Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

Axel Rudi Pell > Diamonds Unlocked > Reviews
Axel Rudi Pell - Diamonds Unlocked

Turning coal into diamonds. - 91%

hells_unicorn, July 30th, 2010

The prospect of converting a well known collection of classic rock songs into something altogether alien to their former selves is quite a risky one. Not only is it absolutely guaranteed to alienate nearly everyone who is religiously attached to the original versions, but there is no guarantee that the intended audience will gravitate to it. But Axel Rudi Pell elected to take the plunge in the recent aftermath of putting together one of his most brilliant original creations “Mystica”. Surprisingly enough, this swan dive into unknown territory find these German veterans falling higher, and coming out as being either equal to or greater than the past creations that they are paying homage to.

In essence, ARP took 10 songs and 1 very well put together instrumental intro and pulled a rabbit out of their hats that looks pretty close to what they are known for. The pacing, the character, the heaviness, and the sleaze that permeates “Diamonds Unlocked” could well be seen as interchangeable to any of their past 5 albums with Gioeli at the microphone, perhaps most closely resembling the slower rocking “Kings And Queens”. These songs have literally been so well reshaped to fit the epic grain of heavy metal that Pell deals in that despite still being recognizable as radio hit classics, listen almost as if the band had been the original songwriters.

With a few wild lead breaks and a ruthlessly crunchy guitar tone, a series of well placed gravely shouts, and all the attitude the band can muster has brought to glory a group of songs that have either gone stale from merciless repetition on rock radio, or in a few cases were not so great to begin with. Some selections such as the Riot classic “Warrior” and the hard hitting Montrose rocker “Rock The Nation” seem obvious choices for the band’s genre, as they don’t require much modification beyond a heavier guitar tone and an even grittier vocal delivery to become Metal. But most of what is one here is pretty well lodged in pop/rock territory, making one wonder if something like this can actually pull through without falling completely apart.

As someone who tends to be persona non grata in Rock circles, I can confess to not liking a number of the songs found on here, as well as the artists that they originated from. The exceptions to this being The Who and Chris Rea, both of who see their songs modified the least, yet still coming off as fresh and new. But while I cringe at the notion of just about anything being played by Pop hacks like U2, The Mission, or Phil Collins, here I find myself actually liking all of the songs accredited to them. “Beautiful Day”, an otherwise unlistenable carbon copy of several late 80s songs out of U2 that is probably still assisting Bill Clinton in fleecing gullible ideologues with deep pockets at speech appearances has been morphed into an attitude drenched, guitar heavy anthem gets my fist pumping every time. I’d like to see The Edge make an attempt at playing a solo like Axel does on here.

But while some songs have simply been made heavier and meaner with the addition of a good distorted guitar, there’s more going on here than just a metalized rehash of the same plain approach to a song. “Like A Child Again” goes from being a goofy pop number to an ironically dark and heartfelt ballad with Gioeli only accompanied by a piano and some occasional orchestral intercessions, and is highlighted by Pell’s unique ability to fill an entire room with a simple melodic solo with only a piano behind him. “In The Air Tonight”, a punishingly overlong and repetitive ballad has been reworked into a part ballad, part epic homage to “Heaven And Hell” with a beautifully climactic ending. It gets so good at times that some of these songs seem more like they are being rescued than simply covered.

There really isn’t a whole lot to dislike about what has been done here. The only weak point to be found is that the redo of “Love Gun” gets a little bit goofy, to the point of being an unintentional nod to Spinal Tap. Let’s face it, regardless of how conducive the music might be to an all acoustic guitar ballad, when such an approach is combined with the highly suggestive lyrics, the image of good old Nigel bragging about his emotional ballad “Lick My Love Pump”. But regardless, this is a surprisingly excellent effort that most ARP fans should eat up, while old school rock purists would do well to lighten up and accept the fact that their music are not sacred talismans, and will be redone by others who aren’t content to simply play the exact same thing again on a studio recording.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on July 30, 2010.

Diamonds "Well" Unlocked - 95%

stormruller, September 7th, 2008

I was kind of afraid when I saw the tracklist of the ARP cover album with many bands/songs that I've never heard before, the only ones that were known for me were Riot, U2, Kiss, Phil Collins and The Who.

Now to the CD, I expected a very good ARPish version of Warrior and this version is much better than the original, Johnny Gioeli does an amazing entrance to this song and the song is well performed.

The other known bands mentioned before all the songs covered by ARP are amazing and the only one that I didn't like is Kiss' version of "Love Gun" which Axel were doing already in live concert as a ballad version and he did once again for the studio CD, as in every ARP album there is a ballad and he chose this one, but ARP is good writing ballads but for this one that's why the 5 points off my rating. Classic is the U2 version of "Beautiful Day", very different than the original one and this version stick in your head for a long time. Also the Phil Colins and The Who covers are in the ARP epic style and done brilliantly.

As for the unknown songs, I downloaded the original versions before the ARP album was out and had a listen to them to compare to the ARP style. "Stone" is very different with ARP but is cool. The piano-ballad of The Mission "Like A Child Again" is amazing, Johnny's voice is outstanding, this should be the only ballad of the CD and "Love Gun" a hard rocker as the original. The Free cover of "Heartbreaker" is powerful but the last two "Fool's Game" and "Rock The Nation" are very good rock songs and after my first listen to this album I was relieved that these were all good songs to ARP.

Keep These Diamonds Locked - 17%

GuntherTheUndying, December 21st, 2007

Kids, Daddy needs to have a talk with you about something you’ll eventually encounter on your journeys throughout the world of metal. A few people out there will occasionally cover songs written by others and add personal swirls into these tracks to make it sound more like themselves, but it hardly ever works. Thankfully, an idea as presented has been quite rare with decent metal acts; however, this suicidal experiment shall always leech talent off of skilled individuals that dare gamble their earned credibility. Kids, I’m giving this lecture to inform you Axel Rudi Pell has let his genius slip away in a failed effort to represent different musical groups.

Now Axel and his band have built quite the reputation over many years, and to experience them flushing it down with a covers-only release is painful beyond measure. Standing as success’ antagonist, the dreadful “Diamonds Unlocked” captures horrible makeovers that weren’t meant to be covered by Axel Rudi Pell; and it’s obvious someone’s ass is on the slab for such a grand error. Featuring classic anthems from artists like Michael Bolton (lol) and U2, “Diamonds Unlocked” proudly desecrates many once-great tunes by stripping away decency until only boredom remains alive. Watch out Six Feet Under! You now have competition for making shitty cover records!

Most of the items here have – at one time or another – been heard by nearly anyone involved with any musical genre, so digesting such a minimalistic take on ten wonderful trophies leaves a clear path for who’s at fault here: Axel and his fellow yuppies. Musically, each note of every anthem is played properly, but our German buddies thought it would be nice to force in their own instrumental tones without following the selection of cover material both on musical and vocal guidelines. Songs that once had soft guitars now contain unnecessary heavy riffs; tracks forged upon tame guitar solos are now violated by Pell’ spastic leads without coherency on his behalf; hymns layered with energetic singing melodies are now ruined by horrible vocals unfit for each and every carol. Basically, everything done by Axel Rudi Pell is remade into a heavier version without aiming for any enjoyable qualities in the meantime; just like being heavy for the sake of being heavy. Here’s a newsflash: U2’s “Beautiful Day” doesn’t need guitar squeals!

Pushing more weight on this dying effort is Jonny Gioeli’s awful strive to add in his sub-par vocals upon these legendary tunes, which only dropkicks “Diamonds Unlocked” right in the gonads. Gioeli typically poses as an off-key singer with no sense of fundamental vocal characteristics, which sucks horribly, but making this bowel movement even worse is his lack of comprehension within the multiple songs when he’s supposed to take control; it’s very clear we’re not dealing with Roger Daltry’s second-coming. And there isn’t anything special about the bass guitar or percussion as they’re chained to “Diamonds Unlocked” and Axel’s one-way random shredding for his own ego.

On the bright side, a little justice made its way to Pell’s version of The Who’s “We Won’t Get Fooled Again,” although it’s far from greatness as one could predict. Everything sounds quite alright musically, yet Ferdy Doernberg’s keyboards lack necessary energy the original thrived on; despite that, it’s somewhat enjoyable overall. Also, Axel and crew decided to write one track as an insurance policy for this crippling atrocity entitled “The Diamond Overture.” Despite its shiny name, forty-five seconds of doltish guitar notes, random atmospheric keyboards, and tangled solos can’t aid the remaining fifty-five minutes of senseless feces. And that’s basically what “Diamonds Unlocked” is all about: sloppy playing smeared upon repulsiveness.

Covering material that reaches beyond a group’s certain identity has rarely been successful before, and Axel Rudi Pell’s ghastly attempt at making a tribute CD only proves it’ll usually blow complete ass if you spin the wheel. As Six Feet Under has proven with the “Graveyard Classics” series, bands cannot expect positive outcomes when covering items done by artists outside of their instrumental barriers, hence Axel Rudy Pell’s stillbirth of homage. “Diamonds Unlocked” isn’t worth a damn minute of anyone’s time, so do the right thing and avoid this abomination like a movie starring Alec Baldwin.