AXEL RUDI PELL – Diamonds Unlocked I [+12 0dayrox extras]

After the recent, second AXEL RUDI PELL covers album, as requested by many, here’s the first “Diamonds Unlocked I “released in 2007 including versions from Kiss, Michael Bolton, Montrose, etc. with the great Johnny Gioeli at the mic.
And as 0dayrox extra we added all (12 songs) covers done by AXEL RUDI PELL Band all over their career, including Rob Rock and Jeff Scott Soto on lead vocals.
If there is a rock musician from Germany who is extremely respected about his ability to never disappoints us, that’s certainly Mr. Axel Rudi Pell. And this cover album “Diamonds Unlocked” isn’t an exception but it’s also really nice to listen to the Metal versions of those really eclectics songs… Axel Rudi Pell rocks no doubt.

It’s not so common to see a Metal / Hard Rock band which chooses to cover such varied songs. Only some few guys have the balls to do it and Axel Rudi Pell did it, from U2 to Free, The Who and even Phil Collins and Chris Rea (!!!)
Axel Rudi Pell, Johnny Gioeli, Volker Krawczak, Ferdy Doernberg and the mighty Mike Terrana covered eleven songs which a lot of class. These new versions are simply excellent with a lot of new things (especially amazing guitars of course) and the performance of the guys (especially Gioeli with his amazing voice) is simply perfect.

That’s funny but when you know the original “Beautiful Day” and listen to the Axel Rudi Pell’s version that’s simply… better. And that’s the same for the majority of the songs. But all in all, this is a really pleasant album and even if these covers are not so different musically speaking, the little additions and the power (in the rhythm, tempo and of course through some real metal riffs) that the German gave to them is just excellent.
If you want to see that it’s possible to do Metal with ALL the songs you just have to ask to Axel Rudi Pell to arrange and cover it and you’ll see that nothing is impossible…

The disc begins with a nicely layered, brief instrumental entitled “The Diamond Overture” before segueing into the first song proper, a rousing romp through Riot’s “Warrior” originally done back in 1977 on their debut album Rock City. Gioeli does a great job paying tribute to the late Guy Speranza here and Pell displays plenty of his trademark, fiery, melodic solos.
Next up is U2’s “Beautiful Day”, their meatier more metallic version doesn’t just take the original up a few notches, it flat out totally smokes it. Gioeli alters the vocal phrasings ever so slightly and along with Pell’s chunky power chords, this one makes you forget the original in a hurry.

Gioeli’s voice on “Stone” is so strong and forceful and clearly shows why he’s got one of the best set of pipes in the game today. The first curveball appears in the form of an acoustic, stripped down take on the Kiss classic “Love Gun”. When a song can be stripped to just its bare essence as it is here and be delivered with such passion and emotion, it just raises the song to another level, which is the whole point really. Gioeli’s heavier vocal style really works on this track.

After a strictly commercial AOR, but still catchy run through of Bolton’s “Fools Game”, we hear “Heartbreaker” (Free) and Montrose’s “Rock The Nation”, where Pell’s guitar work and solo sections on these two cuts are particularly inspiring. He serves up a serious heaping of bluesy licks on “Heartbreaker” which would make original guitarist Paul Kossoff weep with admiration, as well as absolutely stunning 90 second solo rip on “Rock The Nation” which demonstrates his adeptness at blending slow melodic leads with faster runs.

Next up is an epic take on “In The Air Tonight” originally done by Genesis front man / drummer Phil Collins on his first solo record Face Value. Pell’s atmospheric lead work meshes flawlessly with Gioeli’s gritty vocal performance not to mention drummer Mike Terrana comes up with some different and imaginative percussive sections before Pell’s frenetic guitar work rises to the fore once again to close the track.
Another surprise finds the band slowing things down again, this time on a gentle, piano laden version of The Mission’s “Like A Child Again”. Although both Gioeli’s and Mission vocalist Wayne Hussey’s voices don’t really have a lot in common stylistically, this track ends up suiting Gioeli’s voice perfectly.

Part of the allure of this record at least from a vocal standpoint is Gioeli’s canny ability to toughen up the originals, which really gives these songs a much needed kick in the ass. When you couple this with Pell’s expertise and technical abilities, it’s really hard to ignore this record.
The disc closes with a rather tepid rendition of The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again”.

Song selection on these kinds of records can be the deciding factor between something a music fan might spin regularly on their CD players with a disc they may play once and throw into their pile of music never to be heard from again.
Pell has chosen his selections wisely here and risen to the challenge of taking all these different musical styles and by combining it with his own distinctive musical voice he’s managed to create new, honest and fresh sounding versions of these songs.
Highly Recommended

01 – The Diamond Overture (Axel Rudi Pell)
02 – Warrior (Riot)
03 – Beautiful Day (U2)
04 – Stone (Chris Rea)
05 – Love Gun (Kiss)
06 – Fools Game (Michael Bolton)
07 – Heartbreaker (Free)
08 – Rock the Nation (Montrose)
09 – In the Air Tonight (Phil Collins)
10 – Like a Child Again (The Mission)
11 – Won’t Get Fooled Again (The Who)

0dayrox extras:
12 – Wishing Well (Free, from Between the Walls ’94)
13 – Holy Diver (Dio, from The Ballads IV 2011)
14 – Tearin’ Out My Heart (Rainbow, from The Ballads ’93)
15 – Forever Young (Alphaville, from The Ballads ’93)
16 – When A Blind Man Cries (Deep Purple, from Nasty Reputation ’91)
17 – Still I’m Sad (Yardbirds – Rainbow – Dio, from The Wizards Chosen Few 2000)
18 – The Temple Of The King (Rainbow, from The Ballads III 2004)
19 – Way To Mandalay (Blackmore’s Night, from Into The Storm 2014)
20 – Hey Hey, My My (Neil Young, from Into The Storm 2014)
21 – Hey Joe (Jimi Hendrix, from The Ballads II 1999)
22 – July Morning (Uriah Heep, from The Masquerade Ball 2000)
23 – Mistreated [Live] (Deep Purple, from The Ballads V, 2017)

Axel Rudi Pell – Guitars
Johnny Gioeli – vocals
Rob Rock – vocals
Jeff Scott Soto – vocals
Ferdy Doernberg – keyboards, Acoustic Guitar on “Love Gun”
Volker Krawczak – Bass, Acoustic Guitar on “Love Gun”
Mike Terrana – drums, percussion

BUY
www.amazon.com/Diamonds-Unlocked-Axel-Rudi-Pell/dp/B000TX7ALU