On disc: Axel Rudi Pell

 
 Made In Germany
 
- Volker Raabe -
 
 


 
 Black Moon Pyramid
 
- Volker Raabe -
 
 


 
 The Wizards Chosen Few
 
- Amir Djawadi -
 
 


 
 Knights Live
 
- Amir Djawadi -
 
 


 
 Diamonds Unlocked
 
- Sandra Bucher -
 
 


 
 The Ballads IV
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Live On Fire
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 

Live On Fire

(SPV - 2013)



 
 

 

Guitarist Axel Rudi Pell is celebrating his 25th anniversary with his solo band with Live On Fire. It also shows that he and his band are a unit, coz this line-up is together for 15 years.



Live On Fire is available as a double DVD (two concerts - Cologne and Rock Of Ages festival), a double CD / triple vinyl edition offers the concert from Cologne and for the die-hard fans there is a box set with 2 CDs, 2 DVDs, booklet, post and a tour laminate. The box set is limited to 5,000 copies worldwide.



On tour the set list is mainly the same every night, so the concert will bring back memories for the ones who attended a show at the 2012 tour. But as the guys play together for 15 years they know each other by heart and so the jam sessions vary a little every night. The duels between Axel Rudi Pell and keyboarder Ferdy Doernberg are a highlight of every show - like the drum solo. Mike Terrana is one of the few drummers where fans demand a solo, but what works live doesn't on disc. The drum solo is too long for a CD while on DVD it works better.



Some might criticize the sound quality, but personally I prefer it, if the sound isn't too polished. It reminds me a bit of the old days with analog recordings... But it's always fun to listen to a band which delivers a powerful, tight set - and that's what Axel Rudi Pell and his mates deliver! Enjoy it!






Track list:



Cologne, Essigfabrik - 18. October 2012

1. The Guillotine Suite (intro)

2. Ghost In The Black

3. Strong As A Rock

4. Before I Die

5. The Masquerade Ball / Casbah / Dreaming Dead 
/ Whole Lotta Love / Dreaming Dead

6. Drum Solo

7. Mystica / Mistreated / Mystica

8. Oceans Of Time

9. Circle Of The Oath

10. Fool Fool

11. Keyboard Solo / Carousel / Jam / Carousel

12. Tear Down The Walls / Nasty Reputation

13. Rock The Nation



Rock Of Ages festival - 28. July 2012

1. The Guillotine Suite (intro)

2. Ghost In The Black

3. Strong As A Rock

4. Before I Die

5. The Masquerade Ball / Casbah / Dreaming Dead
 / Whole Lotta Love / Dreaming Dead

6. Drum Solo

7. Mystica / Mistreated / Mystica

8. Oceans Of Time

9. Circle Of The Oath

10. Tear Down The Walls / Nasty Reputation

11. Rock The Nation

 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
up 













The Ballads IV

(SPV - 2011)



 
 

 

German guitarist Axel Rudi Pell is presenting another Ballads album, it's number 4. He spiced up this one with 3 new songs, well one new track and 2 cover versions. The opener Where The Wild Waters Flow is an incredible ballad and definitely one of the highlights of The Ballads IV! Next in line a balladesque version of Dio's Holy Diver. Axel Rudi Pell and his band had the chance to be on tour with Ronnie James Dio on his last trip to Germany in 2009 - they supported Heaven & Hell - and so this is a special homage by the blond guitarist to one of the greatest singers in rock history. But for me this is a bit too tame... It doesn't rock. The other cover is presented immediately and it might surprise some that AR Pell is covering Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. An epic tune which is just beautiful.











The covers of Kiss' Love Gun and Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight aren't new, but still cool.

The rest of the tunes are known by any fan of the blond German guitarist, but for rockers who don't owe every release and love ballads, it's a good chance to get some more of Axel Rudi Pell and his mates.

Collectors should note that there is a double-gatefold colored vinyl version available.





Track list:



1. Where The Wild Waters Flow

2. Holy Diver

3. Hallelujah

4. Northern Lights

5. Noblesse Oblige (Opus #5 Adagio Contabile)

6. Love Gun

7. Glory Night

8. In The Air Tonight

9. Touching My Soul

10. Like A Child Again

11. No Chance To Live

12. Haunted Castle Serenade (Opus #4 Grazioso E Agresso)

13. The Curse Of The Damned


 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Diamonds Unlocked

(Steamhammer - 2007)



 
 

 

One more covers album! Okay, it's the first time Axel Rudi Pell is doing an album full of cover versions and to be honest I expected at least one song of Deep Purple and Rainbow - but I was wrong!

Actually the CD offers some songs which you won't expect and which you won't find on every other covers album. And so it starts off with The Diamond Overture and leads into Warrior (Riot) which is here presented in a melodic metal version. One of the surprises is Beautiful Day of U2. It's more rock and I enjoy the song. To be honest I don't like U2, but this version is quite good.



Shoot me, but Kiss never really got me. Some of their stuff I like, but I'm no fan of them and so the I was surprised by Pell's acoustic version.



Michael Bolton's easy listening rock ballads are a bit too cheesy for me, so I can't compare the cover and the original. It's nice to hear another Free song and Heartbreaker is a real 70's rock with Hammond organ and in this case a Blackmore-ish guitar. Another surprise is the Phil Collins cover of In The Air Tonight. The songs is arranged a bit differently, more focused on guitar and less on drums. Towards the end they speed up a bit. I always loved this song and so this version didn't convince me 100%, but it's well done.



As I always loved The Who I'm happy that there is also a cover of them, even if I still prefer the original. Many will know Won't Get Fooled Again from a C.S.I. sequel where it's used for opening and end credits.



About the Montrose and The Mission cover I can't tell much, as I don't know the songs and here I have no clue.



So, this a one of the more interesting covers albums and fans of Axel Rudi Pell will get their copy anyway, but as it has some songs which aren't overly covered it's a better choice then many others!





Track list:



The Diamond Overture

Warrior (Riot)

Beautiful Day (U2)

Stone (Chris Rea / The Law)

Love Gun (Kiss)

Fools Game (Michael Bolton)

Heartbreaker (Free)

Rock The Nation (Montrose)

In The Air Tonight (Phil Collins)

Like A Child Again (The Mission)

Won't Get Fooled Again (The Who)

 
 










Sandra Bucher
(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
up 










Knights Live

(Steamhammer - 2003)



 
 

 

He is from the Rhine-Ruhr area and he never denied that. Now he kinda proofed that with the release of his latest album, coz the German guitar wiz released - believe it or not - his 14th solo album! This time a double live album which was recorded at Bochum Zeche - THE home of metal in the Rhine-Ruhr area - during the last tour.



Mr. Pell has took quite some influence on the national metal scene in the past and present as one of the best German guitarists. And especially in this part of Germany he has a lot of fans and so it was an obvious choice to record at his home town Bochum. On the live album he got supported by drummer Mike Terrana, former Steeler bassist Volker Krawzcak, keyboarder Ferdy Doernberg and singer Johnny Gioeli. The album offers 11 songs of the quintet. The masterpiece of the album is the 28 minute long medley of songs like Masquerade Ball and Stargazer. Beside that there is the compulsory drum solo of Mike Terrana and the solo parts of keyboarder Ferdy Doernberg which was a wise decision regarding the skills of these musicians.



Finally a good way to see what's the position of ARP at today's scene and who likes this kind of music, will love the album. Others... Well, it's a matter of taste!

 
 










Amir Djawadi
(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
up 










The Wizards Chosen Few

(Steamhammer - 2000)



 
 

 

A man with an eventful past like Axel Rudi Pell has to release Best Of album sooner or later. Now it's time to do a retrospective look onto the 10 year long career (as a solo artist, even if he was successful with the German band Steeler) with a collection of songs from the German guitar wiz. And everybody who knows Axel Rudi Pell would be surprised, if he wouldn't present something special. Many try to quick money with that kind of releases, but the German guitarist didn't just chose his most successful tracks and put it on one CD. This is a double CD and surely it has the classic tracks from the different eras of the band incl. Broken Dreams, Oceans Of Time or Nasty Reputation, to name just a few. But that wouldn't be unusual. So Axel Rudi Pell added some kind of bonus tracks. First to mention the two brand-new studio tracks Broken Dreams and Ghost­hunter which Mr. Pell recorded with his current line-up (Johnny Gioeli - vocals; Ferdy Doern­berg - keyboards; Volker Krawczak - bass & Mike Terrana - drums). The new songs are typical tracks and fit perfectly into the other material.



Still I'm Sad was just released on a Dio tribute album and the song Total Eclipse was pre­viously just released as a bonus track on the Japanese version of the Magic album. To mention is that on Total Eclipse Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow joined Axel Rudi Pell for a guitar duel.



Hear You Calling Me of the Wild Obsession album was remixed and for the fans of live performances they added Burn, Purple Haze and Call Her Princess which were recorded during the 1998 tour. Beside that there are two track recorded in 1995 which are Snake Eyes and Mistreated.



You see, this ain't a typical best of album. Rather there is known stuff, rare and un­released tracks and so this is interesting for long-time fans as well as for new followers of Axel Rudi Pell.

 
 










Amir Djawadi
(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
up 










Black Moon Pyramid

(Steamhammer - 1996)



 
 

 

"Never change a winning team" is a saying which originated from the English soccer. And it seems to be the motto of the blonde guitarist from Wattenscheid who has a constant line-up for quite awhile now. The line-up contains beside the master Axel Rudi Pell him­self also bassist Volker Krawczak, keyboarder Julie Greaux, drummer Jörg Michael and singer Jeff Scott Soto. A wise decision to keep working with outstanding singer Soto which can be heard on tracks like Fool Fool or Hole In The Sky which are really intense. The ballads Touch The Rainbow and Silent Angel make the listener happy! Enjoy listening!

 
 










Volker Raabe
(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
up 










Made In Germany

(Steamhammer - 1995)



 
 

 

The blonde guitarist from Wattenscheid strikes again. Even if just 10% of the songs are new material, it's a good live album, coz the older material isn't worse then the new. On the last tour live album was recorded and it's great! The line-up is amazing! It's including German drum legend Jörg Michael as well as singer extra-ordinary Jeff Scott Soto. The chosen songs are e.g. Talk Of The Guns, Snake Eyes and Warrior. The highlight of the album is the monumental opus Casbah which was combined with Eternal Prisoner and become a more then 12 minutes long opus! Fire On The Mountain was especially written for this tour!



This live album is documenting the live event without overdubs. An album Made In Germany by the blonde guitar wiz.

 
 










Volker Raabe
(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
up 





 
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