4.0 out of 5 stars
Gamma Ray delivers again, January 14, 2007
This review is from: Somewhere Out in Space (Audio CD)
It can't have been easy for Gamma Ray to follow up their epic 1995 album
Land of the Free, but with 1997's Somewhere Out in Space, the band delivered another dose of high quality power metal.
Somewhere Out in Space might not be as majestic as Land of the Free, but it's not that far behind it either. This is a very good power metal album, and definitely has that epic and melodic sound that Kai Hansen practically invented. The whole album is solid, but there are some standout tracks. The title track is a high-speed metal anthem worthy of Helloween, "Valley of the Kings" and "Lost in the Future" are epics song despite their relatively short length, "Watcher in the Sky" could have come from Judas Priest's
Painkiller album, and "Shine On" is a majestic anthem. In addition to some incredible guitar work, Hansen also delivers a very solid vocal performance here. Future Freedom Call drummer Dan Zimmermann was on board for this album and you can hear some elements of what would become the Freedom Call sound here.
I suppose it goes without saying that Gamma Ray would appeal to Helloween fans. Fans of the more recent power metal bands like Sonata Arctica, Freedom Call, Edguy and Hammerfall also owe it to themselves to check out Gamma Ray, and Somewhere Out in Space is one of their better albums.
Edition Notes: The 2003 reissue of Somewhere Out in Space features digitally remastered sound, three bonus tracks ("Miracle," a cover of Uriah Heep's "Return to Fantasy" and the cover of Judas Priest's "Victim of Changes" that originally appeared on the
Valley of the Kings EP). The reissue comes in a pretty cheap-looking digipack, but aside from that it's a nice upgrade of an already excellent album.
PS - If you can find one, there is a very cool (but very limited) box set that collects all six of the remastered Gamma Ray albums.
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