Tales Of The Crown

Axel Rudi Pell | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 4, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Steamhammer / SPV
• ASIN: B0015U0PR2
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #88,231 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

PELL AXEL RUDI TALES OF THE CROWN

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One more 5-star album, July 15, 2010

By 

Chad W. Armstrong - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tales Of The Crown (Audio CD)

Over the years, Axel Rudi Pell has maintained several consistencies, such as releasing a new studio album every two years (or less) with a sound familiar to his fans. He has the devotion to his style that is found in artists like AC/DC or Yngwie Malmsteen. Maintaining such a dedicated sound is very much the double-edged sword: fans know what to expect, but if the new material sounds like it is rehashing the old material too much, even the new songs can get tired quickly. While Axel's previous two studio albums (Mystica and Kings & Queens) had several good tracks, they were not his best work. Fortunately, Axel does not wait too long before coming back with another astounding five-star album.

Since the 1994 album "Between the Walls", Axel has started out his albums with a short instrumental piece. However, Tales of the Crown has bypassed this formality -- somewhat. The first half minute of the opening song "Higher" still contains an atmospheric piece that lasts for about half a minute, before driving into the main crunching riff. This works out well for the song by including the short piece, instead of trying to pass it off as its own song. The song has a great crunching riff, and a solo section that locks in perfectly.

"Ain't Gonna Win" -- After the heavy crunch of "Higher", things continue on with "Ain't Gonna Win", another strong song with a driving rhythm.

"Angel Eyes" -- A great rocker with a Scorpions-type beat, (a la something from Blackout).

"Crossfire" -- This song wraps up a very strong 4 song start to this album, featuring strong rhythm and one of his more memorable solos.

"Touching My Soul" -- After an amazing four song charge, this is the point in the album where things start slowing down for a bit. "Touching My Soul" -- similar to "Forever Angel", but not quite as good.

"Emotional Echoes" -- A different number for him, one of his more experimental songs, that would have fit in best with the three-piece "Open Doors" from "Nasty Reputation".

"Riding An Arrow" -- Similar to a number of his other mid-tempo rockers, with an amusing little surprise at the end of the song.

The album's climax comes with the song "Tales of the Crown", a typical epic number for Axel. On Axel's website, he mentioned listening to a lot of the band Heaven and Hell while writing the song "Tales of the Crown", which is evident by the slow middle piece which is reminiscent of the slow part in the song "Shadow of the Wind".

"Buried Alive" is a rapid-fire headbanger that matches well against his 90's songs "Gettin' Dangerous" or "Nightmare".

When I heard the first sound clips for the final song "Northern Lights", I could tell that this was going to be a powerful song. Once again, Axel's love of Dio-fronted bands shines through as the beginning of "Northern Lights" shares similarities with the Black Sabbath song "Sign of the Southern Cross". Extremely powerful song, and a great way to end a spectacular album.

Even after listening to this album for several years, this album is still in constant rotation when I play music in my car, which attributes the strength and longevity of "Tales of the Crown".

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great vocals, January 18, 2009

By 

Chris Kaiser (The comfort of home) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tales Of The Crown (Audio CD)

Fans of A.R.P. are familiar with his shredding guitar and epic songs. What I enjoy most is the vocals by Johnny Gioeli. The songs run a little long for my taste at times but they are held together nicely by Gioeli.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Tales of the Crown" rivals the man's best ever performances., November 28, 2008

By 

Nikiforos V. Skoumas (Athens Greece, Cambridge UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tales Of The Crown (Audio CD)

Axel Rudi Pell is a household name when it comes to melodic metal with a classic 70s vibe. Having made his debut with `Steeler' in the mid 80s, Axel launched his solo career in 1989 releasing a number of landmark records while being fortunate enough to collaborate with singers such as Charlie Huhn, Rob Rock and Jeff Scott Soto oh his releases.

Axel's latest, post- millennium works can be characterized as consistently average. The man has definitely come up with quality albums (`Mystica', `Kings and Queens') which unfortunately did not look up to his 80s-90s works. If you by any chance share the same view then you are in for a surprise with "Tales of the Crown".

How could ARP recover from its bland albums and release such a colorful, hugely produced record is beyond me. The line up remains unchanged: Pell/Gioeli/Terrana/Krawzak/Doenberg; But the music here is crowned king. For starters the album has the best possible production: Fat guitar sound, discrete keyboards while Terrana's drum work is perfectly captured in all its aggression flamboyancy. By the time you push play up until track 4 you are caught in a classic hard rock hurricane: "Higher", "Ain't gonna win", "Angel eyes", "Crossfire" back to back material with incredible live potential. The beat slows down for the following songs "Emotional echoes" and "Touching my soul" followed by the second heavy coming of the final four songs.

Although all compositions are very considerate and definitely rock the listener it is probably the title track that delivers the final and most fierce blow; "Tales of the crown" is a tremendous mid tempo epic track with a chorus that cracks cement!

A huge comeback for "ARP" which would make for a fantastic live show if performed in its entirety.

"Power Play" UK magazine (issue 104) marks this album with 9/10 commenting: "Do you like hard rock music played with passion, melody and huge hooks? Then please get hold of this album and enjoy."