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May 2013
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I worked with Eddy F. Müller again for his new Ginkgo Garden CD called Wrapped in Mystery and played on three songs. Great instrumental music with a New Age vibe. The CD will be released via Sony Music 31st of May. More here: Ginkgo Garden.
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Also I have been working with David Reece again. We wrote a great track together for his upcoming solo CD, which will be a “headbangers ball” for sure.
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April 2013
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The new Chasing Violets CD Jade Hearts will be released June 14th on AOR Records. Here is what the record label says: „Once again the talented and sensual French sisters Sarah & Mélissa Fontaine have surrounded themselves with the best musicians from the AOR scene like Frédéric Slama, Tommy Denander, Paul Sabu, Göran Edman, Mikael Erlandsson, Bob Harris, members of Alien, Hardline & Lionville, Christian Tolle, Eric Ragno (Jeff Scott Soto) among many others...“ Check out Sarah and Melissa Fontaine, I co-produced and played on a few songs on their upcoming and second release.
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Andy Susemihl will finally release his next solo CD called Supermihl & Superfriends Vol. 2 beginning of May. I wrote the song Dr. Dude with him and we shared the guitars on that instrumental track. Check out Andy here, his record is a beautiful collection of great songs. Andy is one of the most talented musicians I ever had the honour to work with.
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February 2013
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Ripping session with my friend Mathias Dieth: We recorded some guitar solos for an upcoming release of Wicked Sensation. Mathias, who became a well known player back in the 80s with bands like Sinner and U.D.O. has a great taste, chops and a stunning feel for melodies.
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December 2012
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Happy holidays and all the best for the upcoming year everybody. 2012 was great, proud of my third C.T.P. release The Higher They Climb and been busy with several sessions and studio work this year. Again I worked on a new track for Chasing Violets and AOR this week and will continue early next year with more music and new songs to come.
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November 2012
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I recently worked with some friends from the band The Pace from the beautiful Southern part of Germany on their upcoming fourth release called Coming Of Age. Beside playing a solo on the track Crying, I mastered the CD. Check them out on Facebook!
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I have also been busy co-producing and working for new music with Frederic Slama again this month, always good fun and fantastic AOR music.
Then I did a few guitar tracks for the next record of San Diego based singer/songwriter Kevin Martin called Future Friends, produced by my L.A.-friend Lauren Scheff.
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October 2012
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A new release from Frederic Slama’s AOR will be out soon: The new CD called L.A. Temptation will be released by AOR Heaven at the 23rd of November. I co-produced the wonderful track Hearbeat Away with James Christian on Vocals, as well as playing guitars and bass on it. More on Frederic Slama’s website.
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Finally the new Tango Down CD got released. I wrote two tracks together with singer and frontman David Reece. Check out the boys take on Magic Pudding and Dreamchild. Here is Tango Down on the web.
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August 2012
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A quick update: I was busy the last weeks with co-producing and recording for Frederic Slama’s AOR again as well as working on new arrangements with Chasing Violets, who just did release their debut CD Outside Heaven on Perris Records.
Also I wrote an instrumental song called Dr. Dude with my friend Andy Susemihl for his next solo effort. That one turned out real nice.
My friends from the band Universe are producing a new record and I gave them a bit of music. Looking forward to hear their twist on it. These guys rock!
Check out more reviews for The Higher They Climb:
Melodic.net: “This is a great melodic hardrock album filled with bunch of hook laden songs and great arrangements.”
Melodicrock.com: “...it is well worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of the vocalists involved. (83%)”
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June 2012
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Sarah and Mélissa Fontaine from France premier AOR band CHASING VIOLETS have announced their debut CD Outside Heaven for release later this year. Produced by Frédéric Slama of AOR fame and co-produced by the legendary Tommy Denander (Alice Cooper, Paul Stanley from Kiss, Toto, Jimi Jamieson etc.) with the help of Paul Sabu (Only Child, Shania Twain), David Diggs (Quincy Jones, Richie Furay), Christian Tolle (C.T.P., Cooper Inc.), and various top arrangers, Outside Heaven is pure stroke of genius taking AOR music to a new level of perfection.
I am honoured to have co-produced the fabuluos uptempo song called Just Wanna Be Your Heroin as well as playing guitars and bass on it. Check Sarah’s and Mélissa’s website for more details.
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May 2012
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More reviews for The Higher They Climb:
schMuRzi: “Einfach ein großartiges Album - je mehr man hört, desto mehr Facetten entdeckt man. (6/6)”
Rocktimes: “Die Abwechslung u. a. durch die verschiedenen Shouter und den ihnen maßgeschneiderten Arrangements macht "The Higher They Climb", besonders auch wegen ihrer naturgemäßen Gitarrenorientiertheit zu einer Veröffentlichung mit hoher Punktzahl.”
RockReport: “Of all three albums C.T.P has released so far, this one is probably the heaviest, although it's still catchy enough to attract the melodic rock fans. (4/6)”
Crossfire Metal: “...eine geschmeidige Scheibe für jeden Melodic Rock Fan, der von den üblichen Verdächtigen der Szene nicht lassen kann, so wie einigen Vertretern von Mad Max, Bangalore Choir, Vengeance und Shortino. Die üblichen Kunden dürfen blind zugreifen. (8/10)”
Musikzirkus Magazin: “Auch wenn sich die Mannen am Mikro des öfteren abwechseln, klingt das Album doch kompakt. Das liegt auch am Songwriting von Christian Tolle. Er versteht es eingängige Melodien mit schönen, dynamischen Rockelementen zu verbinden. Ein gutes Hardrockalbum.”
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Check out the interview Marc Schipper did with me for HardHarderHeavy on their website (it’s in German language).
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April 2012
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Check out these reviews for The Higher They Climb:
Melodicrock.it: “Per il resto un album che comunque mi sento di consigliare per l’ottimo lavoro svolto in primis da Christian Tolle e a seguire dagli ospiti coinvolti… nient’altro che un buon Hard Rock supportato da voci e ospiti di gran livello. (8/10)”
HardHarderHeavy: “Fazit: Der dritte Streich des umtriebigen Musikers und Produzenten Christian Tolle unter der Bezeichnung C.T.P. (Christian Tolle Project) wartet mit handverlesener Prominenz am Mikro, spielerisch erstklassigem Personal, tollen Kompositionen, einprägsamen Hooklines und einer über alle Zweifel erhabenen, sahnemäßigen Produktion auf. THE HIGHER THEY CLIMB ist schlicht und ergreifend zeitgemässer Melodic-Hardrock vom Feinsten. (6/7)”
Rock Garage: “...der größte Teil der Nummern überzeugt auf Anhieb und frisst sich geradewegs in die Gehörgänge. Hier muss ich auf jeden Fall eine klare Kaufempfehlung für alle AOR- und Melodic-Rock-Fanatiker aussprechen! Los Marsch, Marsch ab zum Plattendealer eures Vertrauens! (9/10)”
Powermetal.de: “The Higher They Climb ist schließlich ein absoluter Leckerbissen, dem es auch an entsprechender Würze niemals mangelt. Dafür garantieren nicht nur die grossen Namen, sondern vor allem der Mastermind himself! (8,5/10)”
Beeding 4 Metal: “Also, wir haben hier insgesamt ein überdurchschnittlich gutes AOR-Projekt mit viel prominenter Schützenhilfe. Jeder Fan des Genres wird sich beim Hören den Hintern abfeiern. (8,5/10)”
My Revelations “...The Higher They Climb" ist ein abwechslungsreiches Album geworden, auf dem man vier überragende Sänger geniessen darf, die sich durch zwölf gute Songs singen. (9/15)”
Metalglory: “Fazit: Christian Tolle als Schirmherr dieses Projekts kann zufrieden sein. Richtig starker Hard Rock mit treibenden Riffs und herausragenden Gastsängern. (Kaufempfehlung / Sehr Gut)”
Rockingboy: “Wer auf ehrlichen erdigen Hardrock bzw. AOR steht, sollte sich diese Scheibe schleunigst in sein Regal stellen. Ich bin sehr positiv überrascht (8/10).”
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March 2012
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Check out the interview with Jon Wilde of the British online magazine ROCK REALMS here.
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February 2012
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Coming soon fellows: The third C.T.P. / Christian Tolle Project CD titled The Higher They Climb is finished! Michael Voss and I co-produced 12 tracks between summer and winter 2011. I am very pleased with the result: Performed with an incredible amount of energy the album contains a powerful mixture of hard hitting Heavy Rock tracks (no ballads!), catchy hooklines and some of the best voices in the genre: David Reece (Ex-Accept, Bangalore Choir), Leon Goewie (Vengeance), Paul Shortino (King Kobra, Ex-Quiet Riot, Rough Cutt) and Michael Voss (Michael Schenker, Casanova, Mad Max). Also a few friends joined me on the guitar: L.A. guitar wizard Michael Landau, Ben Granfelt (Ex-Wishbone Ash), Andy Susemihl and Morris Adriaens do a guitar solo each and give the record a special flavour. The album will be released 30th of March via FASTBALL Music.
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December 2011
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I contributed to the new Vengeance CD Crystal Eye with the opening track Me And You. The CD will come out 24th of February 2012 on Steamhammer/SPV. Vengeance now is: Leon Goewie on vocals, drummer Chris Slade (Ex- AC/DC), guitarist Keri Kelli (Ex- Alice Cooper) and bass player Chris Glen (Michael Schenker Group). Crystal Eye was produced by Michael Voss.
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Check out a Youtube-Teaser for the new AOR CD The Colors Of L.A.
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October 2011
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From Frederic Slama’s website: The new AOR CD entitled The Colors Of L.A will be released January 27th on AOR Boulevard Records and will include some of the best musicians of the AOR world like Tommy Denander, Philip Bardowell, David Foster, Steve Lukather, Jerry Hludzik, Joey Summer, Christian Tolle, Randy Goodrum, Steve Newman, Joe Pasquale, Michael Thompson, Rick Riso, Bill Champlin, David Diggs, Bruno Levesque, Michael Landau, David Williams, Vinnie Colaiuta, Brandon Fields among many others.
I co-produced and played on Kimberly (with Steve Newman on vocals) and Brittany (with Philip Bardowell on vocals) as well as playing guitars on the new version of Teach Me How To Love You Again (with Rick Riso on vocals).
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The new C.T.P. CD is mastered and finished, I just returned from MSM studios in Munich. The 12 tracks indeed do sound fat and punchy. Christoph Stickel once again did a fantastic job. A release is planned for early 2012, more news soon.
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June 2011
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Just returned from 3 days tracking guitars at Kidroom studio with producer Michael Voss for my next C.T.P. record. It's gonna be loud and heavy.
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April 2011
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There will be more music in 2011/12. I started to record my next C.T.P. release and teamed up with producer Michael Voss (Michael Schenker, Voices of Rock, Casanova, Mad Max, Cooper Inc.). It will include some rocking appearances from singers all over the world and then some. I am very exicited. This will be a straight Heavy Rock effort thru and thru.
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Reece-Kronlund is the new project of Bangalore Choir singer David Reece (ex-Accept) and Swedish guitarist/producer Martin Kronlund (Gypsy Rose). The debut album Solid will be released on June 24th through AOR Heaven. I co-wrote three tracks on Solid: Animals & Canibals, Remember You and Magic Pudding. More at REECEWORLD.
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March 2011
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Check out the Shop section:
The following CD’s are 7,90 EUR each!
Grab
C.T.P. - Better Than Dreams,
C.T.P. - The Real Thing and/or
COOPER Inc. - Pulling The Trigger
at a “Nice Price”.
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January 2011
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Happy new year everybody. I start the year co-producing with Frederic Slama for his next AOR project.
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December 2010
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Happy Holidays and all the best for 2011. Thanks to all who supported and worked with me. It was a pleasure. More to come next year.
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November 2010
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Again a great day of recording with David Reece. Also we did an interview for the online magazin www.hardharderheavy.de. Thanks to Stephan König for coming over.
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I did a a few layer guitar tracks for David Reece at my friends Markus homestudio and played a few parts through his wonderful original Tri-Stereo-Chorus that will add some flavour to a few tunes, I love that vintage outboard gear.
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October 2010
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I started to record and produce in my studio with David Reece. We have written more songs over the summer together. Those tracks are some great pieces of hard rockin music! Stay tuned!
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David and I also wrote for the upcoming release of US-Rockers Tango Down, another great band David is fronting. Their next CD will be released on Kivel Records soon. David rocks! Check him out on REECEWORLD.
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July 2010
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I started to write songs with David Reece recently. Our first output Heart Attack & Vine can be heard on the new Bangalore Choir CD Cadence, which will be released at the 23rd of September on Metal Heaven records. I also guested for a solo on a great uptempo track called High On The Clouds.
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January 2010
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Happy new year! Looks like a promising start yet. I am writing new songs already and I’ll play more with Cooper Inc. live to support the recent release. Therefore we’ll do another show together with our friends from REECEat the10th of April in Cologne at the Krebelshof e.V.
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December 2009
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A big thank you to everybody who supported us at the Rock Temple in Kerkrade and at the Spirit of 66 in Verviers at the recent Cooper Inc. shows. Thanks to Jorn and especially to David Reece and his band - great guys, great music and most important: good friends.
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July 2009
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I am happy to announce that the the new CD from Cooper Inc. - Pulling The Trigger is set for release by CTM christones music / POINT Music Distribution on the 9th of October.
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June 2009
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I am honored to guest on the debut solo CD Universal Language from David Reece (Accept, Bangalore Choir, Gypsy Rose and Sircle Of Sirence). I played lead guitar on the opener Before I Die. The CD will be released on August 28th on Metal Heaven records.
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May 2009
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After a passionate and good amount of work the new Cooper Inc. CD is finally finished. 12 tracks, produced by Michael Voss of Kidroom Music, are now mixed and mastered. We are currently looking into release options. More soon...
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July 2008
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Getting busy lately: Cooper Inc. has finally started to produce the next album. We are very happy to announce the collaboration with top producer Michael Voss, whom you might know from Mad Max, Casanova, Demon Drive or Voices Of Rock. We will work and record within the next coming weeks and hope to have everything done by the end of the year. It will be a fantastic record. I promise!
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I cowrote and recorded a nice instrumental tune called Sunset After Dark together with my friend Andy Susemihl for his new instrumental record Supermihl & Superfriends. The cd features the massive chops and more songs from Andy and also guest appearances from Richie Kotzen and Rafael Moreira among a few others. Check out Andy here:
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July 2007
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The three shows with TOTO in Hannover, Bremerhaven and Dortmund have been awesome. Thanks to everybody who supported us there. Of course a BIG THANK YOU to TOTO, their crew and to the promoters for making it all possible. You guys rule!
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The most exciting moment was of course playing Hold The Line with the guys in Dortmund. Check it out on YouTube.
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June 2007
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Cooper Inc. will support TOTO on a few shows on their upcoming summer leg of the FALLING IN BETWEEN tour. Plus we’ll do some shows on our own.
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We are in the middle of pre-production for the next CD and we are having a bunch of very cool new songs.
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February 2007
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I am humbled and honoured to play with David Garfield, John Pena, Russ Miller and Eric Marienthal at the Spirit of 66 in Verviers/Belgium at the 3rd of April. It’s a challenge and I will give my very best to hold the candle with those legends.
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August 2006
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A BIG THANK YOU to TOTO, their crew and the local promoters for treating us like family. The two shows in Trier and Emmendingen have been fantastic. Thanks to everybody for their kind words and the appreciation. Check out some pics at the Gallery.
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If you like, sign our guestbook at the Cooper Inc website.
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May 2006
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Wow, we will support TOTO (again) in Trier and Emmendingen this summer.
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December 2005
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CTP is featured in a detailed story about The making of The Real Thing In the current issue of Gitarre & Bass magazine in Germany
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Rock It magazine 01/2006 features an interview with CTP.
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September 2005
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CTP's song Enemy can be heard on the new ROCK IT sampler HEAR IT Volume 21, coming with the current issue of the magazine.
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Check out the interview at www.gitaarnet.nl - the Dutch guitar online magazine. Of course it's in Dutch...
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August 2005
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CTP's follow up to "Better Than Dreams" is out now on CTM christones music. "The Real Thing" features 10 fresh AOR songs with performances from Steve Lukather, Tim Pierce, Doug Aldrich, Chuck Wright, Lauren Scheff, John "Jaycee" Cuijpers and many other great players.
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