have a singing voice.

26 years later a collection of covers that Jani Lane did is being released under the name, “catch a falling star”.

I had not listened to Warrant in years…even when Jani Lane died a few years ago, I felt bad, but I didn’t run to listen to any of their hits…so why did I want to hear this new collection?

It’s a valid question, and one I am not sure I can answer, because I think the answer is likely buried deep in my subconscious.

It wasn’t because it was a covers collection. While I can enjoy a well played cover that takes a song into a new, creative direction, I’m not a huge fan of cover songs.

If I am being honest, it was probably nostalgia.

With that in mind I sat down and listened to the nine song collection that is “catch a falling star”, and other than a dreadfully bad version of Def Leppard’s, “Photograph”, I didn’t dislike the album. Some songs, I’ll even admit I kinda liked. His song choices didn’t take as many risks as I’d have liked (I’d have loved to have heard him take on something really out of left field like Johnny Cash, or Frank Zappa, instead of the more obvious Bon Jovi or Van Halen covers), but I’ve heard a lot worse cover albums.

While this doesn’t really fall into my usual recommendations category, if you like cover tunes and/or Jani Lane, you should probably check this collection out.

Disclaimer: I never write actual reviews. I’m not sure what happened here. I was listening to this album, and these words just immediately came out of me onto my computer screen. I wish I could write this much about an album that I absolutely love.

Track List:
1. I Want You To Want Me feat. Ryan Roxie (Alice Cooper / Slash’s Snakepit)
2. Panama
3. Photograph
4. The Ocean
5. Doctor, Doctor
6. Electric Eye
7. Free For All feat. Jake E. Lee
8. No Surprise feat. Chris Holmes (W.A.S.P.)
9. Lay Your Hands On Me feat. Erik Turner & Jerry Dixon (Warrant)