The discography of U.D.O., a German heavy metal band, consists of 18 studio albums, six live albums, three compilations, 17 singles, six video albums and 19 music videos. Formed in 1987 by eponymous vocalist Udo Dirkschneider following his departure from Accept, the group originally included guitarists Mathias Dieth and Peter Szigeti, bassist Frank Rittel and drummer Thomas Franke.[1] Shortly after the release and promotion of their debut album Animal House, Dirkschneider dismissed all band members except Dieth, and rebuilt the group with guitarist Andy Susemihl, bassist Thomas Smuszynski, and future Accept drummer Stefan Schwarzmann.[1] Mean Machine, released in 1989, reached number 31 on the German Albums Chart.[2] Susemihl was subsequently replaced by Wolla Böhm.[1]
| U.D.O. discography | |
|---|---|
 U.D.O. performing live in 2015. | |
| Studio albums | 19 |
| Live albums | 6 |
| Compilation albums | 3 |
| Singles | 17 |
| Video albums | 6 |
| Music videos | 19 |
1990's Faceless World reached number 52 on the German Albums Chart.[2] The next year's follow-up, Timebomb, failed to chart and was the last album to be released before Dirkschneider's return to Accept.[1] U.D.O. reformed in 1997 with the album Solid, with Dirkschneider and Schwarzmann joined by former Accept drummer Stefan Kaufmann on guitar, alongside second guitarist Jürgen Graf and bassist Fitty Wienhold.[1] The group's next release, No Limits, saw them return to the charts in Germany at number 90.[2] With Graf and Schwarzmann replaced by Igor Gianola and Lorenzo Milani, respectively, Holy also broke into the German top 100.[2] The band continued to make their way slowly up the albums chart, as Man and Machine reached number 71, and Thunderball reached number 83.[2]
Francesco Jovino replaced Milani in time for Mission No. X,[3] which reached number 92 in the band's home country.[2] The group broke into the German top 40 for the first time since 1989 with their next release, peaking at number 32 with Mastercutor in 2007.[2] Subsequent releases improved on this form – 2009's Dominator was the band's first top 30 album, and 2011's Rev-Raptor was their first top 20.[2] Both guitarists had left by the time Steelhammer was released in 2013, to be replaced by Andrey Smirnov and Kasperi Heikkinen.[4] The album reached number 21 in Germany and also registered on the US Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart at number 28.[2][5] 2015's Decadent reached a new band record of number 16 in Germany, while the live album Navy Metal Night charted at number 31.[2]
U.D.O. released Steelfactory in 2018, which was the first album to feature Dirkschneider's son Sven on drums, and the first since Heikkinen's departure.[6] The album was the band's first to reach the German Albums Chart top 10, peaking at number 7.[2] It also reached number 27 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart,[7] and number 9 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart.[5]
Albums
editStudio albums
edit| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER [2] |
AUT [8] |
BEL Wal. [9] |
ESP [10] |
FIN [11] |
NOR [12] |
SWE [13] |
SWI [14] |
UK Rock [7] |
US Heat [5] | ||
| Animal House | — | — | — | — | — | — | 41 | — | — | — | |
| Mean Machine |
|
31 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Faceless World |
|
52 | — | — | — | — | — | 37 | — | — | — |
| Timebomb |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Solid |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| No Limits |
|
90 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Holy |
|
96 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Man and Machine |
|
71 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Thunderball |
|
83 | — | — | — | — | — | 47 | — | — | — |
| Mission No. X |
|
92 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mastercutor |
|
39 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dominator |
|
27 | — | — | — | 35 | — | 51 | 100 | — | — |
| Rev-Raptor |
|
20 | — | — | — | — | — | 26 | 57 | — | — |
| Steelhammer |
|
21 | — | — | — | 38 | — | 23 | 79 | — | 28 |
| Decadent |
|
16 | — | — | — | 34 | — | — | 48 | — | — |
| Steelfactory |
|
7 | 23 | 135 | 81 | — | 33 | 19 | 24 | 27 | 9 |
| We Are One (with Das Musikkorps Der Bundeswehr) |
|
8 | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | — |
| Game Over |
|
13 | 39 | — | — | 25 | — | — | 16 | — | — |
| Touchdown |
|
4 | 33 | 160 | — | 34 [16] |
— | 17 [17] |
8 | — | — |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart or was not issued in that region. | |||||||||||
Live albums
edit| Title | Album details | Peak |
|---|---|---|
| GER [2] | ||
| Live from Russia |
|
— |
| Nailed to Metal: The Missing Tracks |
|
100 |
| Mastercutor Alive |
|
— |
| Live in Sofia |
|
75 |
| Steelhammer: Live from Moscow |
|
60 |
| Navy Metal Night (with the Marinemusikkorps Nordsee) |
|
31 |
| Live in Bulgaria 2020 – Pandemic Survival Show |
|
— |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart or was not issued in that region. | ||
Compilations
edit| Title | Album details | Peaks | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GER [2] |
SWE [13] | ||
| Best Of |
|
— | — |
| Metallized: Best of U.D.O. |
|
— | — |
| Celebrator: Rare Tracks |
|
73 | 55 |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart or was not issued in that region. | |||
Singles
edit| Title | Year | Peak | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| GER [2] | |||
| "They Want War" | 1988 | — | Animal House |
| "Heart of Gold" | 1990 | — | Faceless World |
| "Faceless World" | — | ||
| "Two Faced Woman" | 1997 | — | Solid |
| "Independence Day" | — | ||
| "Lovemachine" | 1998 | — | No Limits |
| "Dancing with an Angel" | 2002 | — | Man and Machine |
| "24/7" | 2005 | 82 | Mission No. X |
| "The Wrong Side of Midnight" | 2007 | — | Mastercutor |
| "Infected" | 2009 | — | Dominator |
| "Leatherhead" | 2011 | — | Rev-Raptor |
| "Metal Machine" | 2013 | — | Steelhammer |
| "Steelhammer" | — | ||
| "Decadent" | 2014 | — | Decadent |
| "Rising High" | 2018 | — | Steelfactory |
| "One Heart One Soul" | — | ||
| "Make the Move" | — |
Videos
editVideo albums
edit| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Nailed to Metal: The Complete History |
|
| Thundervision |
|
| Mastercutor Alive |
|
| Live in Sofia |
|
| Steelhammer: Live from Moscow |
|
| Navy Metal Night (with the Marinemusikkorps Nordsee) |
|
| Live in Bulgaria 2020 – Pandemic Survival Show |
|
Music videos
edit| Title | Year |
|---|---|
| "They Want War" | 1988 |
| "Go Back to Hell" | |
| "Break the Rules" | 1989 |
| "Heart of Gold" | 1990 |
| "Independence Day" | 1997 |
| "Dancing with an Angel" | 2002 |
| "Thunderball" | 2004 |
| "The Arbiter" | |
| "Trainride in Russia" | |
| "Blind Eyes" | |
| "Mean Streets" | 2005 |
| "The Wrong Side of Midnight" | 2007 |
| "Black and White" | 2009 |
| "Leatherhead" | 2011 |
| "I Give as Good as I Get" | |
| "Metal Machine" | 2013 |
| "Heavy Rain" | |
| "Decadent" | 2014 |
| "One Heart One Soul" | 2018 |
| "Metal Never Dies" | 2021 |
| "Prophecy" |
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Ankeny, Jason. "U.D.O.: Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Suchen Nach "U.D.O."" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ "U.D.O. Announce New Album Title". Blabbermouth.net. 3 March 2005. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ "U.D.O.: 'Metal Machine' Video Released". Blabbermouth.net. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ a b c "U.D.O. Chart History: Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ "Udo Dirkschneider Comments On Recent U.D.O. Lineup Changes: 'I Want To Have Fresh Blood In The Band'". Blabbermouth.net. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40: 07 September 2018 – 13 September 2018". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ "Discographie U.D.O." (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ "Discographie U.D.O." (in French). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ "Discography U.D.O." spanishcharts.com. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ "Discography U.D.O." finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ "Discography U.D.O." norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Discography U.D.O." swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ "Discographie U.D.O." (in German). hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ "We Are One". Discogs. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
- ^ "Albumit 35/2023" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- ^ "Veckolista Album, vecka 35". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
- ^ a b "U.D.O. - announce "Live in Bulgaria 2020" release". AFM Records. 6 February 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.