Some bands want to "keep evolving" or "pushing their boundaries" while others just want to do what they know best and love. The German institution Axel Rudi Pell (ARP) is the ladder, like AC/DC, when you get a new ARP album, you know what you will get. A love letter to Deep Purple/ Rainbow/ UFO/ Scorpions through his own lens. Mr. Axel Rudi Pell has created and perfected his sound over more than 30 years and 18 studio albums (over 1.7 million albums sold worldwide)! The axeman founded the band with his name after his departure from Steeler in 1989. The line-up has been stable for years with Johnny Gioeli - Vocals , Ferdy Doernberg - Keyboards , Volker Krawczak - Bass, and Bobby Rondinelli - Drums. I'm a long time fan and I own all of those 18 albums (and some live ones) in CD. My first was 1998's Oceans of Time which was Johnny Gioeli's debut after Jeff Scott Soto's (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Sons of Apollo) departure. Oceans of Time remains one of my favorite ARP albums. Other favorites followed during the 2000's: The Masquerade Ball (2000), Shadow Zone (2002), Mystica (2006) and Tales of the Crown (2008). Since then there have been some good moments, but not as good as the aforementioned albums.
The impressive thing about the ARP discography is that since the debut Wild Obsession (1989) they never had a gap longer than 2 years between albums. That must be some kind of world record. In 2020 is no different, they are back with Sign Of The Times two years (surprise!) after Knights Call. An album that did not appeal to me. But I was excited to check this new offering which brings 10 new songs, one being a instrumental intro. Sign Of The Times is not too short (55 min). It doesn't feature very long songs, but also no short ones. All tracks after the intro are between 5 and 7 minutes which is a rather new configuration for the band. For example, the epic title track is shorter than usual, but the good news is that it is again one of the best in the album. It's mid-tempo, emotional, anthemic and with a big chorus. Mr. Axel is a master when it comes to writing ballads (I mean the guy released 5 compilation albums named The Ballads). But at least to me, who is not a ballad fan, the ones from Axel are ballads that I care for. This time "As Blind As A Fool Can Be" is the slow tempo song but it's 6 min and features a fantastic solo, so I'm even hesitant to label it a ballad. The single "Gunfire" is the typical track 2 in a ARP album: It's catchy, fast tempo and has a memorable chorus. "Bad Reputation" sounds more like "Fool Fool" than the classic "Nasty Reputation", just in case you wondered. Another great rocker is "The End Of The Line". The single "Wings Of The Storm" is a homage to Dio/ Deep Purple/ Hendrix, it's interesting because those three influences are seamlessly fused into one magical tune.
There's one downside of Sign Of The Times. I must confess that I loose a bit of interest in the last third of the album. The super cheesy lyrics of "Waiting For Your Call" make it hard to listen to it. The last two songs do bring a slightly different flavor but I can't say that they work for me. I appreciate the effort though and the interesting Reggae flavor from "Living In A Dream".
While after the first listen I was not impressed the album due to "sounding the same", it has grown on me and now it's high on my rotation list. You must accept that when you think of ARP, you think consistency: Soaring vocals singing catchy melodies, fantastic melodic and emotional guitar solos, unpretentious guitar riffs, clear pristine production and top quality written hard rock / heavy metal tunes. Those will always be there. Don't get bothered by the similar feel. Sometimes we just have to enjoy the simple things in life and you can count on Axel Rudi Pell to deliver a set of songs every two years and have fun with them!
SCORE: 80/100
Genre: Hard Rock / Heavy Metal
Released by Steamhammer on May 8th, 2020
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Rating System*
99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
81 - 86 Very Good
75 - 80 Good
66 - 74 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad
* adapted on May 4th, 2020 due to statistical review
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