This CD can be summed up with one word....fantastic. The discovery of this guitarist is a delightful surprise. Information on him is very hard to come by, and few people seem to know about him, except for the die-hard Jeff Scott Soto fans (his singer is JSS). Axel Rudi Pell is the guitar world's best kept secret, I have read guitar magazines for 3 years now, and not one has even mentioned him, and after listening to this cd, I can't understand why. His style is neo-classical sounding, a mixture of Malmsteen, Blackmore, Schenker, with a touch of John Norum. He is fabulous, and has already taken up a spot on my personal top ten. The music is breathtaking, he is also a great song writer, and teamed up with Jeff Scott Soto....wow.
This is breathtaking, the vocals are everything you would expect from one of the best singers to ever grace the earth. The rich, distinct, versatile voice of the talented Jeff Scott Soto is spectacular. And the guitar riffs are wonderful, clean, crystal, biting, yet soulful at times. It makes me wonder why this guitarist has not been given more recognition. The team of Soto and Pell is a music lover's dream come true. I could go on forever about how superb the two of them are, but will restrain myself, I am sure everyone who is reading this, gets the idea that the two of them are really great.
"Lost behind the shadow of the night
Revelation of a new world, I'll take you there"
This team up of Soto and Pell has resulted in one of the greatest albums of all time. It is very solid. The songwriting is wonderful, the songs remind me of a cross between maybe the "Marching Out"/"Trilogy" Yngwie Malmsteen eras, the "Heaven and Hell" era of Black Sabbath, and a little of Rainbow's "Rising". But it has its own edge about it, an edge that no other artist has, and it makes this unique. Talk of the Guns is very much like a Malmsteen song. There would be alot of comparison between anything Axel Rudi Pell did and Malmsteen because Malmsteen once had JSS as a vocalist, about 13 years ago or so. But there are other similarities besides them just sharing a vocalist. The fiery, arpeggio filled axework is easily comparable to Yngwie's, and the song structuring is similar to some of Yng's work, but then again, Soto wrote or co-wrote almost everything on this album, as he did with Yngwie many years ago.
It is very hard to pick highlights from this album, but I guess they would have to be Wishing Well which really showcases Jeff Scott Soto's powerhouse vocals, and the axework is really good too, the riffs are as memorable as those on Cry of the Gypsy which is another superb song on here. Between the Walls the title track rocks from the beginning to the end, and the lyrics are mystical and magical, just as they should be. Medieval themes, soaring guitar riffs, and howling vocals just seem to go together, and this proves it once again. Casbah is a ten minute epic that is very Malmsteen/Rainbow flavored, which is great.
Bounded by the middle of a dream,
Is it real or just a nightmare?
Overall this album is superb. Everyone should hear this, it is not a new CD, it was released in 1994, which doesn't exactly make it too old either. I decided to review this, because it really has taken ahold of me, it is just so terrific, and there is not alot of information or even mention of this superb guitarist on the internet or anywhere else. I believe his Cd's are released in Germany or Japan only, I am sure that they are not available in the USA, I bought this one from import, and it well worth the import price, which is about the same as what you would pay in a record store. Axel's been around for awhile, because I know that he has released seven albums under his own name, the latest one released this year, called "Magic". As soon as I get ahold of it, I will definately review it, and if this CD is any kind of example of what Pell can do, I already know that it will be simply awesome.
Rating.....10...too good to miss out on.
