In an interview in 1999, Kai Hansen spoke about the developing situation the band found itself in, and why it was that Ralf and the band eventually parted ways:
“There were two main reasons. One was after the first three Gamma Ray albums we said – now we want to do a really, really good album, something really killer. But Ralf was not living in Hamburg, he was living 700 km away from here. For that reason he only came up for a while for rehearsal or for the recordings. But to do an album which was really good we needed him there constantly. In years before we had been talking about him moving to Hamburg but at that time he still had a job going on...he still does and he's never going to leave it somehow. He could not really make up his mind to move to Hamburg and there was one problem with that because when we wrote the songs I was always trying to think of his voice but on the other hand it would have been a lot better if he write his own vocal lines, melodies and lyrics. When he came to Hamburg most of the times I was singing in the rehearsal room when he was not there and I was singing on my demos so it was like everything was more or less fixed and he could not really change it. We wanted that to change, therefore we wanted him to move to Hamburg, he could not make up his mind. Then we said either you do it or you die somehow you know...like putting the pistol to his chest. Well....on the other hand he had this Judas Priest thing going on. He wanted to be given a chance. I was the idiot who told him maybe for fun just try it out when it was clear they were searching for a singer because Judas Priest was always his favourite band. We were thinking about him doing the Gamma Ray album and then going to Judas Priest. All in all it led to the point where we said we'd rather split our ways at that point because it doesn't make sense to go on like that”.
With the album well underway, the band now had to find a new lead vocalist, not something that was easy under any circumstances. There was talk of the band recruiting Kai’s former bandmate in Michael Kiske to come on board, as he had just parted ways with Helloween himself. Kiske however had a major disillusionment with metal music at that time and was not seen as the best option. Several other names cropped up, but there was a consistent message coming from not only the band’s friends, but from the fan base itself. That message was, that Kai should take on the role himself. Kai had of course been vocalist and guitarist on the original Helloween EP and debut album “Walls of Jericho” before leaving that dual role to concentrate of presenting the best guitaring he could for the band. Ten years on, and he had the decision to make again. He had sung on all of the demos of the new songs because Ralf had been absent, which meant that they were all designed for his vocals anyway. Could he perform the same role once again? Would he be able to do both roles on stage? Despite some initial doubts, Kai took it on.
All that was left to do now was to record the album and get it out for the fans to decide. In a 2008 interview, Kai spoke about the importance of the Land of the Free album and what it represented:
“We made it exactly at a time point when this kind of metal was proclaimed to be dead as can be. Where it was almost like if a drummer came up with a double bass drum people would say 'ya dooga daga yourself out of here man.' Everything was ruled by Kurt Cobain and the alternative to the alternative and all that kind of stuff. So at that point we made an album like this and it went down very successful. That was cool, that was something special. I think it was the album that gave Gamma Ray the acceptance as being a band not only a Kai Hansen project”.
“Land of the Free” acts as a concept album, the age-old fight and story of good over evil, and in order to kick that off in the right way, it is necessary to create an opening track that is an epic. And there have been few better or more astounding opening epic songs to an album than “Rebellion in Dreamland”. The pure excitement of hearing Kai on vocals again rolls into the opening riff, Kai’s voice rising above it all to announce his arrival once again as the frontman, and we roll into opening verse. “Rebellion in Dreamland” builds in intensity throughout its opening, dragging you along to pick up your swords and join the march of the rebellion itself. The song itself doesn’t stick to the verse chorus verse format and is all the better for it. It is a swooning, melodic roller coaster with the pace coming in movements, the scene of the story being drawn from music that creates the magic. The guitar solos that cascade with fury down the other side of the mountain crash into the slow drifts below, into the final denouncement of “Have no fear, rebellion is here” into the climax of the track. It is a majestic way to open this album.
But there is no time to rest, because then we crash straight into “Man on a Mission” which sets off on its double time pace from the outset, a perfect follow up from the epic-ness of the opening track. Here the hero is introduced and sent off to his destiny by the band in a cracking song. Thomas Nack’s terrific double time drumming sets the pace, with Jan’s bass line rumbling like a freight train throughout. The energy of the song never lets up, but is channelled into different pockets through the song such that it is arguably the fastest and heaviest track on the album. The only time it lets up is for the 20 second spoke part in the middle of the song, before it careers off again at speed to regain its power. One of the architects of speed metal is at it again here on this song. Then “Fairytale” acts as the segue between this song and the next, a one-minute burst that channels all of energy and passion of “Man on a Misson” and pushes us directly into the next phase of the story and the album, the amazing and brilliant “All of the Damned”, with the beautiful opening bass riff to open the song, into the main guitar riff that that runs into the opening vocal stanza. Kai’s vocals reign supreme here, and the middle solo section of the track enhances the atmosphere that the whole song produces, all while describing the doubts our hero has as he moves on his way to the enemy, and seeing the faces of those that have gone before him and failed. The mood of the song showcases this in a dreamlike fashion. The conclusion of the song segues into the instrumental “Rising of the Damned”, which finishes off the opening stanza of the album perfectly, and a remarkable opening to an album.
“Gods of Deliverance” crashes back in with a great drum solo opening from Nack rolling straight into the song at great pace. It’s another anthemic drive for the band without respite, replete with harmony guitars and duelling guitar solos, thundering bass lines from Rubach, who wrote the music for the track, and another passionate delivery of vocals from Kai himself. Following on from the opening songs on the album, this song beats its chest in the same drive and passion that this album has found with its new lead vocalist. But change is afoot, because next comes “Farewell” which is the power ballad of the album, the only song composed by Dirk Schlachter. Dirk was still working on it as the band was recording the album. In many ways it stands out on this album because it is so different from the other tracks, perhaps to be expected given the different composer but also for the style of the track. Power ballads can halt the momentum of albums, and there is little doubt that it does that to certain degree here, but as fitting in the part of the tale it tells it still has its place. Indeed, it is boosted by a guest appearance from Blind Guardian’s vocalist Hansi Kursch who not only sings back-ups on the track but also the third verse of the track. Kai had appeared in a guest spot on three Blind Guardian albums prior to this, and Hansi returned the favour here. From here we burst out of the softer side straight back into the battlefront with “Salvation’s Calling” that exudes energy and drive from the outset. Rubach’s solo contribution of both music and lyrics to the album gallops out of the speakers at you with his fast-paced bass guitar driven by Nack’s double kick drumming pushing along the song at every opportunity, and Kai standing astride the soapbox delivering his vocals with increasing passion. You feel the gathering momentum of the protagonists of the story as they can feel the turning of the tide, and the song expresses it beautifully, charging all the way to the conclusion of the song.
The title track is a triumph, a raging, charging, cry of victory song titled “Land of the Free”. This is the pinnacle of the album and the story, the moment where victory is within sight. And what better way to celebrate and embellish that than with this song – heavy with fists raised in the air, with drums and guitar riff crushing from the outset, Nack’s double kick leading the charge as Kai stands at the front of the stage and cries “Grab your heart and I’ll show you the way, hold your head up high!”... and then comes the chorus, and the combination of two of the most famous and amazing voices in metal combine, with Kai joined on the highest of high harmony by Michael Kiske, the man who joined him in Helloween to take on the lead vocal role. And just for good measure, let’s throw in Hansi Kursch to help back them up. Three of the greats, all here. It blazes with even more greatness in the bridge, as the three combine again for “And when the cracks appear upon the wall, we know the moment's here to see it fall, and as the sunlight appears again in our sky, no wall (No more), no wall (No more), no wall will darken our life”. And then careering through to the end of the song, with Jan Rubach’s bass guitar going nuts over the top of the guitars, into the final chorus, and then Michael taking us out in a way only he can, to complete a just magnificent song.
“The Saviour” acts as the perfect segueing of the title track and the next, the bridge between the two, giving the album and the listeners to catch their breath for a moment, before we jump into the epic motion of “Abyss of the Void”. This tells the story of the return of the Saviour, having defeated evil and returned to be celebrated. The perfect mix of drama and celebration in the music and vocals, it showcases the terrific rhythm changes as the band switches from quiet and atmospheric to epic and energetic and back again through the song. After his wonderful cameo on the title track, Michael Kiske returns to the sole role of lead vocalist on “Time to Break Free”, and this track channels the joy of Helloween and happy guitars and Michael singing to the hilt in a joyous way throughout. With the epic moodiness of the preceding tracks, this one restores a depth of brightness to the album, with a positive vibe in both music and lyrics, and Michael projecting it in spades. To hear Kai and Michael together again here not only lifts the album but gives hope to a further revival down the track. That DID occur, but it was a long ways down the road.
And so, we come to the final track on the album, and given everything that has come before it, could there be any passion and drive left? The answer to that is yes, there can. “Afterlife” has the music written by Rubach, composed in the sessions prior to the album’s recording, but the lyrics are written by Kai, and they cut close to the heart. On March 8 of 1995, Kai’s friend and former Helloween bandmate, drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg, threw himself in front of a train near their hometown of Hamburg in Germany. He had been suffering and dealing with the effects of schizophrenia for some time, and had obviously decided enough was enough. “Afterlife” was the final song on the album to be recorded, and when Kai brought the lyrics in and the band played the song, emotions ran high. Nack has said that they got the song down on just the second take, and the raw emotion of the lyrics and vocals are plain to hear even all these years later. The song is dedicated to the memory of Ingo at the end of the lyrics sheet. There is perhaps not a better tribute to have given him.
The black hole year of 1995 is one that I have had to look back on often during this new podcast, as the anniversary of years that I am basing my reviews on corresponds with all the years ending with 0 and 5. Let’s just say that I have had better years than 1995.
After the release of their third album “Insanity and Genius”, I missed Gamma Ray for a period, as I did a lot of music that was released around the same period. In fact, it wasn’t until the end of 1996, on a trip in to Utopia Records in Sydney, that I became reacquainted with them again. In fact, on this particular lunchtime, I found a truckload of albums from two bands who had slipped off my radar for a while, that being both Helloween and Gamma Ray, and they were albums that I didn’t even know existed. Helloween’s albums with their revamped post-Chameleon lineup, “Master of the Rings”, “The Time of the Oath” and the double live album “High Live” were all there and purchased that afternoon. Also with those came Gamma Ray’s “Land of the Free” and THEIR live album, “Alive ‘95”. It was an exciting trip back home on the train (only ten minutes in those days as I was living in the inner-city suburb of Sydney called Erskineville), especially as I opened each CD and read the band notes inside, and discovered that Kai Hansen was now also back as lead singer. I still remember that exact moment I discovered that news and just how excited I was. As a result, it was no contest as to which album I was going to listen to first as I burst through the door of our tiny town house in Devine Street.
When I first heard the opening to “Rebellion in Dreamland” I was blown away. Literally. It was just ridiculous how good this track was, and hearing Kai on lead vocals again was just incredible. And the album was instantly amazing, beyond anything I could have imagined. There was a certain level of disappointment over “Insanity and Genius”, and it was obvious that the problems that existed within the band that led to Ralf Scheepers moving on before this album was released were the same that that album had suffered from. Take a listen to Kai singing the songs from that album on the greatest hits album “Blast from the Past” and you will hear the difference, the way those songs were SUPPOSED to have been sung. And here those problems were gone, and it is clearly obvious how superior this album is to that one.
I cannot adequately explain how much I love this album. Why that should be the case is also difficult to explain. Helloween grabbed me from the moment I began listening to them, and it was Kai’s vocals on the EP and debut album “Walls of Jericho” that struck a chord. The songs he wrote were generally my favourites. And those first albums by the band were and are incredible. Then he left, and formed Gamma Ray, and I loved them just as much. There is just something about his songwriting and guitar playing that has a deep hold on me. And then this album came along, and he was singing again, and the album was so fast and heavy... I mean, there was just never any doubt I would love it. The great part about it is that the rest of the band are just as on song. Jan Rubach and Thomas Nack are sensational throughout, and Jan’s writing contributions are important pillars of the album. And Dirk Schlachter, who has been there from the beginning, is terrific on guitar, and soon to be on bass guitar.
So I have had this album on again for the last two weeks, but it is another album that rarely spends too long away from my stereo. 24 times I have listened to this album again at home and at work and in the car. It never gets old. It is an album that I can go to, in pure joy or in desolate despair, and it will right the ship or extend the joy even further. It is an incredible feat of songwriting and recording. When it comes to list of best ever albums and the such, it is almost impossible to narrow them down. Put it this way, if I could only listen to ten albums for the rest of my life, this would be one of the first ones I would choose. This is a masterpiece, and an album that I will go to the grave still listening to.
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