NotePad:
MW was portrayed as the bad guy during the break, Kiske getting fired, Kai leaving and most of all, Ingo's leaving and subsequent suicide.
Now I don't know how old you are? Are you getting all your info from Wiki/elsewhere, or did you live through the events of those particular times?
For old Helloween fans like myself, the almost soap opera events that surrounded the band for a few years, still linger on.
Regardless, from my own memory I saw MW as the bad guy, with Helloween getting a vastly inferior singer to replace Kiske.
As for Kai singing, he has got a lot better over the years (despite being a smoker), I've seen Gamma Ray live a couple of times and he sounded even
better than the studio albums.
Deris for me has always been an average singer, with a voice more suited to his previous band Pink Cream 69 more AOR and melodic rock sounds.
Gaz, if you check the Helloween thread, I asked Notepad the same question. Let's just say that we are much older than him!
I'm with you on how I viewed Weiki. Even during the Keepers era, the band came off as kind of goofy. Weiki was usually the one making the silly faces. I thought it was a mistake to let Hansen go, and then of course Kiske. The turmoil around the Chameleon album was clear upon the first listen.
To me, no one was going to replace Kiske. When Deris first joined, I ordered both CD singles (Perfect Gentleman and Mr Ego) and thought they were terrible. I gave up on Helloween at that point. Too bad because I absolutely loved them at the time. I remember when Time Of The Oath came out, I thought jeez, this looks cool, but I just couldn't pull the trigger.
Oddly, when they released Rabbit Don't Come Easy, I decided to give them a chance..oops, wrong album.
In the last year and a half, I've gone back and rediscovered the Deris era, and I really have taken to it. He's a remarkably versatile singer. I'm not in love with all of it, but I have found the whole exercise very rewarding.
Gamma Ray is fuc#ing incredible. But while he had gotten better, I'm not a huge fan of Kai's vocals. Gamma Ray would be so much better with Kiske. But then again so would every band!
I think through the late ninties and the 2000's, Kai was the better choice for the material, but these days, I think it would be good if Kiske joined.
I watched an interview when Unisonic was getting released with Hansen and this was actually discussed between Kiske and Hansen. They were contemplating either starting a new project or in fact Kiske joining Gamma Ray. So it nearly happened.
Kiske and Hansen have been teasing us for a while now. Weren't they supposed to start a project, which ended up with Kiske releasing Past In Different Ways?
Plus, Hansen joined Unisonic after the fact. I think he gave them a shot in the arm, but weren't the Unisonic guys complaining about playing the fast Helloween tunes live?
Oh, and let's hear it for Marcus Grosskopf, one of metal's best bassisits!!