That was totally out of nowhere and I mean it in the worst kind of way… I can not find anything more accurate in order to start the review of a release that for the first time in my fifteen years as a music journalist, I tried so hard to find the right words for it. You see from the General, Udo Dirkschneider, we have been accustomed only to good and excellent releases for over thirty years and what we were treated with right now looks like a gray if not a black page in his entire career.
I consider “We Are One” to be an unnecessary release; a result of a common notion from many bands the last few years that captures the “marriage” of metal or rock genre with the symphonic music. Some of these efforts may be successful, but that does not mean that they are appropriate for every single act. The Symphony Orchestra of the German Armed Forces is definitely not what the people who love U.D.O. expected as an integral part of the new album.. I do not really know how he made that decision and the only thing that comes to mind is maybe the fact that so many other bands have gone down the same road in the past, so why U.D.O. should be an exception? The overwhelming feedback for “Steelfactory” clearly showed what the General can do and that his fans really support such records. Of course, there are some beautiful moments and well crafted compositions in “We Are One”, but they are the minority on the album, which is plenty of (symphonic) fillers.
I bought “We Are One” out of love for Udo; an artist so dear to me from the time he was in Accept…after all he was one of those who took me by the hand and introduced me to the world of metal.
But this album was a true disappointment and definitely not what I expected from him.
