Beekstraat 1 - B-2640 Mortsel - Belgium

DORO with The Classic Night Orchestra: Classic Diamonds

Release

Style

Who doesn’t remember that 20 year old, good looking girl that caused a commotion in 1985 with her band Warlock? Doro may have aged, but she still looks great. ‘Triumph and Agony’ (1989) was the most successful of the four albums that Warlock made. It was after that album that Doro Pesch started her solo career with both on and off success. Her fans knew what they could expect and were served accordingly with each new album. There were many well written songs over the years. Like lots of hard rock bands, their ballads and semi ballads were their strong points, such as Doro’s “Without You” and “Fur Immer”.

Doro also recorded an album with a classical orchestra, just as Metallica, Deep Purple and the Scorpions did. Is this CD predestined to be doomed as old-fashioned and commercial? A lot depends on the arrangements and the strength of the original compositions. These determine the quality of the end product. The adaptation of a song is of essential importance in determining if the song will turn out corny or not. Luckily, this isn’t the case on this CD. All songs are arranged in a professional way, making this album one of the best in its category.

The opening song, “I Rule the Ruins”, and “Always Live to Win”, a promotional version bonus track, are both successful and up beat. Ordinary rock songs demand too much attention and allow too little space for a classical orchestra to gain access, let alone achieving a good sounding end result. The bridge of a song is the only window of oppotunity for the orchestra to sieze and so is the case in “I Rule the Ruins”.

It’s only starting with the second track, “Metal Tango” that the orchestra can most successfully adapt itself. The trumpets and guitars in “Undying” as well as in “Metal Tango” really give you that Spanish feeling, but I’d say that “Undying” does it even more so.

The adaptation of the Judas Priest cover “Breaking the Law” is just sublime. It’s beautiful on the whole, even though the use of the strings is very obvious. However, I think the voice of guest singer UDO Dirkschneider (Accept/U.D.O.) is not brilliant.

Who can forget the classical guitar solo in that sing-a-long song “All We Are”? It’s a solid track, even in this new version.

I’ve always found it a bit gutsy to put a German language song on an album whose main target audience is English speaking, but Doro has enough nerve to do it her way. And rightly so because “Fur Immer” and “Tausend Mal Gelebt” are strong songs that get their strength through the use of German lyrics. I think they’re even stronger than the original versions. The recently released single “Let Love Rain on Me” and “I’m in Love with You” are both very beautiful ballads. Take a listen to the Doro solo on “Let Love Rain on Me” and to the classical guitar solo on “I’m in Love with You”.

The song “Burn it Up” contains an attractive little symphony of violins.

The most beautiful ballad, “Love Me in Black”, is kept for last. It’s an especially strong song taken from its self titled album in 1999 but then redone.

This ‘Classic Diamonds’ CD is a collection of solid songs from the repertoire of Doro and Warlock. They’ve been beautifully reconstructed into real classic rock songs. The Classic Night Orchestra gives an extra dimension to these timeless songs with its wonderful use of symphonic elements. This just may be Doro’s chance to receive your acknowledgement!

Musicians

I Rule The Ruins 04:02 (Warlock: Triumph And Agony - 1987)*
Metal Tango 04:00 (Warlock: Triumph And Agony - 1987) 3'28''
Breaking The Law 04:24 (Judas Priest: British Steel - 1980) 3'54''
All We Are 02:58 (Warlock: Triumph And Agony - 1987) 2'22"
Für Immer 04:35 (Warlock: Triumph And Agony - 1987) 3'29"
Let Love Rain On Me 03:51 (new song) 2'56"
Burn It Up 02:27 (Doro: Calling the wild - 2000) 1'54''
1000 X Gelebt 04:17 (Doro: Love me in black - 1999) 3'26"
I'm In Love With You 04:44 (new song) 3'45"
Undying 03:39 (Doro: Fight - 2002) 3'21"
Love Me In Black 05:18 (Doro: Love me in black - 1999) 4'01"
Always Live To Win (Bonus) 03:02 (Doro: Fight - 2002) 2'41"
Ltd edition digibook contains 3 add bonus tracks

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Last updated: 19/03/2006 .
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