169. Helloween / Chameleon. 1993. 1/5.

Given the lukewarm response that was garnered from the previous album, one could only hope that the follow up would have learned from those criticisms, and returned Helloween to the path that they had once trodden. Remarkably... that wasn't the case. In fact, it was as far away from doing this as you could imagine. It is indeed a fact that Chameleon has become the benchmark for having done a complete 180 degrees in music genre in just three albums (well, tied with Metallica I guess). Almost everything that made this band a super power in the European metal family has been eradicated from this album, and the response to this was a tremendous thumbs down from most quarters and most fans at the time.

For years, Michael Kiske has been the fall guy for this release, and while it is fair that a certain amount of the blame should be levelled in his direction, it cannot be a total whitewash of the remainder of the band. Miki did not write all of the songs, and all five members had to perform them. It was an easy target to throw the mud in Miki's direction during the late 1990's, after his dismissal from the band, and his following remarks that he was tired of the heavy metal genre and felt no desire to ever return to it. Anyone who has then checked out his first solo album after this, Instant Clarity, will see that he indeed did mean this and followed through with it. *shudder*
The album actually opens with a positive feeling, with Michael Weikath's "First Time" at least of an upbeat tempo and a sing-along chorus that puts out the right vibe to the listener along with a reasonable solo break within. "When the Sinner" follows this, and is the first to have horns utilised within the song. I mean seriously - horns, in what could best be described as a pop rock song at best. Miki sings through several effects as well, and the piano tickles along as well. This was the first real wake up call to the album, that something just wasn't quite right about how this was progressing. The fact that this is written by Miki makes it even more troubling.
Roland Grapow's "I Don't Wanna Cry No More" is dedicated to his brother, and that's all fine and good. But it is a very melancholic and sombre toned song that doesn't really draw any real emotional response either musically or lyrically. A terribly drab and uninspired ballad that doesn't fit with the history of this band at all. This is then followed by his "Crazy Cat", which while it moves along at a faster clip again just has that cabaret feel again, with the horns playing a major role again. Why? It signals a major shift in focus for the band as a whole, which is scary given the fans that had been garnered through previous releases.
A Weikath triple makes up the middle of the album, and certainly is the best proof that the direction of this album was not solely helmed by one person in the band. "Giants" probably tries to mirror previous triumphs, though in a much watered down fashion. As a much more guitar based riff song, with the rhythm of bass and drums prominently positioned, it brings some enthusiasm back to the fold. This is not to last long, as this is followed by the appalling "Windmill", which is a far cry from "A Tale That Wasn't Right" from the first Keeper album. It is a dreadfully awful, almost vomit inducing ballad of the worst order. Yes, much worse than the previous ballad on the album. Drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg famously called it "Shitmill" during the tour for this album, which apart from evoking from me great laughter whenever I think of it can only make you wonder just how this album came together in the studio. "Revolution Now" is another song of incredibly strange format, mixing as it does lyrics from 60's based pop rock songs and the same kind of chords as well. No doubt it is a homage, but really this is B-side material, not A-grade stuff.
"In the Night" is another Kiske acoustic based power ballad which has little to redeem itself with. Though, it must be said that perhaps at least it isn't Roland's "Music", which seems to want to be one long freeform 1970's instrumental live piece, apart from the horns (again!) and Miki's vocals coming in through intermittent times. Honestly, this is seven minutes of slow paced wank. "Step Out of Hell" is an improvement, but perhaps only because to go backwards would have been dire.
That piece de resistance is taken by the final two songs on the album, both of Kiske's writing basket. "I Believe" is a long winded, long whining power ballad that can draw comparisons with those other dreadful adaptations that have come earlier in the album. This is probably topped off by "Longing", a true ballad in the worst possible way, that completely destroys the completion of what is already a really drab, terrible album.

Chameleon was an album that created a massive backlash. Michael Kiske and Ingo Schwichtenberg were fired from the band following the tour of this album, for completely different reasons. Whilst Kiske has found a way back to metal fame in recent years through his guest appearances with Gamma Ray and Masterplan and Avantasia, and then through his Unisonic project, Ingo's sad suicide was not the demise his wonderful craft deserved. I wrote off Helloween following this album, and as a result missed the release of their next two albums, which I didn't discover until 1997. On hearing them for the first time, I could only surmise that the band had final learned the lessons from both this album and their previous release, and realised where there fan base was at, and what they wanted to hear. If this is the case, then the tragic disappointment of this album was not in vain.

Rating:   "I can see you standing there, you know you're worth the try".   1/5