"Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" Well I have to admit that it might help you just a little bit with this new release by Doro Pesch - Heavy Metal's ever-reigning Queen. Presenting 20 Years: A Warrior Soul On The Road a concert and documentary film that brings you along as Doro and her band tours for her latest album Warrior Soul. If your answer was "No" when it comes to understanding German well don't worry all that much because when you pop in the DVD to your player it will only annoy you for a moment or two. The release is a double DVD set and it's broken up into two unique parts with the first DVD being the documentary and movie footage while the second a full mind-blowing concert experience. It's pretty amazing to find Doro doing this for twenty years already but here we are and what better way to celebrate it than with a great look at how she does it with comments from the singer and the band. I've broken this up into sections based on the DVD to better explain each part a little better.
DVD1: "A Warrior Soul On The Road" - Earthshaker Rock, Haunted Heart, You're My Family, True As Steel, Above The Ashes, Strangers Yesterday, Fur Immer, Love Me In Black, My Majesty, Warrior Soul, All We Are. "20 Years Anniversary: The Movie" – I Rule The Ruins, Always Live To Win, Metal Racer, East Meets West (with Udo Dirkschnieder), Out Of Control, Bad Blood (with Blaze Bailey), Tausend Mal Gelebt, White Wedding (with Jean Beauvoir), Egypt, A Whiter Shade Of Pale, Hellbound , You've Got Another Thing Comin' (with Saxon), Fall For Me Again, Unholy Love, Fight For Rock (with Warlock), Love Me Forever (with Lemmy and Mikkey Dee), Fur Immer, Born To Be Wild (with Claus Lessman), All We Are & Aftershow (with Lemmy Kilmister, Mikkey Dee, Jean Beauvoir, Udo Dirkschneider, Saxon, Blaze Bayley, Warlock Guys, Claus Lessman & Circle II Circle).
*** The first DVD begins with "A Warrior Soul On The Road" which is half documentary and half concert footage. It's here that you get a lot of commentary from the singer herself and where some German lessons would have been really helpful. For the most part she does not seem to speak English during the film and this disturbed me a little since I would have loved to know her thoughts on this monumental occasion. I felt many bands could learn from the performer's insight since she has been at this for such a long time. The concert footage presented in this section has never been seen before and we also are treated to a good amount of band interaction with fans and each other. The band speaks in English and really presents the goings on in an interesting and fun manner. I loved seeing the interaction with fans as well, and unless I was seeing things I could have sworn that one of the sites My Space friends passed by the screen in a crowd pan shot. There are also a lot of fun things going on as bassist Nick Douglas transforms into Metal Man before our very eyes and brings the cause for Metal to the forefront of the fans lives. Drummer Johnny Dee also has a lot of face time and presents himself as only a skin basher could. The second section of the first DVD is a full-length movie called "20th Anniversary" and this is a lot of the backstage antics and preparations that are presented on the second DVD. You get a fair amount of the songs here and see all the guest stars that came to celebrate with Doro and the guys.
DVD2: "The Concert" – The second DVD is the complete and full concert that we get as a teaser during the first DVD's movie. I am honestly not sure how to better present comments on a career spanning set that runs some 33 songs and has more guest stars than you can shake a stick at. Ever since her beginnings as the singer in Warlock, Doro Pesch has been one of the Metal Goddess favorites of many of the world's finest bands and figures. The concert runs close to three hours in length and features everyone you saw in the first DVD and many others. It presents itself like a who's who in Metal with Udo Dirkschneider, Lemmy and Mikkey Dee, Saxon, Jean Beauvoir, Zak Stevens, Tom Angelripper, Sabina Classen and even members of Warlock thrown in for good measure. My guess is that those who attended this concert will never forget it as long as they live. There is a little bit of everything for the discerning Metal head on the full concert DVD and the look and feel of the show rocks as well from beginning to end. Included is a number of interesting cover versions presented as only Doro could deliver them. She chooses to not only visit Metal's history by doing a Judas Priest and Dio number but also tries her hand at some classic Rock with Procol Harum and Steppenwolf as well as a Billy Idol tune and these are fun tracks to hear with a slightly Metal twist to them. After the very lengthy concert the viewer is invited back to the after party and gets to enjoy the festivities with the whole bunch of them.
Watching it brought me back a little bit because there is just something that always appealed to me about Doro and her music and I guess that it was the deep rooted Classic Metal style that was my own first influence to the genre. The singer wisely has chosen to remain with the sound that features her the best and while trying various different elements like orchestras at times she has never chosen to sacrifice her own Metal integrity and instead kept everything she does as "True As Steel". This is a great document of a career celebration and a must have for most Metal heads. In your honor Ms. Pesch I raise my glass and proclaim a hearty "Prost!" Here is to the next twenty years.
Track Listing: (DVD2)
1. Intro
2. I Rule The Ruins
3. Always Live To Win
4. Metal Racer
5. Hellbound
6. True As Steel
7. Burning The Witches
8. Hellraiser
9. East Meets West
10. Metal Tango
11. Out Of Control
12. Unholy Love
13. A Whiter Shade Of Pale
14. Whenever I Think Of You
15. Fur Immer
16. Fall For Me Again
17. Tausend Mal Gelebt
18. White Wedding
19. Drum Solo
20. Bad Blood
21. Egypt, The Chains Are On
22. Brutal And Efficient
23. Love Me In Black
24. Earthshaker Rock
25. Love Me Forever
26. Fight
27. Burn It Up
28. You've Got Another Thing Coming
29. Alles Ist Gut
30. All Night
31. Fight For Rock
32. Evil
33. Born To Be Wild
34. All We Are
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