Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Remastered & some extras, August 17, 2006
Looking at this as a fan of the album when it originally came it, it's not bad. If you're looking to check out Helloween for the first time, this is a great place.
First of, a remaster of one of the best metal albums ever is always a good thing! The liner notes are great, reprinting the orginal album sleeve artwork and also offering an intereview with a member of the band.
The bonus offerings, are not so bonus...
If you own "The Best, The Rest, The Rare" you already have Victim of Fate.
The Starlight remix is good.
The alt version of A Little Time is not much different from the original, which I prefer.
Still trying to figure out why they included the video edit version of Halloween. Having been listening to the 13 minute original version for over 15 years, this is just horrible. I've seen the video and understand they need to cut it down about 10 minutes but it just doesn't work in that context. If you heard this without knowing it was an edited down version you'd wonder what the band was thinking.
Overall, if you have this already you may want to skip over it. But if the original album artwork and remastering are your thing, then check it out.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The beginning of a new genre in metal! + Bonus Tracks, July 18, 2007
Helloween's best album (together with part II) now EXPANDED, containing 3 must have Bonus Tracks and Remastered; providing an improved sound quality compared to the original release of 1987.
By combining influences such as Iron Maiden, Queen, Rainbow and Queensryche, together with fast drumming, high pitched-melodic vocals, catchy and technical riffs with fabulous twin-guitar solos, Helloween achieved to lay the foundations for European power metal, as it is known today.
The album begins with an operatic marching type intro which successfully sets the mood of the album. The intro leads nicely into the fast paced "I'm Alive", which carries an optimistic message and includes a memorable chorus, fast drumming, raving guitar solos and twin-guitar harmonies.
The heavy "A Little Time" comes next with another catchy chorus and sound effects, while the melodic mid range vocals sound really emotional and warm.
The power ballad "A Tale that wasn't Right" arrives to slow things down a bit. It's strongest points are the truly emotional vocals and the wonderfully played guitar solo.
"Twilight Of The Gods" continues in the same vain as I'm Alive but contains more thought-out lyrics, better vocals and a chorus that you'll never forget.
The heavy metal anthem "Future World" follows (the most famous of the tracks).It is performed in mid-tempo, includes one of the best twin-guitar solos of the album and vocals varying from low to really high-pitched.
Next comes the true masterpiece of the album "Halloween", an operatic, fast, progressive, melodic power metal hymn raving over 13 minutes (which never gets long nor tiresome). Halloween is surely one of the best metal epics ever. It contains an eerie chorus, tempo changes, varying vocals, choirs and hundreds of guitar riffs, leads and solos.
All of these songs are still considered classics and are also some of the best power metal songs ever written.
But except the captivating music, a new charismatic vocalist, "Michael Kiske", joins the band to take this album to the skies! Influenced by Bruce Dickinson, and Geoff Tate; but equipped with more emotion and power, especially in the high pitched vocal lines, 18 year old Kiske makes this album a MUST HAVE for any metal and hard rock fan. (Kiske is still considered one of the best and most copied vocalists in the heavy metal genre)
Even if you are not a metal fan, this album will please you or even blow you away with the mythical and uplifting atmosphere it creates and the technically proficient orchestration it achieves. (Definitely check out Keeper Of The Seven Keys pt II!!)
Bonus Tracks: Victim Of Fate and Starlight are two truly amazing renditions with Michael Kiske on vocals (originally from the Helloween EP).
Will be loved by Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Queensryche, Rainbow...fans.
Just listen...you'll be amazed!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Power Metal...Revisited, October 24, 2006
When you hear the term "power metal", or more specifically "European Power Metal", Helloween has to be one of the first bands that come to mind, largely due to the impact of this particular album (and its companion piece Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II). Both albums completely reestablished both the band's sound as well as the whole idea of what power metal was all about. This is due largely to Kai Hansen adopting a more epic approach to his songwriting (as opposed to the Judas Priest style thrashers on Walls of Jericho) as well as the addition of vocalist Michael Kiske, who brought a powerful yet melodic aspect to Helloween's sound.
I don't think the impact of the Keeper albums can be overstated. In the 2 decades since they were originally released, their sound has been adopted, adapted, and flat out imitated by countless bands. Without Helloween, there would be no Blind Guardian, no Rhapsody, no Edguy, at least not as we now know them.
That said, why on earth has it taken 20 freaking years to get remastered versions of the Keeper albums? In an age where even the most recent bands keep reissuing their albums, we had to go way to long without a sonically improved Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I. Well, Sanctuary finally got around to the job earlier this year, and they certainly did it right. In addition to digitally remastered sound (which is quite good despite what a previous reviewer would have you believe), you get 4 bonus tracks. The remixed/alternate/edited versions of existing songs don't add much, but adding the b-side Victim of Fate was a nice touch. You also get expanded liner notes, photos, etc. plus a nifty slipcase for the disc.
This is what a remastered version of a classic album is supposed to look and sound like. If you're already a Helloween fan, it's time to replace your old version. If you're a power metal fan and for whatever reason haven't heard Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I, you need to order this album now. It truly belongs in every power metal fan's collection.
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