Doro collected on her own label 56 tracks and launched them under the flag of Magic diamonds: best of rock, ballad and rare treasures! I run into her music via her duets and collaborations with other artists and her love for Lemmy aka mister Motörhead (check out the one with Amon Amarth for example) and today I get her best of and whilst it’s grey and wet outside it makes the sun shine in our house!
Some cool promo talk: you get 20 rockers, 19 ballads (inclusive 8 newly arranged racks or live versions of hits from the past). There is also a vinyl box for the collectors!
The album starts with the perfect live track: All We Are (the fight version). The backings gives it the right feel and a catchy touch (just what it needs). Thunderspell sounds a bit like AC-DC but in a female fronted version (and I love it). It also has a great live feel in it. Burn It Up comes straight from the stage (and has cool backings). This song is almost a classic Doro track: strong, hard and catchy! Next is I Adore You (a rocking love track genre early ages style of The Scorpions). Descent (feat. Peter Steele) sounds a bit like as if they mixed 2 different tracks together. Peter (Type O Negative) was a great singer and he deserves better as the bad mix of both vocals ruins the song! It feels as if one forgot to trash hit and now was put on this one without even listening to it. It’s a shame and I feel sorry for the fans. You’re My Family sounds like sung from the deepest part of her heart. You can feel the real emotions (joined by great guitars and a melancholic touch). It feels like a legacy song!
Kiss Me Like A Cobra sounds great! It’s a very seductive track and here I would have loved to hear the deep bass from Peter Steele asking for the kiss like only he can and asking to be seduced by her (but as he’s dead it’s way too late now). Haunted Heart is a cool, hard and fast rocker! Raise Your Fist In The Air is a classic Doro track (with catchy male backings). It’s one of those tracks she has to play at every gig to make it feel like complete! Now Or Never (feat. Slash) is melodic, melancholic and has cool guitar licks from Slash (Guns’n Roses). I also adore her voice on this one (as she changes the tone and intensity of her voice a lot on this one). The Night Of The Warlock starts in a very spooky way and sounds like written for times like these. Once in full progress it sounds like a very theatrical power metal track! I Rule The Ruins brings in a slice of symphonic metal mixed with an acoustic guitar. A heavy bass and roaring guitars, that’s the start of Fight. Later on we hear Doro scream like a tiger and bringing her vocal powers! Always Live To Win is not a ballad but a cool fast rocker. It sounds like the motto we all should have in these dark times, so hang on and play this tune over and over!Breaking the Law (feat. Udo Dirkschneider) starts like an acoustic ballad but changes into a symphonic metal track once Udo’s voice jumps in. It’s a cool cover version and totally different from the original.
Time for some live performances: Revenge, a song filled with energy and cool guitar slides. More roaring guitars and a song sung in German comes with: Ich Will Alles. I like it and hear a bit of an 80’s touch in it too. With Salvaje comes a bridge towards Spanish speaking people, but it’s also a cool rocker with a cinematic live feel! Dedication(I give my blood) sounds like a song dedicated to peace and freedom and could be used during peaceful marches and protests! I miss a few strong backings during the chorus to make it really great. Grab the Bull (Last Man Standing) is a song filled with Testosteron and sounds all fired up! It sounds like Doro is ready for her last fight (it could be WWF anthem). Für Immer is sung in German and sounds like a symphonic metal tearjerker. Another great and passionate ballad is Above The Ashes. Another sweet filled with light and hope is Love Me In Black. Bittersweet feelings with a slice of an electronic feel comes with Scarred.Rare Diamond is another live registration, this time it’s a ballad (piano synth driven) and makes the crowd clearly shut down. It must have been impressive if you were attending this show. Another live pearl is the magnificent ballad: Make Time For Love, Ballads sung in German can also sound great (and this one is even very melancholic): Tausend Mal Gelebt.Fall For Me Again is another live track and a great and fragile ballad. Give Me A Reason is another great studio ballad!
Love Me Forever (Feat. Lemmy Kilmister, Motörhead) is one of the duets I expected here on this album and it gives me freaking goosebumps. Angel in The Dark is another fragile but o so beautiful ballad. It’s one of the best tracks on this album! Walking with the Angels (Feat. Tarja Turunen) is a magical duet as both vocals blend in as if they do it already all their life together and day after day! It’s a perfect polished diamond! Beyond The Trees sounds magical, almost like part of a Disney movie about elves and princesses. Herzblut sounds like a fragile tearjerker, but also rocks a bit. Back to the live set with 2 acoustic ballads: Undying and Constant Danger.Prisoner of Love (NYC Version) sounds very bluesy and much softer (but in a way more erotic) then the original. Warrior Soul simply sounds like a song about Doro, sung by Doro and I adore it! It’s a powerful ballad! The Queen is a live track, but the quality of the recording is so good that one can doubt if it was really recorded during a concert. It’s a nice ballad, but with a winter feel in it. Metal Tango reminds me a bit of the classic tracks presented by Lord of The Lost except that this song also tries to make us dance a (metal) tango.
Hellbound is a live rager with rambling guitars and hard hitting drums. Time to wake up and put the roof on fire! Another live track is the ballad called Even Angels Cry. Followed by a very enthousiastic crowd all along I Rule The Ruins. Fortune Teller is a bluesy spoken word that reminds me a bit of Santana. More good live experiences comes with Save My Soul. Egypt sounds like an epic track, performed at the end of the night with the gods behind the stage watching over the singing goddess! She’s like Thunder sounds a bit too soft and too polished to sound like what you expect when you see the title, but it’s not a bad song at all (it’s above all a matter of expectations). The strings in the background are great. Bad Blood(Live – Feat. Blaze Bayley) rocks in a great way but the live recording could have been a bit better (less bootleg quality). Another live track is Whenever I think of you : a very melancholic slow! My Majesty shows off Doro know-how and great live vocal qualities! Next one is also a live track and no it’s not a metal cover of the famous Suicide Commando song with the same title: Hellraiser! Alles ist gut (live) is the perfect moment to try out your lighter or the ligh effect on your mobile and shed a tear! Let Love Rain is more of the same, but with a more bluesy feel. With Chained they go back to cool rockers! Black Rose is the perfect ballad: fragile and beautiful!
Nothing Else Matters is indeed a Metallica cover (strings included) and that is also the best end for this EPIC one!
It would have been great to sort the songs: ballads, rock minded tracks, rarities and live tracks as now it felt a bit too much of a melting pot (with the live tracks mixed between the 3 first genre’s) and present the live tracks as a 4th CD (add more songs). If I forget about this minor thing I can say that this compilation is the perfect way to get to know Doro if you didn’t knew her yet!
I’ll drop some lines from Doro herself, so that you get the idea of why these 56 tracks:
"Since we all miss the concerts so much at the moment, I decided to release great live moments of songs like "Even Angels Cry", "Rare Diamonds", "Revenge", "Raise Your Fist In The Air" as well as a wonderful version of "Make Time For Love" here as well". What would a best of album by DORO be without reminiscences of the great friendships DORO has with her colleagues and heroes of heavy metal? And so here DORO delivers fantastic interpretations of Dio's "Egypt (The Chains Are On)", Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" and Judas Priest's "Breaking The Law". The latter in an orchestral version in duet with Udo Dirkschneider. In addition, the metal queen presents enchanting duets with her favorite friend Lemmy ("Love Me Forever"), Pete Steele ("Descent") and Tarja Turunen ("Walking With The Angels") and serves her great anthems like "Fight" and "She's Like Thunder", which she wrote for her friend, boxing world champion Regina Halmich. Not to forget "Warrior Soul", the movie soundtrack of the movie "Anuk - The Way of the Warrior", in which DORO played the female lead role, and of which part 2 and part 3 will be released soon. All in all, an unbeatable package that brings a bright light to dismal November days - true to DORO's motto in life: "I make music to give people joy, hope and positive energy". And: "My songs are often based on personal experiences that are also of a spiritual nature - like "1000 Mal Gelebt", "Undying" or "Fortune Teller"! You don't have to be a fortune teller to predict!
