Album Reviews : Axel Rudi Pell – One Night Live (DVD)

Just two years after the release of his brilliant double DVD “Live Over Europe”, Axel Rudi Pell is back with another live DVD release, this time entitled “One Night Live”. Lately I have been on an Axel Rudi Pell kick thanks to both this DVD and his latest cd arriving in the mail on the same day.

The first question that begs answering is “Isn’t it slightly overdoing it releasing another live DVD so soon after the last DVD?”…well…if you (like me) like your melodic metal to be of the highest degree, the answer is NO!

The live show was recorded in front of 5000 people at  the Rock Of Ages festival in Seebronn, Germany on July 31st 2009 and sees the Pell band in fine form indeed. As with the last few Pell releases on both CD and DVD, it is really the performance of Johnny Gioeli on vocals that steals the show. Pell is in fine form (as is the rest of the band) but it is Gioeli’s vocal performance that really stands out on this show. He commands the stage like he was born there and has one of the most powerful set of pipes caught live!

This DVD is live in every sense of the word. There are no overdubs and it seems to be a 2 camera shoot giving the viewer the impression that you are really at the gig. The audio mix is as clear as you can get for a live show. Don’t expect it to be crystal-clear throughout like a cd but it hold up very well. Visually there isn’t much to write home about. Pell seems planted to the spot for much of the showing, probably content to let Gioeli take the limelight. Basically, this show is pretty much “what you see is what you get” which in itself warrant kudos for not polishing the performance and making it something it is not. Not that it really needed any  polishing to begin with.

Highlights of the show include ‘The Masquerade Ball/Casbah/Tales Of The Crown’, the Rainbow-cover ‘The Temple Of The King’ and closing track ‘Fool Fool/Eternal Prisoner’ which are all very worthwhile watching. The only drawback for this DVD is that is a tad short at 75-minutes and there are no bonus features to speak of. The 75-minutes goes very quickly given the quality of the performance throughout this set and leaves me wishing there were a few more songs from his “Steeler” days or even from his first few discs which are classics. This was recorded prior to his latest album “The Crest” being released so we aren’t treated to any tracks from that disc which is a little disappointing as “The Crest” contains some songs which will definitely become crowd favourites in the future.

This is a very worthy addition to any power metal or melodic rock DVD collection. It’s a warts and all live DVD of the highest order. Hopefully Mr Pell will release another one in two years (again!).   7.5/10

Band: Axel Rudi Pell
Album: One Night Live DVD
Year: 2010
Genre: Heavy metal
Origin: Germany
Label: SPV/Riot!
http://www.myspace.com/axelrudipellofficial