Axel Rudi Pell

ARP's "The Crest" was probably my album of the year for 2010. It reminds me a bit of my 2009 album of the year which was "Sanctuary" by Praying Mantis. Both albums keep it simple and to the point, just song after song of flawless melodic rock, nothing fancy. Note that on first listen I thought both were a bit bland, until after a few songs I realized that every single song was sticking in my head. Catchy stuff.

SAHB Healer wrote:

ARP's "The Crest" was probably my album of the year for 2010. It reminds me a bit of my 2009 album of the year which was "Sanctuary" by Praying Mantis. Both albums keep it simple and to the point, just song after song of flawless melodic rock, nothing fancy. Note that on first listen I thought both were a bit bland, until after a few songs I realized that every single song was sticking in my head. Catchy stuff.

That's how I was With "The Crest".

That's how I am with most of his albums. Only a couple have really stuck the first listen, one being Nasty Reputation and that's because of Rob.

I am about to lose my Pell-virginity as I just placed an order for this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AXEL-RUDI-PELL-Original-Albums-5CD-Box-Set-2013-New-Wild-Obsession-4-more-/251302508889

I've never heard any of his albums before. But since he is highly acclaimed, and there's an album with Rob Rock and two with Jeff Scott Soto in there, and the price was low, I thought this was the absolute best time to dive in.

I've heard Between the Walls and Black Moon Pyramid, both with Soto. They're good, neo-classical power metal and Soto really grabs the lightning. The guitar work is more creative and melodic than Yngwie. It does get cheesy here and there, but that's European power metal for you. I'd be willing to grab that box set.

I only paid £13.00 for it, including shipping.

It comes with...

Wild Obsession
Nasty Reputation
Eternal Prisoner
The Ballads (?!)
Between the Walls

Any opinions on those records?

Be sure to grab Black Moon Pyramid when you get a chance; it's my favorite and seems to be the beefier of the two. Other than Between the Walls, which is great, I haven't heard the others.

Lari wrote:

I only paid £13.00 for it, including shipping.

It comes with...

Wild Obsession
Nasty Reputation
Eternal Prisoner
The Ballads (?!)
Between the Walls

Any opinions on those records?

The Ballads is (was) a rare one. Overall, these albums are interesting simply because they actually differ from one another Don't think I'd go as far as saying any of those can be considered ARP's best work though. Usually 96-00 (Black Moon Pyramid, Magic, Oceans of Time, Masquerade Ball) get most love. Anyway, if you happen to like one of his songs, you can safely grab any Axel's LP and be sure to find ten more tracks to enjoy. Unlike many, in ARP's case, stagnation in his music doesn't take away the freshness and "life" from it.
In 1998

In 2012. Just as good.

Yep, with Axel Rudi Pell, you know what to expect and he always delivers the goods. I've never been disappointed in anything he's done.

Soto and Rock are great of course but don't discount Johnny Gioeli of Hardline fame. Best album with him (as far as I've heard) is Kings & Queens:

DallasBlack wrote:

Soto and Rock are great of course but don't discount Johnny Gioeli of Hardline fame. Best album with him (as far as I've heard) is Kings & Queens:

Wow! I've not heard this yet. This album will be in my August run.

DallasBlack wrote:

Soto and Rock are great of course but don't discount Johnny Gioeli of Hardline fame. Best album with him (as far as I've heard) is Kings & Queens:

Gioelli era is my favorite. His voice is astonishing.

My 5 disc box came in the mail yesterday. I didn't listen to it last night though. I had a tough Monday at work, and while I was excited, I just couldn't get down to it in the evening (that's what she said). I'm giving Wild Obsession its first listen right now.

Sounds a bit like Dokken. And I love Dokken (well, at least the first three albums). Guitars are excellent, and of course I expected no less. It's not neo-classical metal, it's more glam than anything. Glam metal with intricate, fast solos. Pell has a lot of Van Halen and Blackmore in his playing. And obviously Lynch, now that I brought up Dokken. The whole band is tight, the vocalist (name escapes me) has a decent amount of grit and the songs are catchy. Super infectious actually, and I'm already thinking if I should move on to the next disc or just play this again.

Actually, no, I decided in advance I'll digest this slowly and pace myself. Maybe like, one new album every two or three days. Hopefully it'll be a nice two weeks.

If there's one bad thing, it's the packaging. It's shitty. It's 5 CD sleeves, and no booklets at all. So the only thing to look at while listening is the front and back covers. And that's also a big part of why I decided to get to the computer while listening.

Maybe I wouldn't have bought the box if I knew it was such a bare bones collection. But hey, it got me into Pell. I'll have to get the more recent CDs in proper packaging.

For the price you paid, the lack of swag is no big loss. And digesting it slowly is the best way. Now I'm going to go hunt this set down...

Lari wrote:

...

It will only get better from here. And then it will sound samey The vocalist is Charlie Huhn who sang for many acts, famous and relatively unknown, including Victory from Germany.
As for pacakge, I have regular CDs and while Wild Obsession indeed has only sleeves without any info and pics, on Eternal Prisoner and Between the Walls there are lyrics and some band photos printed. So it seems there is no different versions of his first albums.

I've played Nasty Reputation three times already today. I love Rob Rock and the title track has a little bit of "I'm a Warrior" in it. He is just an awesome, awesome singer. Really shines on Unchain the Thunder and the first two songs. I also like the guitars again, and there's even an extended instrumental song to showcase Pell's wizardry.

But overall it's maybe not as enchanting as the first album. Made me not want to put it instantly back on.

The Purple cover and the drawn out (but nice) Land of the Giants kind of put a stop to the album halfway through. I think I need a few more listens in the next few days, but as of now I'd maybe rate Wild Obsession 9/10 and this one a point lower. I like the fact there's a different approach though. And it's a change of pace hearing Rob Rock singing about things not directly related to saving souls.

Good shit.

I've been listening to Eternal Prisoner now for today and for the whole past weekend. It's not a complete hit, but I really like the first half of the album. "Streets of Fire", "Eternal Prisoner", "Your Life" and "Wheels Rolling On" are all great Pell songs.

But Jeff Scott Soto to me, in my head, has personified Yngwie Malmsteen's sound, so I have a hard time accepting his voice here. Especially when he sings in such a similar style as he did on Marching Out. It's killer though, but I get these weird flashbacks as if I was listening to Malmsteen, and the comparisons appear in my head. Pell's guitar work is tasty though, and not quite the same as Yngwie doing flashy up-and-down scales in hyper-speed.

It's still not neo-classical metal, more straight up heavy metal than anything.

"Long Time" is a catchy track. Pell rocks, Soto rocks, rhythm section is tight, the band still retains a glam element but they aren't limiting themselves. It's also short and punchy, possibly my favourite Pell-track so far. If the second half held up, it'd be as good as the first two or even better, but as it is, it's probably a small step down because of the lack of "wow, that's something I haven't heard" -factor.

Absolutely love "Shoot Her to the Moon" on EP. That song slays. But overall this album lacks punch, memorability for me. Same applies for the next one tbh.

A few weeks later and it's hard to pick a favourite. I think I might still like the debut the most, but Nasty Reputation has grown on me big time. The Soto albums seem excellent in quality too, so I can't really rank the lot anyway. The Ballads disc... well, I haven't played it after the first two spins.

The box set will keep me entertained, no doubt, but for sure I'll come back to Pell when I think I'm ready for more. Be it a few months or a year from now. But this band/project is definitely solid.

Favourite songs so far:

Wild Cat
Call of the Wild Dogs
Snake Eyes
Hear You Calling Me
(Don't Trust the) Promised Dreams
Nasty Reputation
Land of the Giants
Unchain the Thunder
Streets of Fire
Eternal Prisoner
Cry of the Gypsy
Casbah

Right, so now there's another cheapo 5-disc box set and it includes:

Black Moon Pyramid
Magic
Oceans of Time
The Masquerade Ball
Ballads II

I haven't gotten anything beyond the original box set, so I decided to grab this. Cost 14 euros from the German Amazon. Will post impressions once it arrives.

Lari wrote:

Right, so now there's another cheapo 5-disc box set and it includes:

Black Moon Pyramid
Magic
Oceans of Time
The Masquerade Ball
Ballads II

I haven't gotten anything beyond the original box set, so I decided to grab this. Cost 14 euros from the German Amazon. Will post impressions once it arrives.

got this box from amazon a few days ago and I like a lot what I am hearing.

cheap box it is but you get many albums for a very decent price. music is good and I am starting to enjoy the band much more than I did before.

and it is better than yngwie. doesn't get boring at all.

Gilbert wrote:

Lari wrote:

Right, so now there's another cheapo 5-disc box set and it includes:

Black Moon Pyramid
Magic
Oceans of Time
The Masquerade Ball
Ballads II

I haven't gotten anything beyond the original box set, so I decided to grab this. Cost 14 euros from the German Amazon. Will post impressions once it arrives.

got this box from amazon a few days ago and I like a lot what I am hearing.

cheap box it is but you get many albums for a very decent price. music is good and I am starting to enjoy the band much more than I did before.

and it is better than yngwie. doesn't get boring at all.

If you decide to go further, I HIGHLY recommend Kings & Queens. A nearly perfect album IMO.

Oh, I never did post my impressions of that second box set.

I've had it for a year now. First off, all those albums are very consistent. Pell doesn't seem to release anything that doesn't match a high standard.

Out of the 4 proper studio albums in the box, I think Oceans of Time has stood out enough for me to call it my favourite. No weak tracks, and brilliant highlights.

I think if I now had to pick a favourite from all the albums I have, I'd go with Nasty Reputation first. I'm a bit of a Rob Rock fanboy, and this one is among his finest work. Oceans of Time is second, and Wild Obsession third.

The two Gioeli era albums I have are slightly better than the Soto ones. But it's all good quality. The best Soto one is Black Moon Pyramid.

The second Ballads disc also flows pretty well.

DallasBlack wrote:

If you decide to go further, I HIGHLY recommend Kings & Queens. A nearly perfect album IMO.

Agreed. It's an excellent album.

007 wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

If you decide to go further, I HIGHLY recommend Kings & Queens. A nearly perfect album IMO.

Agreed. It's an excellent album.

checked some samples earlier. awesome stuff. thanks for the tip