You know, best of compilations sometimes (often) leave a somewhat stale taste in my ears, since they are an easy way to release something without too much effort. Especially, if there had been a similar release (albeit live) not even two years before. Case under scrutiny: German Metal queen DORO and her “Under My Skin” double best of, coming off the heels of 2010’s “25 Years In Rock...And Still Going Strong” double-CD/DVD set, so while one could argue that there is a distinct difference between a live album and a best of, it essentially is still the same, just in a different setting.

That out of the way, we are treated with a whopping 32 songs spanning Doro’s 27 year career, covering pretty much everything from old WARLOCK up to new DORO, to good parts doubling up what her excellent live release already had featured, which makes this review all the harder to write, since I could almost just refer to said review and leave it at that, but it would not be fair to this particular release, now would it?

The quality of many of her songs are undisputed, if you have tracks such as “All We Are”, “I Rule The Ruins”, “Celebrate”, “Metal Tango”, “Fur Immer”, “Above The Ashes” or “The Night Of The Warlock”, you know that you have some classics under your belt that any self-righteous fan of traditional Metal will keep coming back for, no matter when. And if you have a career that has been going on for as long as Doro’s, then you have a wealth of songs to choose from, ensuring that we don’t get the usual filler material that plagues many a compilation of this ilk. So whoever was responsible for compiling “Under My Skin” surely did a good job in assembling almost all staples of a Doro diet.

If you are a newcomer to Doro, then “Under My Skin” is an excellent starting point to discover why she is considered a legend, I personally would rather go for “25 Years In Rock...And Still Going Strong”, though, since you also get the visual side and some special features there, but despite doubling up a good bit, this still is a worthy best of release paying homage to one of Metal’s greatest women!

(Online August 11, 2012)