Udo Dirkscheneider, after his departure from Accept in 1987 has made 18 albums with his solo band, U.D.O., and now he released his 19th studio album, Touchdown.
Band Members:
Udo Dirkschneider – vocals
Andrey Smirnov – guitars
Sven Dirkschneider – drums
Dee Dammers – guitars
Peter Baltes – bass
+ guest appearance by violinist Stefan Pintev on the title track
This album is the result of some major challenges the band had to face lately. First, they couldn't keep playing once the pandemic started, so, they wrote music then. The first song of the album, Isolation Man talks about this.
Then, Sven Dirkscheider, Udo's son and the band's drummer, had his house flooded by the immense floods happened in Germany. He had to stop writing and recording while he was getting back in his feet. Because of this, the song, The Flood, was born.
Afterward, Russia invaded Ukraine and the band's guitarist, Andrey Smirnov, was living in Ukraine with his family at that time. He had a hard time going back to Germany. This situation produced an anthem song, Fight For The Right.
Lastly, the band's bassist Tilen Hudrap had a medical emergency, and after he recovered his health, he communicated to the band that he didn't want to continue to be part of the band. Udo called his old friend, the ex Accept's bassist, Peter Baltes, who joined temporarily to cover for some live shows and then became a permanent member. So, now U.D.O. has more Accept's original members than Accept's itself.
All of these setbacks created a dark and more aggressive album, than their previous one. According to Udo, “it's a straightforward punch in the face”.
Most of the songs are super powerful and energetic, except for Forever Free, that it was the first single of the album. It's the most commercial song of the album, an instant anthem, very encouraging and uplifting.
The Double Dealer's Club, energetic song about being careful with people that lies and cheat.
Heroes of Freedom, tells the story of the Operation Overlord (the Battle of Normandy), that took place on June 6th, 1944, when the Allied Forces invaded German-occupied Western Europe during World War II, that released these territories successfully. The beginning of the end, of the war.
Living Hell, good, powerful. It reminds me of Bon Jovi's Runaway, in the sense of that it talks about a girl that wants to make it in a big city. Surrounded by neon lights, and earning money fast, but all of that comes with a price.
The last song of the album, and title track, is Touchdown. It's a superfast paced song. The beginning is similar to Accept's Fast As A Shark. The lyrics and video are about American Football. And the idea came to mind, when they were in Brazil, and they were hanging out in a sports bar, watching a match.
Touchdown is a pure heavy German speed metal album by U.D.O. A band that is commanded by an iconic singer who still keeps his voice at 71. The band persists in releasing super powerful heavy metal music to the world, being one of the most prolific groups still out there.
