nes Banned

PPS: metalhead, no offense to anyone.

PS: anders, if you’re still in the metallacio tunnel, I recommend listening to the radio I linked on my personal debaser page (the first link).

Anders, yours is a difficult question: after getting through the period of youthful dim-wittedness, I opened my eyes (though it might be more accurate to say my ears) and realized how power metal relates to "hard" music, just as Cristina D'Avena relates to all music (a comparison coined by a friend of mine that I particularly agree with): it’s all the same and clever, aiming to exalt the listener in the same way, with the usual choruses, the same major scales, the arpeggios in A minor, and so on (here I quote uncle BARTLEBOOM). I should therefore tell you that to me, Gamma Ray seems like a totally useless band, that they would do well to stop playing the same thing, especially since it’s been over 20 years that they’ve been grinding us down with the same stuff. Today, Gamma Ray is just crap to me. I wouldn’t even listen to them out of nostalgia. That said, however, I realize that my interest in music actually started by following bands like Gamma Ray, Blind, Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Rhapsody, and various nonsense (the most popular metal in the '90s, in short). It would therefore be hypocritical of me to say that Gamma Ray were completely useless for my musical upbringing: at a certain age, one becomes dim-witted and is completely innocent from a musical standpoint (and not just that), so let the little bands like Helloween and company come along, because by being consistently true to themselves, they lead the listener (the more “innocent” one, obviously) to take an interest in and follow the world of music. Over time, the listener will grow, chuck the crap accumulated over the years (I had about 250 power metal albums in 2000, today if I have any, I have 10), but they will still remain indissolubly tied to the world of music. If I hadn’t been a power metalhead (or a queer metalhead, say it if you want, it won’t offend me), today I’d probably care about music not at all. Instead, thanks to the bands mentioned above, today I’m a music addict (and other things, but that’s certainly not Hansen and the gang's fault), and it's a dependency that I really enjoy. So to answer your question (seeing that I’m just rambling on): I think they’re crappy little discs good for frisbee or throwing at targets. While all my classmates celebrated their 18th birthday in a club in suit and tie with martinis, on the day of my 18th, I was at the Rainbow in leather jacket, with long dirty hair, listening to: Steel Prophet, Edguy, and Gamma Ray (04/26/1999 Rainbow - Milan). Who among you can say they spent their 18th birthday at a concert of one of their favorite bands back then? (and now you also know when I was born).

"We are wanted all over the country / we are dirty bad / and a month-long beard" Damn!!!! how I felt like a little naughty kid!!!!!!!!

In reference to the review: saying that the band is almost the same when the "mind" founder and composer of the group leaves seems like nonsense to me (without offense to the reviewer).

"This album and partly Chameleon continue to please me for Kiske's always wonderful voice and for some great metal tracks that are still there, especially in this record." The good and the bad are often dictated by tastes; no one is telling you "if you like this stuff, you're an idiot." I'm just saying that Helloween without Hansen are a different band, and that is indisputable. You say: "they are not two different bands, Roland Grapow is a great guitarist in my opinion, although it is obvious that with Hansen's departure the band lost a lot, especially in songwriting." I tell you that I couldn't care less about Grapow's skills; the band is different, it sounds different. You yourself say that there have been changes in "songwriting."

Anders, no offense, but I don't need you to teach me the history of these metal queer groups. From when I was 15 (you were 7 based on that '89 in the name) to 19, I listened to nothing but Helloween, Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, Rage (during the power metal period)... and the list of useless music I've listened to is still long: Hammerfall (mom, forgive me), Rhapsody (mom, you didn’t forgive me and I understand), Stratovarius (do they still exist? For the sake of good taste, I hope not), Kamelot (I saw them recently on MTV one night… damn, that was hilarious), Athena (I think that's what they were called, it was a project by Fabio Lione... brrrr, another laughable character). Domine (still a lot of laughs). And Helloween after Keeper 2 hasn't produced anything comparable to the first three albums. In fact, I’d say that Live in UK is superior to anything produced afterwards. "The band has lost a lot, especially in songwriting." See, you say the same thing too... obviously, the other members of the band are the same, but the songs written by Hansen were no longer written by anyone else. They gave Kiske creative freedom (a very high vocalist but with an awful timbre; let's stop saying he’s a god of voice, because people like Danzig might get annoyed). And the band transformed into a terrible experimental band. Kiske left, and Helloween tried to copy Hansen's ideas, and the best result they got was Time of the Oath (I followed them until Better than Raw, but I don’t know anything after that, really)... I repeat: once Hansen left, they became another band.

I'm listening to it now: not bad at all.

interesting proposal, I've never heard of them. I'll give it a try.

Terrible. The intro, however, is chilling. "The band is almost the same (Kai Hansen out, Roland Grapow in)" okay, so they’re two different bands then...