Unarmed: Best of 25th Anniversary

Helloween | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 30, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: The End Records
• ASIN: B0036CWK8O
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,127 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

UNARMED Best Of 25th Anniversary is Helloween's thank-you to millions of fans old and new and will prove their exceptional position on the international metal scene. Instead of putting together a regular greatest hits compilation featuring their most successful tracks to celebrate this anniversary, the five band members completely rearranged the greatest melodies they had written in the course of their career to date. The album features Supercharge s exceptional saxophonist Albie Donnelly, Hellsongs s vocalist Harriet Ohlsson, pianist Matthias Ulmer, plus the 70-piece Prague Symphonic Orchestra and the choirs of the Gregorian singers!

As a special surprise, Helloween have come up with 'The Keeper´s Trilogy,' a stunning 17-minute medley of the songs 'Halloween,' 'Keeper Of The Seven Keys,' and 'The King For A 1000 Years,' recorded in cooperation with the Prague Symphonic Orchestra and likely to send shivers of delight down the spine of every Helloween fan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Many Will Hate It.....But Many Will Like It Too, April 3, 2010

By 

Stanley Runk "Runkdapunk" (Camp North Pines) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Unarmed: Best of 25th Anniversary (Audio CD)

I've always been proud to be a member of the metal genre. Metal fans are the most loyal and devoted of any musical genre-they don't care how old a band is, if they had any chart topping singles, if they are overweight or just plain ugly. It's the music that matters, and that's what makes the metal scene great. On the downside of this, some metal fans are the first to jump all over a band's case when the band has done something the fan doesn't like(having a somewhat poppy sounding song on the album, playing a chord that sounds too "modern", using a drum machine on one track, and many other offenses).
Recently I have read some pretty harsh things online about Helloween's new Unarmed cd. Helloween have been in this boat before back in the day with the notorious Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon albums, so I'm sure the were expecting this type of reaction. I love the fact that they don't let it get to them. In fact, I have seen an interview with Michael Weikath on Youtube where he states(in regards to Unarmed) that a lot of people will hate this album, and he suggests people listen to it before purchasing. I have never heard a band member say something like that when promoting their new album! I was rather impressed by that statement.
So how is this new album? Well, it's probably not gonna get a ton of play in my cd player, but damn it, I enjoyed it. Like the style of music or not, Helloween's having a good time here. One of the things that's always made Helloween one of my favorite bands is their lighthearted nature, and their ability to not take themselves so damn seriously.
As you may already know, Unarmed is a "Best Of" anniversary album with the band doing non-metal versions of their classic songs. Faster Helloween songs are now slower acoustic ballads, songs have been converted to a more mellow rock, even jazzy sound. In fact, some of the songs are so far removed from metal that the intent is obviously to be a bit funny. It reminds me a bit of what Blind Guardian did with The Forgotten Tales, minus the cover songs from other groups, and a bit more tongue in cheek.
Some folks might think Helloween are disgracing themselves. Honestly, lighten up. Helloween are a metal band and will continue to be a metal band. They're not doing this album to become pop stars. This was just an oddball sidestep meant to be a fun time.....and it really could be if you let it.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It works!!, March 31, 2010

By 

Rabbit "Scorched" (Western CO, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unarmed: Best of 25th Anniversary (Audio CD)

I was not sure what to expect from this album. It is conceptual and very unique to be sure. Personally, I like it very much. I have been a die hard Helloween fan for over 20 years, and I would suggest this album to any fan who feels the same.

This album is not hard rock, It is soft rock/jazz/classical remake of previous songs. The obvious pinnacle of this album is the keeper trilogy with an 80 piece orchestra and chamber chior. It is the most fascinating 17 minutes of music I have heard to date from any band.

All things considered I am very happy with this album and as always, cannot wait until they release their next album

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for blinkered metal-heads, April 1, 2010

By 

Puffany (Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Unarmed: Best of 25th Anniversary (Audio CD)

I've had this album for around 2 months now as it was released much earlier on Amazon UK. - the bad thing about getting it early was that I missed out on getting the bonus track `Why' which was included here.
From a personal viewpoint, I wasn't all that pleased when I saw the track listing, but we all have different favourites.
The interest is in how they reworked/rearranged the songs. Across the album you'll find on different tracks: a 70-piece orchestra; a choir; guest musicians; and even kids!

Personal Highlights:

The sound quality - absolutely awesome when played loud through a decent sound system.
The production is crystal clear -If I Could Fly is a definite highlight with Deris staring here - his new more limited than before vocal range suits this track perfectly.
Future World works really well and includes a surprisingly entertaining short percussion passage near the end.
The Keeper's Trilogy is awesome. Have a listen to the high-intensity orchestration come in after the quiet intro to the `King For A thousand Years' section - unbelievable! Ala the James Bond `Live And Let Die' type of excitement. Sonically, it works as well as when the guitars & drums come crunching in on the original version of 'King...'.
Perfect Gentleman - before I had even heard the album, I couldn't picture this track working very well in another format and ended up pleasantly surprised. - the lyrics are much clearer on this version.
The priceless version of Falling To Pieces blew me away from the first bar. It's at least as good as the original. It's very rare when you have a great song and then an alternate version which is different but equally as good. The word `beautiful' probably best describes this rendition with another well-suited vocal by Deris..
What almost works perfectly is I Want Out. Deris delivers it well enough and kids do the backing vocals which is okay but it's a bit of an overkill as in `Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2'. Kids are okay but I prefer dogs. Still very catchy though.
Musically, this upbeat Dr Stein is very catchy with the brass addition & backing vocals, but I don't think Deris's vocals quite work throughout the track. In fact, his new vocal range sounds uncomfortable at times and does drag the album down a notch although still very good to excellent in certain songs or sections of songs. The guy has been one of my favorite vocalists in the past with his passionate delivery but I think nearly all my other favorite male vocalists (Plant / Gillan / Halford) have all come across problems with their vocals as they have aged.

The DVD is well put together with interviews about how they made the project come together. The guys do come across as being likeable and down to earth.
It also contains a typically loaded Helloween-style film clip of Dr Stein.
There is one thing that bothers me: how could they call this a 'best of' when it's clearly just a re-working of some of their songs in another format backed by outside guests?? - kind of like Page/Plants Unledded album.

Overall, the album is brilliant most of the time but doesn't always work. The usage of the special guests is extremely effective (apart from the kids).
Helloween stated on the DVD that they were very proud of their achievement and that it wasn't an easy project by any means. Their great effort is very rewarding.
I'm definitely glad they released this and I don't miss the hard-edge of the originals when I'm in chill-out mode.

Would I recommend this to Helloween newcomers? Maybe. I'd firstly recommend any album apart from Pink Bubbles, Chameleon, and Rabbit, which I still like enough anyway. Get this after you know the original versions, or if you don't particularly like hard rock - the songs stand alone in any format - so yeah, knock yourself out.