In a world of changing fashions, fickle fans, and flash in the pan artists who are briefly the darlings of the press, some acts seem to defy time by just sticking at what they’re good at without trying to adapt to passing fads. One of those artists is Germany’s resident guitar hero for over 30 years, Axel Rudi Pell, and on this, his 13th studio album with his eponymous band, he does not change his formula.
After a short musical intro, the album fires into ‘Too Late’ a six minute track that introduces all the elements that characterise his style; big guitars intertwining clean, powerful vocals, swirling keyboards adding an orchestral layer, and a driving rhythm section that play with a precision indicative of musicians at the top of their game. All this is matched by clean and skilled production, for the first time, Mr Pell taking the role of producer as well as song writer. It is the undoubted quality and ability of all players that stop the album falling into a trap where lesser bands would be in danger of being cheesy. Track four, ‘Prisoner of Love’, with lyrics and a style that could so easily fall into ‘rawk’ clique; instead with a skill that sounds unforced it becomes the sort of ballad that many acts could only hope to pull off.
Most tracks on the album come in at the six minute or more mark, ‘Dreaming Dead’ at 7 minutes 39 being a typical example, with its solid guitar riffs and effortlessly classy solo. With the lyrical themes of screaming souls, evil, and devilry, if any comparison to other artists could be made it would be to the work of Dio, a comparison that is meant purely as a compliment.
With each and every track bearing the hallmarks of traditional, melodic rock composition, no one song stands out, and with the band’s undoubted live credentials, the numbers will slot firmly into their live set. I’ve no idea what sort of carbon footprint a touring band leaves, but with the thousands of lighters that are bound to be waved slowly in the air to power ballads like ‘Glory Night’, Mr Pell and Co will have to plant an absolute rain forest to off-set theirs.
http://www.axel-rudi-pell.de
