The world has changed, but Axel Rudi Pell hasn’t. For three decades, the Bochum, Germany-based guitarist has ticked and worked like a Swiss clock, consistently releasing critically acclaimed, hard-rocking albums. Like his anniversary offering, a live document of his most recent tour. And it will come out on the same record company as his debut in 1989; his contract with legendary label SPV/Steamhammer having lasted longer than the average marriage these days.

SPV and I have grown together, we have witnessed highs and lows and we’ve managed to get through them all,” the 58-year-old musician states with a smile. “Never change a winning team” is the secret of his success. Having sold more than 1.6 million records so far, Pell also has a ridiculous amount of online streams: his songs have been streamed more than 37.5 million times, figures he would never have dreamt of when he first started out.

“XXX Anniversary Live”, his 30th album release in as many years, will see the light of day on June 7. A milestone by all accounts and a stunning document of his most recent tour which he did not plan at all, but the recordings, from Bochum and Budapest among others, were so good that he felt he just couldn’t scrap them. They are a worthy follow-up to “Magic Moments”, his three-hour anniversary show at the Bang Your Head!!! festival in 2014, where he celebrated 25 years as a solo artist.

“XXX Anniversary Live” track listing:

CD1

01. The Medieval Overture (Intro)
02. The Wild And The Young
03. Wildest Dreams
04. Fool Fool
05. Oceans Of Time
06. Only The Strong Will Survive
07. Mystica (incl. Drum Solo)
08. Long Live Rock

CD2

01. Game Of Sins / Tower Of Babylon (incl. Keyboard Solo)
02. The Line
03. Warrior
04. Edge Of The World (incl. Band Introduction)
05. Truth And Lies
06. Carousel
07. The Masquerade Ball / Casbah
08. Rock The Nation

Lineup:

Johnny Gioeli – Lead and Backing Vocals
Axel Rudi Pell – Lead, Rhythm and Acoustic Guitars
Ferdy Doernberg – Keyboards
Volker Krawczak – Bass
Bobby Rondinelli – Drums

Fonte: Blabbermouth.net