This Helloween song is clearly the better of the two epics from the original
Keeper albums. The music is consistently strong and often great. The verses are a bit of a mess, but the pre-chorus is good, chorus 1 is excellent, and chorus 2 gets the job done. The various interludes and bridges through the middle section are also consistently strong, and the song feels like it follows a coherent through line and earns its runtime. The production is a bit weak, especially the wimpy-ass bass sound and the cringey backing vocals in a couple of parts, but on the whole this is a very good track.
I’m a sucker for crunchy guitars with spacey synths, and this Star One song certainly delivers on that front. The vocal performances are strong, and the guitar interlude in the middle is great, and there’s nothing here as messy as the verses of “Halloween”, but there’s also nothing as memorable as the best parts of the Helloween track, either. Most of the songwriting is fine, but unremarkable, and it feels a bit too repetitive. There are some cool little vocal harmony bits here and there, though.
I liked both songs, but in the end one is a bit stronger. Sorry,
@Night Prowler, but
@Wogmidget ’s nominee takes this one.
Winner: Helloween