Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy
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Artist: HelloweenEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2005-11-08
Music Label: Steamhammer Us
Product features:
- HELLOWEEN KEEPER OF THE SEVEN KEYS III
Music CD 1
- The King For A 1000 Years
- The Invisible Man
- Born On Judgment Day
- Pleasure Drone
- Mrs. God
- Silent Rain
- Occasion Avenue
- Light The Universe (feat. Candice Night)
- Do You Know What YouÂ?re Fighting For?
- Come Alive
- Shade In The Shadow
- Get It Up
- My Life For One More Day
Music reviews of Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy
Music Review: Sometimes Two Heads Are Not Better Than One!
Rating: 3 Stars
When I first started writing this review, it turned into a full-fledged band history, so I'll spare you those details and just cut to the review of this work. But please feel free to check out my list of the best Helloween albums (as I hear them) in my bio section:-)
As for the German gods latest offering, here's what I knew going in....It's a double CD (obviously), but not for the sake of time, or in order to give fans as much material as possible, or because it's a concept album. Instead the two discs are entirely different works of music and the total running time of both discs together is only about 77 minutes! Seems like they could have fit it all on one disc, but for some reason splitting the discs was deemed important to the album as a whole, so there we are.
Beyond that, I knew very little, I didn't think I needed to. Helloween has gone through it's share of sound changes over the years, some dramatic and some not so dramatic. But given that they borrowed the name from their glory days of the "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" legacy, and coming off the rather enjoyable "Rabbit Don't Come Easy" album a few years ago, I figured I knew what to expect. Hmmm, seems I was both right and wrong, here's why...
...I don't know about you, but the "Keeper" albums are both among my top twenty or so of all time, and surely to any Helloween fan they are essential defining moments for the band. So I don't like it when groups will pull a familiar name from their discography and stick the monnicker on a new release. It makes me nervous for one thing. I think perhaps they finished up with the recording sessions and someone thought, "Wow! We better figure out a way to sell this sucker without actually playing it for anyone". Fortunately that's not necessarily the entire case here, but imagine if you will that Led Zeppelin had called their "Coda" album "Led Zeppelin IV and a half", or "Runes x 2"....you get my drift.
Well after listening to disc one, I must say that even though I didn't find the material worthy of the "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" label, it was very very good indeed! No doubt the best the group has achieved with Andi Deris on lead since the awesome "Master Of The Rings" outing.
The opener on disc #1 is a nearly 14-minute opus called "The King For 1,000 Years". This track recalls all the sweet sounding speed and melody we've grown to love about these guys, complimented with crystal clear production as well. This track, along with a few others on the album's first disc, showcase a few sprinkles of a more progressive element to the Helloween speed machine too. A nice touch without messing with an always winning formula!
Another thing I noted as I listened to the first disc is their return to using a little pomp and quirk in their songs. Helloween has always had a playful side to their music, even in the demons and death absorbed days of thier first two releases ("Judas" & "Walls Of Jericho"), and I like hearing it still. Songs like "Mrs. God" exemplify this without question, and you'll hear moments of fun in other songs here like "Pleasure Drone" and "The Invisible Man".
So after disc one I really thought we had a big fat winner on our hands. The first truly great album from Helloween in a long while...then I made the mistake of inserting disc #2 into my CD player and letting it rip!
YIKES! Wha'happened! Discs one and two are like day and night, and disc two is definately the ugly sister! It's the Jekyll to disc one's Hyde (or maybe the other way around since we are talking metal here:-).
In fact, there really isn't one song on disc two that I don't have something bad to say about. The opener is another long track called "Occasion Avenue", clocking in at just over eleven minutes. This song might have been better if it didn't drag on for so long and wasn't over-steeped in theatrical trickery of all manner. There are chants, radio sound effects, and a narrative passage by Deris trying to do his best Alice Cooper impersonation! It's kind of like Helloween going goth in a way. I guess not all bad because there are some great chops in this one and a lot of power throughout. This one grew on me a bit as I listened to the album more, but a hate to say it does get worse from there.
The next track is a ballad called "Light The Universe" and is done with rock goddess Candice Night sharing lead vocal duties with Deris. Personally I don't like Night's vocals very much, and coupling her with Deris is a veritable disaster. They try hard to be Ozzy and Lita, but I'm afraid they're not even close! The song is also as cookie-cutter as it gets. Totally predictable and uninteresting. A real waste of space on the album!
"Do You Know What You Are Fighting For" is next and is the literal definition of the term "filler"! This band is way better than this! Again, predictable and boring! Like a bad cover of a NWOBHM b-side!
Next up there's "Come Alive", "The Shade And The Shadow" and "Get It Up". These are an improvement on the previous two songs for sure. Typical Helloween in all facits. I wonder if these weren't leftovers somehow from the writing sessions for a previous album? All of them sound like the kinds of songs you'd hear on a single-EP release or as bonus tracks from Japan or something. They could all also be called filler too! But since the last two were stinkers, we'll call these three just o.k. and press on!
CD #2's final track called "My Life For One More Day" promises more substance at the very least by just tracking out at about double the time of the three tracks that precede it. But alas, there's nothing new under the album's final rock either. Another leftover-ish sounding ball of similarly unstartling melodies, leads and vocals.
It's really too bad that they did this album as a two disc set. By itself, I would definately have given CD #1 a four-star rating. But with the inclusion of CD #2, I'm afraid the whole affair slips to a three-star platter. I think this work is a good one to have and I would recommend it to any fan of Helloween or of metal in general. However I was disappointed a little because it's so evident that all the parts are still in place to make a metal monster similar to the likes of "Master Of The Rings" or "The Time Of The Oath" from these guys. Hmmm, oh well...with over twenty years and counting under their belts, I'm sure Helloween will take another crack at our CD players again soon.
Description of Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy
Beginning their third decade of existence, Helloween are back to conquer the Power Metal world with simply one of the best releases in their career ? the spellbinding Keeper Of The Seven Keys ? The Legacy!Having repeatedly reinvented themselves stylistically, without ever losing their trademark sound, is no easy feat. The musicians, Andi Deris (vocals), Michael Weikath (guitar), Markus Großkopf (bass), Sascha Gerstner (guitar) and new addition Dani Löble (drums, ex-Rawhead Rexx), see this latest recording in direct context with their 1987 and 1988 classics, consciously and confidently increasing the expectations of their fans of an doubtlessly unusual studio offering.
Beware ? The Legacy!
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