Doro Pesch could be called a German version
of Lita Ford, if she wasn't so much better. She started out as a
frontwoman for Warlock, a German band of the 1980s. The band
recorded four albums: "Burning The Witches" (1984), followed by
"Hellbound" (1985), "True As Steel" (1986), and "Triumph And Agony"
(1987). Other than Pesch, Warlock featured Tommy Bolan (guitars),
Niko Arvanitis (guitars), Tommy Henriksen (bass), Michael Eurich
(drums), and a songwriter-producer Joey Balin. Then Warlock broke
up, but Doro continued as a solo act. Her first post-Warlock works,
"Force Majeure" (1989) and "True At Heart" (1991), did not deviate
much from Warlock in its simple no-nonsense metal, but later she
shitfted towards more techno-oriented music in "Machine II Machine"
(1995) and "Love Me In Black" (1998). None of these albums were
released in USA. In year 2000, Doro made a great comeback in America
with "Calling The Wild" (2000). She is a good friend with half of
the American metal musicians, who often guest star on her solo
albums: Slash, Gene Simmons, Lemmy Kilmister, Al
Pitrelli, and others. Since then she made
two more albums, "Fight" (2002) and "Warrior Soul" (2005). She
tours heavily and still gladly performs her
Warlock classics, such as "All We Are," "I Rule The Ruins,"
and "Burning Witches."
WARLOCK: TRIUMPH AND AGONY (1987)
RATING: ****1/2
BEST SONGS: "All We Are," "I Rule The Ruins," "Metal Tango"
Good old school 80s metal, reminiscent of Accept, with
powerful riffs and lead breaks, screaming female vocals, and decent
lyrics. The album opens up with rocking metal anthem "All We Are,"
that recalls "United" by Judas Priest, "Love
It Loud" by Kiss, "Bang" by Gorky Park, and a bunch more. Same
anthemic structure goes in "East Meets West" (a good
Perestroika-time hit :) and "Cold, Cold World." "Three Minute
Warning" and "Touch Of Evil" are both blazing speedy tunes, and Doro
screams a lot more than sings there. But that's alright, for a good
energy release is always welcomed in a woman in metal. :) My
favorite songs are, however, are the more melodic ones, where Doro
demonstrates her ability to sing both loud and passionate: "Kiss Of
Death," "Metal Tango" (this one's awesome!), and superb "I Rule The
Ruins" (fast, melodic, and passionate -- a killer). "Make Time For
Love" is a typical 80s love ballad, nothing special. "Fur Immer" is
in German, it's not bad. I also dig the booklet design, with two
cartoon characters: a warlock and a maiden. Good solid stuff, and a
must for all female vocals fans. If I can scramble some extra cash,
I will definitely buy their other albums.
FORCE MAJEURE (1989)
RATING: ****
BEST SONGS: "Save My Soul," "Angels With Dirty Faces," "I Am What I Am"
Udo Dirkschneider quit Accept to start playing the same music
as Accept. Doro Pesch quit Warlock (which subsequently
broke up) to play the same music as Warlock. But they both did a good job, while their old bands didn't, so
I guess it was a good thing for both of them. At any rate, Force
Majeure is a lot like Warlock. It starts out with a cover, "A
Whiter Shade Of Pale," and then turns into a rocking triple attack:
"Save My Soul," "World Gone Wild" (rock me, Doro!) and "Mission Of
Mercy." Then comes a very nice ballad, "Beyond The Trees," followed
by my favorite song on the album, "Angels With Dirty Faces" (I take
it, it's about bikers). "Hard Times," "I Am What I Am," "Cry Wolf,"
and "Under The Gun" also rock big time. I guess the reason why I
don't give it a higher rating at this point is because its somewhat
unoriginal arrangements. But this may change. Good stuff.
CALLING THE WILD (2000)
RATING: ****1/2
BEST SONGS: "I Give My Blood," "I Wanna Live," "Now Or Never"
An excellent metal offering from the Metal Queen & Court. It includes several songs that were on Doro's
previous albums ("Terrorvision"), but most of the material is new.
The sound is really modern, I would call it "industrial," had it not still
been melodic (same with a WASP's K.F.D. album: heavy and buzzing). Most of the songs are extremely catchy and rocking, with traditional
Warlock-like singalong choruses like "Terrorvision," "I Give My Blood," "I Wanna Live," "Give Me A Reason," "Now Or Never," "Burn It
Up," etc. Doro's voice is the strongest I've heard from her: she simply gets better with age! Guitar playing is excellent as well:
having Al Pitrelli of Savatage / Megadeth
guest-starring on "I Give My Blood" and Slash of Guns N' Roses / Snakepit on
"Now Or Never" doesn't hurt either. Another guest performer is Doro's best friend, Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead. They sing two
duet songs: "Love Me Forever" (which I hated on 1916, but with Doro's angelic voice it's slightly more tolerable) and "Alone Again." Finally, there's an outstanding cover of Billy Idol's "White Wedding," which is close to the original as well as to the song "More" by
Sisters Of Mercy; in one word -- it rocks. Plenty of rocking, plenty of emotions, one of
year's best. I saw Ms. Pesch on tour, when she came to New York with Dio and Yngwie, and she didn't disappoint, performing
"Terrorvision," "White Wedding," "I Give My Blood," and "Fuel" from CTW, as well as many Warlock hits.
FIGHT (2002)
RATING: **1/2
BEST SONGS: "Legends Never Die," "Rock Before We Bleed"
Basically, a very average and generic metal album, without any particular highlights and "edginess" that marked
its predecessor. It's not bad, while you're listening to it,
especially if you're reading a book or cleaning the apartment, but
once the cd is over, you won't remember many moments, except that
the amount of lyrical cliches in this album is overwhelming.
"Legends Never Die" is a pretty cool power ballad, and "Always Live
To Win" and "Rock Before We Bleed" (shouldn't it be "Rock UNTIL We
Bleed"?) is a decent rocker, but that's about it. "Descent" is a
pretty average track, considering the firepower it boasts: Type O Negative's Peter Steele on vox and Savatage's Chris Caffery on guitar! Anyway, not much to discuss here: an
absolute letdown, after the greatness of CtW.
|
|
AND 
