Blast From the Past

Gamma Ray | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 11, 2000)
• Original Release Date: July 4, 2000
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Noise
• ASIN: B00004TXXD
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #433,365 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blast from the Greatest!, October 18, 2001

By 

H. Y. (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blast From the Past (Audio CD)

Gamma Ray have done what they were supposed to do. They Mixed the Old songs and remastered them for this Best Of album, and they re-performed the chosen songs. Gamma Ray have had two vocalist since they were formed, current vocal Kai Hansen has a great voice and his screams are enough to get you moving. In this Best Of, we have all songs from the first album the last one (Powerplant). CD 1 is recorded in 2000 while CD 2 is mastered and it has much better sound quality than original recordings. If you are a Beginner, I say GET THIS! because re-done songs are done so well, and old recordings are mixed perfectly. Get Heading for Tomorrow first though, because this CD has 5 Heading for Tomorrow songs and they are slightly(-exept heading for tomorrow song is changed a little) different than original versions, you'll hear the difference and will be able to judge whose voice goes with which song.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost a brand new album!, July 31, 2000

By 

Mark Witt (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blast From the Past (Audio CD)

Make no mistake - all bands should make "Best Of"albums as good as this one. There is so much new material on thisdouble-disc LP it could qualify as a new studio album.

Disc One has re-recorded versions of songs from the first three studio albums. Not only do they feature Kai on vocals, there are many arrangement changes, new guitar solos, and even a few new lyrics! I'll leave it to the listener to decide which are better, the originals or these new versions - but they are definately different from each other. These songs stand on their own, which sets this album apart from BOAs from other bands. As Kai Hansen says in the album booklet, these songs have been reinterpreted for Gamma Ray, circa 2000. Very cool.

Disc 2 has three more re-recordings from the "Land of the Free" LP. Subtle differences and better production quality enhance these songs. Plus, Disc 2 features "The Silence '95" previously available only on the "Silent Miracles" EP. The rest of the tracks are remastered selections from "Somewhere Out In Space" and "Powerplant".

All of the tracks were chosen by the fans through Gamma Ray's fanclub website... so it's a safe bet the track selection will be pleasing for most fans.

If you want an introduction to Gamma Ray, then this is your best bet. If you're a die-hard, long-time fan like me, get this album - there are plenty of new surprises to make it well-worth your money.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars About what you'd expect from this kind of talent, October 28, 2004

By 

snakeayes - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blast From the Past (Audio CD)

I first listened to this alubm about six months ago and thought it was decent. It was the first time I'd ever listened to Gamma Ray and only really checked it out because I had just begun listning to Iron Savior and I knew this was Kai's other band. On a whim the other day I went back and listened to it again and something strange happened. I actually remembered most of the songs. Considering that I had only heard this record once before half a year previously, only half paying attention while I was playing Diablo II no less, I was quite impressed. I'm not talking about just singing along by the end of the song, I knew what was coming next and I was singing from the very beginning. I can only chalk this up to Kai's ability to write extremely catchy and memorable songs, this guy really is a genius like everyone says. My personal experience aside, this is some of the best powermetal you can possibly find with great guitar and memorable melodic song structures. I've heard some people complain about Kai's singing ability but I've got no problems with it, he may not be one of the best around but he's certainly more than competent. My only gripe with the compilation is that the first disk is rather heavily laden with more melodic tracks and ballads. If you're a fan of the "happier" side of powermetal then this won't be a problem but I prefer the heavier driving style which is much more prevalent on disk 2. Great stuff.