AXEL RUDI PELL – ‘The Ballads IV’ (SPV)
Seven years after ‘The Ballads III’ comes the latest in line. Like its predecessors, the album creams of the best of the ballads from Axel Rudi Pell’s recent back catalogue and adds three new tracks to the package (which, for vinyl lovers, also comes in a nice shade of red). I have to be honest from the off and say that an hour-and-a-quarter of back-to-back ballads really isn’t my thing (God bless the vinyl where you can just play a side at a time!), and I still maintain that Pell’s version of ‘Love Gun’ (from the covers album ‘Diamonds Unlocked’) is the only song ever indicted as a crime against humanity; but there’s no doubting the talent of the guitarist and his cohorts, in particular vocalist Johnny Gioeli and the awesome Mike Terrana on drums, and taken one or so at a time the songs on ‘The Ballads IV’ all shine in their own way.
Of interest for the completists are the new songs, the best of the bunch being ‘Holy Diver’. Yes, that ‘Holy Diver’. As Pell himself says: “As everybody knows, my soul mate and friend Ronnie James Dio sadly passed away last year. It was very clear to me using one of his songs to pay him tribute. It had to be a song, which was very easy recognisable as one of his tunes and therefore I picked ‘Holy Diver’ as the ultimate choice. Of course the original track isn’t a ballad, so I decided to re-arrange the song completely and we made a piano version out of it, featuring some orchestra – strings, a cello and a clean and melodic guitar solo.” And you know what? It actually works, and it works very well indeed.
Of the other newies, ‘Hallelujah’ is a cover of the Leonard Cohen song, although apparently the inspiration behind this was from “all the good and bad
performances of some TV casting show participants” – didn’t someone on ‘X Factor’ or somesuch crap perform it? – “who gave me the real kick to create one of the, hopefully, ultimate versions of this song” which comes complete with children’s choir. There are, apparently, two different versions of it: “the CD album version which features a slightly wilder guitar solo and the single (and downloadable) version which features a calmer guitar solo.” Hmmm… The third song is album opener ‘Where The Wild Waters Flow’, which, as the man himself says, is “my own composition in the true ARP ballad style.”
I can’t see that any album of ballads is likely to win a band any new fans, nor is it a great introduction for the uninitiated curious. Personally I favour Pell when he’s going for it rather than baring his soul but his sublime take on ‘Holy Diver’ alone does make this album more than one to buy just to complete the collection.
© John Tucker December 2011