martindavey87 You know what? I've sat here for ages trying to think of how to open this review, and keep coming up blank. So I'm just going to waffle, and whatever I type will do. I wasn't expecting much from Axel Rudi Pell's 'Wild Obsession'. I got into the band (band?) with their 'Oceans of Time' and 'Shadow Zone' albums, and this, their (or his?) debut, didn't really do anything for me when I first heard it, years and years ago.

Note: do I refer to "Axel Rudi Pell" as a band, or as a person? So confusing! Onwards...

Listening to 'Wild Obsession' now, it's not actually that bad. Sure, it's nothing amazing or fancy, and it certainly has 80's rock stamped all over it, but a lot of the songs do have some fairly catchy moments. In fact, for all the 80's cheese and macho fist-pumping anthems, the biggest detriment is probably the guitar playing itself. All of Pell's solos sound the bloody same. Every single one of them. Just a fast flurry of mindless notes that add absolutely nothing to the song.

Still, if you can get past that, there's some alright songs here. 'Cold As Ice', 'Slave of Love', 'Call of the Wild Dogs' and 'Call Her Princess' are all cheese-riddled 80's anthems that are about as cliché as you'd expect. But they're catchy enough that I don't mind listening to them.

Overall, Axel Rudi Pell (the man, the band, whichever), will go on to release some stellar albums in the future, but for the most part, 'Wild Obsession' is a decent enough, though not overly essential, debut.

Stephen Axel Rudi Pell left Steeler, the band he started in the early 80s when the band decided to pursue the pop metal direction rather than the original heavy metal style in 1988. His solo outfit was empowered by former Victory's singer, Charlie Huhn. Former bassist of Steeler, Volker Krawczak, and drummer Jorg Michael also joined the force, which later kept helping him in the future releases.

Adapting to the year of its release, 1989, Axel Rudi Pell laid the basic foundation of his musical style with traditional heavy metal with a decent amount of commercial touch, similar to the second wave of glam movement popularized by Dokken, Keel, and Motley Crue. Raised in Europe, no wonder if you also can spot an influence from the continent such as Accept, Krokus, and Scorpions.

Some of the best and favorite tracks here are "Wild Cat" with a Dokken's "Tooth and Nail" riffing style, "Call of The Wild Dogs", and the commercial tune of "Hear You Calling Me". The ballad, "Broken Heart", sounded ultimately cheesy and generic but somehow I dig it. I consider "Cold As Ice" as the best pick of the album with its carnaging riffs and killer vocal. If you're looking for Pell's greatest shred moment, you should hear "Call Her Princess". Couples of other songs are good and I think only "Snake Eyes" failed to match the other songs equally.

Huhn is probably the least known singer from Pell's future singer but the man definitely got an admirable throat. Pell's skill isn't far from Yngwie Malmsteen but what makes them different is Pell utilized his singer optimally while Malmsteen always overshadowed them with his egomaniac dominating shred in each of his album. "Wild Obsession" proved to be a mighty debut with a string of powerful songs from the virtuoso but a thin and uneven production is the low key here. If you like Dokken, Motley Crue, or Accept, or new to Axel Rudi Pell, this is a good album to buy.