Customer Reviews

Master of the Rings

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This was Helloweens first album with Deris (of Pink Cream 69 fame)and it was an excellent return to form at that time. The two albums before this one weren't really classic Helloween but this stuff is really what the fans of theirolder albums had been waiting for..and more! It's still VERY different to the Keeper albums overall but it has the feel of a great Heavy Metal album with some Hard Rock'ish elements. Andi Deris wrote some great stuff for the Hard Rock band Pink Cream 69, and with his Powers combined with Weiki, Roland and Uli we have an undoutably excellent songwriting team. "Soul Survivor" is a song along classic, "Father" is a beautiful melodic Metal song with some very original elements and "Still we go" is like something from the Keeper albums... it's all here!!

I first got into Helloween with Keeper Of The Seven Keys-Part I and then I stopped following them. It wasn't until I got a double cd called The Encyclopedia of German Metal in 1997 that I re-discovered Helloween with the song Why? By this time of course lead singer Michael Kiske was out and Andi Deris from the band Pink Cream 69 was in. Master Of Rings is full of great vocal melodies, good riffs, and catchy choruses. My favorites are Mr. Ego, Why, Where The Rain Grows, Perfect Gentleman, Secret Alibi, and the ballad In The Middle Of A Heartbeat. I know a lot of long time fans were not happy with Master Of Rings but I like this kind of melodic power metal so I continue to follow them with each album.

... "Master of the Rings" is THE comback of Helloween! There are a few bands who managed to make it back with a new singer, and Helloween is one of them. "Master" is the first album featuring Andi Deris (ex-Pink Cream 69), who stepped in after Michael Kiske took off in 1993. Obviously Helloween put a lot on this album and if it would fail, the band probably wouldn't exist now. But fortunately, the material of the CD is a total blast from the first notes of the "Irritation" to the last chords of "Still We Go".

And another good thing about this album is that Deris is not trying to repeat Kiske (which is simply impossible anyway), but does his own thing and does it very profesionally.

Very fresh, very funny, very multisided. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and a MUST for Melodic Metal fans!

Although not as great as the Keeper of the Seven Keys, this is a great album. You do not listen to music because it is trendy and put labels on it saying it is 80s music or 90s music. Music is either good or bad, and Helloween is certainly not glam music and many times better than Quiet Riot or Guns and Roses. Many bands that are supposed to be metal today sound too much like rap or grunge. Helloween is great melodic metal. I also listen to 1800s and 1700s music and most of it is a thosand times better than 1990s music.

After 1993's Chameleon flop, Helloween returned to some of their former glory with this album. Enter into the fold new singer Andi Deris who had the daunting task of replacing Michael Kiske. Originally released in 1994, Master of the Rings contained a good deal of variety with each track. Highpoints on MOTR include Sole Survivor, Where the Rain Grows, Perfect Gentlemen, Why?, Still We Go, and the ballad In The Middle of a Heartbeat. Not bad throughout, but this album could have been stronger. Mr. Ego and Secret Alibi should have been b-sides in my opinion. If you are lucky enough, you may find an original 18-track U.S. version of Master of the Rings. Released on Halloween 1994, the U.S. version of Master of the Rings is a 2CD set including all 7 b-sides! If the b-sides Can't Fight Your Desire and Star Invasion would have replaced Mr. Ego and Secret Alibi on the Master of the Rings, the album would have been much stronger than the 11-track version available here. Still, Master of the Rings is a good album and deserves to be in anyone's metal collection.

Helloween's new begin. The new vocalist, Andi Deris, started right away making an excellent album. This is one of the three albums that are Helloween classics. Others are "Keeper of the Seven Keys II" and "Time of the Oath", This album includes many kinds of songs. There's fast songs: "Sole Survivor", "Take Me Home", and "Still We Go", there's a ballad "In the Middle of the Heartbeat". That's not just a sweet ballad...it is maybe Helloween's most famous song together with "I Want Out" which is in Keeper II. There's also a religious song "Why?". It is thinking about that thing why God doesn't do anything although there's so much bad things. The new vocalist is almost as good as the earlier one. Maybe the most popular song in this album among Helloween fans is "Where the Rain Grows". I think it's quite safety single because it reminds of Keeper II songs.
Stars: In the Middle of a Heartbeat, Why?, Secret Alibi

After the well-known dissaster of 1993's Chameleon, Helloween managed to put a good album in the "metal market". Even though it isn' a great album with only three or four good songs it pretty much does it for a comeback. Andi Deris makes a good contribution to the band's new sound.

Highlights:

Where The Rain Grows, Sole Survivor, Still we Go.

After unleashing a pair of albums (Keeper of the Seven Keys Parts I & II) that would set the power metal world on fire, Helloween served up two albums that can be described as bizarre (Pink Bubbles Go Ape) and confused (Chameleon) at best. In addition to these lackluster albums, much of the band's initial lineup had departed, which made 1994's Master of the Rings a "do or die" album.

This is the album Helloween should have released just after Keeper Part II. Master of the Rings is a tight, melodic power metal album that avoids the goofball humor of Pink Bubbles Go Ape (Heavy Metal Hamsters, anyone) as well as the watered down rock of Chameleon. Master of the Rings is a complete breath of fresh air, thanks in large part to new vocalist Andi Deris, whose tenure with melodic rockers Pink Cream 69 made him the ideal choice to replace Michael Kiske. Deris's powerful vocal delivery, plus his songwriting abilities made him a true asset to Helloween. This is a fantastic power metal album all the way through (OK, perhaps the obligatory instrumental introductory track doesn't add much), and one that should bring old school Helloween fans back to the fold.

This may not be the best Helloween CD, but it marks a turning point in the band's history that would lead to masterpieces like 'The Time of the Oath' and 'The Dark Ride'. This is also the first CD with the vocalist Andi Deris. Deris' singing, while not as dynamic as Kiske's, has an edge to it which gives newer Helloween albums a distinctive sound. Here is the breakdown song by song...

1. Irritation: instrumental intro
2. Sole Survivor: 5/5 Power metal at its finest
3. Where the Rain Grows: 4/5 Considered a Helloween classic
4. Why?: 4/5 Very different for a Helloween song... good tho
5. Mr Ego: 4/5 Slow and heavy, great lyrics (about Kiske)
6. Perfect Gentleman: 4/5 Catchy & fun in a Dr. Stien way
7. The Game is on: 1/5 Trys hard to be a fun song... too hard...
8. Secret Alibi: 3/5 Fun lyrics, but overall a forgettable song
9: Take me Home: 3/4 VERY weird... takes time to appreciate
10:In the Middle of a Heartbeat: 5/5 One of their best ballads!
11:Still we Go: 4/5 Great power metal closer with good lyrics

'Master of the Rings' isn't the best Helloween CD out there, but still is worth having in your collection.

This is a pretty typical album we'd come to expect from Helloween. It is very heavy through most of the album's tracks with pristine operatic vocals from a new singer. It thrashes like mad. Key tracks are: Soul Survivor, Where the Rain Grows, Mr. Ego, Secret Alibi and Still We Go. If you're not familiar with Helloween, they are a German power metal band since the 1980s, I wanna say German's second biggest metal act behind Scorpions. Pro wrestler Chris Jericho takes his "Walls of Jericho" finisher from one of Helloween's early albums. They are elite. I would recommend this if for nothing else than to fill your collection.