Down in the Dumps - I mentioned the other day that this one was my fav, and I think I still stand by that. It's funny as Weiki written songs aren't normally at the top of the lists for me with Helloween, especially Deris era. That almost 80's intro is so good before it kicks, just a great atmosphere. The main riff drives so hard but is so simple yet so crushing. A bit heavier for Weiki's style normally. The change into that verse is brilliant. Love hearing Kai in the background too. Again, you can't help but to think of the Saints, All Over Nations, those types of songs here. The melodies for Andi's section is fantastic, really really good. Then we get Kai which carries the melodies even more, good stuff.
Back into the heavier chorus the transition seem like it would be disjointed but quite the opposite. Get a Keeper 3/Rabbit vibe from this song, especially those verses. Saying that, as I did teh other day, this song pretty much sums up Helloween of every era yet it all connects well. Kiske hitting some high notes there too. Weiki again with those beautiful melodies in the middle. At 4:22 I think we have Sascha, then I think moves to Kai with some nice melodies. 5:16, highest notes ever from Kiske?? I can see this being one underrated tune.
Orbit - Follow the Sign anyone? Surely not intentional....pffft! That little Happy Happy Helloween easter egg in there too is a nice touch.
Skyfall - Yeah, I'm still struggling with this one. It's a good song. That main melody is really really good and memorable, but I still can't help but to feel this song is to warrant Kai's involvement. If he had a hand in some other songs or something maybe but this feel out of place. While enjoyable and welcome, still out of place. The verses strongly remind me of From the Ashes from Land of the Free 2. Actually a lot of the riffing here reminds me of that album. Anyway, Kiske sounds good and chorus is really really nice. You can't help but to sing along here truthfully.
I don't know what to think about the mid section with Kai's singing. Cheesy as fuck and teh song feels like it's starting to drag a little. Once it kicks into the solos though, we're back on course. Pure generic Gamma Ray though with the Hangar 18 section. I do love that fast bit afterwards with Andi. This song needs more Andi. I'll have to listen to the solos more carefully or watch the video but I'm starting to look to see how long is left of this song. 7:38 is a pure rip off from Armageddon from Powerplant, pretty blatant that. There's probably more too throughout the song. It's good to get back to the main melody as I feel the whole mid section was a bit disjointed. The outro though is cool and a great finale. Funny song this, parts are really good and other parts are just bland and not needed. Anyway, somewhere out in space, not sure what I think of that little easter egg.
Golden Times - WTF is this doing on the second cd? Rivals DITD as the best song here. A shame there's no Andi but this song is a ripper. Sascha fucking nails this one. That chorus, hmmm....probably the best of the whole album. Classic, melodic, just beautiful. The 'shine in the dark, and guide through the night' line is just fucking amazing and Kiske sounds incredible.
I don't know what album I'd place this one truthfully. Sascha seemed to have nailed some old school Helloween vibes here but I can't place it anywhere. Great metal mid section and Sascha all over this one. Again, at 2:57 hitting some old school vibes and that's something Weiki would do. Listening to this part, I think this song could fit on Rabbit pretty well. I think the first part of the solo actually may be Weiki. That middle part of the solo though is Kai, nice solo that one. Sascha in Gambling style finishes things off nicely. Wonderful song, just wonderful. I wish there were more songs in this vein actually. As the song finishes, this might beat DIID for the best song for me.
Save My Hide - Ha, this is a fun song. A bit of a Deris solo type song but it rocks hard. I love the lyrics, and I think we all can relate to them at some points in our life. The chorus is melodic as fuck too and catchy as hell. I'd rate this songs up there in the rankings too actually. That melody in the solo part is damn cool too, perfect and nothing more is needed. Even though I'd take it over a number of album tracks, you can see why this is a bonus track. Not much to say on this one, short, catchy, well done, great song.
So there you have it. I was super critical on this at the start, but loving this band since 2001 I knew this album had to grow. And it's growing nicely. Still not sold on the production but it's nowhere near as bad as I thought it was at the start. Nice addition to the Helloween catalog and exciting to see where the band go from here. Love seeing Andi and Sascha steering the ship also, both those guys ARE Helloween to me.
Topic: Official Helloween thread v. Pumpkins United (Read 182699 times)
