15. Back on the Ground (Better Than Raw (bonus track))
LOL @ this being a bonus track. This track is amazing, plain and simlple. I love the Rush Power Windows type intro, beautiful. Nice simple rolling riff and the verses do their job. Roland's solo after the first verse is super cool. The reason as Tim mentioned this song being so good is that 2 minute breakdown section. This is seriously one of the coolest things the band has done. Just keeps going and Roland just doing some epic freestyle improvisation. Honestly, would have love to see how the song went if the section kept going for another minute at least then just went into a slow fade out. but wonderful song.
14. Open Your Life (Rabbit Don't Come Easy)
Another underrated strong tune coming from the Rabbit album. I like the lyrics to this one. The line, 'time seems an endless road when we are young, we don't need a genius to know that it's wrong,' is just wonderful. The main riff is simple and catchy the verses rock. The real kicker is the wonderful chous which is pure modern yet classic sounding Helloween. The Stacaato riffing in between choruses and verse is cool too and the stop start sections of the solo are cool. Great simple climax too from Sasha for the solo too. Don't need anymore, one of the albums best.
13. If I Could Fly (The Dark Ride)
This was the song that got me into Helloween. I remember hearing the name Helloween when I was first discovering Maiden and Sabbath etc. when I was like 13. I believe I sampled Eagle Fly Free and thought it was okay, but cause I was just getting into metal, I didn't quite take to the happy sound so much. Dunno where I saw this but took me by surprise as it was completely different to what I had heard with Eagle, mostly the voice. At the time though this was more my thing and really enjoyed the radio single sound of it. Got the album from there and The Dark Ride was my introdcution and then songs like Nations and Salvations made understand the other side of Helloween. This is a simple song but it's great. Typical Andi type song and great melodies. Roland's solo again is killer.
12. Occasion Avenue (Keeper: Legacy)
I never understood the intro to be honest, but anywho. This song is a perfect opener for the second cd of the album. Nice and dark and heavy with a dense atmosphere. Simple riff but I love how the band throws some single 3/4 bar in there too to keep the tension high. The chorus is amazing and Andi slays it. The fast section before the middle section is brilliant too. The riffs before the solo has some interesting notes but haven't really studied that section yet. Great tension before a straight minor solo from Sasha explodes. The only thing is I wish the quiet section after that was either not there, or cut down considerably. How long that is stops this song being top 5 honestly. But the strength of everything else still makes it top 12.
Gonna stop there tonight because I can't decide which song misses the top 10.
Albums.
4. Keeper Legacy
The thought of a third keeper was interesting when it was announced, but they did a remarkable job. Disc 1 is stronger than disc 2 but both have totally different feels too which makes them both just as important as one another. A couple of big epics and some classic stuff in there too.