AXEL RUDI PELL Lost XXIII | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Steamhammer on April 15th, 2022

Quick Background

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 19 studio albums (over 1.7 million albums sold worldwide)! The axeman founded the band with his name after his departure from Steeler in 1989. 

I'm a long time fan and I own all of the previous 18 albums (and some live ones) in CD. My first was 1998's Oceans of Time which was singer Johnny Gioeli's debut after Jeff Scott Soto's (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force) 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.

Lost XXIII

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 2022 is no different, they are back with Lost XXIII two years (surprise!)  after Sign Of The Times. An album that it's to me his best since 2008. The new album, Lost XXIII, features 10 songs in 55 minutes. The mandatory instrumental intro being one of them. There's also one full-on instrumental song and a mandatory ballad "Fly with Me". More on that later. The title track is the album closer and as usually is the longer mid-tempo song with that epic feel from classics such as "The Masquerade Ball" or "Mystica". Actually there's even some call backs to those songs. It goes without saying that it also features a longer, melodic and engaging guitar solo.  

Following the intro song, "Survive" kicks in and it's a typical Pell's album opener, super melodic hard rock with a strong drum beat.  "No Compromise" follows the same concept and keep the energy flowing.  "Down on the Streets" is a fun and catchy hard rock song, almost AOR. Simple riffing and chugging guitars over a groovy straightforward beat. Now I must say I love "Gone with the Wind", by far my favorite song on the album. Yes, it's slow tempo song, almost ballad territory, but with nine minutes and full of emotional energy, it stands out. The vocal lines are very powerful, and the softer parts only make the heavier explosions more powerful. It's also the most interesting guitar solo on this album. The instrument "The Rise of Ankhoor" is a nice surprise! I love the bass and keys on it and how fast tempo the song is. A cool touch to the album. 

The Picky Guy

Other than the lack of music progress as all of ARP's albums are very similar to each other in content and format. The only other criticism are the lyrics. They can be a bit silly at times, "Gone with the Wind" for example. But that doesn't bother me personally too much. When we get to the middle part of the second half of the album, I loose some interest, "Freight Train" is still a cool song but "Follow the Beast" and the ballad "Fly with Me" are not very interesting. Other than that, there's no surprises here, positive or negative.  

Wrap Up Opinion 

The combination of ARP's guitar riffs and melodies and the vocal lines from  Johnny Gioeli is so powerful, almost every song is interesting and a fun rocker. It's actually quite impressive how Axel can write so many songs so often and stay so true to one style. It may get repetitive for some, but to me it's always a fun experience. So to me and probably any ARP fan, this is another good album, 81/100. So give it a try.

SCORE: 81/100

Genre: Hard Rock

Released by Steamhammer on April 15th, 2022

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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