Better Than Raw [EXTRA TRACKS]

Helloween (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 15, 1998)
• Original Release Date: September 15, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks
• Label: Velvel Records
• ASIN: B00000AFYE
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #212,118 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Helloween since Keeper's Part II, August 9, 1999

By A Customer

Helloween is back on track with their latest release "Better Than Raw" which features the most consistent songwriting since "Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II". The 2nd track "Push" is\will be a Helloween classic. My other favourite songs on this CD are "Don't Spit on my Mind", "Revelation", "Time", "A Handful of Pain", "Falling Higher" and "Lavdate Dominum" which is a song sung totally in Latin! The musicianship is amazing and the agressiveness of this music is surprising when considering previous Helloween releases. The main riff in "Revelation" is so heavy, I couldn't believe it was Helloween! Many people are not fans of the singer Andi Deris, but in all honesty, I think Deris's voice fits much better into the aggressive music that Helloween is currently playing. He is no slouch as a vocalist as he possesses a fine range and hits all the notes dead on. Being a drummer, I personally noticed an improvement in the drumming since Keeper's Pt. II. This does not mean that Ingo Schwichtenburg was bad, but I personally think that Uli Kusch is an amazing drummer. The guitar work between Weikath and Grapow is top-notch and if you listen closely, you can pick out Grosskopf's incredible bass runs. This album truly rival's Keepers II as their finest. A must have for Helloween fans.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Metaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!, December 8, 1999

By	"metalbeast" (Nottingham, Nottinghamshire England) - See all my reviews

This is a very good album and a very metal album indeed. This power metal classic blew most of '98's "metal" releases clean out of the water. This album proves that although propper metal (i.e. NOT anything like Korn) may not be 'top of the pops' at the moment it is still alive and well. I believe Helloween could be a key band in the inevitable backlash against FALSE METAL, alternative and grunge. I believe the popularity of alternative was due to the fact that true metal had (in the early nineties) been going strong for twenty years and people were getting a bit tired of it. This 'alternative' (COMPROMISE more like) has now been popular for around ten years now and I have been sick of it since '95! Sooner or later (Hopefully sooner) people are going to realise that musicians should be required to learn to play thier instruments before using them to express thier feelings and kick False metal and alternative to the curb EN MASSE.

This is a superb album and has everything true metal should have: Great songs, lightning fast guitars, great melodies, thundering drums, vocals with range and clarity and (some may disagree) really silly lyrics (e.g. the latin lyrics to Lavdate Dominum).

I would reccommend that anyone who likes power metal buy this album.

If you listen to false metal and want to hear what metal SHOULD sound like, listen to this.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clever lyrics, nice booklet, very good music., October 15, 2001

By	I. MUNOZ (Montreal, PQ, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Before starting the review, just some data about myself: I was a Helloween enthusiast when Kiske and Hansen were there - and I was younger ;-) This is my first Helloween CD since that time, and my review will be written from a comparative point of view, and probably you'll notice that I am longing for those old good times -which is true! ;-) Well... let's now begin the review:

This is a very good CD, in spite of the few or no reminiscences of the "Keepers" era. Actually, I must confess that I was looking for more of *that* Helloween in this release but, although I found something notably different, I am equally pleased.

The first thing that I would like to mention is that I don't miss Michael Kiske at all. This Andi Deris is a very good singer and has many strong points as a vocalist. His voice has a "higher-pitched" equalization and is somewhat less muscled than Kiske's; but Deris shines on his own for his clearness, his technique, his broad range and his impeccable tuning. I find him very expressive. I also think that he has a better diction than Kiske. I give to his voice the five stars it deserves. In addition, the lyrics he wrote for this CD show that he is a highly skillful songwriter. I find his lyrics very clever, fitting perfectly to a band that always has had a refined humor sense and a proper cerebral attitude (by the way, the booklet demonstrates so with a delightful level of sarcasm, with those pumpkins doing a lot of things: don't miss that! :-)).

The album opens with an intro very well orchestrated, with progressive touches "à-là Wakeman-ELP". I liked it very much. After that, everything is without any doubt very close to the Helloween we all love. No week song here! "Falling Higher", a Weiki theme, has the perfect sound of Helloween. I do miss the Kai Hansen's style, that marked the Keeper era and he took away to Gamma Ray, but anyway this is not a showstopper. I admit that I would like to have more choirs, more catchy melodies... although songs like "Don't spit on my mind", "Time", "Midnight Sun" and "Falling Higher" itself will have all the ingredients to catch you - and some choirs, yes.

However, I have several issues to criticize. One of them is the guitar work, which is not as good as it used to be. While the riffs are not bad and the solos are well-played, the level of explosiveness that Helloween once had is never reached along this album. I guess that it is the lack of Hansen - again. Another issue is the production, that made the sound not so brilliant as I would like. Finally, while I don't repudiate style and/or line-up changes, I think that pure power/epic/melodic metal fits better to the idea we all have about Helloween; and their move to a more "progressive" arena really went against the sincerity and the fun they used to deploy - and I suppose that against their pockets too ;-) These small details don't mean that this album is not good (actually, it is VERY good), but I think that five stars would be too much for it. Final score: four stars. In any case, I am glad that Helloween is still alive and healthy!