Customer Reviews

Walls of Jericho

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the foundation where ALL Speed Metal started at.

So many Metal bands were started from this one CD.

The next 2 CDs after this one were the foundations of all Power Metal.

So many Metal bands were started from those 2 CDs as well.

(That's the history that CD).


(The music itself). Kai Hansen's singing is a little off here and there, but the guitar work is outstanding, and this is kick-you-in-your-face and take no prisoners Metal.

Helloween would never be this heavy ever again, even until today.

This was before Michael Kiske came into the band. He would come into the band on the next CD that came after this one.


Also, if you like the "Helloween EP" and "Walls of Jericho" CD, DEFINITELY make sure you get the "Batallions of Fear" CD and "Follow the Blind" CD from Blind_GuardiaN.

Those 2 Blind_GuardiaN CDs are a direct clone / exact replica of the "Helloween EP" and "Walls of Jericho" CD from Helloween. Even Kai Hansen sings some on the "Follow the Blind" CD from Blind_GuardiaN.

This album is very different than anything Helloween has put out ever since. But this, in my opinion is their gem. This is straight up Speed metal, and its damn right amazing. The guitars are so melodic, the bass makes my skin crawl, and the pounding drums just make the whole sound elevate to a next level. On Walls of Jericho, you get to hear Kai Hansen singing his brains out and he does an amazing job at it. "Ride the Sky" is one of the most amazing songs I have ever heard, the guitars are really melodic. "reptile" has always been one of my favorites, on the chorus part, you can hear the bass follow Kai's voice, that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up! "Heavy Metal is the law" has got to be the coolest Heavy Metal anthem ever, this song would make even Man O War bow down to them. In short, you have to get this album to understand why so many years after its release, it is still regarded as one of the best speed metal albums ever. (The review on the bottom is also me, only that first I had done it anonymous).

This debut cd from, in my opinion, Gods of speed metal. Their signer, which is now with gamma ray, delivers very hardcore sounding vocals. Thier bassist is incredible and is backed up with some incredible guitar riffs and duets. Make sure you get this cd with the extra track judas because the song is well worth it. With great songs such as stralight, warrior, gorgar, and judas, this is a must have for your metal collection. Don't be mistaken though, the other songs rock to. You will fall in love with this cd istantly. If you like iron maiden but you also like a little more edge to your music, look no further.

This is an amazing album. The first Helloween album I ever heard was Dark Ride. This album is much darker and more powerful. If you like speed metal or thrash this album is a must buy. Probably their best. The newer albums seem toned down a little bit. I suggest this album and both Keeper albums as well as Dark Ride and Rabbit Dont Come Easy. Helloween is definately one of the most underrated bands around today. If you like metal or shred pick this album up!!!

The vocals are a bit scratchy and hard to understand, but this album is totally brillaint. There isn't a single track on it that I don't like. It's harder than Helloween's later CDs for sure; this may be a good or bad thing depending on the person. When you want something with nonstop metal power, this is the CD to get. The inclusion of an entire separate EP and a bonus track in addition to the original album makes it that much better.

This is definitely going to become one of my favorite CDs.

A pretty good power metal album. Only 1 criticism: whilst Kai Hansen is an excellent guitar player, he is not the best singer in the world; the other singers of Helloween have been sooo much better. But the guitars and drums still kick @$$ on this CD, and I would recommend this to any Iron Maiden fan.

Twenty years later, and it still becomes more apparent with each listen that this album easily rivaled the best of it's genre - that being early Metallica, Anthrax, etc. American fans are eternally hung up on the Keepers albums, which in my opinion, have not aged as well as this one, and cannot compare (sorry MK diehards) to the best of the Andi Deris era.

WALLS OF JERICHO (1986)

At first i was going to rate this a 4.5, but after listening to it again to refreash my memory, i relize it clearly warrants for 5 stars.WALLS is the heaviest&fastest album they ever did, after this, they changed their vocalist and sound and did more of a queensryche style of metal, so they would never again approach the intensity found on this album. WALLS OF JERICHO originaly had 9 songs, but this cd version comes bundled with the Helloween EP and the JUDAS single, 15 songs in all, not bad for 10 dollars.Anyway, this was the most brutal thing to be released in 1986, forget MOP or Reing in Blood, this is where its at. Even though this is technically considered "power metal", it is really more like melodic speed metal. I enjoy the whole thing but my favorites are "WARRIOR" "VICTOM OF FATE" "RIDE THE SKY" "REPTILE" "GORGAR" and "HEAVY METAL (IS THE LAW)". I can see why some people might not like Kai's voice, but i like his singing alot.

Helloween's Walls Of Jericho shows the real importance of Kai Hansen in the band. All the fast riffs, the "epic" choruses...all of what Helloween was about was because of Kai Hansen. So, there's no surprise in finding Gamma Ray's albums very similar to Walls Of Jericho, and of course, if you like GammaRay, you'll like this one.

Surely , this was Helloween's heaviest album where there were more
negative lyrics.
Kai Hansen,(Gamma Ray's leader today) if you don't know,he was the man who helped give name for this band , but the main idea
came from Ingo Schiwchtenberg ( dead drummer now ).
He was a guitarist and lead singer in this work. Many people say that
he didn't sing so well.
Yes, his deep voice wasn't so developed if we compare
it to his tuning in Gamma Ray ballads ( Farewell from Land of the free;
Pray from Somewhere out in space for instance)
There were more trebles.
However, he mantained his singing style in this cd in away that doesn't
harm. Hard rock vocalists have no obligation to be so tuned.
The exception is in "Starlight", where he was pretty flat:
1-"But a junkie was something to beEEeeEEeeEEeee!"
2- "StAAaarlieeghtt!"

Starlight talks about a tramp buddy that uses drugs and lives in a fantasy
world. At the start,we can hear him swaping radio stations . He finds
that Halloween song: "Happy , happy halloween, halloween,halloween..."
A burp is heard, Hansen shrieks "AAAAAAAHHHHH" and the rock starts.


The drums are the same in these tracks : Murderer, Guardians , Metal invaders
Heavy metal is the law , Judas, How many tears?, Cry for freedom
Ignore this and appreciate the guitar work:
Hansen doesn't make the same number of distortions like in Keeper of the seven keys
but does the job well with his pal, Michael Weikath.
My favourite songs that are 10/10:

Ride the sky - Here's where Kai sings better. This part has a beautiful
melody: " Set me free,ooooooh set me free; Send me a sign,wanna leave it all behind... Rearrange the masterplan,
take the future in my hands, to be free and not trapped anymoooore"
There's a pleasant harmony solo (The two guitars together at same note)
in the midway.

Gorgar - This piece is funny. The lyrics show the evils of getting addicted to
videogames and spending all money in arcades. Weikath plays a horror film
solo too.
The chorus makes me laugh : Gorgar will eat you , Gooorgaarr (the others singing in
back, to show that the pinball moster is frightening).
The monster states in the end: TILT!!

Warrior - What a strong sentence: "Your prayers won't be heard, so die!"
Kai sings it almost shouting, but it's good. The guitaring is fast.

Guardians - Another of the best melodies.

Phantoms of death - It describes the heartless and dangerous people in general
(The phantoms of death). My favourite guitar solos are here; when the beat
changes and in the bridge (Something like Te -leinleinleinleinleinleinleinleinleinlaloum)

My evaluation of the others:
Starlight- 7,5/10 ; Murderer- 9/10 , Cry for freedom- 9.5/10
Victim of fate - 8/10 ; Reptile - 6/10 ; Metal invaders - 8.5/10
Heavy metal is the law - 7/10 (metal can't be beaten by any dynasty,according to Kai)
; Judas- 8/10
How many tears? - 6/10

Don't afraid to buy it, its rock and roll won't be so bad as you may think.