Helloween & Gamma Ray
- Thread starter Forostar
- Start date
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
Although I think this reunion came too late, those clips sound good.
Better late than never.
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
I’d rather see a reunion of the 1995 Gamma Ray line-up...Better late than never.
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
I haven’t listened to any recent live pre-Beck vids from Gamma Ray, so I guess I didn’t know he’d fallen off that much. He still sounded great (for Kai) when I saw them in 2006, and almost as good in 2008. Oh well.
Of all lineups, 1995????? Kai/Dirk/Henjo/Dan is the only one I care about.
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
That’s 1997. 1995 had Dirk on guitar, Jan Rubach on bass and Thomas Nack on drums. It also produced the band’s best studio album, IMO. The only reason the line-up changed was because Dirk wanted to switch back to bass, so the rhythm section left.
Black Bart
Ancient Mariner
Actually, Jan Rubach had initially considered switching to guitar. But eventually him and Thomas Nack left to do their own project.
By the way, the new Helloween DVD is a boon. Christmas came earlier this year.
Granted, this line-up was the most popular, especially because the late 90s was a period of rebirth for speed metal. However, while the previous line-ups only released one album each, this one only released one great album (Powerplant - ok three if we count BFTP and the live album SITK). SOIS contains a lot of fillers and the less said about the 2000s output, the better. My point is: it is difficult to compare line-ups in Gamma Ray because there is only one of them that has released more than one studio album.
(GR with or without Ralf Scheepers is not the same -no matter whether we prefer the band with or without him)
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Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
Tailgunner77
Educated Fool
They still got magic. Great bands.Great musicians.One more live video!
''FUTURE WORLD !!!
Poto
Ancient Mariner
I was never that into Helloween altought I think the Keeper of the Seven Keys albums are excellent, but this new live release is absolutely brilliant! I'm looking forward to the new album they are releasing next year, and hopefully there will be a tour as well. Would love to see them live.
Which albums other than Keeper 1 and 2 would people recommend? From what I understand the other albums with Kiske aren't any good.
Which albums other than Keeper 1 and 2 would people recommend? From what I understand the other albums with Kiske aren't any good.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
'The Time of the Oath' and 'Better Than Raw' from the 90s both have a bunch of food songs on them. My favourite non-Kiske Helloween album is 'Gambling With the Devil' from 2007. It's probably where they peaked with Andi Deris on vocals.
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
Walls of Jericho (pre-Kiske) and Master of the Rings (post-Kiske).
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
'Walls of Jericho' would be a lot better if Kai Hansen wasn't a terrible singer.
Black Bart
Ancient Mariner
Walls of Jericho, The Time of the Oath, The Dark Ride and Gambling With The Devil.
If you want a good vision of the first two with Andi Deris, get High Live (1996). Live on 3 Continents (2005) is sleeker but also interesting to have an insight in the (rather unstable) 2001-2005 period.
If you want a good vision of the first two with Andi Deris, get High Live (1996). Live on 3 Continents (2005) is sleeker but also interesting to have an insight in the (rather unstable) 2001-2005 period.
Black Bart
Ancient Mariner
An interesting comparison:
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
Kiske is a much better singer than Kai (understatement of the year!
), but I think that Kai's voice did work really well in the early material. 
Edit: I would choose the version off Walls of Jericho.
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Tailgunner77
Educated Fool
Kai Hansen is a good vocalist,a great guitar player and an awesome composer. ¿What they mean on that he ruined Walls of Jerycho??