U.D.O. - 24/7

*=Staff's pick	24/7* Mean Streets (single version) Number For A Number Scream Killers* Hardcore Lover

Genre	Heavy Metal	Udo Dirkschneider	Vocals
Tracks	5	Stefan Kaufmann	Guitar
Runningtime	21 Min.	Igor Gianola	Guitar
Label	AFM Records	Fitty Wienhold	Bass
Release	27 June 2005	Francesco Jovino	Drums
Country	Germany	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Accept, Vanize

U.D.O. are kind enough to serve us a taster before their new album Mission No. X arrives on 04 October this year. And what a taster it is....

Needless to say, they are their style faithful and that is never a topic for discussion and it goes without saying that the formula and style is the same as always with this band, so the question is just: how good are the songs this time? The opener 24/t starts with a riff that flirts strongly with Monster Man from Russian Roulette, continues with a strong and pumping verse and when the refrain comes they really hit it off. A killer song, to not say a masterpiece! That is one of two tracks taken from the forthcoming album (Mean Streets is the other one), so the rest are non album tracks and can not really be used in the judgement of the upcoming effort.

Mean Streets is a bit slower with a verse where Udo sings unusally clean. The bridge brings in the characteristic choirs and the song turns into pretty basic rock'n'roll during the chorus. The chorus saves the song, but it is close to thumbs down for the rest of it. Follows does Number For A Number, which could have fit very well on the album Solid. A midtempo, heavy and pumping track with a distinct chorus.

Next out is Scream Killers, which is a brilliant track with strong vibes of mainly the album Faceless World but also No Limits. Uptempo, great and catchy verse and bridge, and of course a nice chorus even though it does not reach the expectations you get from the building up to it. Last one out, Hardcore Lover follows the footsteps of Scream Killers in terms of tempo and refrain, with the difference of a bit slower verse.

It's as usual damn catchy made out of seemingly small and simple ingredients, and you find yourself feeling that you want to play the disc over and over and over again. The production is not much to mention since it's about the same as on the past 5-6 albums (since Solid), but perhaps Holy comes first to mind when thinking of something to compare to.

Hearing this, I have no reason to doubt that U.D.O. once more will deliver a killer album in October. It might actually be something out of the ordinary this time. If these are tracks that can be disposed for a mini cd, then I have really high hopes for what will end up on the album.

See also review of: Mission No. X , Man And Machine , Thunderball , Nailed To Metal , Live From Russia , Timebomb

Production	Vocals	Compositions
8,5	10	9

Summary
9 chalices of 10 - Tommy