The ballads Vol.IV - Axel Rudi Pell - CD

Axel Rudi Pell is born in the Ruhr area. He's not one to toot his own horn (as opposed to the idol of his early days, Ritchie Blackmore), although sometimes he is a bit too humble. Since more than two decades, the simpatico peroxide blonde releases one Metal masterpiece after the other, always staying true to his personal musical style. Even on the (allegedly) accursed studio album #13, "The crest", the guitar wiz focuses on his virtues. In the wake of the album's release, he accidentally said something you could almost call controversial: "I'm proud to have no double bass parts at all on my new album." Big excitement - but Axel Rudi Pell calms down the agitated writer: "You know, everbody is kind of hooked on this fact. You're not the first journalist to mention that topic. One day, I made this casual remark, and now, everybody and his grandmother consider it to be THE thing... Well, what can you do? Anyway, basically, I still do agree with what I said! Some tracks just don't need it - our drummer, Mike Terrana, has told me that a double bass is regarded as old-fashioned in
America: when the roadies see someone setting up a double bass drum, they start grinning, thinking that the guy must be in his fifties or so... Well, he is, but who cares?" Ok, so no bass drums on "The crest" - that is kind of extraordinary ... But Axel Rudi Pell doesn't think the "sans double bass method" is his new and only way to go: "The focus has to be on the song itself, the melody and the harmony of both - at least, that's my method. And in most of the cases, a double bass drum simply doesn't fit in." Nuff said... "The crest" is brimming with classy songs, anway - a good example: "Dreaming dead" with this instrumental part reminding me a bit of "Heaven and hell". A coincidence? After all, Axel Rudi Pell was on tour with Black Sabbath, um, Heaven And Hell, last year... Axel
ponders: "Huh, well... We were the special guest act on Heaven And Hell's last tour in Germany - and you never know if your subconscious mind absorbs some of the memories. Some people have already told me that ,Devil zone' reminds them a bit of ,Bible black' by Heaven And Hell. By the way, the tour was absolutely awesome. When we were in Berlin, I talked with Ronnie James Dio in his dressing room for almost two and a half hours. He even offered me one of his strange beers he's always drinking, a kind of dark, English ale or something." How much of Steeler is still left in Axel Rudi Pell's work, I want to know - the answer: "Basically, nothing! I always say I learned the tricks of the trade with Steeler - period. Since my first solo album, I've become a pro. My new stuff is just better, so I don't play Steeler songs anymore. Those should be saved for a possible Steeler reunion - but who would need that?"