Axel Rudi Pell: Live On Fire CD/DVD Set Released March 25th

AXEL RUDI PELL
***Incendiary New ‘Live On Fire’ Double DVD / CD / LP Released March 25^th on SPV / Steamhammer***

German Heavy Metal Guitar MaestroAxel Rudi Pell, who has been a major player on the massive European melodic metal scene for well over two decades and who has sold more than a million solo albums to date, is set to release a double ‘Live On Fire’ DVD / CD on SPV / Steamhammer on March 25^th.

‘Live On Fire’ DVD/ CD1 features Axel Rudi Pell and his consummate German / American band’s entire hard rocking performance in front of a sold out Cologne crowd on October 18^th 2012, perfectly captured by multiple cameras during the second leg of his wildly successful ‘Circle Of The Oath’ tour. DVD/CD2 contains the complete recording of his co-headlining gig at the Rock Of Ages festival on July 28^th 2012, plus a brand new interview with Axel Rudi Pell, and the video clip for his ‘Hallelujah’ single. ‘Live On Fire’, which is guaranteed to contain ‘no f***ing overdubs’, will also be available as a triple 180g vinyl LP with printed inner sleeves, and as a limited (5,000) edition 2 DVD / CD digipak box set, including poster and laminated tour pass.

‘Circle Of The Oath’, Axel Rudi Pell’s highly acclaimed 14^th studio album, released on March 26^th 2012, crashed in to the German national album chart at 16, the Swiss chart at 30, the Swedish chart at 51, the Austrian chart at 55 and Norwegian chart at 69. In Sweden the band were awarded a gold disc for sales of over 10,000 copies of their ‘Run With The Wind’ single, the first to be taken from ‘Circle Of The Oath’. Martin Howell, reviewed ‘Circle Of The Oath’ in Powerplay’s April 2012 issue, raving “This is what melodic metal should be like. It’s just a fantastic album. 9/10.” Jonathan Selzer reviewed ‘Circle Of The Oath’ in Metal Hammer’s May 2012 issue, surmising that “Still focusing on writing pulldown-inducing anthems full of yearning, heroism, tales of destiny and all that good stuff that’s not just for Germans – rather than the meandering self-satisfaction his shredding peers are so easily prone to – Axel Rudi Pell’s latest album is an unabashed testament to the virtues that can still be wrung out of melodic hard rock. 7/10.”

Following the release of ‘Circle Of The Oath’, The Axel Rudi Pell band, the line-up of which has been constant since 1998, set off on tour round Europe, dropping in to the UK to play a triumphant, sold out London Underworld gig on April 22nd. Record Collector’s Mark Taylor reviewed the show in the magazine’s July 2012’s issue; “View: standing, like a sardine! Sunday night and the Underworld was sold-out for Teutonic rock…Guitarist Axel Rudi Pell makes no attempt to hide his influences, Ritchie Blackmore leading the way on opener ‘Ghost In The Black’. Used to playing larger stages, one of the biggest drum kits since Cozy Powell was deployed, so that keyboardist Freddy Doernberg was in the photographer’s pit! Star of the night was singer Johnny Gioeli, with his wide vocal range. ‘Mystica’ segued into Deep Purple’s ‘Mistreated’, and the title track from the new album, ‘Circle Of The Oath’ and ‘Carousel’, were majestic epics featuring exquisite fretwork. A raging-thunder drum solo from Mike Terrana closed with the bang of a gong, Pell and his band rocking through a great set of neo-classical rock, proving that there really is gold at the end of the Rainbow.” ‘Live On Fire’, which captures the entirety of this blistering live setlist, [along with the added bonus of a cover of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’], but on much bigger stages, can only enhance Axel Rudi Pell’s inexorably increasing reputation and following in the UK.



HISTORY

Axel Rudi Pell was born on 27 June 1960 in Bochum, Germany. Having spent his first eleven years listening to children’s and chart music, the discovery of Ritchie Blackmore and Deep Purple irrevocably changed his life in 1971. This self-educated guitarist soon became a sought-after instrumentalist on the local music scene before he formed his first group, Steeler, in 1981. Steeler sold over 30,000 copies of their commercially most successful release, Strike Back, and brought out their fourth and final album, Undercover Animal, in 1988.

Pell then formed his own band with Jörg Deisinger (ex-Bonfire), drummer Jörg Michael, bassist Thomas Smuszynski (ex-U.D.O.) and US vocalist, Charlie Huhn (Ted Nugent, Gary Moore, Victory). Their debut album, Wild Obsessions, arrived in the stores a year later, followed by Nasty Reputation, for whom Pell enlisted the American singer, Rob Rock (M.A.R.S, Impellitteri), who was then replaced during the subsequent German tour by former Malmsteen vocalist, Jeff Scott Soto.

With Soto as a new member, the third album, Eternal Prisoner (1992), was undeniable proof that the band had found their own, unmistakable sound. A year later, Pell brought out The Ballads, an album featuring his most accomplished rock ballads. With Between The Walls (1994) and the live recording, Made In Germany, (1995) Pell stuck with his traditional style even in the post-grunge era. The subsequent Black Moon Pyramid (1996) was the second Pell album in succession to make it into the German album charts, as have all subsequent albums.

Following the departure of Jeff Scott Soto at the end of 1997, US vocalist Johnny Gioeli (ex-Hardline) joined the Axel Rudi Pell band and recorded Oceans Of Time, (1998) the commercially most successful album at that time by the Axel Rudi Pell band. Johnny’s characteristic vocals have subsequently enhanced all ARP albums to date including The Ballads II in 1999, Masquerade Ball in 2000, Shadow Zone in 2002, Kings & Queens and The Ballads III in 2004, Mystica in 2006, Diamonds Unlocked in 2007, Tales Of The Crown in 2008, The Crest in 2010, The Ballads IV in 2011 and Circle Of The Oath in 2012.

www.axel-rudi-pell.de / www.spv.de