TRACKLIST |
1. Edge Of The World (5:21) 2. Carousel (7:59) 3. Strong As A Rock (4:54) 4. Beautiful Day (4:49) 5. Mystica (8:28) 6. Forever Angel (Acoustic) (4:33) 7. The Masquerade Ball (10:44) 8. Rock The Nation (5:33) 9. Oceans Of Time (7:48) 10. Tear Down The Walls (5:43) 11. Ain't Gonna Win (4:54) 12. In The Air Tonight (8:38)
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Review: by Alex Henderson

For many rock historians, the 1980s officially ended when Nirvana and Pearl Jam were burning up the charts in 1991 and 1992 and major labels started signing alternative rock acts left and right. Although 1990 and the first part of 1991 still felt a lot like the 1980s, Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten suddenly made the 1980s feel like a distant memory. For some rockers, however, the 1980s never ended -- and German guitarist/songwriter Axel Rudi Pell's unwavering commitment to pre-'90s-style metal and hard rock is evident throughout Best of Axel Rudi Pell: Anniversary Edition. This 79-minute CD spotlights previously released material from Pell's Johnny Gioeli era; Pell hired Gioeli as his vocalist in 1998, and Gioeli received such a favorable response that Pell was still using him 11 years later in 2009. It isn't hard to see why Pell's followers have welcomed Gioeli's participation; Gioeli's Jon Bon Jovi-ish vocal style has been perfect for Pell's pre-'90s mindset, and he is an obvious asset on hooky selections like "Strong as a Rock" from 2004's Kings & Queens, "Carousel" from 1998's Oceans of Time, "Edge of the World" from 2002's Shadow Zone, and "Tear Down the Walls" from 2000's The Masquerade Ball. Although Pell's own songs dominate Best of Axel Rudi Pell, this collection also contains two covers from 2007's Diamonds Unlocked: Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" and U2's 2000 hit "Beautiful Day," both of which become more hard-rocking in Pell's hands -- and even though "Beautiful Day" was very much a part of alternative pop/rock culture in the early 2000s, Pell has no problem making the tune sound like a 1970s-1980s pop-metal anthem. But then, Pell is so thoroughly grounded in headbanger music of the 1970s and 1980s that he could probably make Britney Spears' "Oops, I Did It Again" sound like an outtake from Kiss' Destroyer album. Although hardly the last word on Pell's solo output of the 1990s and 2000s, Best of Axel Rudi Pell is enthusiastically recommended to casual listeners.
SPOILER (EAC LOG) |
Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011
EAC extraction logfile from
Axel Rudi Pell / Best Of - Anniversary Edition
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVD-RAM GH22LP20 Adapter: 4 ID: 1
Read mode : Secure Utilize accurate stream : Yes Defeat audio cache : Yes Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 102 Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface
Used output format : User Defined Encoder Selected bitrate : 896 kBit/s Quality : High Add ID3 tag : No Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\WAV Pack\wavpack.exe Additional command line options : -hlmx2 %source% %dest%
TOC of the extracted CD
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Range status and errors
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Peak level 100.0 % Extraction speed 2.2 X Range quality 100.0 % Test CRC 70C9E21B Copy CRC 70C9E21B Copy OK
No errors occurred
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