Legendary German guitar player Axel Rudi Pell to release ‘The Ballads VI’
Ballads play a very special role in the history of rock music. Firstly: They document the emotional side of the genre and show that behind (almost) every rocker`s hard chest beats a soft heart. Secondly: Those quieter songs are being played by radio stations without rock-affinity – and are loved by listeners for their emotional depth. And thirdly: In an increasingly hectic world, ballads offer brief moments of pause, of reflection on the essential things in life. So it`s no wonder that the ballad compilations of the Axel Rudi Pell Band are an absolute success. Over 250,000 copies have been sold of ‘The Ballads I’ (1993) to ‘The Ballads V’ (2017) alone. And nine (!) of the current Top-10 most streamed Pell songs on Spotify are ballads! More than enough reason therefore, why fans of the Bochum guitarist and songwriter regularly push for a continuation of this release series. Successfully: On April 21, 2023 ‘The Ballads VI’ will be released on CD, double vinyl LP and as digital download, as always via Steamhammer/SPV. And – as expected – the release will come with a few small surprises. Not only is ‘The Ballads VI’ the latest edition of the popular ARP ‘The Ballads’ series, but also the direct successor of the studio album ‘Lost XXIII’, which managed to rank 2nd in German sales charts in April 2022.
‘The Ballads VI’ comes with a total of 13 ballads “made by ARP”. Five of them are brand new recordings, including two remarkable cover songs: ‘Diamonds And Rust’, a classic by American folk icon Joan Baez, which gains a new topicality with Axel Rudi Pell. “As is well known, there is already a Judas Priest version of ‘Diamonds And Rust’, which of course has a much harsher sound, and a version by Blackmore`s Night with a medieval flair,” Pell explains. “My goal was kind of a middle ground between the two folky versions and the metal Priest adaptation. In my opinion, our version has that typical ARP flair.” The same goes for ‘Dust In The Wind’, the biggest hit of American rock band Kansas. Axel Rudi Pell makes the song shine with a particularly intimate air: “We deliberately left out the drums to make the song softer and calmer. Our arrangement only features guitar, keyboards and vocals.” ARP`s three original new ballads consist of two instrumental numbers – ‘Revelations’ and ‘Hidden Secrets’ – and the vocal track ‘Morning Star’, which was originally meant as a candidate for the studio album announced for 2024. Pell comments: “Our record company thinks it`s such a great song that we decided to release it early for ‘The Ballads VI’. I`m especially proud of the guitar solo in the outro. It`s a legit ‘one-take’ that was taken unchanged from the demo.”
The other songs on ‘The Ballads VI’ are the quiet moments of the four previous studio albums: ‘Beyond The Light’ comes from ‘Knights Call’ (2018), the song ‘As Blind As A Fool Can Be’ from ‘Sign Of The Times’ (2020). The tracks ‘She`s A Lady’, ‘I Put A Spell On You’ and the Tony Carey cover ‘Room With A View’ previously refined ‘Diamonds Unlocked II’ (2021), while ‘Gone With The Wind’, ‘Fly With Me’ and the Lockdown single ‘Quarantine 1’ were featured on ARP’s current opus ‘Lost XXIII’ (2022).
In view of the new ballads compilation, Axel Rudi Pell sums up his growth as a songwriter and musician: “Looking back, there is not a single ballad during the almost 35 years of my solo career that I need to be ashamed of, quite the contrary: some of them are still among my favorite songs today. At the same time, however, I have evolved as a composer. All that experience means you automatically become more mature and accomplished, a fact that ‘The Ballads VI’ undoubtedly shows. The sound of my new albums, too, is much better than at the start of my solo career in the late eighties. And of course ‘The Ballads VI’ benefits from this as well!
Release Date: April 21, 2023
Tracklist: 01. Revelations 02. Diamonds And Rust 03. Morning Star 04. Dust In The Wind 05. Hidden Secrets 06. Gone With The Wind 07. She's A Lady 08. Room With A View 09. Fly With Me 10. As Blind As A Fool Can Be 11. I Put A Spell On You 12. Beyond The Light 13. Quarantined 1
Line Up: Johnny Gioeli - Lead and Backing Vocals Axel Rudi Pell - Lead, Rhythm and Acoustic Guitars Ferdy Doernberg - Keyboards\ Volker Krawczak - Bass Bobby Rondinelli – Drums
