U.D.O.

U.D.O.
U.D.O. live in 2004
Background information
Origin	Solingen, Germany
Genres	Heavy metal
Years active	1987–present
Labels	AFM Records, Breaker Records, GUN Records, RCA Records
Associated acts	Accept, Gotthard, Bullet, Edge of Forever
Website	Official website
Members
Udo Dirkschneider Stefan Kaufmann Igor Gianola Fitty Wienhold Francesco Jovino
Former members
Peter Szigeti Frank Rittel Mathias Dieth Thomas Franke Wolla Böhm Andy Susemihl Thomas Smuszynski Stefan Schwarzmann Frank Fricke Jurgen Graf Lorenzo Milani

U.D.O. is a German heavy metal band founded by lead singer Udo Dirkschneider in 1987. Closely tied to the name U.D.O. is Accept, founded by Udo Dirkschneider and Michael Wagener (later to become a top producer) in Solingen, which was the predecessor of U.D.O.

History

1987–1992

After the breaking up of Accept in 1987, a large fan community followed Udo Dirkschneider to U.D.O.

Starting with the first albums Animal House in 1987 and Mean Machine in 1988 U.D.O. proved to be pure heavy metal without any Trend-Sound influences. Both albums continued where Accept had left off in 1986 with Russian Roulette. Animal House was played in by Peter Szigeti (guitars), Frank Rittel from Warlock (bass), Mathias Dieth from Sinner (guitars), Thomas Franke (drums) and of course Udo Dirkschneider (vocals)

When Mean Machine was released in 1988 U.D.O. had a totally different look. Of the line-up which had played on Animal House, only Udo and lead guitarist Mathias Dieth remained. New additions were Andy Susemihl (guitar), Thomas Smuszynski (bass) and Stefan Schwarzmann (drums).

Even though the unwritten U.D.O. law 'no keyboards' was broken, U.D.O. achieved amazing success, with the album Faceless World, produced by ex-Accept drummer Stefan Kaufmann. At first disputed, it turned out to be U.D.O.'s most sold album so far.

U.D.O.'s follow-up album, Timebomb, shed much of the glitz and glam of the previous year's release, opting instead for fast, precise heavy metal in the vein of Restless and Wild-era Accept or Painkiller-era Judas Priest. The album has since come to be regarded among metal fans as one of U.D.O.'s best, but as fate would have it, it was also their last for the next five years.

1996–present

From 1992 until 1996 Accept performed in a highly watched over reunion, and Udo released three albums together with his old Accept colleagues, until the definite end was called for Accept and U.D.O. was revived. For this Udo Dirkschneider called Stefan Kaufmann (guitar), Jürgen Graf (guitars), Fitty Wienhold (bass) und Stefan Schwarzmann (drums) to him. Udo Dirkschneider and Stefan Kaufmann then went, together with the new line-up, "back to where we started" and with that to recording on the Tribute to Judas Priest. On this compilation of Judas Priest cover songs U.D.O. performed the track "Metal Gods", which the band has performed live during several concerts since.

1997 saw the band return from hiatus with Solid, the first full-length U.D.O. album to feature the guitarwork of Stefan Kaufmann. The album served as a sonic blueprint for future U.D.O. recordings. Solid was placed on the Rock Hard magazine reader charts for more than a year after its release.

Solid was followed by No Limits in 1998, and featured a similar songwriting approach as the previous year's effort. The album also featured U.D.O.'s first returning lineup since the band's inception ten years prior. In a somewhat bizarre move, the album also featured a cover of the Austrian pop band Supermax's hit single "Love Machine".

With the release of Holy the band returned to a downpace, guitar-driven sound similar to Balls to the Wall-era Accept. The reaction of fans and journalists left no doubt that this was the right step. A world tour followed, one which saw the last U.D.O. dates in the United States and several other major countries ever since. There were also lineup changes during the second part of the 1999 tour. Igor Gianola, former guitar player of the Swiss band Gotthard, replaced Jürgen Graf. When the No Limits tour concluded, Stefan Schwarzmann quit the band, and on the Holy tour (2000) Lorenzo Milani took his place behind the drum kit. The tour also spawned U.D.O.'s first live album, Live from Russia a two-disc affair which featured many of the classic Accept tunes (with the notable exception of "Balls to the Wall") that have since become staples of U.D.O.'s set.

2002's Man and Machine continued in this vein, but received a somewhat lukewarm response. Despite standout songs like the title track and "Private Eye", the album was ultimately less successful than its predecessor. It is notable for spawning a promo video of "Dancing With An Angel", a song which features a duet between Udo and Doro Pesch (of Warlock fame).

The next two studio releases – 2004's Thunderball and 2005's Mission No. X – were slightly livelier affairs, although the band's touring at this time became largely relegated to Germany, South America, and slavic Europe. Sonically, the former shared much in common with Timebomb, while the latter seemed to follow in the vein of No Limits.

It was with 2007's Mastercutor, however, that U.D.O. truly returned to form. The album was the most financially successful in years, and received almost universally high marks from musical critics and metal fans alike. Udo's appearance a year earlier on Finnish metal band Lordi's album, The Arockalypse exposed U.D.O. to an even wider audience. The live DVD Mastercutor Alive was released in 2008.

Recently U.D.O. have confirmed via their website that they were working on a new studio album, Dominator which will be released on August 21, 2009.

Discography

Studio albums

• Animal House (1987)
• Mean Machine (1988)
• Faceless World (1990)
• Timebomb (1991)
• Solid (1997)
• No Limits (1998)
• Holy (1999)
• Man and Machine (2002)
• Thunderball (2004)
• Mission No. X (2005)
• Mastercutor (2007)
• Dominator (2009) ^[1]

Live albums

• Live from Russia (2001)
• Nailed to Metal – The Missing Tracks (2003)
• Mastercutor Alive (2008)

Compilation albums

• Best Of (1999)
• Metallized (2007)

Singles/EPs

• They Want War (1988)
• Heart of Gold (1990)
• Faceless World (1990)
• Two Faced Woman (1997)
• Independence Day (1997)
• Lovemachine (1998)
• Dancing With An Angel (2002)
• 24/7 EP (2005)
• The Wrong Side of Midnight EP (2007)
• Infected EP (2009)

DVDs

• Nailed to Metal – The Complete History (2003)
• Thundervision (2004)
• Mastercutor Alive (2008)

Members

Current members

• Udo Dirkschneider – vocals (1987–present)
• Stefan Kaufmann – guitar (1996–present)
• Igor Gianola – guitar (1999–present)
• Fitty Wienhold – bass (1997–present)
• Francesco Jovino – drums (2004–present)

Former members

• Wolla Bohm – guitar (1990)
• Andy Susemihl – guitar (1987–1990, 1991)
• Frank Fricke – guitar (1991–1992)
• Jurgen Graf – guitar (1997–1999)
• Thomas Smuszynski – bass (1989–1991)
• Dieter Rubach – bass (1987–1989)
• Stefan Schwarzmann – drums (1988–1999)
• Lorenzo Milani – drums (2000–2004)

Original line-up

• Udo Dirkschneider – vocals
• Peter Szigeti – guitar (1987)
• Mathias Dieth – guitar (1987–1991)
• Frank Rittel – bass (1987)
• Thomas Franke – drums (1987–1989)

References

External links

• U.D.O. official website