U.D.O. – Mastercutor Alive
Golden Core Records – 2008
By Axemaiden
The fact that this is the first live album German heavy/classic metal group U.D.O. have released in quite a number of years coupled with the notion that they have had over twenty years of releasing material will probably mean that there is going to be quite a lot of interest in this album for long-standing fans.
To be honest, I’m not a massive fan of U.D.O., but I’m going to try my hardest to remain neutral about this album. There are a lot of equally positive and negative points to Mastercutor Alive. The production on the album is almost perfect, which for a live release can often be quite a difficult thing to achieve, even for such a long established group. Equally, the range and number of songs chosen for the album will please fans; there are lots of old classics as well as newer offerings, which is a good mix to have and all of the songs are played extremely well and by talented musicians.
The only real problem I have with U.D.O. is that they really are far too generic, they’ve found a system of song structure and lyrical topics that work and it seems that they have stuck rigidly within those boundaries ever since, which can work for a while, but gets a little tiresome after twenty years of doing it. I’m not saying they should break away from their style and become something they’re not, but a little musical variation would be a nice change. I think this is definitely an album more suited to dedicated fans of the group.
Official U.D.O. Website
Official U.D.O. Myspace
Official Golden Core Records Website
Golden Core Records – 2008
By Axemaiden
The fact that this is the first live album German heavy/classic metal group U.D.O. have released in quite a number of years coupled with the notion that they have had over twenty years of releasing material will probably mean that there is going to be quite a lot of interest in this album for long-standing fans.
To be honest, I’m not a massive fan of U.D.O., but I’m going to try my hardest to remain neutral about this album. There are a lot of equally positive and negative points to Mastercutor Alive. The production on the album is almost perfect, which for a live release can often be quite a difficult thing to achieve, even for such a long established group. Equally, the range and number of songs chosen for the album will please fans; there are lots of old classics as well as newer offerings, which is a good mix to have and all of the songs are played extremely well and by talented musicians.
The only real problem I have with U.D.O. is that they really are far too generic, they’ve found a system of song structure and lyrical topics that work and it seems that they have stuck rigidly within those boundaries ever since, which can work for a while, but gets a little tiresome after twenty years of doing it. I’m not saying they should break away from their style and become something they’re not, but a little musical variation would be a nice change. I think this is definitely an album more suited to dedicated fans of the group.
Official U.D.O. Website
Official U.D.O. Myspace
Official Golden Core Records Website
