LUCASSEN & SOETERBOEK’s PLAN NINE – The Long-Lost Songs (2024) *HQ*

It was the early Nineties, and musical polymath Arjen Lucassen had begun working on several projects: a solo album, a progressive-rock opera and a melodic hard rock album. Around this time, he watched singer Robert Soeterboek perform live with Bodine, his former early-Eighties heavy metal band. “His vocals truly impressed me, a rarity!” Lucassen recalls. “He had the charisma and power of singers like David Coverdale and Robert Plant. Discovering that we really got along personally, we decided to collaborate on some songs, just for fun.”
But those were the days of grunge, so it wasn’t the right time for “LUCASSEN & SOETERBOEK’s PLAN NINE“. But now, 30 years later, they have re-written and re-recorded songs of these early ’90s days with the help of lots of great musicians.
Titled “The Long-Lost Songs“, the album encapsulates a glorious treasure trove of 11 original songs with a loving 70s and 80s nod. It’s a blistering romp through the good time rolling rocker of “Let It Ride”, the Beatles-esque “Doctor Robert’s Medicine Show,” the bluesy groove of “Annie Moore,” the chugging glam stomp of “High-Speed Chase” to the 80s metal of “Ice on Fire”, whilst “The Preacher” would fit on a number of Arjen’s back catalogue records.

Opener “Doctor Robert’s Medicine Show” begins with cool harmony vocals including female singers then this glorious intro goes into fantastic classic rock guitar lines, backed by groovin’ bass and a respectable drum performance. My second big thought was that Robert Soeterboek rules so hard – the second he opens his mouth, magic happens. Even better, he’s backed by these wonderful singers whose vocal lines crawl all over the place.

There’s a bell and an ominous bass line leading into “The Preacher,” which takes things into a more mysterious mood. Some singing guitar lines lay down a sweet path for Soeterboek to enter upon, again backed by magnificent bursts from the backing singers. There’s a lot of fun drama in this song, as it feels like Soeterboek is playing a different role from the first song, and is having a blast with it.
Things are a little more acoustic, stripped-down in “Annie Moore.” The vocals, guitars, organs, and amazing rockin’ groove from the band are creating pure magic either. There’s even a heavy metal guitar solo… this song refuses to pick a genre in the best sort of way.

There’s a cheeky secretary telling the baws that there’s a skeezy salesman here to see him as an intro to “Get Down to Bizniz,” which further implements the spectacular bluesy guitar-rock that the album’s already been showing off impeccably.
The intro to “Before the Morning Comes” feels Metallica-influenced akin Nothing Else Matters, while the gently-weeping-styled guitars have a more bluesy feel. This is a slower track, it works really well in the context of the full album, allowing a bit of a breather from the other material that surrounds it.

“High Speed Chase” rocks. This song really throws back to Deep Purple’s “Highway Star,” in both vibe and concept, which is never a bad thing, with all of those little hints of Arjen Lucassen’s flavor, like in the keyboard sound, guitars, and backing vocals. “Let it Ride” has such classic rock bounce to reminds of BTO – likely because they have a song of the same name. That era pretty much hits this song dead-on though, with really uplifting music and truly, those backing vocals.

For a bit more of an ‘80s vibe, look no further than “Ice on Fire,” a melodic rocker with sharp riffs and synths, very late ’80s in sound and spirit. Then “Long Cold Night” goes for uptempo but with acoustic guitars. It’s a very fun song. The opening of a bottle, dropping of ice into a glass, and glugging of a liquid pouring are the first things you’ll hear in “Drunker than Whiskey,” a groovy rocker with chugging guitars, subtle organs, and a lot of contributions from the backing ladies.
You’d be hard-pressed to find an Arjen Lucassen album that doesn’t have a killer closer, and you certainly won’t find such a lack on this release. “Die with Your Shades On” immediately brings Iron Maiden’s “Die with Your Boots On” to mind, but “Die with Your Shades On” is the hard rock groovy version of what they did in heavy metal, both in music and concept. The song feels like it touches on a little bit of everything that these guys are all about, while simultaneously building up the necessary drama to make a punchy and memorable finale to the already pretty-damned-good album. This one needs to be cranked up loud, so you can get the full impact of it.

“The Long-Lost Songs” showcases the many faces of talented Arjen Lucassen. This is classic rock / hard rock with a late ’80s / early ’90s feel – both in songwriting and production – and a very good one.
Highly Recommended

01 – Doctor Robert’s Medicine Show
02 – The Preacher
03 – Annie Moore
04 – Get Down To Bizniz
05 – Before The Morning Comes
06 – High Speed Chase
07 – Let It Ride
08 – Ice On Fire
09 – Long Cold Night
10 – Drunker Than Whiskey
11 – Die With Your Shades On

Robert Soeterboek (vocals)
Arjen Lucassen (guitar)
Marcel Singor (guitar)
Rob van der Loo (bass)
Koen Herfst (drums)
Joost van den Broek (keys)
Irene Jansen, Jane Goulding (backing vocals)

Pre order:
amazon.com/Long-Lost-Songs-Lucassen-Soeterboeks-Plan/dp/B0CT62KVKD