U.D.O. - Live From Russia

Year of Release: 2001
Label: Nuclear Blast
Catalog Number:
Format: CD
Total Time: 132:47:00

All credit to Udo. He certainly excels at taking German metal (whether it was Accept or his dedicated solo albums) wherever it needs taking - and directly into the heart of Russia he goes with this double live disc Live From Russia.

U.D.O.'s brand of metal is, well, metal. Most people either love him or hate him and from the outset, this live double disc won't change your mind whichever side of the fence you happen to be sitting on. Metal-wise, this covers a lot of his career from Accept through to his ongoing and (still) burgeoning solo career. Looking at the song titles, I would hazard a guess that the album concentrates on songs that have not been recorded/played live on many occasions as there is a distinct lack of "typical" U.D.O. numbers like "Fast As A Shark," "Balls To The Wall" or "Blitz Of Lightning," etc. That said, the fact that the 26 tracks literally cover his whole career makes this album all the more worthwhile.

The disc starts off with the two outstanding openers from Holy, "Holy" and "Raiders Of Beyond" and from there it manages to stay true to form and style with continuous consistent numbers. Of course, it may be aimless to say that his career has been so monumental that not everything will fit in, but the songs on here are balls to the wall metal. It's as simple as that. The band plays to perfection in front of these enthusiastic Russians and Udo sings (well, some people wouldn't call it that but they can bugger off) with affection to all of the tracks.

There are some tremendous pictures in this specially packaged CD, but there is a distinct lack of liner notes (I would have loved to have read some sort of notes about the logistics of getting a tour like this organised or the band's feelings towards playing in Russia). Although, as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words and those pictures are very descriptive. Interesting to note that Udo's brother, Peter Dirkschneider (from Vanize), recorded the album.

U.D.O. in Russia - it goes to show you that metal crowds are the same all over the world!

[This review originally appeared November 2002 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]

Tracklisting:
Disc One: Holy (5:20) / Raiders Of Beyond (4:15) / Midnight Mover (3:14) / Independence Day (5:53) / Metal Eater (4:15) / Protectors Of Terror (4:31) / Animal House (3:57) / Turn Me On (5:34) / Drum Solo (2:28) / T.V. War (3:39) / No Limits (4:11) / Run If You Can (5:23) / Winter Dreams (5:26) / In The Darkness (6:05)

Disc Two: Like A Loaded Gun (4:45) / Recall The Sin (5:03) / Break The Rules (4:00) / Midnight Highway (4:11) / Heaven Is Hell (7:15) / Monster Man (3:09) / Living On A Frontline (11:47) / Heart Of Gold (4:57) / Shout It Out (8:32) / Cut Me Out (4:59) / I'm A Rebel (3:39) / They Want War (6:19)

Musicians:
Udo Dirkschneider - vocals
Igor Gianola - guitars
Stefan Kaufmann - rhythm guitar
Fitty Wienhold - bass
Lorenzo Milani - drums

Discography:
Animal House (1987)
Mean Machine (1989)
Faceless World (1990)
Timebomb (1991)
Solid (1997)
No Limits (1998)
Holy (1999)
Best Of (1999)
Live In Russia (2001)
Man And Machine (2002)
Nailed to Metal: The Missing Tracks (2003)
Thunderball (2004)
Mission No X (2005)
Metalized - 20 Years Of Metal (2007)
Mastercutor (2007)
Mastercutor Alive (2008)
Dominator (2009)
Rev-Raptor (2011)
Celebrator: Rare Tracks (2012)
Live In Sofia (2012)
Steelhammer (2013)
Steelhammer: Live From Moscow (2014)
Decadent (2015)
Navy Metal Night (2015)
Steelfactory (2018)

Nailed To Metal: The Complete History (DVD) (2003)
Thundervision (DVD) (2004)
Mastercutor Alive (DVD) (2008)
Live In Sofia (DVD/BR)
Steelhammer: Live From Moscow (DVD/BR) (2014)
Navy Metal Night (DVD/BR) (2015)

Genre: Traditional Metal

Origin DE

Added: March 27th 2005
Reviewer: Gary Carson
Score:
Artist website: www.udo-online.de
Hits: 2611
Language: english