U.D.O.

U.D.O. is a German hivy metal baund foundit bi lead sangster Udo Dirkschneider in 1987.

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

History

1987–1992

Efter Udo Dirkschneider left Accept in 1987, a lairge fan commonty follaeed him tae U.D.O.

Stairtin wi the first albums Animal House in 1987 an Mean Machine in 1988 U.D.O. pruivit tae be pure hivy metal athoot ony Trend-Sound influences. Baith albums continued whaur Accept haed left aff in 1986 wi Russian Roulette. Animal House wis played in bi Peter Szigeti (guitars), Frank Rittel frae Warlock (bass), Mathias Dieth frae Sinner (guitars), Thomas Franke (drums) an. Udo Dirkschneider (vocals).

When Mean Machine wis released in 1988, U.D.O. haed a totally different leuk. O the line-up which haed played on Animal House, anerlie Udo an lead guitarist Mathias Dieth remained. New additions wur Andy Susemihl (guitar), Thomas Smuszynski (bass) an Stefan Schwarzmann (drums).

U.D.O. achievit success wi the album Faceless World, producit bi ex-Accept drummer Stefan Kaufmann.

U.D.O.'s follae-up album wis Timebomb. It wis thair last for the next five years.

1996–present

U.D.O. performin live at Norway Rock Festival in 2009

Frae 1992 until 1996 Accept performed in a heichly watched ower reunion, an Dirkschneider put U.D.O. on hiatus to record three albums thegither wi his auld Accept colleagues. Efter anither Accept break up, Dirkschneider returned his focus to U.D.O. For this Udo Dirkschneider cried Stefan Kaufmann (guitar), Jürgen Graf (guitars), Fitty Wienhold (bass) an Stefan Schwarzmann (drums) to him. Udo Dirkschneider an Stefan Kaufmann then went, thegither wi the new line-up, "back to where we startit" an wi that to recording on the Tribute to Judas Priest. On this compilation o Judas Priest cover sangs U.D.O. performed the track "Metal Gods".

1997 saw the baund return from hiatus wi Solid, the first full-lenth U.D.O. album to featur the guitarwork o Stefan Kaufmann. The album served as a sonic blueprint for future U.D.O. recordings. Solid wis placed on the Rock Hard magazine reader charts for mair nor a year efter its release.

Solid wis followed bi No Limits in 1998, an featurt a seemilar songwriting approach as the previous year's effort. The album an aa featurt U.D.O.'s first returning lineup syne the band's inception ten years prior. The album an aa featurt a cover o the Austrian pop band Supermax's hit single "Love Machine".

Wi the release of Holy the band returned to a downpace, guitar-driven sound seemilar to Balls to the Wall-era Accept. The reaction of fans and journalists left no doubt that this wis the right step. A world tour followed, ane which saw the last U.D.O. dates in the United States and several ither major countries ever syne. Thare war an aa lineup changes during the seicont pairt o the 1999 tour. Igor Gianola, umwhile guitar player o the Swiss band Gotthard, replaced Jürgen Graf. When the No Limits tour concluded, Stefan Schwarzmann quit the band, an on the Holy tour (2000) Lorenzo Milani teuk his place behind the drum kit. The tour an aa spawned U.D.O.'s first live album, Live from Russia a twa-disc affair which featurt mony o the classic Accept tunes (wi the notable exception of "Balls to the Wall") that hae syne acome staples of U.D.O.'s set.

2002's Man and Machine continued in this vein, but received a somewhat lukewarm response. Despite standout sangs lik the title track an "Private Eye", the album wis ultimately less successfu than its predecessor. It is notable for spawning a promo video of "Dancing With An Angel", a sang which features a duet atween Udo an Doro Pesch (o Warlock).

The next twa studio releases – 2004's Thunderball an 2005's Mission No. X – war slichtly livelier affairs, awtho the baund's touring at this time became largely relegated to Germany, Sooth Americae, an slavic Europe. Sonically, the umwhile shared much in common wi Timebomb, while the latter seemed to follae in the vein o No Limits.

It wis wi 2007's Mastercutor, houiver, that U.D.O. truly returned to form. The album wis the maist financially successfu in years, an received awmaist universally heich marks frae muisical critics an 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 wis released in 2008.

U.D.O.'s twelfth studio album, Dominator, wis released on August 21, 2009.

U.D.O.'s thirteent studio album, Rev Raptor, is set tae be released on Januar 14t, 2011.

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)
• Rev Raptor (2011) (Planned release date is Januar 14t, 2011)

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)
• Jorg Fisher - guitar (1997) uncredited on A Tribute to Judas Priest: Legends of Metal
• Thomas Smuszynski – bass (1989–1991)
• Dieter Rubach – bass (1987–1989)
• Stefan Schwarzmann – drums (1988–1991,1996-1999)
• Lorenzo Milani – drums (2000–2004)

Original line-up

• Udo Dirkschneider – vocals
• Peter Szigeti – guitar (1987)
• Mathias Dieth – guitar (1987–1991,1997)
• Frank Rittel – bass (1987)
• Thomas Franke – drums (1987–1989)