Official Helloween thread v. Pumpkins United

[wolfking]

So I've had Gambling With The Devil in the car all week. Is it me or is this album mixed way too fuc#ing loud?

Also, while listening to The Bells Of The Seven Hells (great song BTW!), I spaced out and literally thought I was listening to King Diamond.

I listened to that album for the first time in ages the other day and thought the same thing about the production too, too much highs too.  Interesting King Diamond comparison with Bells, never really noticed but can see how you got that. 

[Jaq]

So I got bored earlier today and pulled up Spotify and decided, what the hell, I'm gonna listen to Pink Bubbles Go Ape because I haven't in ages. Hey, I was bored. It's a LOT better than I remembered, but one thing leaped out at me: good god, does Number One have the most amazing chorus or what? I'm sure at the time it was kind of off putting for Helloween fans given how melodic a song it is, but DAMN, that is one catchy as fuck song, and I suspect a lot of Helloween fans haven't given it the time of day.

[Dittomist]

Yeah, I get really annoyed with all the bashing of Chameleon and Pink Bubbles. In my opinion, Chameleon is a masterpiece and one of their finest albums, and Pink Bubbles has several good songs, such as Mankind, Someone's Crying, Going Home, and Your Turn.

[wolfking]

They are both decent albums, not masterpieces but certainly didn't deserve the bashing they get.

[jjrock88]

I think some of Helloweens coolest songs in their discography are found on Chameleon. Wolf, what did you think of the new release?

[wolfking]

Still waiting for it in the mail.  I'm holding out.

[Mladen]

I've been listening to the new album in the last couple of days quite a bit, it's really good. Slightly lighter than its predecessors, there are more happy tracks which bring the album down a little bit, but for the most part it's very consistent. Some of the tracks really rock, typical modern day Helloween with a lot of catchy stuff. Favorites: Nabataea, Burning sun, Church breaks down, Waiting for the thunder, Make fire catch the fly.

[wolfking]

Good to hear, I should just cave and listen to it.

[wolfking]

Finally received my copy of the album in the mail.  So far, I've had one listen through and it's good.  I don't want to judge much on one listen because on my first couple of listens to 7 Sinners, I was a little underwhelmed, but it ended up being top 3 Helloween in my book.

It sounds fresh with a lot of different vibes and styles going on.  You have Nabatea which is an incredible epic, then you have more melodic rock sort of stuff like Live Now and the incredible Waiting for the Thunder.  Typical Helloween with the title track, Burning Sun, Years and Far From the Stars, heavier stuff like World of War, then some different sort of stuff like Hold Me in Your Arms and the incredible Asshole.

Asshole took me by surprise the most, was expecting something heavier, but really this is classic Helloween, the chorus is incredible and it's stuck in my head simply after one listen.  This album has a lot of potential.

[wolfking]

After listening to the album about 6 times, it's fucking incredible. 

[TAC]

 Won't be picking this up until Wednesday morning. 

[TAC]

OK, just picked this up this morning. Listened through it once. I really like it. I like hhow the songwriting is really spread out.

I really only explored Deris era Helloween in the last year. I basically ignored them, after not liking what I initially heard from them when he joined the band. So gearing up for the new album, I've been listening to them a lot lately.
I have come to the conclusion that I really don't like his vocals. But I've come to another conclusion..which is, doee Michael Weikath really get the credit he deserves? They have put out some unbelievable music during the Deris era. Michael Weikath, I beleive, is criminally underated for the part he has played in all of this. Helloween is still the standard bearer for Power Metal, and he's been at the helm since the beginning.

[wolfking]

Weiki does get a fair amount of recognition, but really his reputation is what makes people not praise him as much as they should IMO.

[TAC]

Weiki does get a fair amount of recognition, but really his reputation is what makes people not praise him as much as they should IMO.

Yeah, Wolf, I thought of that as he was basically portrayed as the bad guy when Hansen and then Kiske left, true or not.

[wolfking]

Plus not to mention the way the fired Roland and Uli after the Dark Ride tour.

[TAC]

Plus not to mention the way the fired Roland and Uli after the Dark Ride tour.

Oh, I'm not familiar with that. What happened?

Right after Deris joined I bought the CD singles of Perfect Gentleman and Mr. Ego but I did not like his voice. At the time Helloween was one of my favorite bands and I was pissed that Kiske left. I just ignored everything they had done through the years.

[Dittomist]

Weikath is a bit of a mystery to me because I've been a Helloween fan for such a long time yet I really haven't listened to any interviews he's given. I don't know much about him at all or what his personality is like. All I know is that he looks exactly the same in just about every photo from the past 25 years--does he ever smile? He's a brilliant musician who consistently writes some of the strongest material on each album (I'm pretty sure he did both "Burning Sun" and "Years" from Straight Out of Hell) and I've always had the impression that he's the heart and soul of the band.
I've missed Roland ever since he left, but I must say that Sasha really stepped up on this album, especially in terms of writing.

[wolfking]

Plus not to mention the way the fired Roland and Uli after the Dark Ride tour.

Oh, I'm not familiar with that. What happened?

Weiki thought that The Dark Ride was too dark and too far away from Helloween's style (which I never understood) and thought that Roland and Uli were trying to 'take over' the band.  After the tour finished, he fired both of them via email.  They then formed Masterplan.  There's a Masterplan interview you can find online, which has Roland and Uli telling a little bit of the story, not happy gentlemen.

[Zantera]

The Dark Ride is probably my favorite Helloween-album, followed by the classic two. (Keeper of the Seven Keys)

[wolfking]

It's definitely top tier Helloween.

[Scorpion]

It has two of my favourite Helloween tracks, Sun Is Going Down and the title track. It's also ridiculously consistent. I think that's the only Helloween album where I never skip a song.

[Zydar]

The Dark Ride is awesome, possibly my favourite as well.

[wolfking]

Here's what Roland and Uli had to say about the situation;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdh4jNBRalg

[jjrock88]

I agree. I wish they would've kept the Dark Ride lineup and sound.

[Mladen]

I always thought The Dark ride was very inconsistent - half of the songs are fantastic, the other half is pretty much average. Helloween couldn't obviously go on with all three of them, and I'd much rather have Weikath in the band instead of Uli and Roland. They both did a great job while in the band, but unfortunately it couldn't last. Looks like they handled the situation very maturely, judging by that interview. I have to admit, though, I never listened to Masterplan.

[Shadow2222]

Hello(ween) everybody 

I'm very unfamiliar with Helloween, but purchased the new album on a blind buy, and absolutely love it. I'm not sure why I've never listened to them considering I really like Gamma Ray, and I believe the previous singer (Michael Kiske) sung on the Unisonic record which I enjoyed.

However, I'm really digging this guy's voice. Any newer records to recommend? I may just end up working my way backwards through the discography.

[Mladen]

You can't go wrong with the previous two records, my friend. They're great. 

[wolfking]

Yeah, I spun the new album again yesterday, it's amazing.  Yeah, just go backwards and you can't go wrong.

[Dittomist]

Hey Shadow, I think the best Deris-era Helloween albums are Better than Raw, Master of the Rings, The Dark Ride, and The Time of the Oath. Happy Helloween 

[Shadow2222]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone

I was super pleasantly surprised by this record, and I'm really looking forward to checking out more.

[Dittomist]

Happy happy Helloween indeed! They are coming to North America this autumn!       
Sep. 24 - New York, NY - Stage 48
Sep. 25 - Montreal, QUE - Club Soda
Sep. 26 - Quebec City, QUE - Theater Imperial
Sep. 28 - Toronto, OT - The Opera House
Sep. 29 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
Sep. 30 - Joliet, IL - Mojoes
Oct. 02 - Engelwood, CO - Gothic Theater
Oct. 03 - Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue
Oct. 05 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
Oct. 07 - Anaheim, CA - The Grove

[wolfking]

Not quite Helloween but Andi Deris has a new project coming out.  Check out a song;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkHvY6QO7k8

This is fantastic.  Here's also a bit of a studio vid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zep8-GkTtxo

Really looking forward to this.

[ZKX-2099]

Well the album name is great.

[jjrock88]

Sounds pretty cool!

[wolfking]

I can't wait to get this actually.  All the samples sound really good.