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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...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Beyond the Black Hole (06:00)
I have come from so far away
From the sunlight of my home
And I have seen it's the only way
Now my sun is dead and gone
I raise my head in silent anger
Seems there is no place for me
The only way out is to go
Where no one's gone before
Fly - Beyond the gates of space and time
Another universe is mine
And I can't wait until tomorrow
Ride - There's a call from deep within
No I won't return again
`Cause I will dive into the black hole
Don't wait for me, 'cause I won't come back
Oh don't wait for me, no I won't come back
Oh don't wait for me, no I won't come back
Oh, oh, oh ...
Thunder and lightning and fire
Are guiding the trip of my life
Insatiable burning desire
As into the unknown I dive
I raise my head in silent anger
Seems there is no place for me
The only way out is to go
Where no one's gone before
Fly - Beyond the gates of space and time
Another universe is mine
And I can't wait until tomorrow
Ride - There is a call from deep within
I know I won't return again
`Cause I will dive into the black hole
Don't wait for me, 'cause I won't come back
Oh don't wait for me, no I won't come back
Oh don't wait for me, no I won't come back
Oh, oh, oh, don't wait
There was a trigger, for my decision
It's right behind my eyes
Into the darkness of my vision
I let my spirit rise
I wanna see the black hole, into the dark
I wanna dive into the black hole, down into the dark
Into the black hole, into the dark
Into the spiral, Into the dark, the dark, the dark
If there's a possible chance for something that can be
Called future behind the spiral
The only way to find out, is to leave the final frontier
To eternity and fly
I will fly - Beyond the gates of space and time
I leave the universe behind
And I can't wait until tomorrow
Fly - Beyond the gates of space and time
I know the universe is mine
`Cause I will dive into the black hole
Ride - And there's a call from deep within
I know I won't return again
`Cause I will dive into the black hole
Don't wait for me, 'cause I won't come back
Oh don't wait for me, no I won't come back
Oh don't wait for me, no I won't come back
Oh, oh, oh, don't wait
04 Somewhere Out in Space (05:27)
I'm trapped in a castle of illusions out in space, - no more illusions -
Out on a journey, on a mission for the human race
Terrified, I had to realize that I've been talkin' to the gods of fire
I got nowhere to stand, 'cause I'm a running man... to get away
All that I see is the years... somewhere out in space
And it's time for deliverance
Tomorrow, I'll see it, another day's rise ... right before my eyes
Been sinking in sorrow, but now I'm gonna rise
No more reasons why
I'm a watcher in the dark, I'm so cold inside my heart
I'm a temple in the storm, and I'm bound to be reborn
Take me down to the underground, let me see the gods of fire
'Cause I know where they live and I know where they stand,
Another reason there to leave
Take me down, take me down, take me to the underground
I wanna meet the gods of fire
And all of their intention is the center of it all
All that I see is the years ... somewhere out in space
and it's time for deliverance
Now that I know I've got to get away
Time for deliverance now
And as the sun appeared, up in the sky
I saw another day, that's drifting by
I saw my people cry, a million tears
Into eternity they disappeared
Now it's time to say goodbye, or we will sink in sorrow
No, we don't know the reason why, another day, tomorrow
Oh, I thank you for giving me hope
Oh, follow me into a new life
All that I see is the years, all that I see is the tears
All that I see is the years... somewhere out in space
And it's time for deliverance
All that I see is the fear... somewhere out in space
And it's time for deliverance
I wanna know how to get away, I wanna know how to get away
Come set me free, just set me free, just let me go
I wanna get away, get away
Somewhere out in space
05 The Guardians of Mankind (05:01)
For no one to see for no one to hear
They fight for our souls without any fear
When injustice done they open their gates
To maintain balance between good and bad
And as the winds of freedom blow they vanish into haze
The mighty shadow turns away and wisdom conquers hate
The guardians of Mankind
Are losin' their faith
'Cause malice and falseness
Spread over the human race
If guardians of mankind
Won't shelter our souls
The rulers of darkness
Will soon gain control
Don't try to deceive them don't try to play false
'Cause losing their favour will be the end of shelter
And as the winds of freedom blow they vanish into haze
The mighty shadow turns away and wisdom conquers hate
The guardians of Mankind
Are losin' their faith
'Cause malice and falseness
Spread over the human race
If guardians of mankind
Won't shelter our souls
The rulers of darkness
Will soon gain control
And as the winds of freedom blow they vanish into haze
The mighty shadow turns away and wisdom conquers hate
The guardians of Mankind
Are losin' their faith
'Cause malice and falseness
Spread over the human race
Guardians of Mankind
Are losin' their faith
'Cause malice and falseness
Spread over the human race
If guardians of mankind
Won't shelter our souls
The rulers of darkness
Will soon gain control
07 Valley of the Kings (03:50)
Father can you hear me, did you talk to mother earth
what did she say, what did you see, now ...is it time for our rebirth?
open up the silent center of your mind,
I now want to know the future of our kind
in the valley of the kings, when the storm breaks loose again
then the gods return to fight, for the future of their lives
in the valley of the kings
oh mother do you hear me, did you talk to father moon
I don't want to leave my brothers in this temple of their doom
open up the silent center of your mind
I now want to know the future of our kind
in the valley of the kings, when the storm breaks loose again
then the gods will spread their wings, In the valley of the kings
ra vite, deus sanktus, ra vite
ra vite, revertate, ra vite
Solo (... for those who care )
Kai, Both, Kai, Henjo
oh mother earth do you believe there is a place for us to go
come set us free again and let us fly away and give us hope
there'll be a time for us to fly to our thrones up in the sky
in the valley of the kings, when the storm breaks loose again
then the gods will spread their wings, In the valley of the kings
08 Pray (04:45)
So here we stand again
Like dust on mother earth
And we hide our faces in our dreams
Only emptiness where angels flew - high on golden wings
And the voice of god has vanished now - lost inside our dreams
But the only way to go is heaven
All we can do is pray
In the darkness we stand with the world in our hands
And we pray
For a better tomorrow
We wait
Far beyond the horizon
There's a sound in the sky
The voice of glory I hear a silent cry
When the heroes of yesterday are gone
All we can do is pray
In the darkness we hide and we wait for the light
And we pray
Oh we pray
Let us pray
I've seen the darkside of the moon in my dreams
Now I know it ain't a place to live for us all
All our gods creation is dead an gone
Now we stand like children all alone forever
All we can do is pray
Forever and forever and forever more
For a better tomorrow - we wait
Pray
There's a light in the dark
And it's shining so bright on our way
Still there is hope on our way
And we pray
Oh, pray
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