Gamma Ray
Somewhere Out In Space

THE REVIEW

After making some effort to fill the gap concerning Helloween on our fantastic site, I would like to introduce my de-baser friends to Gamma Ray, a magnificent German band born from an outburst by Kai Hansen, probably the symbol of Helloween itself, who left the band after giving birth to "Keeper Of The Seven Keys part II", considered by many as the band's masterpiece.
After astonishing with the debut album "Land Of The Free", good old Kai tried to compose an album that at least achieved about the same success as the previous one, and lo and behold, he managed to gift us one of the best Power albums existing on the face of the earth, namely "Somewhere Out In Space". This was also thanks to the help of Henjo Richter on the second guitar, Dan Zimmerman devastating the drum kit, and Dirk Schlachter on bass, and of course, Hansen, who for those who don't know, takes up the role of guitarist and singer.
As we can understand from the splendid artwork, the CD revolves around the sci-fi theme of space-time concepts and encounters between the human race and extraterrestrial life forms, as if to make us understand that we are not alone.

It begins with "Beyond The Black Hole", which with its compelling initial rhythmic section catapults us directly into space to become one of the most beautiful Power songs, capable of energizing even the most lifeless person in the world, and then passes the baton to "Men, Martians And Machines", a beautiful song thanks to its engaging riffs. With "No Stranger (Another Day In Life)" we encounter the first ballad of the record, and I can say with certainty that this song can be regarded as such, one of the most beautiful ballads ever and in my opinion perhaps the best track on the record. After a brief poignant interlude, we return to the true rhythms of the album, thanks to the progression of the title track, exciting in every passage where Hansen shows us who the Powermetaller songwriter is! Well done Kai, but now it's time to make room for the ideas of the other band members, in fact with "The Guardians Of Mankind", Richter has his say, resulting in a piece that's really not bad, although certainly not the best of the album. At the end of the short "The Landing" (one of the many short-songs present), comes the moment for another beautiful song, namely "Valley Of The Kings", which is followed closely by the ballad "Pray", the pompous "The Winged Horse" and the all-drums "Comic Chaos" catapulting us into the splendid "Lost In The Future", which by the way contains a solo that plays the notes of "Oh Susanna", to give a touch of Happy that makes this album truly unique, closing beautifully with the final trio "Watcher In The Sky"-"Rising Star"-"Shine On"... in fact, I'd forgotten, in the remastered version we also find "Return To Fantasy", a cover of Uriah Heep, which is also very beautiful, even if not essential for the judgment of this CD.

I don't think it's necessary to spend more words on this masterpiece, except to affirm that it is one of the best albums to come to light in the second half of the nineties, fortunately, someone still exists who is capable of composing good old metal as it should be, far from Satanism and death... Unmissable for every Helloween and Metal fan, the album that proves once and for all the superiority in the field of that great musician Kai Hansen is...