Helloween Week on Maidenfans (June 15-21, 2009)

SinisterMinisterX

SinisterMinisterX

Illuminatus
Staff member
This week, Maidenfans.com invites all members to listen to piles and piles of Helloween, and discuss the music here.

First, some announcements:
Nominations wanted! We need an Artist of the Week for June 29 - July 5. Nominate a band you'd like to discuss. Next week, we'll run a poll from the nominees to see who wins.
Please only nominate bands that have released at least 5 studio albums, so we have plenty of tunes to discuss.
Also, please do not nominate excessively obscure bands - we want to be confident that a fair number of Maidenfans members own the music in question.

June 22-28 will be Dream Theater week.

And now on to Helloween...

Suggested listening schedule:
Monday June 15: Judas and Walls Of Jericho
Tuesday June 16: Keeper Of The Seven Keys, Parts I and II (this will be one epic Helloween day!)
Wednesday June 17: Master Of The Rings and The Time Of The Oath
Thursday June 18: Better Than Raw and The Dark Ride
Friday June 19: Rabbit Don't Come Easy and Keeper Part III
Saturday June 20: Gambling With The Devil
Sunday June 21 (for masochists only): Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon

Remember: the above is only a suggestion. You can post whatever you want about Helloween, whenever you want.
 
I don't have either of the first two albums, so... nothing for today.  I should probably get them though, if they have Kai Hansen singing they have to be pretty good.

You didn't specify a place for nominations though so I'll just say it here... Megadeth?
 
I will play the first two tonight (as that is all I have for Helloween) and then share my thoughts.

Again, as for the nominations, I know something like Iced Earth or Priest (or perhaps even Megadeth) will likely get the vote, but from my point of view, I can only say either Metallica or Slayer. Aside from Maiden (and Testament & Kreator, but they may not be popular enough by posters here to warrant an inclusion) they are the only bands I have a full set of albums from and fit the criteria of at least 5 studio albums.
 
Invader said:
I don't have either of the first two albums, so... nothing for today.  I should probably get them though, if they have Kai Hansen singing they have to be pretty good.
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Still not? What a shame. But be careful about his singing. He sang way less melodic back then. It was aggressive stuff, but it fit well with the music.

I will write more tonight (if I can) about it. Some good memories! :)
 
Forostar said:
Still not? What a shame. But be careful about his singing. He sang way less melodic back then. It was aggressive stuff, but it fit well with the music.
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Nope, I've almost completely dropped Helloween nowadays. Haven't listened to them in ages.  My interest for them will come back at some point, hopefully.

Albie said:
Again, as for the nominations, I know something like Iced Earth or Priest (or perhaps even Megadeth) will likely get the vote, but from my point of view, I can only say either Metallica or Slayer.
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Seconded, though Metallica is a bit too known and discussed for this purpose maybe?  But if it is Metallica, then I think we should have most albums have their own days, there's too much to be said to fit two albums' contents into one post.
 
1985: Aggressive and fast music? The USA had Metallica and Slayer.

Europe had Helloween.

Walls of Jericho / Judas

Helloween was for me the third metal band I got into, after Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. A very important band with a signature sound. They were very fast, aggressive and melodic at the same time. Their fast guitar harmonies accompanied by fast double bass drums evoked a whole scene, nowadays called power metal.

When I heard this CD for the first time, I soon brought it to a friend of mine. He also liked it a lot, and later when we and some other dudes went to Amsterdam, I remember he played "Ride The Sky" on a gettoblaster when walking through the crowded streets. A cool experience!

I always have liked Hansen's songs better than Weikath's. Better melodies, better catchy parts which stay in your head. What I also like about Hansen is that (already since those early days) his English pronouncation is quite good for a German. You hear his German accent less than most of the other German singers (including Kiske).

Track by track:

"Starlight" (Weikath/Hansen) – 5:17
Brilliant intro - and when you play it for the first time you get a half heart attack when.... you know/you'll see when..
;)

"Murderer" (Hansen) – 4:26
I really like the speed of this track and the way the words are timed so well with the music. I always have an urge to sing the bridge along!

"Warrior" (Hansen) – 4:00
What a riffs! And Kai gives 100%! Fantastic, awesome stuff. The drums also groove as fuck. The solos are really good, with again nice accompanying rhythm guitars. One of the best headbang parts ever.

"Victim of Fate" (Hansen) – 6:37
A classic with a strong chorus. You could see this track as Helloween's Hallowed Be Thy Name without the band realizing it. ;) The build-up in the mid part is very haunting and accelerates into some ultra cool guitar work. The following superfast part is again awesome. More and more guitar lines throw themselves into the harmony. This instantly makes me forget 80% of all other bands who (try to) copy this kind of music.

"Cry for Freedom" (Weikath/Hansen) – 6:02
Melancholic beginning, actualy ripped off from UFO's Doctor Doctor.

"Walls of Jericho" (Weikath/Hansen) – 0:53
"Ride the Sky" (Hansen) – 5:54
These two should be seen as a whole. After the threatening sound of the destruction of the walls of Jericho, Ride the Sky kicks in with Helloween in its greatest form. Sheer power.

"Reptile" (Weikath) – 3:45
"Guardians" (Weikath) – 4:20
These two I find the weakest tracks. Not much to say about them, apart from that they are by Weikath.
Weikath = less good than Hansen
1 + 1 =  2

"Phantoms of Death" (Hansen) – 6:33
A lovely midtempo banger, with a nice (not to dominant) keyboard lick in the couplets. The midpiece is, like in Victim of Fate, accelerating and contains some really cool guitar work.

"Metal Invaders" (Hansen/Weikath) – 4:08
Not bad, not terribly good either. A decent song with notable bass playing, where (again) the instrumental section is the core of the song.

"Gorgar" (Hansen/Weikath) – 3:57
Some heavy riffing, but still not that good as most other tracks.

"Heavy Metal (Is the Law)" (Hansen/Weikath) – 4:08
This track has some strange sounding audience in the background. It sounds a bit like a studio recording, though there's still good interaction with a crowd repeating "Heavy Metal". The track shows the first signs of humor of the band and also the skills of drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg.

"How Many Tears" (Weikath) – 7:11
Again a classic. My favourite part is again the instrumental part, especially the slower "sad" harmonies.

"Judas" – 4:38
Probably in my top three of this CD. A seperate recording (the last of Hansen on lead vocals in Helloween). The mix is quite different from the rest, with a prominenter role for the bass and drums. I always get a chill on my back when I hear that explosion (@ 3.15) immediately followed by those fast guitar harmonies which only one band can do so well.

And that brings us to the end of this CD.

I can imagine that some younger people among us could find this record a bit oldfashioned or illproduced, but they really ought to know that this was 1985 (and in the case of Judas 1986), recorded before their big break. If you see through the somewhat shaggy production and the not 100% perfect playing (nowadays most metal is corrected in the studio anyway!), you'll discover some great riffs and harmonies. Also the original and melodic bass playing of Markus Grosskopf deserves a big mention. The intensity of Hansen makes the feast complete.
 
I have a head cold from hell that's been keeping me down all day. So I'm not listening to Helloween today. Heck, I'm not listening to much of anything at all. I'll try and get back on the horse tomorrow...

But I appreciate Foro's track by track post. I haven't listened to that early Helloween stuff in ages, I will definitely check it out again when healthy.
 
Forostar said:
1985: Aggressive and fast music? The USA had Metallica and Slayer.

Europe had Helloween.
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I would rather suggest that Europe had Kreator. ;)

Any road, I did listen to the two Keeper of the Seven Keys albums and then realised why they have just sat on the shelf un-played in so long. There is some really good songs on these albums but something is lacking - what this is, I'm not sure but when I listen to stuff like this it just does not grab me and in all fairness, both albums would not get a score of more than 6/10 from me. Perhaps this is why I have not got any more of Helloween's stuff aside from Live in the UK (which is a really good live album, by the way).

Picks: (Part 1) A Little Time, Future World, (Part 2) Eagle Fly Free, Rise and Fall, Dr Stein, We Got The Right.

Most of the other stuff is mediocre at best.
 
Albie, isn't it just that you're not into power/melodic/speed metal as much as I am not into (most) eighties trash?

I for one would never say that a Kreator album is mediocre in case it sold very well, and when it had raving reviews, and is appreciated by most if not all Kreator fans.

For the record:
The Keeper albums made Helloween successful all over Europe, Asia and even the United States. Keeper 2 went gold in Germany and reached #108 in the US / Keeper I was #104 in the US.
 
Is this just for metal-ish stuff?  There's always Pink Floyd, Rush, Queen....queensryche.... Actually, I'd love a Queensryche week.  ....Hmmm, or, even, Scorpions, UFO, Sammy Hagar, or Symphony X (I need to listen to that anyway).

I'll be listening to Keeper I & II.  I loved II, never payed a lot of attention to I.  I had always pictured it (II) as one of the best power metal albums ever, hard to duplicate or replicate.  More later after I take a days worth of listening.
 
If I had to choose I like 1 slightly better. It is much shorter than 2 but I find it has a smaller amount of weaker tracks.
 
Forostar said:
Albie, isn't it just that you're not into power/melodic/speed metal as much as I am not into (most) eighties trash?
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Quite possibly - I do like some speed metal, but I do prefer my metal with a harder edge. And OK, perhaps I was being a bit unfair to say what I said about them, but it is just my opinion. I do see what folk love about this band and they do write some good songs - it just not always my cup of tea.

That said, the live version of Dr Stein on Live in the UK is one of the best head-banging songs of all time. :D
 
Albie said:
Quite possibly - I do like some speed metal, but I do prefer my metal with a harder edge.
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That's what I understood reading your posts on this forum over the years.

Albie said:
And OK, perhaps I was being a bit unfair to say what I said about them, but it is just my opinion.
Click to expand...

I know, and just in case: I didn't mean to put your opinion down, I only tried to put it in another perspective.

Albie said:
I do see what folk love about this band and they do write some good songs - it just not always my cup of tea.

That said, the live version of Dr Stein on Live in the UK is one of the best head-banging songs of all time. :D
Click to expand...

That's indeed quite a track to headbang along with! Love those solos! And still in the setlist. :)
 
Wasted CLV said:
Is this just for metal-ish stuff?  ... Actually, I'd love a Queensryche week.
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Any kind of rock can be nominated. But since most of us here are metalheads, I suspect most of our nominations will be metal.

And I'm taking Queensryche as your nomination. (I would have nominated UFO myself, but I picked the band for both this week and next, so I'm not nominating anyone.)

I'll be indulging in a few Helloween albums later tonight and doing some reviews. Looking forward to hearing Keeper II again, since that's my favorite.
 
Very cool on Queensryche!

OK, I only had a limited amount of time to listen to the two albums. As far as Keeper I goes, I really did like that one (something I had added and not really had the chance to listen to all the way through).  Since I don't know all of the songs on it very well yet, I'll just say, in general, I enjoyed it. 

Now, as for II, that album was back in the day, my first taste of 'power metal' and is still a standard for me in that genre.  I'm not nearly as good as Foro at this, but from start to finish, the album is great.  I like the intro, and the way it rolls into Eagle Fly Free, with so much power.  I know a lot of people really don't like Dr STein, but it is one of my fav tracks-- its kind of silly, but i like the beat, and, really, it reminds me of 'The Island Of Dr Moreau'.  Finally, I really enjoy the way the album ends, with 'Keeper' itself.  I enjoy the way that the speed of the song keeps changing, from slow to fast and back again. 
 
How did you get the two dots over your 'y'?  The only way I can ever do that is 'copy and paste'.
 
On a Mac?  Hold option and press u.  That'll create the umlaut.  Then you just type the letter you want to appear.  On a PC you have to use ASCII code, which is Alt+0255 on the number pad.
 
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