Axel Rudi Pell, the German guitar wizard (date of birth 06/27/1960), has become a permanent part of the German Metal scene since he released his first album with the German band "Steeler" (1984 - s/t). Three more albums followed ("Rulin' the earth" in '85, "Strike back" in '86 and finally "Undercover animal" in '88) until he decided to leave and start a solo career in 1989.
Even though "Steeler" has been a popular band in the mid-eighties, the solo project became even more successful. Besides the great melodic and fast guitar playing by Axel there has always been a lot of space for other members of the band to show their talents like the fantastic drummer Jörg Michael or new keyboard player Ferdy Doernberg for example.
The first Axel Rudi Pell solo album was released in 1989 and featured the great vocal talents of Charlie Huhn (ex Gary Moore, ex-Victory) on the album, as well as drummer Jörg Michael, bass players Volker Krawczak (ex-Steeler) & Jörg Deisinger (ex-Bonfire) and some more. From this great rockin' record with a weak production though over to the fantastic "Nasty Reputation" with Rob Rock (now in Impellitteri) on the mic to the latest albums "Black Moon Pyramid" and "Magic", both with the great Jeff Scott Soto on vocals, Axel started to develop his unique kind of musical style: fast melodic Hard Rock with a couple of neo-classical influences and sentimental hooks. Also typical for his music are those fantastic epic songs which I personally love so much. Tunes like "Magic", "The clown is dead", "Black Moon Pyramid" and songs like "Oceans of Time", "Ashes from the Oath" from his latest album... show which bands had have some influence on Axel's music. Especially Rainbow have been known for that kind of songs in the mid-seventies. But Axel has got some more stuff to offer and he is a proof that great Hard Rock Music still has a place in the music scene in the late 90's. Pure magic!
From 1994 on, all the studio albums have been in the German album charts for a couple of weeks each.The new album "Oceans of time" is out now and features the following line-up:
Axel Rudi Pell - guitars; Johnny Gioeli - vocals (of Hardline formerly); Jörg Michael - drums (of Stratovarius); Volker Krawczak - bass; Ferdy Doernberg - keys (of Rough Silk)
Due to the departure of drummer Jörg Michael, new drummer Mike Terrana (ex- Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine) joined the line-up and will be playing on the next album and the forthcoming tour in December 1998. The next album will be called "Ballads II" and probably released in February/March 1999. "Ballads II" is a compilation of slower songs, old and new.
Already in 1999, "The Ballads II" became a big success for Axel in Germany and marks another chart album in the guitarist's long career. The band contributed a song for the tribute album to Axel's favorite singer, Ronnie James Dio: the Yardbirds/Rainbow classic "Still I'm Sad". "Oceans Of Time" became the best selling Pell album of all time in summer. In August, the Pell band performed a successful club show at Bochum's Zeche and two days later the band had the chance to appear at Wacken Festival 1999 in front of 20000 people.
The next album was called "The Masquerade Ball" - released in Spring 2000.The line-up featured the same musicians as it's predecessor. After the release of this yet again successful studio album, Axel decided to put out a double CD of feat. his best songs until date. The title of that particular album was "The Wizards Chosen Few" which party was compiled out of request's from readers of this site.
In early 2001 the Pell band went successfully on tour again before they had the chance to perform at one of Europe's biggest Metal Festival - Bang Your Head - in Balingen this Summer.
The ARP band started to record the next studio album entitled "Shadow Zone" in late 2001. The album was released on April 29th, 2002 with another tour to kick of a week later. "Shadow Zone" hit the German album charts at # 22 and marked the biggest success for the ARP so far. The show in Bochum was recorded for a live 2-CD and DVD release on October 21st/ November 18th 2002.
Source: http://www.axel-rudi-pell.de
