U.D.O. - Man And Machine

*=Staff's pick	Man And Machine* Private Eye The Dawn Of The Gods* Silent Cry* Like A Lion* Black Heart Network Nightmare* Animal Instinct Dancing With The Devil* Hard To Be Honest Unknown Traveller

Genre	Heavy Metal	Udo Dirkschneider	Vocals
Tracks	11	Igor Gianola	Guitar
Runningtime	54 Min.	Stefan Kaufmann	Guitar
Label	GUN Records	Fitty Wienhold	Bass
Release	25 March 2002	Lorenzo Milani	Drums
Country	Germany	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Vanize

Well - with a risk of being a bit naggy about these guys' brilliance here: God damn it, Dirkscheider and Kaufmann - you have done it again! U.D.O. are back just 6 months after the killer live album Live in Russia, which was one of the most "metal" releases last year with a new studioalbum that knocks most competition in the metalscene to the floor before the first song even had time to fade away. On the last album Holy, which came 1999, the tempo was held back a little in favour of a more laid back sound, but still with focus on the characteristic melodies that "are" U.D.O. But that showed to be just a temporary fallback in energy, cause this time they bring us the most catchy refrains and sticking and over the top riffs since the ultracatchy Faceless World back in 1990.

The opener, which also is the titletrack is a smashing midtempo tune in the veins of Independence Day with a bridge and chorus that is out of this world, and I dare saying that it holds one of the catchiest refrains they have composed so far. It continues with the fastpaced Private Eye, which can be compared to a bit faster version of State Run Operation on the Holy album, and after that The Dawn of the Gods come to really knock you between the eyes with the fattest dose of metal on this side of earth. The verseriff is as heavy as a ton of lead, and the refrain really blows you away - if the titletrack didn't do it for you, than this will. I can just imagine the singalongeffect this will have during liveshows in the future - it's almost like it was written for that purpose.

Silent Cry starts in a very slow mood, and it almost sounds like it would turn out to be a ballad, but - how wrong can you really be? By the time the first bridge and refrain has ended you sit there gasping for breath cause this is no less than anything else so far on the cd - extremely catchy and yet powerful to the bone. There are no other men than these people that can bring out this much power in those ordinary metalriffs and melodylines.

Next in the row of pearls is Like a Lion, which just as the previous song starts kind of slow and balladish, but - puuuhh - it never ends: Killerrefrain, and Udo himself actually keep singing better and better for every year that passes. The same day as I am writing this, he turns 50 years old, and will spend his birthday on stage in the south of Sweden. Then it calms down a little with Black Heart, which - in a context like this - has to be considered an average song. But considering the fact that the song still has a refrain that you just can't avoid sing and hum along to, you can imagine that this material is of very high quality. Network Nightmare and Animal Instinct are more midtempo tunes that keeps going on where the other ends when it comes to melodies and catchyness - gentlemen Kaufmann/Dirkscheider are their style faithful, and it has never been more clear that you get what you want when investing in an U.D.O album.

Dancing with the Devil is a really brilliant powerballad with Doro Pesch on duelvocals with Udo, and it's damn beautiful with a killer chorus(surprise?), and at the same time with a heaviness that makes it fall out of the pure balladcategory. The last part of the album with Hard to be Honest and Unknown Traveller are both songs that keep up with the rest and help to earn the high points that the album gets. Even if I try really hard to find any song that falls out of the frame of high quality on this album, I fail. There are no half-made efforts on this release. The only - and that is really the only - thing I could remark upon is the lack of a few more uptempo songs, and that the verseriffs in some songs could be a bit more interesting.

The production is absolutely splendid, with crystal clear yet sharp and really fat guitars, and Udo's voice better than ever. The always present guitarlines and licks that goes behind everything in the verses sounds more perfect than ever, and the choruses and choirs are really moody and majestic. I am absolutely sure that every fan of this guys earlier work will adore this - as well as new fans of really pure and catchy metal, and I am almost ready to be held personally responsable if anyone would feel disappointed after buying this album on my recommendations. Udo is Mr. Metal - don't even try to convince me of otherwise. He has just proved to the whole world that he won't be dethroned for a long time to come.

Production	Vocals	Compositions
8	9	8,5

Summary
8,5 chalices of 10 - Tommy