There are anniversary albums that simply gather familiar songs into one place, and then there are albums like Stories Of Destiny. For MAD MAX founder Jürgen Breforth, this is not a greatest hits collection dressed up as something new. It is a deeply personal journey through 45 years of riffs, lost cassette tapes, outside collaborations, different vocal eras and songs that never received the opportunity he believed they deserved.
Due for release on September 4 through ROAR, a division of Reigning Phoenix Music, Stories Of Destiny reaches all the way back to the first riff Jürgen wrote for MAD MAX in 1981. It also introduces UK vocalist Alan Clark, brings original singer Andreas Baesler back into the story and reconnects the band with songs written across the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
After spending time listening to the album, what stood out to me was how natural it feels. It does not sound like a band forcing old material into a modern shape. These songs have been newly recorded with a stronger contemporary production, but the heart, arrangements and identity of the original ideas remain intact.
I caught up with Jürgen to dig into the musical history behind Stories Of Destiny, Alan Clark’s arrival, the rediscovery of unreleased songs from 1991, MAD MAX’s growing connection with South America and why preserving genuine human songwriting matters more to him now than ever.
An Outsider Drawn to British Heavy Rock
Jürgen’s story begins in Münster during the early 1980s. While many of the bands around him were beginning to sing in German, his attention was fixed firmly on the British heavy rock and metal pouring out of the UK.
Early Saxon, Def Leppard and Iron Maiden became foundational influences, alongside Rory Gallagher and the harder, blues driven years of Status Quo. Jürgen also stood apart from many of his peers because he had no interest in spending years working through other people’s material.
“I wanted to write my own songs from the very beginning.”
That desire led directly to the formation of MAD MAX, and the first riff he brought to the band became “Piece Of Candy.” Forty five years later, that same riff now sits at the centre of Stories Of Destiny.
The song has not been rewritten to disguise its age. Jürgen deliberately kept the original 1981 arrangement, allowing the current version to preserve the sound and instincts of the young guitarist who first created it.
Real Songs in the Age of Artificial Creation
The conversation repeatedly returned to authenticity. Jürgen did not originally plan Stories Of Destiny as a response to artificial intelligence, but the modern debate around AI generated music has added another dimension to what the album represents.
Every song has an established human history. Some were written before the internet and mobile phones became part of daily life. Others emerged from collaborations or recording periods that never received the exposure Jürgen wanted for them.
Rather than writing ten completely new songs for the band’s 45th year, he wanted to tell both the history of MAD MAX and his own personal journey as its founder, guitarist and songwriter.
“No AI shit, no bullshit, just songs that are really connected to my history.”
That directness sums up the spirit of the album. Jürgen remains the only member from the original 1981 lineup, while drummer Axel Kruse has now spent approximately four decades in the band. After his long partnership with former singer Michael Voss came to an end, Jürgen once again assumed complete responsibility for driving the musical and creative direction of MAD MAX.
He joked during our conversation that he is now driving the MAD MAX car, or as I had to call it, the Interceptor.
Alan Clark and the British Voice of MAD MAX
Alan Clark’s arrival is essential to understanding the new chapter.
Jürgen’s earliest musical identity was shaped by British bands, while Michael Voss also brought a stronger American influence through bands such as Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi and Dokken. With Jürgen now steering MAD MAX, he wanted to reconnect more directly with the British character that inspired him at the beginning.
Clark, who comes from Newcastle in the UK, gives him that opportunity. More importantly, Alan has the range required to perform the older songs in their original keys.
For “Piece Of Candy,” Jürgen retained the standard E tuning used in 1981. He explained that many veteran bands lower their guitar tuning as vocal ranges change, but that can also alter the feeling of the song. Alan’s ability to reach the original register meant MAD MAX could preserve the guitar sound and melodic character Jürgen remembered.
This became equally important on “Silver,” a song previously recorded by former Michael Schenker Group vocalist Gary Barden. Revisiting a performance associated with a singer of Barden’s calibre required someone capable of carrying its melody while bringing a distinct identity to it.
For Jürgen, Clark was the perfect choice.
Giving “Silver” and “Keep You Alive” Another Chance
“Silver” originated during Jürgen’s work on the self titled Silver project in the early 2000s. The album featured Gary Barden, and Jürgen believed the song had the potential to become a radio hit.
Instead, it arrived through a small label that, in Jürgen’s view, failed to give the release the campaign it needed. The song disappeared without reaching the audience he believed it deserved.
The MAD MAX version gives it another opportunity. The keyboards have been pulled back, the guitars are more prominent and Alan’s voice maintains the British rock character Jürgen sees as fundamental to the song.
“Keep You Alive” followed a similar path. Written with Helloween guitarist Sascha Gerstner, it first appeared on the 2008 MAD MAX album Here We Are. Once again, the original release did not receive the visual or promotional support Jürgen wanted.
On Stories Of Destiny, it returns with a much heavier character and a dedicated video. Alongside “Silver,” it demonstrates one of the album’s central ideas: these songs are not being revisited because they failed creatively. They are being brought back because Jürgen believes they never received a fair chance to connect with listeners.
Streaming services may come with serious concerns around artist payments, but they have also made it possible for listeners discovering MAD MAX today to travel backwards through the catalogue. Jürgen hopes Stories Of Destiny can become the doorway into that history.
Lost Songs Found on Cassette
Two of the album’s most fascinating discoveries are “Weapons Of Love” and “‘Til The End Of Time,” previously unreleased MAD MAX songs dating from 1991.
Jürgen found both tracks preserved on an old cassette tape. Rather than attempting to restore the original recording and place new vocals over it, the current band recorded everything again from the ground up.
“Everything is recorded new, but we kept all the old arrangements.”
The distinction is important. These are new performances, but they retain the structures MAD MAX created in 1991. In the same way, “Piece Of Candy” follows its arrangement from 1981.
The result allows listeners to hear where the band might have travelled musically during those periods, while benefiting from the current lineup and modern studio production. They are not imitations of an earlier sound. They are unfinished pieces of MAD MAX history finally being completed.
Andreas Baesler Returns After 45 Years
The return of original singer Andreas Baesler gives Stories Of Destiny its strongest connection between past and present.
Baesler wrote the original lyrics for “Piece Of Candy,” while Jürgen created the riff and music. On the new album, he returns to sing the song alongside Alan Clark, uniting the original and current MAD MAX vocalists in one performance.
For Jürgen, being able to work with the singer who helped launch the band 45 years earlier is something few artists ever experience. Baesler remains in strong musical form and now works in Germany as a music professor.
His personal history also made “Dulces Falsos,” the Spanish interpretation of “Piece Of Candy,” possible. Andreas lived in Cuba for many years, is married to a Cuban woman and speaks Spanish fluently. He was therefore able to write new Spanish lyrics that felt natural rather than relying on a mechanical translation.
“Dulces Falsos” is set to become another single from the album, taking the first MAD MAX riff from Münster in 1981 into an entirely new cultural space.
From Colombia to the MAD MAX Comic
MAD MAX’s relationship with Latin America grew significantly after the band performed in Bogotá and Popayán, Colombia, in 2023.
Those shows introduced Jürgen to an audience that included both longtime metal fans and younger listeners eager to discover bands from the genre’s formative years. The experience showed him that the band’s history could resonate with listeners who had not been there when the early records were released.
That relationship eventually led to the MAD MAX comic.
Through Mexican company Comic Busters, Jürgen connected with artist Maestro Arturo Said, who transformed the band’s story into a visual narrative. The comic traces MAD MAX from its earliest years through to the Colombian performances in 2023.
It is more than additional album packaging. The comic, the Colombian shows and “Dulces Falsos” have created a bridge between the band’s European history and its expanding South American audience.
The Power of a Riff and the Philosophy of Less Is More
For all the history surrounding Stories Of Destiny, the album remains grounded in the basic thing that first drove Jürgen: the power of a memorable guitar riff.
He compared the lasting simplicity of “Piece Of Candy” with songs such as Scorpions’ “Rock You Like A Hurricane” and the classic riffs created by AC/DC’s Malcolm Young. These are guitar parts that young players can recognise, learn and carry with them.
“It’s my philosophy, less is more.”
That philosophy came from the rawer early years of Def Leppard and Saxon, before production became increasingly polished. Jürgen was drawn to riffs that immediately pulled listeners into the world of hard rock guitar without needing to be technically overcrowded.
The fact that his first MAD MAX riff still works 45 years later is deeply meaningful to him. Hearing it now performed in English and Spanish, with the band’s original and current vocalists, completes a journey he could never have imagined when he first picked up the guitar.
MAD MAX Want to Bring the Interceptor to Australia
Despite the band’s name and the obvious Australian connection it carries, Jürgen has never visited Australia.
That is something both of us agreed needs to change.
At the end of our conversation, Jürgen issued an open invitation to Australian promoters and fans. MAD MAX currently works with Eternal Rock Music Agency in Europe, and he made it clear that the band is ready to explore the possibility of finally coming Down Under.
“That would be a real dream come true. I’ve never been in Australia before.”
After 45 years, it feels overdue. Australia needs MAD MAX, the Interceptor and those riffs on a stage.
Until then, Stories Of Destiny gives us a powerful look at where the band has been and where Jürgen wants to take it next. It preserves the original arrangements without trapping MAD MAX in the past, gives overlooked songs another chance and brings together voices from opposite ends of the band’s story.
Most importantly, it sounds honest. These are real songs, played by real musicians and carrying the history of the people who created them.
Stories Of Destiny will be released on September 4 through ROAR. Crank it loud so the neighbours can enjoy it as well
**Pre-order your album copy now at: **https://madmax.rpm.link/storiesPR
MAD MAX Lineup
Alan Clark: vocals
Jürgen Breforth: guitar
Dethy Borchardt: guitar
Fabian Watermann: bass
Axel Kruse: drums
Andreas Baesler: vocals on “Dulces Falsos” and duet vocals on “Piece Of Candy”
Connect With MAD MAX
Website: https://madmax-germany.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madmax.legacy.band
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madmaxgermanycom
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MADMAXLEGACY
