Classic Diamonds | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by Doro with the Classic Night Orchestra | ||||
Released | 20 September 2004 | |||
Recorded | December 2003 – August 2004 | |||
Studio | Studio 301, Major's Studio, Cologne, Germany | |||
Genre | Symphonic rock, acoustic rock | |||
Length | 50:59 | |||
Label | AFM | |||
Producer | Torsten Sickert, Chris Lietz | |||
Doro chronology | ||||
| ||||
Deluxe edition CD cover | ||||
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Metal Hammer (GER) | [2] |
Classic Diamonds is the ninth studio album by the German female hard rock singer Doro Pesch. It was released worldwide in 2004 by AFM Records. The album presents new acoustic and symphonic arrangements for songs from Doro's repertoire,as well as some new compositions. The music is mostly played by the Classic Night Orchestra,an ensemble of young classical musicians that accompanied Doro in the following European tour. [3]
Doro Pesch had already experienced mixing her powerful hard rock vocals with a symphonic orchestra in 2001 in a concert in Düsseldorf and later in 2003 for a benefit concert in Bochum. Excerpts from both shows are contained in the Für Immer DVD. The results of the two shows and the reaction of the fans prompted the German singer to plan a more organic approach to the symphonic facets of her songs,scheduling an album and a tour with an orchestra. [4] The Classic Night Orchestra was recruited looking for young,open-minded,and multi-ethnic classical musicians,reaching the number of 30 elements. [4] With the help of the classically trained band member Oliver Palotai and producer Torsten Sickert,Doro arranged some old and new tracks for the orchestra and recorded them in Cologne. The album took almost eight months to complete and is the most expensive recording produced by Doro. [4]
Besides the eleven songs played with the orchestra,the album contains two tracks recorded live and acoustically in studio by Doro's band and two other tracks played by Torsten Sickert with an emulator tuned to classical instruments.
The album was published at the same time of the European tour,where many elements of the Classic Night Orchestra played together with Doro's usual live band in most venues. At Wacken Open Air festival on 6 August 2004,the full Classic Night Orchestra was on stage for the show. [5] Various shows of the Classic Diamonds tour were filmed and later released on Classic Diamonds –The DVD .
The album was published in various formats by AFM Records,with and without bonus tracks and even as a deluxe 2-CD set,together with the Let Love Rain on Me EP.
"Breaking the Law" is a cover of the Judas Priest song,recorded on their 1980 album British Steel .
The album peaked at position No. 33 in the German Longplay chart. [6]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "I Rule the Ruins" | Doro Pesch,Joey Balin | 4:02 |
2. | "Metal Tango" | Pesch,Balin | 3:57 |
3. | "Breaking the Law" | K. K. Downing,Rob Halford,Glenn Tipton | 4:22 |
4. | "All We Are" | Pesch,Balin | 2:56 |
5. | "Für Immer" | Pesch,Balin | 4:36 |
6. | "Let Love Rain on Me" | Pesch,Gary Scruggs | 3:52 |
7. | "Burn It Up" | Pesch,Jürgen Engler,Chris Lietz | 2:25 |
8. | "Tausend Mal Gelebt" | Pesch,Scruggs | 4:17 |
9. | "I'm in Love with You" | Pesch,Reinhold Mack | 4:44 |
10. | "Always Live to Win" | Pesch,Lietz | 3:00 |
11. | "Undying" | Pesch,Scruggs | 3:39 |
12. | "Love Me in Black" | Pesch,Jimmy Harry | 5:18 |
13. | "She's Like Thunder" (Bonus track) | Pesch,Nick Douglas,Lietz | 3:51 |
Total length: | 50:59 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
14. | "The Last Goodbye" | Douglas,Savalas | 3:10 |
15. | "The Final" | Torsten Sickert,Oliver Palotai | 1:21 |
Oliver Palotai is a classically trained German musician of Hungarian ancestry,husband of Simone Simons from Epica,best known as a member of the power metal band Kamelot and of Doro Pesch's touring band.
Up On the Roof:Songs from the Brill Building is a cover album and also the twenty-first studio album released in 1993 by Neil Diamond on Columbia Records. It contains a duet with Dolly Parton,string arrangements by David Campbell,along with re-makes of tracks associated with the Brill Building,where Diamond had worked in the 1960s.
Doro Live was the first official live album by German hard rock singer Doro Pesch,recorded during the Angels Never Die tour in Germany and released by Vertigo in 1993. The VHS Doro Live '93 was released at the same time only in Europe. It was filmed during two concerts in Germany on 6 and 7 October 1993 and contains two more songs:"The Fortuneteller" and "East Meets West".
Angels Never Die is the fourth solo album of the German female hard rock singer Doro Pesch. The album was released in February 1993 and was produced by Jack Ponti and Vic Pepe. The two producers had worked with Alice Cooper on the hit single "Hey Stoopid" and had produced minor glam metal bands like Surgin' and Baton Rouge. The sound and musical style of Angels Never Die is very similar to what can be heard on the second Doro solo album,alternating heavy rock tracks with large choruses and power ballads,in the vein of the declining glam metal that had dominated the American rock charts for the first part of the decade.
Fight is the eighth studio album of the German female heavy metal singer Doro Pesch. It was released worldwide in 2002 by SPV/Steamhammer.
Warrior Soul is the tenth studio album of the German female hard rock singer Doro Pesch. It was released worldwide in 2006 by AFM Records.
Fear No Evil is the eleventh studio album of the German female hard rock singer Doro. It was released worldwide in 2009 by AFM Records. The album was produced and engineered by usual collaborators Andreas Bruhn,Chris Lietz and Torsten Sickert and reflects in the songs a strong celebrative mood. In fact,titles like "Night of the Warlock","Celebrate","25 Years" and the new collaboration with the American Joey Balin,who had produced the last Warlock album,were meant to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first LP released by Doro Pesch,Burning the Witches in 1984. On 13 December 2008,a big celebrative concert with dozens of guests was held in Doro's native city of Düsseldorf,featuring also some of the musicians who had participated in the making of this album;Tarja Turunen performed a duet with Doro on "Walking with the Angels",Saxon singer Biff Byford sang on the single "Celebrate" with many female metal singers that Doro had befriended during her many tours and festival attendances.
"We're Like Thunder" is a CD single released by German hard rock singer Doro Pesch in 2005. The vocals of German female boxing champion Regina Halmich,recorded at the House of Audio studios in Karlsdorf,Germany,are featured in the song "We're Like Thunder" in a duet with Pesch. The song "She's Like Thunder" was written by Doro Pesch for her friend Regina Halmich,to be used as an official anthem before her performances. A symphonic version of it is present as bonus track in the album Classic Diamonds,released in 2004.
"All We Are" is a song composed by the German heavy metal band Warlock,from their 1987 album Triumph and Agony. It was released as the band's fourth single and published by Vertigo Records. A music video for the song was shot by director Mark Rezyka in the Los Angeles river basin and was on heavy rotation on MTV's heavy metal program Headbangers' Ball. The song was published again in every compilation of Warlock songs and is a staple of Doro's live shows to this day.
In Liebe und Freundschaft is an EP by German hard rock singer Doro Pesch,released in 2005 by AFM Records. It is an enhanced CD containing both musical tracks and a live video. The title is German for "For Love and Friendship". The EP was released to launch the upcoming album Warrior Soul and reached position No. 92 in the German singles chart.
Für Immer is a double DVD video album by hard rock singer Doro Pesch,released in 2003 by SPV/Steamhammer. The first DVD contains the full concert given at The Cave in Balve,Germany,during the Fight tour in 2002 and a collection of all Doro's videos. The second DVD,instead,contains three documentaries and live footage taken in various places and moments of Doro's career,including her first experience with a symphonic orchestra.
Celebrate –The Night of the Warlock is an EP by German female hard rock singer Doro Pesch,released in 2008 through AFM Records. The EP preceded of a few months the album Fear No Evil and includes three versions of the song "Celebrate". In the single version of the song the chorus is provided by a group of Doro fans,while the other two contain in the chorus the vocal performances of Saxon's frontman Biff Byford and of many female heavy metal singers. The song itself is a new collaboration of Doro with the old Warlock producer Joey Balin and is meant to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Doro's career.
Herzblut is an EP by German female hard rock singer Doro Pesch,released in 2009 through AFM Records. The EP contains five version of the power ballad "Herzblut",also sung in French,Spanish and Portuguese. The EP was issued a few weeks before the album Fear No Evil in 2009.
Let Love Rain on Me is an EP by German hard rock singer Doro Pesch,released in 2004 through AFM Records. It is an enhanced CD containing both musical tracks and a live video. The title track is present in three versions sung in English,Spanish and French. "Let Love Rain on Me",the Judas Priest cover "Breaking the Law" and the Warlock song "I Rule the Ruins" were played acoustically with a full orchestra and are featured in the following album Classic Diamonds in slightly different versions.
Dorothee Pesch,known professionally as Doro Pesch or simply Doro,is a German heavy metal singer and the former frontwoman of heavy metal band Warlock. Dubbed the "Metal Queen",Doro's contributions to music and culture made her a global figure in metal culture for over three decades. The name Doro has also been associated with the touring band accompanying the singer,whose members have continuously changed in more than 20 years of uninterrupted activity,the most stable presences being those of bassist Nick Douglas and drummer Johnny Dee.
Anthems for the Champion –The Queen is an EP by German female hard rock singer Doro Pesch,released in 2007 through AFM Records. The EP collects all the anthems composed by Doro and used to introduce the performances of her good friend,the German female boxing champion Regina Halmich. The only previously unreleased song is "The Queen",which Halmich used as an anthem for her final year of agonistic activity.
Classic Diamonds –The DVD is a DVD video album by hard rock singer Doro Pesch,released in 2004 by AFM Records. The DVD contains footage from two concerts held during the European tour which followed the release of the studio album Classic Diamonds. The album was a special project for Doro Pesch,who revised and re-arranged some of her songs for the Classic Night Orchestra,a 30-elements symphonic orchestra. A smaller ensemble of the orchestra accompanied Doro and her usual touring musicians on tour,but the full orchestra was on stage in August 2004 at Wacken Open Air for a strictly acoustic set,an unusual performance for the largest European heavy metal festival. Special guests of the night were former-Iron Maiden singer Blaze Bayley and guitarist Chris Caffery.
25 Years in Rock... and Still Going Strong is a boxed set of two DVDs and a CD by the German hard rock singer Doro Pesch,released in 2010 through Nuclear Blast Records.
20 Years –A Warrior Soul is a double DVD video album by hard rock singer Doro Pesch,released in 2006 by AFM Records. The first DVD contains a movie shot by director Ronald Matthes during the tour supporting the release of the album Warrior Soul in 2006;it features also a selection of commented songs from the special concert held at Phillips Halle in Düsseldorf,Germany on 13 December 2003,celebrating 20 years of career of the German singer with many guests,and footage of the party after the show. The second DVD features the full 20th anniversary concert.
Eternal Defiance is the eleventh studio album by the German melodic death metal band Suidakra. It was released in 2013 on AFM Records.