Axel Rudi Pell
Axel Rudi Pell | |
---|---|
|
|
General information | |
Genre (s) | Hard rock , heavy metal |
founding | 1989 |
Website | http://www.axel-rudi-pell.de/ |
Founding members | |
Axel Rudi Pell | |
Vocals , guitar |
Charlie Chicken (until 1991) |
Volker Krawczak | |
bass |
Jörg Deisinger (until 1991) |
bass |
Bodo Smuszynski (until 1991) |
Jörg Michael (until 1998) | |
George Hahn (until 1991) | |
Keyboard |
Rüdiger König (until 1991) |
Current occupation | |
guitar |
Axel Rudi Pell |
singing |
Johnny Gioeli (from 1998) |
bass |
Volker Krawczak |
Keyboard |
Ferdy Doernberg ( from 1998) |
Drums |
Bobby Rondinelli ( from 2013) |
former members | |
singing |
Rob Rock (1991) |
singing |
Jeff Scott Soto (1991-1997) |
Drums |
Mike Terrana (1998-2013) |
Keyboard |
Kai Raglewski (1991–1993) |
Keyboard |
Julie Greaux (1993–1996) |
Keyboard |
Christian Wolff (1997) |
Axel Rudi Pell (* 27. June 1960 in Bochum ) is a German hard rock - and heavy metal - guitarist . His band also bears this name.
Work & Life
Steeler
In 1984 the self-titled debut album by Pell's first band Steeler was released . Three more albums followed - Rulin 'the Earth (1985), Strike Back (1986) and Undercover Animal (1987) - before the band split up in 1989. The singer was the later EMI manager and comedy producer Peter Burtz .
X-Mas Project
The X-Mas Project was a German thrash and heavy metal Christmas album project that was founded in 1985. Pell played the guitar here.
Axel Rudi Pell
In 1989, Wild Obsession was released , the first album by Pell's new band, which formed under his name. In addition to Pell, the debut album featured Charlie Huhn from the backing band Gary Moore and from the band Victory , Volker Krawczak from Steeler, Jörg Deisinger from Bonfire , Bodo Smuszynski, Jörg Michael from Mekong Delta and Running Wild , George Hahn and Rüdiger König . The producer of the recording was Uli Pösselt .
In 1991 the second album Nasty Reputation was released , heavier than its predecessor. There had been a number of line-up changes. Instead of chicken, Rob Rock from Impellitteri had taken over the vocals, Deisinger and Smuszynski had left the band without replacement. Instead of Hahn and König, Kai Raglewski took over the keyboard parts.
1992 came Eternal Prisoner on the market, on the Jeff Scott Soto Rob Rock had replaced. Then Raglewski left the band. Julie Greaux was hired as a replacement and played on one live and two studio albums until 1996. Drummer Jörg Michael had now joined the band Stratovarius in addition to his AR Pell work . On Magic from 1997, Christian Wolff, a new keyboard player, could be heard. In the meantime you could hear the influences of Deep Purple and especially Rainbow in the recordings.
In 1998 Soto left the band. Hardline's Johnny Gioeli made his debut as the new singer on Oceans of Time . Continuing the wear and tear on keyboard players, Ferdy Doernberg from Rough Silk played on the album instead of Wolff. In the same year long-time drummer Michael left the band. A replacement was found in Mike Terrana , who had already played with Yngwie Malmsteen and Tony MacAlpine , and was also active in Rage . With this now stable line-up, a number of albums were released in the following years. The band also played at various German music festivals, such as B. 2005 at Wacken Open Air and at Bang Your Head . Mystica was launched in August 2006 .
On September 28, 2007 the cover album Diamonds Unlocked was released . Included are u. a. well-known hits such as “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins and “Beautiful Day” by U2 . On February 22nd, 2008 the second double DVD by Axel Rudi Pell called Live Over Europe was released . The first DVD is a recording of the performance at the “Rock-Hard” Festival 2007, the second is an official bootleg with mostly “unprofessional” recordings.
On October 24, 2008 the album Tales of the Crown was released . At the end of the song Riding on an Arrow , the four-year-old son of singer Johnny Gioeli sings the last refrain. During the tour for this album the band played u. a. as support act for Heaven And Hell and at Wacken Open Air.
The following album The Crest was released on April 23, 2010. In addition, the compilation The Ballads IV was released on September 23, 2011 . In addition, the single Hallelujah (a cover of the song by Leonard Cohen ) was released at the end of August , for which there is a music video for the first time since 1994.
In 2012 the album Circle of the Oath was released . In 2013 there were no concerts, on July 9th of that year Pell announced via Facebook that Mike Terrana had to leave the band after 15 years due to scheduling problems. He was succeeded by Bobby Rondinelli (including ex- Black Sabbath ), who had already recorded the drums on the album Into The Storm, which was released on August 22, 2014 .
For the 25th anniversary in 2014, Axel Rudi Pell played a special Axel Rudi Pell & Friends Show at the Bang Your Head festival . He also performed with his former band Steeler. Guests were Vinny Appice , Graham Bonnet , Doogie White , Tony Carey , John Lawton , Ronnie Atkins , Michael Voss , Rebellious Spirit and Sabina Classen . Ex-members Jeff Scott Soto, Rob Rock and Jörg Michael also played at the concert. The show was recorded and was released on April 24, 2015 in Germany as a DVD, Blu-ray or CD box set under the name Magic Moments - 25th Anniversary Special Show .
On 15 January 2016, the album was Game of Sins published, the successor Knights Call published guitarist Axel Rudi Pell appeared on March 23, 2018. On April 6, 2020 Song Quarantined 1 , which due to the COVID-19 pandemic recorded by him had been. On May 8, 2020, the 19th studio album Sign of the Times was published.
Membership development
Discography
All albums and DVDs mentioned were released on Steamhammer / SPV .
Studio albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | |||
1994 | Between the walls |
DE90 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - | |
1996 | Black moon pyramid |
DE87 (5 weeks) DE |
- | - | |
1997 | Magic |
DE77 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - | |
1998 | Oceans of Time |
DE58 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - | |
2000 | The Masquerade Ball |
DE37 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - | |
2002 | Shadow Zone |
DE22 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - | |
2004 | Kings and Queens |
DE40 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - | |
2006 | Mystica |
DE27 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - | |
2007 | Diamonds Unlocked |
DE60 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH91 (1 week) CH |
Cover album
|
2008 | Tales of the Crown |
DE41 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH81 (1 week) CH |
|
2010 | The Crest |
DE22 (4 weeks) DE |
AT68 (1 week) AT |
CH38 (1 week) CH |
|
2012 | Circle of the Oath |
DE16 (4 weeks) DE |
AT55 (1 week) AT |
CH30 (2 weeks) CH |
|
2014 | Into the storm |
DE5 (5 weeks) DE |
AT40 (1 week) AT |
CH9 (4 weeks) CH |
|
2016 | Game of Sins |
DE11 (4 weeks) DE |
AT42 (1 week) AT |
CH10 (3 weeks) CH |
|
2018 | Knights call |
DE9 (5 weeks) DE |
AT26 (1 week) AT |
CH15 (3 weeks) CH |
|
2020 | Sign of the Times |
DE5 (4 weeks) DE |
AT70 (1 week) AT |
CH11 (6 weeks) CH |
More studio albums
- 1989: Wild Obsession
- 1991: Nasty Reputation
- 1992: Eternal Prisoner
Live albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | |||
1994 | Between the walls |
DE90 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - | |
2013 | Live on Fire - Tour 2012 |
DE51 (1 week) DE |
- | - | |
2015 | Magic Moments - 25th Anniversary Special Show |
DE17 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - | |
2019 | XXX Anniversary Live |
DE36 (1 week) DE |
- | - |
More live albums
- 1995: Made in Germany - Live
- 2002: Knights Live (double CD)
Compilations
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | |||
1999 | The Ballads II |
DE89 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - | |
2011 | The Ballads IV |
DE29 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH53 (1 week) CH |
|
2017 | The Ballads V |
DE17 (2 weeks) DE |
AT67 (1 week) AT |
CH28 (2 weeks) CH |
More compilations
- 1993: The Ballads
- 2000: The Wizards Chosen Few (double CD)
- 2004: The Ballads III
- 2009: The Best of Axel Rudi Pell (Anniversary Edition)
- 2017: The Ballads V
Video albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | |||
2008 | Live over Europe |
DE56 (1 week) DE |
- | - |
Double-DVD
placement in album charts |
2013 | Live on Fire - Tour 2012 | - | - |
CH9 (2 weeks) CH |
Circle of the Oath Tour 2012
double DVD |
2015 | Magic Moments - 25th Anniversary Special Show | - | - |
CH4 (5 weeks) CH |
Circle of the Oath Tour 2012
double DVD |
More video albums
- 2002: Knight Treasures (Live and More) (double DVD)
- 2010: One Night Live
Activity as a journalist
Between 1986 and 1993 Pell worked for the then Dortmund- based magazine Metal Hammer . There he was initially a freelancer and from 1988 a picture editor . Occasionally he wrote articles and reviews under the pseudonyms Winfried Kuhl and Dirk Schreiber . When the Metal Hammer was sold to the Swiss publisher Jürg Marquard in 1993 and the editorial team moved to Munich , Pell resigned.
literature
- Holger Schmenk , Christian Krumm : buddies in frocks. Heavy Metal in the Ruhr Area , 1st edition, Henselowsky + Boschmann, Bottrop 2010, ISBN 3-942094-02-9
swell
- ↑ Interview with Axel Rudi Pell
- ↑ Discography on the official website, entry on The Crest ( Memento from May 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Axel Rudi Pell Parts Ways With Drummer Mike Terrana . English. Online at blabbermouth.net 9 July 2013
- ↑ http://www.bang-your-head.de/site_byh/content/axel-rudi-pell-friends-steeler-2014
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=kPSNk4gcxCc&feature=emb_logo
- ↑ a b c d Chart sources: DE AT CH
- ↑ Thorsten Zahn: The successful musician . In: Metal Hammer special issue "25 years - The secret of our success", page 34
Web links
- Official website
- Axel Rudi Pell on MusicBrainz (English)
- Axel Rudi Pell at laut.de
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Pell, Axel Rudi |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German hard rock and heavy metal guitarist |
DATE OF BIRTH | June 27, 1960 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Bochum |