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Axel Rudi Pell > Tales of the Crown > Reviews
Axel Rudi Pell - Tales of the Crown

A slight dip, but still solid - 84%

TrooperOfSteel, June 13th, 2010

German heavy metal guitarist, Axel Rudi Pell and his band have returned after a short absence to release their 12th full-length CD. In between previous studio CD ‘Mystica’ and this one entitled ‘Tales of the crown’, Axel Rudi Pell released a CD of cover songs called ‘Diamonds unlocked’. The CD covered such bands and artists like U2, Phil Collins, Kiss, The Who and Michael Bolton. Axel Rudi Pell also released a DVD in early 2008 called ‘Live over Europe’.

Keeping themselves busy with those above-mentioned projects, the band were also able to release ‘Tales of the crown’ in October 2008. The CD follows the same formula as previous Axel Rudi Pell releases, after all they have never strayed from what they know and do best; 100% pure European melodic heavy metal, with influences ranging from Rainbow, Ronnie James Dio, Ritchie Blackmore and Yngwie Malmsteen.

Aside from the brilliant and creative guitar work of Mr. Axel Rudi Pell, who also writes all the music and lyrics, there is also vocalist Johnny Gioeli; who in my opinion is one of the best metal singers around today. His voice is so perfect for this style of melodic heavy metal; full of emotion, depth and melody. And let’s not forget the exquisite veteran drummer, Mike Terrana, who has been with the band since 2000. Filling in the large shoes left by current Stratovarius drummer Jorg Michael, who left the band in 1998, Mike Terrana has been a major factor in Axel Rudi Pell’s sound and success.

Releasing the next CD after (arguably) one of their best releases to date, ‘Mystica’, is always a hard thing to do. There is always added expectations that the successor will be just as good, if not better than the previous. Fortunately, the band has had a knack of doing just that. Axel Rudi Pell have released quality CD after quality CD, including such masterpieces as ‘Oceans of time’, ‘The masquerade ball’, ‘Shadow zone’ and ‘Kings and queens’; all released in sequence from the band’s discography. Now, they have done it again, with ‘Tales of the crown’ being a superb release after the awesome ‘Mystica’.

Breaking habit, the CD does not begin with Axel Rudi Pell’s trademark instrumental introductions, which has donned every release since ‘Between the walls’; the band’s 4th full-length CD. The opening track is also not a short and speedy one, again something that usually follows the typical intros. Instead, the opening number is an epic 7-minute wonder, entitled “Higher”. This type of track would usually sit somewhere around the middle or to the back end of an Axel Rudi Pell release. Nevertheless “Higher” is still a strong opening track, with a great driving beat and full of Pell’s signature riffling that will get your foot tapping and your air guitars from out of the closet. The track basically sets the scene for what you will expect from the remainder of the CD.

Once “Higher” has been imprinted into your brain, the 2nd track called “Ain’t gonna win” begins. With another typical Axel Rudi Pell galloping guitar riff backing the track, Johnny Gioeli’s emotional vocals brings you into the song, much like the rats and children who were mesmerized by the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The CD continues with “Angel eyes”, your typical speedy Axel Rudi Pell track in the same vein as “Fly to the moon” from ‘Mystica’, and “Flyin’ high” from ‘Kings and queens’.

After the mid-paced rocker “Crossfire”, we get the first epic ballad of the CD, entitled “Touching my soul”. Now we all know that Axel Rudi Pell loves to write ballads. He loves ballad so much that he has released 3 CDs dedicated to all the ballads which have graced their entire discography. “Touching my soul” is yet another standout ballad, with heartfelt lyrics and heartfelt vocals from Johnny Gioeli. After the somewhat disappointing instrumental “Emotional echoes”, comes one of the best tracks on the CD, “Ridding on an arrow”. It’s catchy, melodic and superbly written. The awesome chorus is one of those which sticks in your head, long after you’ve heard the track.

The title track “Tales of the crown” is the 2nd of the 3 epic tracks, which Axel Rudi Pell is widely known for. The song follows in the same footsteps as previous wondrous epics such as “The masquerade ball”, “The gates of the seven seals” and “Magic”. As always, Mr. Pell places his signature extended guitar solo through the middle part of the energetic track. The CD rounds off with the fast “Buried alive” and the final epic track, “Northern lights”.

It’s fantastic to see a band such as this to be always on their game and releasing so many high quality CDs for so many years. There are not an awful amount of bands which could say the same thing. Although Axel Rudi Pell has never strayed from their original sound that began with “Wild obsession” way back in 1989, every CD they produce sounds fresh, exciting and full of talent, emotion and heart. ‘Tales of the crown’ continues this trend and is just as good as previous “classics” from the band. Fans of other metal genres can also find something enjoyable from the band’s music, particularly power metal and gothic rock. Power metal fans could enjoy the guitar work, riffs, hooks and solos; while those gothic rock fans can find enjoyment from the song’s melodies and the passionate vocals of the lead singer.

So whether you enjoyed ‘Mystica’, ‘Kings and queens’ or anything else, especially from the Johnny Gioeli era (1998 onwards), then there is a good chance that this release will again tantalize your ears as well as your emotions.

A simpler crown for a simpler king. - 83%

hells_unicorn, May 6th, 2009

There is really only one expectation that can be had for an ARP release, and that is a formulaic, tribute paying, yet powerful blend of 70s and 80s proto heavy metal in the vain of Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Dio, Rainbow, and a few others. Experiments are always few in number, and when they do occur, are set within boundaries that have been in place for several decades. You do not come to love this band because of stylistic adventurism or any sort of avant-garde sensibilities, you come to it for quality, and any thing that appears to be innovation is most likely the result of not being familiar with this band’s extensive yet non-evolutionary history.

“Tales Of The Crown” could be summed up as a visitation to 2 periods within the band’s 2 most prolific eras, namely the Gioeli and Soto eras. The more dominant of these two paths is the former and draws mostly upon the somewhat faster and more compact album “Kings And Queens”. This album was unique in that it was the most Dio and Sabbath oriented of this band’s releases, to the point of actually writing a musical homage to the title track of the first album that Ronnie Dio did with Iommi and company. This album does have a little bit more of a tilt towards Rainbow’s brand of harder edged music than their 2004 release, but it systematically avoids a lot of the more epic and drawn out solo fests heard on “Oceans Of Time” and the long winded balladry of “Shadow Zone”.

Even during the longer epic songs found on this album, there is a very simplistic and repetitive formula at work here that puts emphasis on catchiness and vocal work, resulting in something that is very enjoyable but also a bit predictable. The opening song “Higher” essentially has the stereotypical ARP overture built right into it, resulting in what sounds like the first two songs on several of his previous albums, but with the second one being a mid tempo heavy number in the vain of “Mystica” and “Legions Of Hell”, but without the extended solo section and a less atmospheric quality to it. “Tales From The Crown” takes a similarly repetitive and minimalist approach, coming off more as one of Axel’s plainer rocking songs off his last album rather than a grandiose epic, which is what usually comes out of his 8 minutes plus title songs.

In essence, this is the first album in this band’s entire discography where the strongest points reside in the straightforward songs and faster speed songs, rather than the ballads and the epics. “Buried Alive” really brings home the glory in the same way that “Flying High” did on the “Kings And Queens” album, pushing out a straight barrage of speed metal in a slightly faster fashion than your typical Dio cooker, but with a similarly Ritchie Blackmore/Vivian Campbell approach to power chord riffing rather than the palm muted droning of a lot of the early German speed/thrash bands of the early 80s. “Crossfire” actually improves on that hard edged, thudding 3 chord approach to riffing established on “Strong As A Rock” and throws in some interesting lead detailing and a much more memorable chorus.

There is a level of contention regarding the one instrumental offering on here in “Emotional Echoes”, which seems like a severe deviation in style for Axel and also some form of experimental dance/groove number that has never been explored before. Those well educated in ARP’S earlier era with Jeff Scott Soto of Malmsteen fame at the helm will note two songs off the “Black Moon Pyramid” album in “Aqua Solution” and “Aquarius Dance” which employed a similar set of quirky sounding jazzy influences, but the latter of which also included a rather bluesy vocal performance out of Soto. Hell, go to the intro of “Night And Rain” off of “Masquerade Ball” and you’ll find yet another example of pre-metal rock and blues influences shaping a classic catchy song. This is no experiment, but simply a very stage friendly guitar shredder doing an impressive set of melodic and technical lead passages over something that isn’t power chords and straight 4/4 beats.

Although this is essentially another strong release from Axel Rudi Pell, it does fall a little bit short of past efforts. But considering the massive accomplishments that the last 5 albums were, that isn’t really saying a whole lot. It’s less of an exploration of slow developing and spell binding guitar soloing than it is a set of catchy songs meant to be sung along to. The leads are a little bit more restrained, as are Gioeli’s vocals, but there is no massive divergence in quality here in comparison to past accomplishments. If you’ve heard and liked any of this band’s albums since “Nasty Reputation”, it’s a safe bet that you’ll like this. If nothing else, this band is consistent to the point of being dogmatic, but I personally wouldn’t have it any other way.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on May 6, 2009.

The same good old ARP - 95%

stormruller, March 21st, 2009

What can I expect when I see a new ARP album coming? The same sound? Yeah! As his previous albums are amazing I don't care if he's releasing the same stuff sso I'll always write good stuff about new ARP albums and that's what "Tales Of The Crown" is about.

Now Axel has changed some things in this new album, instead of starting the album with an intro as he usually does he starts with the song "Higher" which I was starting to think to compare with song #2 of his previous albums as fast and speed tracks but he changes the order of the songs too here and this song is just superb.

The album goes on with one of the best song entrances Axel has come up to this day, "Ain't Gonna Win", has an amazing guitar riffs and Johnny delivers his best from the beginning to end of this song, the chorus of this song sticks in your mind. "Angel Eyes" as a songtile might be a ballad song? No! It's Axel's first speed song in the CD and is just as song #9 "Buried Alive", speed and rockin' song.

Uptempo songs are on the album too, you can find this in #4 "Crossfire" and #7 "Riding On An Arrow", this last one I really like the solo Axel comes up with and the chorus of this one still rockin' my mind.

The 5 points off here is to the not so good ballad "Touching My Soul", Axel is the king of ballad songs which sugh great songs as "No Chance To Live", "Forever Angel" but the new one is not a bad ballad but Axel missed here a ballad touch from his previous albums, I'm not a fan of instrumental songs although "Desert Fire" is one of my favorite Axel songs this one I just wanted to end to listen to the next song.

"Tales Of The Crown" and "Northern Lights" are the epic songs of this amazing album, the last one is great but not so good as the amazing "Tales Of The Crown", this one an 8-minute song of great stuff and mix sounds of speed and slow guitars.

If you like Axel previous albums, get this one for sure and let's hope Axel release another new album soon in the same sound but with a good ballad on.

Winter Cleaning Trilogy I - This Really Sucks. - 35%

Empyreal, December 20th, 2008

So the other day I was thinking to myself, "Hey, I'd really like to hear one of my favorite bands making royal asses of themselves and creating something moronic and embarrassing." Well, luckily I had this piece of crap on hand to fulfill my desires. As I said, Axel Rudi Pell are one of my favorite Power Metal bands, and to see them fall this hard is nothing short of disheartening. I mean, it isn't even like Tales of the Crown is that different in style from what they normally do. It's still a hefty mixture of ballsy Hard Rock and melodic Power Metal, and it still has the choruses and Johnny Gioeli's spellbinding vocal lines, so what makes it such an unappealing album?

Well, let's start with Gioeli himself, since I've already mentioned him. The man has class, I must say. I've always liked his sleazy, melodic croon, and the way it meshes into the Rainbow/Dio mode of the music hits the spot every time. He hit the highs with relative ease, and pretty much everything he sung just oozed with confidence and personality. To put it lightly, you would be a fool to discredit the man's ability, and...well, actually I don't like him much on this album. I don't know if it's his fault entirely, but he never hits any highs here. What the hell? This much wasted talent on one album should be a goddamn crime. But no, he never hits any highs here, and most of the time his vocals are frightfully dull and uninspiring. Again, I'm not sure how much of this is Gioeli's fault, because I'd guess a lot of the songwriting duties are handled by our very own metal maestro himself, Axel Rudi Pell.

Yes, let's talk about Pell, next, then. I've been hearing some bad things about his recent work, like that covers album he did last year, and I wisely avoided that, but this one hit me right in the face at the height of a little Axel Rudi Pell listening spree, and I couldn't avoid it if I tried. To put it plainly and simply, I think Mr. Pell is losing it. While you wouldn't be able to guess from looking at the cover or the song titles, which still remain pretty normal for these guys, this album is a huge step down in terms of songwriting quality. Whereas previous albums boosted themselves to the heavens with sky-high rockers like "Cold Heaven," "Ashes from the Oath" and "Mystica," this album's best points include the groovy, modern sounding "Ain't Gonna Win" and the unmemorable "Angel Eyes." And the instrumental "Emotional Echoes" is cool, but it isn't really that memorable either, and doesn't even sound like Pell. It's more akin to a lush Prog Rock band or something, but at least the experimentation here works.

And if those are the albums best points, just imagine how much worse it gets otherwise. The opening "Higher" isn't terrible, but it sure as fuck isn't good either. It's got this boring, slow, plodding riff that seems to be trying to be "epic," but it really just goes nowhere. In fact, that's the main problem with most of this album. It doesn't go anywhere. This album is just filled to the brim with stupid shit like "Crossfire" and the ridiculously generic "Touching My Soul," and the underwhelming closer "Northern Lights." There doesn't seem to be any logical conclusions for these songs; they start and end in the same place. There is no point to this stuff except for Pell to prove that he and his band are still active, and I must say that it is all extremely uninspiring and insipid. Axel Rudi Pell were always a good band because they wrote tunes that soared with iron wings and unbeatable morale, and on Tales to the Crown, the compositions just sort of lurch and shuffle along like zombies in a George Romero movie. I don't listen to this band because I like zombies, I listen to them because they used to be good. I listened to this band because they were uplifting and happy sounding, so why is this album different? Why?

The two worst songs here deserve mention, as they actually come right after one another. The title track is the bigger offender, as Axel's epic compositions have always been great, so it's that much more painful to admit that this one sucks goat testicles. Seriously, this is horrible. It's got this bizarre layered "dark" sounding chorus that seems more fitting for a band like Edguy, because Edguy knows how to do it right. This just sounds really awkward. Then the song proceeds to meander on for eight minutes with a slow part that sounds like they ripped it out of a totally different song and some chugging riffs that will make you roll your eyes in boredom and disgust. "Buried Alive" comes next, one of the "fast" songs that Pell promised, and man does it ever blow. It should be good, in theory, but the execution is all wrong, with Gioeli singing the chorus in this strained, angry sounding "darker" voice over these heavy, pummeling quasi-Thrash riffs, with no sign of a classic Pell solo in sight. It just sounds incredibly awkward, silly and puerile. The kind of thing that makes the listener feel dirty even listening to it.

I know I'm sounding a bit biased and unfair here, as bands experimenting is never a bad thing, but would it really be too much to ask for said bands to do...I don't know, an actual GOOD EXPERIMENT? Come on, this album is terrible. Axel Rudi Pell was famous for being one of the most consistent and stubborn artists in the business, putting out album after album of his big, cheery Power Metal mastery, so what the fuck is the logic in finally deciding to experiment almost twenty goddamn years after starting his band? I mean, seriously, do I really have to write that much about this? Tales of the Crown is a weak and pitiful album by a band that I think we can pretty much write off at this point. Pass.