ALBUM PREVIEW - PAUL SABU/ "Strange Messiah"

PAUL SABU
“Strange Messiah”

Label: AOR Heaven	Street date: August 31^st 2007
Cat. #: AOR Heaven 00031	EAN: 4046661085327

Music Style: Hard Rock

Tracklisting: 1. Strange Messiah - 2. Dangerous Behaviour - 3. Blow By Blow - 4. Ashes Of Wrong - 5. Fighting To Die - 6. Headbangers - 7. Hey Look (But Don’t Touch) - 8. Piece Of My Heart - 9. Jack Of All Trades - 10. Rock Your World

Line-Up:
Paul Sabu – Vocals, Guitars
Matthias Rethmann - Bass
Gereon Homann - Drums
Michael Voss - Guitars

Ralf Heyne – Lead Guitars
Thorsten Koehne - Lead Guitars
Angel G.Schleifer - Slide Guitar

Info (deutsch):
In den späten 80er und 90er Jahren war der Kalifornier Paul Sabu ein gern gesehener Gast bei Writing- und Recording Sessions anderer Künstler. Er hat mit u.a. David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Little Caesar, Lee Aaron, Madonna, Malice, Robbie Neville, Silent Rage, The Nelsons, Shania Twain, John Waite and Wasp und vielen mehr Songs geschrieben, aufgenommen oder produziert. Hinzu gesellt sich noch eine unendliche Zahl von Soundtracks für Filme und TV Serien wie z.B. Accused, American Drive-In, Assault Of The Killer Bimbos, Baywatch, Beverly Hill 90210, Diving In, Ghost Town, Goulies II, Hard Rock Zombies, Meatballs 4, Million Dollar Mystery, Sex And The City, To Die For, Trick Or Treat, Twin Sitters, Vice Versa und Natural Born Killer. Und dabei hatte im zarten Alter von 19 Jahren einmal alles einfach damit angefangen, dass Sabu sich in lokale Clubs und Bars einschlich, die es ihm erlaubten, seine Gitarre einzustöpseln.

Seine eigenen Bands nannten sich Sabu und Only Child, welche beide einen fetten Sound, Tiefe, starke Keyboards, schöne Gitarren und Vocals mit großen Chorussen kombinierten. So erstaunt es auch nicht, dass viele Hardrock-Magazine ihn mit der Bezeichnung ‘L.A. Session King’ und ‘AOR Hero’ titulierten. Seine immer noch gesuchten Alben machen ihn auch heute noch zu einem der wirklich Rock Heroes unserer Zeit. So wählten ihn die Leser des Kerrang im November 2005 zu dem zweitbesten AOR-Sänger aller Zeiten.

Nachdem Paul Sabu mit Produzent Michael Voss in der jüngsten Vergangenheit schon an mehreren Alben (Vengeance, Biss) zusammengearbeitet hatte, war es langsam an der Zeit mit den Arbeiten an einem neuen Sabu Album zu beginnen.

Sabus neues Opus namens ´Strange Messiah´ wurde von einer Schar fantastischer Gastmusiker und Feunde eingespielt, die sich ganz in den Dienst des Bandgedanken stellten. Das All-Star-Line-Up setzt sich zusammen aus Matthias Rethmann (Lee Z) - Bass, Gereon Homann (Eat the Gun) – Drums, Michael Voss (Mad Max, Casanova) - Additional Guitars, Ralf Heyne (Biss) - Lead Guitars, Thorsten Koehne (Demon Drive) - Lead Guitars, Angel G.Schleifer (Bonfire, Pretty Maids) und natürlich Paul Sabu (Shania Twain, Alice Cooper, Madonna).

Das Album entfaltet die ultimative Sabu Rock-Urgewalt und mischt klasse Melodien mit schweren Rhythmen, die den Test der Zeit überstehen. Hymnen wie ´Headbangers´ oder das mysteriöse ‚Jack of all trades’, welches von Vinnie Appice (Dio,Black Sabbath) mitverfasst wurde, zeigen die wahre Vielfalt des Werkes. Produzententechnisch wurden zum Beispiel die Drums in einem großen Raum aufgenommen, um den einzigartigen John Bonham (Led Zeppelin) Effekt zu erreichen. Dieses sogenannte ‚Livegefühl’ wirkt erfrischend auf die gesamte Produktion, erinnert an alte Van Halen-Zeiten und zieht sich durch die fast fünfzig Minuten.

Info (english):
In the late 80’s and 90’s, Californian born Paul Sabu was a welcome guest at many writing and recording session of other artists. He has written, recorded, performed with, or produced albums for such luminaries as David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Little Caesar, Lee Aaron, Madonna, Malice, Robbie Neville, Silent Rage, The Nelsons, Shania Twain, John Waite and Wasp can be counted. He has an arsenal of movie and TV series soundtrack credits which include Accused, American Drive-In, Assault Of The Killer Bimbos, Baywatch, Beverly Hill 90210, Diving In, Ghost Town, Goulies II, Hard Rock Zombies, Meatballs 4, Million Dollar Mystery, Sex And The City, To Die For, Trick Or Treat, Twin Sitters, Vice Versa, Natural Born Killer, and the list goes on. Paul started his recording career at only 19 and was notorious for sneaking into any local clubs and bars that would let him sit in or plug in his guitar!

His own musical vehicles were the Sabu and Only Child bands with which he recorded albums that were described as big sounding, with lots of depth, fat keyboards, blistering guitars and vocals, combined with great choruses. It is no small wonder that he was the darling of several Melodic Rock magazines, who dubbed him ‘L.A. Session King’ and ‘AOR Hero’! His albums are still much sought-after items among AOR lovers, and his reputation as an AOR hero still holds today. For example, in Kerrang's poll from November 14, 2005...Paul Sabu ranked 2 of the greatest AOR albums of all times!

After collaborating with Paul Sabu on some recent albums, it became obvious to German producer Michael Voss that a new Sabu album should be initiated.

Sabu’s latest is entitled “Strange Messiah”. Paul Sabu (Shania Twain, Alice Cooper, Madonna) is surrounded by a bunch of great musicians and friends who played as if the band were their own taking Sabu’s songs to a stellar level. This all-star line up is Matthias Rethmann (b, Lee Z), Gereon Homann (dr., Eat the Gun), Michael Voss (add. guit., Mad Max, Casanova), Ralf Heyne (lead g., Biss), Thorsten Koehne (lead g., Demon Drive), Angel G.Schleifer (lead g., Bonfire, Pretty Maids), and of course the man himself: Paul Sabu.

This album enfolds the ultimate Sabu rock power, that mixes great hooks with conviction that defies gravity with melodies that stand the test of time. Stadium rockers like ´Headbangers´ and the mysterious `Jack of all Trades´ co-written by Vinny Appice (Dio, Black Sabbath) show the versatility of the album.
As the producer, Voss embraced the vision to go back to his roots of recording the drums in a huge room and slamming the sound spectrum to the “big is better” level…Much like that in the Led Zeppelin era. The live feel of the album is refreshing and illuminates early Van Halen while pushing the envelope on every song...

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