Pell, Axel Rudi: Diamonds Unlocked

There are different schools of thought amongst music fans when it comes to figuring out why their favorite musician or band would bother releasing their own album of cover versions of other people's songs. Song selection can be critical and depending on which songs the artist decides to cover, the argument could be made that they're treading on hallowed ground somewhat, not to mention who needs to hear a faceless pastiche when you can just go with the original in the first place? The idea of tossing the odd bonus cover song at the end of an album or a band issuing an EP of songs which influenced them is nothing new but the all cover album has surprisingly become almost commonplace within the industry. Has the well run dry for these bands that they have to practically revert back to the way they started out in the first place? Some do it as a tip of the hat to their influences and to have fun with it, which I think people often lose sight of. That being said you do have to put your own stamp on the songs, you can't just go through the motions with it. The covers that do work are the ones that can remain somewhat faithful to the original yet also reinvent through reinterpretation. I mean we're not talking about reinventing the wheel here, but if you don't put your own stamp on it then what the hell is the point! (See Def Leppard if you don't believe me).

Now that I've got that out of the way, there's the actual review of respected German guitar virtuoso Axel Rudi Pell's latest musical offering Diamonds Unlocked to get to. For well over 25 years Pell has earned the respect of both his fans and the music critics by staying true to his vision with regards to his own material. However he's also been known to throw a few musical curveballs with the choices of covers he's performed over the years. These choices on Diamonds Unlocked continue this tradition as he generally refuses to be pigeonholed into covering any one particular musical style and one quick glance reveals an ambitious set of 10 tracks. I mean how often are you likely to see songs from bands as diverse as Riot, Free, Phil Collins, U2 and (gasp) Michael Bolton coexisting on the same album? I think if the score of this review was based solely upon these selections then I'd easily slap this release with a 5 star grade hands down just based on the 'balls' factor. However there is the actual music to get to first.

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. Longtime vocalist Johnny 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. "Stone" is the first what I'll call the lesser known selections, originally done by The Law, a group formed by Free / Bad Company/ Firm vocalist Paul Rodgers and drummer Kenny Jones(The Faces/ The Who). This is the fist of two tracks where Gioeli tackles the British vocal legend and I think he actually fairs better on this one than on the Free's "Heartbreaker". His 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 iappears 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 and makes you wonder if Paul Stanley was even the right choice to sing the original in the first place. After a strictly commercial AOR, but still catchy run through of Bolton's "Fools Game" things start to sag a bit with the next two tracks, the aforementioned "Heartbreaker" and a rather unsuccessful stab at Montrose's "Rock The Nation". While Gioeli performances on these tracks still seem heartfelt, they don't really do much to spice up them up all that much either. However 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 back in 1980. 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 on a bit of a low note, with a rather tepid rendition of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again". Their heart is definitely in the right place but their version ultimately doesn't deliver the goods, but this is a small bump in the road of what to me is a great rock 'n roll tribute record.

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. Diamonds Unlocked stumbles in a few places but as far as albums of this nature go, this is about as good as one can expect it to get and that speaks volumes.

Track Listing
1) The Diamond Overture
2) Warrior
3) Beautiful Day
4) Stone
5) Love Gun
6) Fools Game
7) Heartbreaker
8) Rock The Nation
9) In The Air Tonight
10) Like A Child Again
11) Won't Get Fooled Again

Added: November 3rd 2007
Reviewer: Ryan Sparks
Score:
Related Link: Axel Rudi Pell Website
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Language: english

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