PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
This is gonna be a tough one to review, the latest cd from axel features only 3 new songs, and two of those are covers.
Its been 7 years since Rudi released “Ballads 3”, so you might have expected this new record to feature all new material, it doesn’t, it just disappoints.
This new release features various songs, some originals, and some not so original.
But, and it’s a big but, quite a few of those first appeared on the 2007 release” Diamonds unlocked”, “Love gun” and “In the air tonight” spring to mind, and all the others are on previous releases in some guise or another.
So what really is the point in this one ?
Axel has always churned out cover versions of great songs, and why not, his version of “In the air tonight” is in my opinion, is very good, but the less said about how he murdered U2’s “Beautiful day”, the better.
So the first of the 3 new songs is “Where the wild waters flow” a song penned by Rudi about, and I quote: “This song is not about love, it has a more mysterious content and it captures the long and hopeless journey of human beings trying to get away from some dark mights. One can apply this to many different thoughts and situations nowadays” deep indeed.
Next up is “Holy diver”. This is a very good cover, I like the way Rudi has stripped it back to basics, a simple melody played on a piano, and joined later by an Acoustic guitar, a Cello and even an Orchestra. I think it is an outstanding piece of work, though im not sure the Dio diehards will agree.
The 3rd new song on this cd is “Hallelujah”, Originally written and released by Leonard Cohen in 1984, and it should have stayed there, cos its awful, I really don’t know what Axel is thinking, there are so many other ballads he could have covered, or indeed, as the title of this cd suggests, he could have, and should have written new ones or at least filled it with new covers.
If you don’t own an Axel record, and love your Ballads, then this is a good place to start, however if like me, you already own a lot of his stuff, then it’s a very disappointing cd.
This really does smack of the record company, and indeed Axel himself of trying to make a quick buck from one new song, and one worthy cover.
So its a 3/10 from me, and im only scoring it this highly because of Holy diver.
Track listing.
1) WHERE THE WILD WATERS FLOW
2) HOLY DIVER
3) HALLELUJAH
4) NORTHERN LIGHTS
5) NOBLESSE OBLIGE (Opus #5 Adagio Contabile)
6) LOVE GUN
7) GLORY NIGHT
8) IN THE AIR TONIGHT
9) TOUCHING MY SOUL
10) LIKE A CHILD AGAIN
11) NO CHANCE TO LIVE
12) HAUNTED CASTLE SERENADE (Opus #4 Grazioso E Agresso)
13) THE CURSE OF THE DAMNED
Released on September 26th
Axels website is Here
Just found this on Rudi’s website.
Another 7 years passed by after the release of the “The Ballads III”. Seven years of writing, recording and collecting even more emotional and melancholic songs. To keep our tradition, we decided to record 3 brand new tracks for this ballad compilation.
I think this tradition needs to be broken.
