Michael Kiske
Instant Clarity

Here I am grappling with the review of this "Instant Clarity," the first solo work by Michael Kiske, the unforgettable and irreplaceable singer of Helloween during the band's golden period, where he left an indelible mark with his splendid voice on what are the two brightest gems in the history of power metal, namely Keeper Of The Seven Keys pt.1 and pt.2 (1987 and 1988). However, due to the departure of guitarist Kai Hansen, the true brain and soul of the group, Helloween had changed style, veering towards a less metal and more experimental sound in the next two albums ("Pink Bubbles Go Ape" in 1991 and "Chameleon" in 1993) and faced the wrath of the more uncompromising fans, who accused them of selling out, leading to commercial disasters, although in my opinion, the quality of the songs remained high.

So, at this point, we've reached 1993, where, after the promotional tour of Chameleon, Michael was expelled from the group by choice of guitarist and leader Michael Weikath, accused of being responsible for the band's change in style. An accusation that is shared, considering the career trajectory Helloween would take, returning to power metal already the following year (with the album "Master Of The Rings," sung by new member Andi Deris).

The then 25-year-old Michael would face two years of silence, partially interrupted in 1995 with a marginal participation in two songs from the album "Land Of The Free" by Gamma Ray, Kai Hansen's band (on the backing vocals of the title track and as lead vocal on the song "Time To Break Free"), and in 1996, he would release his first album, "Instant Clarity", with the collaboration of the same Kai Hansen, Adrian Smith, guitarist of Iron Maiden (on two tracks), Ciriaco Taraxes (on guitar, who would also accompany him in the Supared project), and finally Jens Mencl on bass and Kay Wolke on drums.

After the split with Helloween, at first, I was not very convinced of the idea of listening to Michael's solo albums, partly to not ruin the immense admiration I have for him, especially considering the awful reviews and opinions I read online; but in the end, I started missing his voice, and I couldn't help but listen to this CD, which doesn't deviate much from what Helloween had proposed in Chameleon. It opens with "Be True To Yourself", a rock song dominated by acoustic guitar where Michael lets himself go with some high notes and a chilling vocal performance, while expressing in the lyrics the reasons that led him to continue on the path he followed. After this rock detour, we immediately return to the past with "The Calling", a song in full power style, where accompanying Michael on guitar is Adrian Smith of Maiden; and with the fifth track "New Horizons" where Smith and Kai Hansen join forces for another convincing and overwhelming metal song that seems to have come out of the recent "Land Of The Free" by the legendary Gamma Ray.

Instead, even grunge influences can be found in songs like "Hunted", a rather hard song both musically and lyrically, dedicated to former bandmates and especially the beloved Mik Weikath; in "Somebody Somewhere", where such influences are more evident in the chorus, while the verses give more the idea of a ballad; and in the following "Burned Out", a song that continues the discussion started with "Somebody Somewhere", but which I have always particularly liked for the lyrics (written by Ciriaco Taraxes) and for the increase in rhythm in the chorus, while the verses flow in a relaxed and enjoyable way. And we arrive at "Always", which deserves a special mention, it’s one of my favorite songs: it is a pianistic ballad (although some might find it too whiny) where Michael truly offers one of his best interpretations while expressing his grief over the loss of the late Ingo Swichtenberg (Helloween's drummer, who committed suicide on March 8, 1995, in dramatic circumstances, after having drug and depression problems that also led him to leave the band). I really can’t remain indifferent to Michael’s words as he sings: "When I look around there's only broken glass I see, and everywhere I reach it's hurting me... Looking back I find there was not much how it should be, It's slowly killing me; I got to