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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is the ultimate quintessence of 20 albums !, January 24, 2002
U.D.O / Faceless World.- almost at least. F.W is undoubtedly Dirkschneiders best work to this day - and it surpasses everything Accept ( his old band ) has done under their history. Why ? This album has a flow and so much awesome catchy loops that it paradoxly is hard to remember them all !! Before I get attacked by any Accept-fans I have to modify that ; If You think that very basic - rawsounding, fast sing-along metal anthems without temposhifts is the best things in life , then You probably should choose other albums from Dirkschneiders repertoar over this one. However , if You are interested in shading development and songs who contain variation , if You appreciate a somewhat slower ( which in UDO:s case doesnt mean slow ) tempo so that melodies and separate instruments can be accentuated more clearly - then this is the undisputed choice for You. Songwriting is absolutely above all comparison - it's really hard to understand that so much talent and inspiration could be concentrated to one album. And that's why I dare to rate it better than the other UDO/Accept-CD:s ; while they have a couple of great songs and the rest more average , this album is just pure masterpiece material from start to finish. Instrumentally it is top notch , I don't think I've heard so much feeling and precision in guitarplaying on any other metal albums at all in this genre. As on previous album (Mean Machine 1989 ) Matthias Dieth is the artist behind the guitar here - one of Germanys most skilled metal guitar players. Here he is taking his frightening wizardry to the absolute maximum. Udos singing is as genuine and emotional as ever - one has to admire the man , shouting his lungs out for that unmistakeable hissing. After a few listenings one other thing became obvious ; the backing vocals are not just "hummed" a little in the background ( like on other albums ) - they are really SUNG ( !! ) on Faceless World . . This is a important factor that helps bringing out the great catchiness and loop in the lead melodies. One more techical marvel to be mentioned , production is stunningly good ( yes , this starts to get a tiresome catalog of superlatives - but there is no other description possibly ) - remember that this was recorded 1990 ! Fresh as the spring and razorsharp sounding ! So , if You are the slightest into metal , do not walk by this - it might make a great change in Your way of listening to music. I was completely swept away by this ( and I'm certainly not a greenhorn in terms of metal ) , hopefully You can discover " Faceless World " in the same fashion ! Usually I recommend one certain song to testlisten , this is not really meaningful here ( although I like the title track very strongly ) - they are all tremendous ! Enjoy !
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