Hard 20 |
UDO"Thunderball" Nothing to do with the 007 flick...this ball of thunder is the latest offering of molten metal from former Accept vocalist Udo Dirkschnieder and his comrades. They continue in their classic style on this album, playing hard hitting, aggressive, rough and tough heavy metal, not too far removed from the Accept vein. Udo sings in his trademark, Jaggermiester soaked, voice, rough as sandpaper, as ever. He is flanked by the dual axe attack of Igor Gianola and Stefan Kaufman (one of Udo's cronies in Accept), and the jackhammering rhythm section of bassist Fitty Wienhold and drummer Lorenzo Milani. "Thunderball" is chock full of hard ass metal tunes that strike with the force of a wrecking ball, like the title track, "The Arbiter", "Pull The Trigger", "Fistful Of Anger", "Hell Bites Back", "The Bullet And The Bomb" (which reminded me of "Balls To The Wall"), and "Tough Luck II". These songs are like a Panzer assault on the senses! To even things out, however, they throw in a couple of more melodic numbers, those being "In The Land Of The Midnight Sun" (which was reminiscent of yet another Accept classic, "Neon Nights") and "The Magic Mirror"; a ballad, "Blind Eyes", in which they use some strings (and this brings to mind yet another Accept classic, "Winter Dreams"); and they give us some comic relief with "Trainride In Russia". This song is hilarious! It's a bouncy little number, really a traditional Russian/polka tune, complete with accordion, set to a rock beat, and is about the band's escapades in former Iron Curtain territory. Had me in stitches! Always nice to see a band with a sense of humor! Udo is a legend in his own right. For the better part of three decades, he has rocked the metal world with his powerful voice, has captained two bands to legendary status, has made a lot of influential music and helped make heavy metal what it is today, and has even given his fans a few laughs along the way. He and his band are very talented musicians who can really kick out the jams! "Thunderball" is a killer album, and Udo is also back together with Accept. Looks like Mr. Dirkschnieder and company are gonna give the metal world a "balls to the wall" year in 2005! |
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