Di’Anno, Paul: Hell Over Waltrop-Live in Germany

This is the release that almost wasn’t. Even though the recordings date back to 2006, they are only coming to us now thanks to modern technology. The recordings were made in 2006 when Di’Anno played an unlikely gig at a city festival in Waltrop, Germany. It’s hard to imagine what a small-town audience would really think of Di’Anno and company, but somehow everything came together for what sounds like a pretty great show. Unfortunately, the recordings proved faulty and so they were set aside. After all these years, Thomas Mergler, who recorded the gig, rediscovered the tapes and decided to see if modern technology could save them. The result is this album.

Whatever you think of Paul Di’Anno, those first two Iron Maiden albums are pretty great. Some fans even like them more than the now-classic early albums with Bruce Dickinson on vocals. Wherever you stand on this, there’s a good chance that songs like “The Phantom of the Opera,� or “Running Free� or “Murders in the Rue Morgue� stir some kind of nostalgia inside you. If not, you might discover some cool new stuff. For me, hearing these songs is always exciting. I frequently listen to those old albums and I was dying to hear what Di’Anno sounded like after all these years. I wasn’t disappointed. Sure, the old recordings are better, but there’s something fun about this album. The music is raw and uncut in ways that give the whole thing an immediacy that can be lacking on live albums. There are also some interesting and unexpected surprises. I’m mostly thinking of the way “Blitzkreig Bop� suddenly shows up near the end, but there’s also a good cover of Alex Harvey’s “The Faith Healer� that’s worth a listen. Di’Anno has often been associated with early punk and so it’s cool to hear him pay tribute to punk icons like that. As good as those tracks are, I suspect most people will want to hear the Iron Maiden tunes. Of those offered here, I’d suggest checking out at least “Remember Tomorrow� and “The Phantom of the Opera� if only to hear Di’Anno’s range. “Running Free� is also a solid track, one that definitely captures the raw energy of Iron Maiden’s early sound. As for the less-familiar tracks, you might like “Marshall Lokjaw,� one of the songs Di’Anno wrote for Killers. The other non-Maiden tracks were less interesting to me, but I’m sure they will appeal to fans of Di’Anno’s larger career. Whatever you think of Di’Anno, this is a fun and energetic new release.

Track Listing:
1. Prowler
2. Murders in the Rue Morgue
3. Impaler
4. Remember Tomorrow
5. Children of Madness
6. Marshall Lokjaw
7. The Living Dead
8. The Beast Arises
9. The Faith Healer
10. The Phantom of the Opera
11. Transylvania
12. Running Free
13. Blitzkrieg Bop
14. Sanctuary

Added: February 25th 2020
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Label Page
Hits: 743
Language: english

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