Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
About as good as it gets, October 26, 2007
"Gambling With The Devil" is a little bit of everything for everyone. By that I mean it sounds a bit like Freedom Call, a bit like Andi Deris' solo material and Pink Cream 69-era material, a bit like classic Keepers' Helloween, and a bit like the current era Helloween. That being said, the album has some excellent tracks like Kill It, The Saints, Heaven Tells No Lies, Fallen To Pieces, and Can Do It (a quirky little tune that is one of my personal favorites), but as one reviewer pointed out, there's something missing from the album to label it a 5-star effort. I feel that part of the issue might be the production of the album. A lot of fans love the job that Charlie Bauerfeind has done on the last few albums, but at times it feels almost *too* polished and as a result I think the sound suffers overall. Despite their public comments to the contrary, I think Helloween was at its peak when Tommy Hansen produced their albums. There may have been an old-school sound and feel to their albums, but for some reason, it just sounded right.
I also think that part of the issue is Dani Löble's drumming on the album. Again, as much as the band toes the company line with the usual "this is the best lineup Helloween has ever had" business, I believe Uli Kusch was the perfect drummer for Helloween. There was something about his drumming that meshed perfectly with Weikath, Grapow and especially Grosskopf. Löble, on the other hand, feels too much like a drum machine, too stiff, too unimaginative. As a result the songs sound and feel stiff. No surprise that since Kusch left, they have used a number of drummers to fill in (Mark Cross, Mikkey Dee, Stefan Schwartzmann) and I still don't think they have the guy that sounds right for them. Additionally, I think Kusch helped to break the monotony of Weikath and Deris' songwriting styles; Helloween fans consider "Better Than Raw" and "The Dark Ride" to be some of the Deris-era Helloween's best material, and no surprise that Kusch had a big hand in the songwriting on those albums. Ironically enough, prior to hiring Loble Helloween was looking at hiring Freedom Call-er and Gamma Ray drummer Daniel Zimmermann; one can only imagine what Zimmermann, an accomplished songwriter himself, would have brought to Helloween.
In any case, Helloween has still managed, for their thirteenth release, to put out an effort that proves they have not lost any steam, and are still one of the better bands out there when it comes to keeping their material fresh and exciting. Highly recommended.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Helloween album in years, October 23, 2007
I have been a Helloween fan since the Keepers days. I have, for the most part, enjoyed all of their albums as they are my favorite band. However, my tastes often differ from other Helloween fans. My favorite three Helloween albums in order are Chameleon, Master of Rings, and The Dark Ride. What I like about these three albums are that they each take risks and expose different sides of Helloween other than the traditional approach that usually trademarks each album. So it is for that reason the new album, Gambling with the Devil, scores big with me.
Upon it's first spin, Gambling sounds like a cross between the fast and heavy sound of Better Than Raw mixed with the dark, sonic vibe of The Dark Ride. However, there is even more depth to this album. Songs like Final Fortune and Fallen to Pieces sound like nothing Helloween has ever done, and they are the finest songs on the album. The opener, Kill It, certainly harkens back to the brilliant Push (from Better Than Raw), however, again it has way more depth and does not follow the typical Helloween structure, making it overall, a much better song than Push.
Gambling with the Devil may prove to be Helloween's best album yet, or at least the best one with Deris. It is a flawless album with absolutely no filler. Having been somewhat dissapointed with the inconsistant Rabbit Don't Come Easy and completely let down with The Legacy, Gambling with the Devil will restore fans' faith in Helloween. The Germans once again prove they can move foward in 2007 and create something new and exciting without abandoning the principles that got them to where they are.
March On!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing! Arguably the best album of the Deris era., October 30, 2007
Being a huge Helloween fan for some time now, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the new album so I downloaded an advance copy a few weeks ago, and I was totally blown away! I ran out and bought the album the day it came out, and all I can say is this has been the best CD purchase I've made in quite some time... it's that damn good!
Every track stands out on it's own and there's no filler to be found here like on their previous album, the disappointing "Legacy". Andi's vocals are top notch as always, Sacha and Weiki's guitar work is easily the best so far of the newest lineup with some awesome dueling solos, and for my money Dani is excellent behind the drum kit and is definitely as good as, if not better then, Uli or Ingo (RIP). Really the only bad thing I could say about Gambling With The Devil is what a couple of reviewers previously mentioned, and that's the fact that the 2 songs on the limited edition bonus disc are not included on the main album. They are stellar tracks in their own right, especially the song Find My Freedom which IMO is the best song on the album. It's just too good for "B-Side" status, and ranks with "Deliver Us From Temptation" (The Dark Ride) for "bonus songs that shouldn't be bonus songs".
Oh, and speaking of bonuses, the limited edition also comes with a scratch-off card that has a riddle for the fans to solve and some cool prizes to be won, definitely a plus and a big nod to the hardcore pumpkin heads from the band... wish more bands would do cool stuff like this.
So to sum it all up, whether you're a long-time fan of old school "Keeper's Era" Helloween, or if you prefer the more modern albums like Better Then Raw and The Dark Ride, this album NEEDS to be in your collection! No ifs ands or buts... and none of that "Well I don't like anything after Hansen/Kiske" bullcrap either! If you can't appreciate this amazing album, then you're not a true Helloween fan, and that's the plain and simple truth ;-) Buy it now!
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