Axel Rudi Pell - Lost XXIII (2022) Hi Res

Only real thoroughbred musicians with really great creative substance manage to stay on the market as long as Axel Rudi Pell. For more than 30 years, the Bochum guitarist and songwriter has been releasing new albums with his A.R.P-Band at regular intervals. The response to it is consistently brilliant, the dazzling sales figures, high chart listings and continuously increasing audience numbers of his concerts and tours speak a clear language.

Now, as usual via Steamhammer/SPV, his latest, 21st studio work LOST XXIII is being released as a digipack, CD, vinyl double album, strictly limited box set. In order to shorten the waiting time for his fans, the first pre-single (including video clip) 'Survive' will be released on February 18, 2022. LOST XXIII is a very special album in Pell's long career, as it is particularly varied, with ten (plus intro) deeply melodic Hard Rock songs in which the A.R.P.-characteristic style can be found as well as fast-paced highlights and compositional surprises. Highlights include the title track, with its Arabic scales in the chorus, which Pell explains is "a longer, epic track that's very much my own."

At the same time, Pell welcomes many familiar faces on LOST XXIII, underlining his musical and personal consistency: as on the previous four studio albums Into The Storm (2014), Game Of Sins (2016), Knights Call (2018) and the one with space 5 of the German charts, Sign Of The Times (2021), the cover disc Diamonds Unlocked II (2021) and two live discs, the ARP band consists of singer Johnny Gioeli, bassist Volker Krawczak, keyboarder Ferdy Doernberg and drummer Bobby Rondinelli (ex-Rainbow), a perfectly oiled hard rock machine that routinely implements Pell's compositions and at the same time refines them with their own trademarks. Even longer than the current lineup is Pell's 33(!) year affiliation (in his 33rd year of his solo career!) with Steamhammer/SPV. An absolute exception in a profession characterized by discontinuity and short-lived trends.

Above all, the countless ARP fans benefit from this reliability: The ten songs (plus intro) on XXIII show the band in brilliant form, with compositions that are among Pell's strongest to date. Be it a typical guitar riff-influenced number like 'No Compromise', the track 'Gone With The Wind' based on a true story about a dog who waited in vain on the platform for its deceased master for a year, but also the fast 'Follow The Beast' with its hint to the NWOBHM era, or the ballad 'Fly With Me', which is introduced by an atmospheric piano and then spreads goosebumps. Not to forget the classy instrumental 'The Rise Of Ankhoor' (Pell: "The title is a little play on words between 'anchor' and 'encore', which, as is well known, means 'encore'') and the stylistically and lyrically remarkable numbers 'Down On The Streets' (to be released as second single on March 25, 2022) and 'Freight Train'. "Thin Lizzy or AC/DC could also have had a hand here," explains Pell with a wink and adds: "Both songs are about life on the streets, about people who are homeless for different reasons and - in the Fall of 'Freight Train' - hopping on trains in the manner of American hobos to travel across the country.” Last but not least: LOST XXIII ends with the instrumental bonus track 'Quarantined 1', which Pell already recorded alone at his home in spring 2020 recorded and presented to the fans via YouTube as a kind of "corona bridging aid". For the album version, Bobby Rondinelli has now contributed real drums, making it a "real" ARP track.

LOST XIII was produced by Axel Rudi Pell, Tommy Geiger mixed, the disc was mastered by Ulf Horbelt, the mystical cover artwork is again by Thomas Ewerhard (including Gotthard, Edguy, Sons Of Apollo). All that remains is to solve the little mystery surrounding the album title. According to Pell, “XXIII is the Roman numeral for the number '23' and symbolizes the 23rd letter in the alphabet, the 'W'. And that's an abbreviation of 'World' in this case, so you could also call the album 'Lost World' and coin it to reflect the current worrying situation in the world."