''Shadow Zone' received a fair amount of criticism upon it's release, a lot was due to the lack of faster material present, 'Axel' himself promised there would be more brisker material on 'Kings And Queens'. So I expected that this would be a cracking release especially if it took the prototype from 'Shadow Zone' and introduced more rockers, unfortunately this isn't the case and while there's less balladsy material than the predecessor, the majority of tracks are mid tempo affairs. The quality as always is very high but in all honesty doesn't exite me as much as I anticipated and am left wondering if 'Axel' will ever write material like 'Call here Princess', 'Fighting the Law', or 'Call of the Wild Dogs' again. Don't get me wrong 'Kings and Queens' is another strong release that further proves my belief that 'Johnny Gioeli' is 'Axel Rudi Pell's' best frontman, but all honesty there's little new ground covered here.

As with all 'Axel's' recent albums we are gifted a brief introduction, 'The Gate' takes the shape of a short medieval sounding piece which closes with eerie haunting vocals, which sets a good atmosphere for 'Flying High'. This the first track proper is the only real brisk rocker present and as always fails to disappoint, as thunderous drumming acts as a backdrop for glorious 'Axel' soloing and 'Johnny Gioeli's superb vocals which lend themselves extremely well to the harder material. 'Cold Heaven' follows and sounds very reminiscent to the often overlooked UK band 'Magnum', a very melodic number supporting a heavy 'Mike Terrana' fuelled rhythm and plenty of nice guitar licks along the way- quite catchy. The anthemic 'Strong as a Rock' is next and despite being a tad repetitive, flows pretty nicely with a harmonious melody and more crisp as a morning frost vocals. The tempo drops for the balladsy 'Forever Angel' a track very reminiscent to the slower material from 'Shadow Zone', another decent effort, featuring a strong catchy chorus and a refined melody. The first of the two epics takes the shape of 'Legions of the Hell', the opening of which is a marvellous Arabian sounding introduction, this gives way to a strong plodding rocker which is well penned and splendidly executed, complete with the typical intricate 'Axel' guitar solo. 'Only the Strong will Survive' continues proceedings in a slightly more simplistic nature, with basic riffs and simple lyrics all supported by a solid catchy chorus and plenty of decent instrumentation mid track. The tempo drops for the subtle, easy flowing 'Sailing Away' a fairly run-of-the-mill affair for 'Axel', great guitars and vocals further enhanced by fine 'Fredy Doernberg' keyboarding- solid but ultimately nothing radical. The pace is lifted for 'Take the Crown' another strong track, that in my opinion is only let down by the wishy-washy lyrics "Take the Crown… Drawbridge Down", I think this track needed a little more work. The album goes out with the second epic 'Sea of Evil' a well crafted effort but ultimately too one paced throughout with some sections sounding listless and repetitive over the 8 minutes, despite 'Johnny Gioeli's' faultless delivery.

There's no bad material here it's generally what you expect from 'Axel Rudi Pell', good solid songs that are well penned, superbly performed and produced. 'Axel's' live album 'Knights Lives' included most of his hardest rocking material, so this must be what his fans want, or else he wouldn't play them live. 'Axel Rudi Pell' is a phenomenal guitarist, but it's time he really let loose, broke the standard format he applies to each album and gave us a release full of the rippers he's more than capable of.