Helloween & Gamma Ray

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ANDI DERIS Says New HELLOWEEN Album Will Include A Ballad; First Single To Arrive In February

Earlier this year, the reunited expanded classic lineup of German power metallers HELLOWEEN signed with Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM) for the release of their next studio album. The band entered the studio this past summer to begin work on the follow-up to 2021's acclaimed self-titled effort...
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The new album will be out in the summer and contains a ballad and at least 3 songs written by Kai! Good. Andi loves them, the whole album is full of great hooks.

''80% of it is positive, sometimes very fast and heavy''.
 
He also did an honest, apt description of the last album. Exhausting experience indeed.

I never played it after 2 or 3 listening sessions around the time it was released.
 
Forostar said:
He also did an honest, apt description of the last album. Exhausting experience indeed.
I never played it after 2 or 3 listening sessions around the time it was released.
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There aren't many albums of the band that I like to listen as a whole piece often, but the Reunion album does a good job of that, despite having 2-3 songs that I'm not a big fan of. There's definitely something ''exhausting'' in the onslaught of power metal and the many vocal/ideas, but that's their thing. I really hope for the new album Kai wrote some of the longer and not that straightforward songs (Andi said this is the approach of it more or less, like the bonus songs for the latest album?), although the band has a great sense for melodic and catchy rockers. Maybe from Weikath. I just don't want a whole album of such songs, something more creative, they can do that.
 
Coming from the same city as both Helloween and Gamma Ray, they were of course always part of my music life, however, I must admit I always preferred Gamma Ray over Helloween, and Running Wild much over both.
Also, both bands rarely gifted the local scene with their presence. Piet Sielck came to the Headbangers Ballroom every now and then, Kai Hansen very rarely. The others never were connected to the scene in any way.
I saw Gamma Ray live here several times between Land of the Free and Powerplant, and despite never being a big fan, they always kicked my ass live.

Helloween only released one album that I really love, and that is Walls of Jericho. I never cared for everything after that. Never liked Kiske too, both as singer and person. Some of their albums are okay, others pure cringe.

My main memory with Helloween was in the early 2000s. Every thursday there was Death Metal night in Headbangers Ballroom, and my buddy and me went there almost every week. One thursday we arrived and it was "closed for a private party", but the door was open and nobody sat there. So we just went inside anyway.
Turned out we were at the private release party of Helloween's new album (must have been Rabbit Don't Come Easy, I guess).
It was very weird. The club was almost completely empty. Weikath, Grosskopf, Deris and some guy (Grapow?) were sitting at a table drinking beer, saying nothing. 4 or 5 guys from the record label (one in suit and tie) were sitting on another table at the other side of the club, babbling. Both tables completely ignored each other. Guns N Roses "Appetite For Destruction" was playing full power, and at the wall there was a buffet table that was ignored by eveyone. Nobody even looked at me and my buddy. We just sat at the bar, ordered a beer, got it and were not asked to pay. The barkeeper of course knew us. He said all drinks were paid for by the record label in advance. Absolutely nothing happened, so we just walked over to the buffet, ate some free stuff and again nobody cared. Then we went home. True story. It was very very weird.
 
Helloween to release a new ''Best Of'' album for their 40th anniv. Expected nowadays?


Some nice new arts and the selection of the songs is always curious.
CD One
01. Walls of Jericho/Ride the Sky
02. Metal Invaders
03. Victim of Fate
04. How Many Tears
05. Eagle Fly Free
06. Halloween
07. A Tale That Wasn’t Right
08. Future World
09. March of Time
10. Dr. Stein
11. Keeper of The Seven Keys

CD Two
01. I Want Out
02. Kids of The Century
03. Number One
04. Windmill
05. Sole Survivor
06. Perfect Gentleman
07. In the Middle of A Heartbeat
08. Why
09. Forever and One (Neverland)
10. Power
11. Steel Tormentor
12. Hey Lord!
13. I Can
14. If I Could Fly
15. Mr. Torture
16. Hell Was Made In Heaven
17. Light The Universe

CD Three
01. The Invisible Man
02. As Long As I Fall
03. Kill It
04. Where The Sinners Go
05. Are You Metal
06. Nabataea
07. Straight Out of Hell
08. Waiting For The Thunder
09. Heroes
10. My God Given Right
11. Pumpkins United
12. Best Time
13. Fear of The Fallen
14. Skyfall

42 songs. 4 are from the latest album, one they didn't play live.
 

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Kalata said:
Helloween to release a new ''Best Of'' album for their 40th anniv. Expected nowadays?


Some nice new arts and the selection of the songs is always curious.
CD One
01. Walls of Jericho/Ride the Sky
02. Metal Invaders
03. Victim of Fate
04. How Many Tears
05. Eagle Fly Free
06. Halloween
07. A Tale That Wasn’t Right
08. Future World
09. March of Time
10. Dr. Stein
11. Keeper of The Seven Keys

CD Two
01. I Want Out
02. Kids of The Century
03. Number One
04. Windmill
05. Sole Survivor
06. Perfect Gentleman
07. In the Middle of A Heartbeat
08. Why
09. Forever and One (Neverland)
10. Power
11. Steel Tormentor
12. Hey Lord!
13. I Can
14. If I Could Fly
15. Mr. Torture
16. Hell Was Made In Heaven
17. Light The Universe

CD Three
01. The Invisible Man
02. As Long As I Fall
03. Kill It
04. Where The Sinners Go
05. Are You Metal
06. Nabataea
07. Straight Out of Hell
08. Waiting For The Thunder
09. Heroes
10. My God Given Right
11. Pumpkins United
12. Best Time
13. Fear of The Fallen
14. Skyfall

42 songs. 4 are from the latest album, one they didn't play live.
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Looks like a nice compilation.
 
After the vinyl boxset that had really nothing special, another disappointing "product" from a great band. :(
The song selection is ok but notice how there is no Grapow song and only one from Uli Kusch.
Besides, the artwork is lame (and has been more on than off since 2000): remember this is what Helloween used to treat us with.
 
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Black Bart said:
After the vinyl boxset that had really nothing special, another disappointing "product" from a great band. :(
The song selection is ok but notice how there is no Grapow song and only one from Uli Kusch.
Besides, the artwork is lame (and has been more on than off since 2000): remember this is what Helloween used to treat us with?
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Agreed about the artwork (in general), but what can you do with such releases after all these years? It's not something the fans want now. Plus they had already released their rare/bonus songs. The song selection is always debatable, but Grapow's classic ''The Dark Ride'' was a must. It seems most of the singles were chosen. And some expected choices like ''Where The Rain Grows'' was replaced with a popular cut from the same album.
 
blabbermouth.net

HELLOWEEN Announces New Album 'Giants & Monsters'

The reunited expanded classic lineup of German power metallers HELLOWEEN will release its new album, "Giants & Monsters", on August 29 via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM) The band states: "We locked ourselves in a studio, summoned some giants, wrestled a few monsters, and somehow came out with a br...
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The new album called Giants & Monsters will be released in August.

tracklist:

1.Giants On The Run
2.Savior Of The World
3.A Little Is A Little Too Much
4.We Can Be Gods
5.Into The Sun
6.This Is Tokyo
7.Universe (Gravity For Hearts)
8.Hand Of God
9.Under The Moonlight
10.Majestic

I guess the tour will be new album & 40th anniv in one.

No lead single or the full cover were released, although we can see the latter in the teaser below. Keeper copy? AI? The titles are oddly-fitting for them. The title track is the 1st song, right.

 
Details about the album from a comment with a photo in the social media. It seems the album was finished just 2 weeks ago. Same producer as the latest album.

In order - Songwriting credits/Vocals/Length:

1- Deris/Hansen -> Deris & Hansen, 6min.
2- Weikath -> Kiske, 4min.
3- Deris -> Deris & Kiske, 3:30min.
4- Hansen -> Hansen & Kiske & Deris, 5min.
5- Deris -> Deris & Kiske, 3:30min.
6- Deris -> Deris & Kiske, 4min.
7- Sascha -> Kiske, 8min.
8- Sascha -> Deris, 3:44 min.
9- Weikath -> Kiske, 3min.
10- Hansen -> Hansen & Kiske & Deris, 8min.

No writing credit form Kiske again (probably for the bonus songs). 3 songs written by Kai, 2 by Weikath, some by Sascha and the most by Andi. Expected and it's nice. Kai will sing on just 3 songs, idk about lead vocals, but just him and Andi for the title track is curious. I wanted one song with just him on vocals. Only 2 songs are with all three vocalists, not bad. 4 duets, Kiske with 3 vocals on his own, Andi only 1! The longest song (and closer) is written by Kai ofc. I feel like the album will be an easier listen, to say, than the previous one.
 
The ballad on the album is ''Into The Sun'' and is a leftover from the previous album:

In an interview with Michael Kiske with Eonmusic in June 2021, he mentioned that there is one song they recorded during the album sessions that was not included. It was a ballad called "Into the Sun", which was composed by Andi Deris, and was not included because it was heavily modified during the process, and both Deris and the producers were not happy with the result. This song would be re-recorded for the next album "Giants & Monsters" (2025).

Btw, I hope they play the 1993 song ''Giants'', it would be thematic and cool.
 
Re-listened to Somewhere Out In Space recently so it's #tbttime
  1. Beyond the Black Hole - Dan joins the band, Dirk switches to the bass, and ready-set-go! they co-write (with Kai) this absolute BANGER. Great tune, love the epic "FLY!" that opens the pre-chorus, the double time in the second verse is great, in general the track takes you to a crazy journey made of sci-fi lyrics and fast-paced guitar work. And you don't often hear slap bass in power metal. Rate: 9 "I-WILL-FLY!".
  2. Men, Martians And Machines - The five tones open a song that, despite stealing its leading riff from Judas Priest, has a solid pace, a great guitar work, a solid structure. Another classic. Rate: 8.5.
  3. No Stranger (Another Day In Life) - A mid tempo that slows the album down. It's not bad per se, but it's not particularly good either. Catchy chorus tho. Rate: 6.
  4. Somewhere Out In Space - NOW WE'RE TALKING AGAIN. Jesus what a song this is. Powerful, heavy, aggressive, technical, fast, punching you in the face from the start to the end, but with that epic melody in the chorus. Rate: 9.
  5. The Guardians of Mankind - Henjo's first songwriting contribution to Gamma Ray is not one of his best, let's be honest. His other song in the same album is much, much better. However, he shows an interesting style partly departing from Kai's more aggressive one. The interlude is the most interesting part. And cool chorus! Rate: 6+.
  6. The Landing - A short prelude to the next track. It has a chorus but it ends there. Rate: SV.
  7. Valley Of The Kings - A faster and more melodic version of MM&M. The synth riff surprised me a bit at the time. It's less guitar-driven in general, very melodic, almost Helloween-ish in some parts. Rate: 8+.
  8. Pray - Quite anonymous, honestly. Rate: 5.
  9. The Winged Horse - As I said, MUCH better than TGOM. Much better structured, more inventive, it has better melodies, it's simply a great track. Happy metal at its finest meets Rainbow and Heading For Tomorrow. Rate: 9.
  10. Cosmic Chaos - A good instrumental. Rate: SV.
  11. Lost In The Future - Better than Pray, yet not memorable. Rate: 5+.
  12. Watcher In The Sky - I'M A WATCHER, A WATCHER IN THE SKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. Rate: 7.5.
  13. Rising Star - Another short instrumental. Rate: SV.
  14. Shine On - A good closer, with a good chorus and an interesting interlude. Rate: 7.5.
Also re-listened to their Best Of of 2015.
  1. Armageddon - Quite a declaration of intents, to put THIS banger as the opener!
  2. Heaven Can Wait (Blast From The Past's Version) - MUCH better than the original, sorry Ralf.
  3. Dream Healer (Blast From The Past's Version) - DREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAM HEALEEEEEEEEEEEEEER! Fantastic track.
  4. Hellbent - Useless.
  5. Land Of The Free - Possibly THE classic track by Gamma Ray.
  6. To The Metal - I can't believe they put THIS shithole of a 'song' in a BEST OF instead of (say) Beyond the Black Hole, Men, Martians And Machines, New World Order, The Winged Horse, The Heart Of The Unicorn, Wings Of Destiny, Anywhere In The Galaxy, LAST BEFORE THE STORM.
  7. Somewhere Out In Space - See above. Sweet Jesus.
  8. Real World - One of the few decent tracks from LOTF2.
  9. Induction - Fine.
  10. Dethrone Tyranny - BANGER.
  11. Rebellion In Dreamland (Blast From The Past's Version) - Better than the original and it's all saying.
  12. Heading For Tomorrow (Blast From The Past's Version) - Same. Always find myself screaming on the grand finale.
  13. Eagle - I do not particularly like this song in its context, but here it works great.
  14. Avalon - Well they had to take something from Empire Of The Undead. Not a bad choice tho, although, if their intention was to make something RID-ish, they had done better (Insurrection).
  15. Man On A Mission (Blast From The Past's Version) - The re-recorded version is great, but I miss Fairytale.
  16. The Spirit - HUGE optimistic and uplifting song. There is a great version sung by Kai but I am glad they picked the original.
  17. Tribute To The Past - Never liked this one. See at "To The Metal".
  18. Empathy - If they really wanted to pick something from To The Metal, this would have been more than enough.
  19. Valley Of The Kings - See above. Always liked this one.
  20. Lust For Life (Blast From The Past's Version) - Another great re-recording. I'm sorry but Kai IS Gamma Ray's voice. With all due respect to Ralf.
  21. Master Of Confusion - Clearly a rewriting of Man On A Mission but it's one of the most decent tracks from Empire Of The Undead.
  22. Blood Religion - TIE YOUR MOTHER DO- errr, sorry, SCREAMING FOR BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!
  23. Time To Break Free - Another track which I frankly would have never included here, especially considering what they left out. But that's just me.
  24. Insurrection - This, on the other hand, was a great suite. IIIIIINSURRECTION, GOOOOOD'S ERECTION!
  25. Send Me A Sign - Their traditional closer could not be left out, but honestly it's a great track which deserves its place here.
 
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GhostofCain said:
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The cover uses the same approach as the previous one. This style of drawing is cool, but for all covers I'm not that sure. The water-like background (the bottom of the ocean?) and the overall idea is interesting, but I'm not a fan of the pumpkin head's decision (it would have been much better the opposite). The monster's head is good. For such a title, it's a fitting cover, but they also could have done something more creative and detailed. I like that it's colorful. What to say, a decent cover I guess.
 
Murder of Rue Morgue said:
Also re-listened to their Best Of of 2015.
Click to expand...
Corrected the tracklist as follows:
  1. Armageddon
  2. Heaven Can Wait (Blast From The Past's Version)
  3. Dream Healer (Blast From The Past's Version)
  4. Hellbent → Beyond the Black Hole
  5. Men, Martians and Machines
  6. Land Of The Free
  7. To The Metal → The Winged Horse
  8. Somewhere Out In Space
  9. Real World
  10. Induction
  11. Dethrone Tyranny
  12. Rebellion In Dreamland (Blast From The Past's Version)
  13. Heading For Tomorrow (Blast From The Past's Version)
  14. Eagle
  15. Avalon
  16. Man On A Mission (Blast From The Past's Version)
  17. The Spirit
  18. Tribute To The Past → Anywhere in the Galaxy
  19. Empathy
  20. Valley Of The Kings
  21. Lust For Life (Blast From The Past's Version)
  22. Master Of Confusion
  23. Blood Religion
  24. Time To Break Free → Wings of Destiny
  25. Insurrection
  26. Man on a Mission (Land of the Free's Version)
  27. Fairytale (Land of the Free's Version)
  28. Send Me A Sign
 
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