Classic Diamonds
Encyclopedia
Classic Diamonds is the ninth studio album of the German female hard rock
singer Doro Pesch
. It was released worldwide in 2004 by AFM Records
. The album presents new acoustic and symphonic arrangements for songs of Doro’s repertoire, as well as some new compositions. The music is mostly played by the Classic Night Orchestra, an ensemble of young classical musicians that accompanied Doro in the following European tour.
and later in 2003 in a benefit concert
in Bochum
. Excerpts from both shows are contained in the Für Immer
DVD. The very good results of the two shows and the reaction of the fans prompted the German singer to plan a more organic approach to the symphonic facets of her songs, scheduling an album and a tour with an orchestra. The Classic Night Orchestra was recruited looking for young, open-minded and multi-ethnical classical musicians, reaching the number of 30 elements. With the help of the classically-trained band member Oliver Palotai
and of producer Torsten Sickert, Doro arranged some old and new tracks for the orchestra and recorded them in Cologne
. The album took almost eight months to be completed and is the most expensive recording produced by Doro.
Besides eleven songs played with the orchestra, the album contains two tracks recorded live and acoustically in studio by Doro’s band and two other tracks played by Torsten Sickert with an emulator tuned to classical instruments.
The album was published at the same time of the European tour, where many elements of the Classic Night Orchestra played together with Doro’s usual live band in most venues. At Wacken Open Air
festival on 6 August 2004, the full Classic Night Orchestra was on stage for the show. Various shows of the Classic Diamonds tour were filmed and later released on Classic Diamonds - The DVD
.
The album was published in various formats by AFM Records
, with and without bonus tracks and even as a deluxe 2 CD set, together with the Let Love Rain on Me
EP.
"Breaking the Law
" is a cover of the Judas Priest
hit single, published on their 1980 album British Steel
.
The album peaked at position No. 33 in the German Longplay chart.
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
singer Doro Pesch
Doro (musician)
Dorothee Pesch , popularly known as Doro Pesch or Doro, is a female rock vocalist, formerly of the German heavy metal band Warlock ....
. It was released worldwide in 2004 by AFM Records
AFM Records
AFM-Records GmbH is a music label based in Schwalmstadt, Germany. They focus on the heavy metal musical genre, signing bands such as U.D.O., Doro, Kotipelto, Masterplan, Nostradameus, and Annihilator....
. The album presents new acoustic and symphonic arrangements for songs of Doro’s repertoire, as well as some new compositions. The music is mostly played by the Classic Night Orchestra, an ensemble of young classical musicians that accompanied Doro in the following European tour.
Overview
Doro Pesch had already experienced mixing her powerful hard rock vocals with a symphonic orchestra in 2001 in a concert in DüsseldorfDüsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
and later in 2003 in a benefit concert
Benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...
in Bochum
Bochum
Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...
. Excerpts from both shows are contained in the Für Immer
Für Immer (video)
Für Immer is a double DVD video album by hard rock singer Doro Pesch, released in 2003 by SPV/Steamhammer. The first DVD contains the full concert given at The Cave in Balve, Germany, during the Fight tour in 2002 and a collection of all Doro's videos...
DVD. The very good results of the two shows and the reaction of the fans prompted the German singer to plan a more organic approach to the symphonic facets of her songs, scheduling an album and a tour with an orchestra. The Classic Night Orchestra was recruited looking for young, open-minded and multi-ethnical classical musicians, reaching the number of 30 elements. With the help of the classically-trained band member Oliver Palotai
Oliver Palotai
Oliver Palotai is a heavy metal musician.-Career:He made his name playing keyboards and guitar for Doro and keyboards for Circle II Circle before joining Blaze Bayley's BLAZE as a replacement for founding guitarist John Slater in 2004...
and of producer Torsten Sickert, Doro arranged some old and new tracks for the orchestra and recorded them in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. The album took almost eight months to be completed and is the most expensive recording produced by Doro.
Besides eleven songs played with the orchestra, the album contains two tracks recorded live and acoustically in studio by Doro’s band and two other tracks played by Torsten Sickert with an emulator tuned to classical instruments.
The album was published at the same time of the European tour, where many elements of the Classic Night Orchestra played together with Doro’s usual live band in most venues. At Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air is a summer open air heavy metal music festival. It takes place annually in the small town of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany...
festival on 6 August 2004, the full Classic Night Orchestra was on stage for the show. Various shows of the Classic Diamonds tour were filmed and later released on Classic Diamonds - The DVD
Classic Diamonds - The DVD
Classic Diamonds - The DVD is a DVD video album by hard rock singer Doro Pesch, released in 2004 by AFM Records. The DVD contains footage from two concerts held during the European tour which followed the release of the studio album Classic Diamonds...
.
The album was published in various formats by AFM Records
AFM Records
AFM-Records GmbH is a music label based in Schwalmstadt, Germany. They focus on the heavy metal musical genre, signing bands such as U.D.O., Doro, Kotipelto, Masterplan, Nostradameus, and Annihilator....
, with and without bonus tracks and even as a deluxe 2 CD set, together with the Let Love Rain on Me
Let Love Rain on Me
Let Love Rain on Me is an EP by German hard rock singer Doro Pesch, released in 2004 through AFM Records. It is an enhanced CD containing both musical tracks and a live video. The title track is present in three versions sung in English, Spanish and French...
EP.
"Breaking the Law
Breaking the Law
"Breaking the Law" is a song by British heavy metal band Judas Priest, originally released on their 1980 album British Steel. The song is one of the band's better known singles, and is recognized by its opening guitar riff.-Music video:...
" is a cover of the Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
hit single, published on their 1980 album British Steel
British Steel (album)
British Steel is the sixth album by the British heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 14 April 1980. It saw the band reprise the commercial sound they had established on Killing Machine however; this time, they abandoned many of the dark lyrical themes which had been prominent on their...
.
The album peaked at position No. 33 in the German Longplay chart.
Track listing
- "I Rule the Ruins" (Doro PeschDoro (musician)Dorothee Pesch , popularly known as Doro Pesch or Doro, is a female rock vocalist, formerly of the German heavy metal band Warlock ....
, Joey Balin) - 4:02 - "Metal Tango" (D. Pesch, J. Balin) - 3:57
- "Breaking the LawBreaking the Law"Breaking the Law" is a song by British heavy metal band Judas Priest, originally released on their 1980 album British Steel. The song is one of the band's better known singles, and is recognized by its opening guitar riff.-Music video:...
" (K. K. DowningK. K. DowningKenneth "K.K." Downing, Jr. is a Grammy Award winning guitarist, songwriter and a founding member of the British heavy metal band Judas Priest...
, Rob HalfordRob HalfordRobert John Arthur "Rob" Halford is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead vocalist for the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Judas Priest. He is nicknamed the "Metal God" as a tribute to his influence on metal, and after the Judas Priest song of the same name from 1980's...
, Glenn TiptonGlenn TiptonGlenn Tipton is one of the Grammy Award-winning guitarists for the heavy metal band Judas Priest...
) - 4:22 - "All We Are" (D. Pesch, J. Balin) - 2:56
- "Für Immer" (D. Pesch, J. Balin) - 4:36
- "Let Love Rain on Me" (D. Pesch, Gary Scruggs) - 3:52
- "Burn It Up" (D. Pesch, Jürgen Engler, Chris Lietz) - 2:25
- "Tausend Mal Gelebt" (D. Pesch, G. Scruggs) - 4:17
- "I'm in Love with You" (D. Pesch, Reinhold MackReinhold MackReinhold Mack is a German record producer and sound engineer, mostly known for his collaborations with rock bands Electric Light Orchestra and Queen. Most of this work took place at Giorgio Moroder's Musicland Studios in Munich...
) - 4:44 - "Always Live to Win" (D. Pesch, C. Lietz) bonus track - 3:00
- "Undying" (D. Pesch, G. Scruggs) - 3:39
- "Love Me in Black" (Jimmy HarryJimmy HarryJimmy Harry is a writer/producer/multi-instrumentalist who has worked with artists from all over the world, hitting the top 10 in many different countries. Jimmy began his songwriting career by penning the global hit for RuPaul, Supermodel. Jimmy is also responsible for writing the early Kylie...
, D. Pesch) - 5:18 - "She's Like Thunder" (D. Pesch, Nick Douglas, C. Lietz) bonus track - 3:51
Bonus tracks limited edition issue
- "The Last Goodbye" (N. Douglas, T. Savalas) - 3:10
- "The Final" (Torsten Sickert, Oliver Palotai) - 1:21
- "Let Love Rain on Me" Video clip
The Classic Night Orchestra
- Arnt Böhme – conductor, orchestral arrangements on tracks 1, 2, 5
- Hye-sin Tjo, Ardan Saguner, Nonna Parfenov, Elda Teqja, Marco Stankovic, Ingrid Illguth - first violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s - Carolin Kosa, Arhan Saguner, Emma Fridman, Jee-eun Lee, Alexander Schneider - second violins
- Wiebke Corssen, Urs Beckers, Kristina Iczque, Manuela Crespi - violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s - Lev Gordin (soloist), Martin Henneken, Jens Peter Jandausch, Luise Schroeter – violoncellos
- Milivoj Plavsic – contrabassContrabassContrabass refers to a musical instrument of very low pitch; generally those pitched one octave below instruments of the bass register...
- Daniel Edelhoff, Jörg Brohm - first trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s - Wolfgang Mundt, Carsten Gronwald - second trumpets
- Andreas Roth, Peter Schatlo – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s - Jan Böhme – bass trombone
- Klaus 'Major' Heuser – acoustic guitars
- Wolf Simon – drums
- Mario Arrangonda – percussion
Additional musicians
- Udo DirkschneiderUdo DirkschneiderUdo Dirkschneider is a German heavy metal singer who is best known as the vocalist in German heavy metal band Accept and later U.D.O.After leaving Accept in 1987, Dirkschneider formed the band U.D.O....
– lead vocals on track 3 - Oliver PalotaiOliver PalotaiOliver Palotai is a heavy metal musician.-Career:He made his name playing keyboards and guitar for Doro and keyboards for Circle II Circle before joining Blaze Bayley's BLAZE as a replacement for founding guitarist John Slater in 2004...
– piano, orchestral arrangements on tracks 6, 7, 12, 15 - Kai HansenKai HansenKai Michael Hansen is a power metal guitarist and vocalist.Hansen is the founder, lead guitarist, and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray, and the co-founder and former member of German metal band Helloween. He is a prominent figure in power metal, and has sold millions of albums worldwide...
– guitars and bass on track 13, acoustic guitars, backing vocals - Claus Fischer– bass on track 4
- Dirk Schoppen - bass on track 4, backing vocals
- Martin Wagemann – solo trumpet
- Oliver Best, Thomas Nathan, Klaus Vanscheidt - backing vocals
- Joe Taylor – acoustic guitar on tracks 10 and 14
- Nick Douglas - bass on tracks 10 and 14
- Johnny Dee – drums on tracks 10 and 14
- Torsten Sickert – producer, Midnight Orchestra on tracks 9 and 13, orchestral arrangements on tracks 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15
Production
- Chris Lietz – producer
- Thorsten Rentsch – engineer, mixing
- Wieland Reißmann – engineer, orchestral arrangements on track 9
- Mika Jussila - mastering