728. Helloween / Live in the U.K. 1989. 5/5

There are few bands who could claim to have had such amazing success over the course of their first three full length albums as the band Helloween had in the mid to late part of the 1980’s. Having first released their debut self-titled EP, they followed that up with three truly amazing albums in “Walls of Jericho”, “Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1” and “Keepers of the Seven Keys Part 2”. The band was on a rising tide, a king tide at that, and there appeared that little could be done to stop them.
Riding high on that success, it was decided that Helloween's tour of the UK in 1988 would be recorded in order to produce a live album, something that could preserve for all time the band’s ultimate line up and their live presence at this stage of their career. They had already supported Iron Maiden that year on their Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour, but this was their first headline tour of the UK, and as such was a big move for them. It was also a time of tension within the band and with their record label, Noise. There was discontent with how much the band was being paid, compared to the amount they were bringing in with album sales and merchandise sales, along with the constant touring the band was doing, something that founding member Kai Hansen had tried to address on a number of occasions in the recent two years. The problems with Noise would eventually lead to a lawsuit between the two entities, while the tension within the band itself was also close to reaching boiling point, and the consequences of which were also close to coming to fruition.
Despite all of this, the tour was a great success, with the band playing a full setlist that covered all of their amazing work to this point of their career, and a snapshot of that was to eventually see the light in the form of the live album entitled “Live in the UK”.

This album was taken from recordings over two consecutive nights at the Edinburgh Playhouse in Scotland in November 1988. The seven songs featured here cover the three full studio albums that Helloween had released to this point. And each of them are perfectly brilliant versions of the songs, with the band and its members all firing on all cylinders. Each brought the right attitude and sense of occasion to each song. The sense of fun in the lyrics of "Dr Stein" and "Rise and Fall" come through perfectly in this live setting, with lead vocalist Michael Kiske playing the perfect role. "A Little Time" and "Future World" sound just as good as their studio versions, powerful and forthright in the rhythm section of drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg and bass guitarist Marcus Grosskopf, setting the platform for the star guitarists in Michael Weikath and Kai Hansen to lay down their riffs and solo pieces. The soaring melodic tones of both guitars and Kiske’s vocals during "We Got the Right" send chills down the spine, which is repeated in the closing "How Many Tears", with Kiske wringing every last piece of angst and passion out of the song. It is an amazing version of this already brilliant song, and a version that perhaps has never been bettered. Just brilliant. And of course there is “I Want Out”, the forever fan favourite that again is a perfect rendition here on this live album.
Perhaps the only criticism I can find of this release is that it is far too short. In times where the majority of bands releasing live albums were doing so on double LPs (or by 1989 beginning to be double CDs), in order to capture the entire gig, this seems to be over with just as it is warming up. The actual concerts that this album was recorded at had double this number of songs. I mean, this is terrific, but imagine these seven songs being paired with equally brilliant live versions of the other songs on the setlist - "Eagle Fly Free", “March of Time”, “A Tale That Wasn’t Right”, "Halloween", “Follow the Sign” into "Keeper of the Seven Keys" and "I'm Alive" alongside “Livin’ Ain’t No Crime”. It would truly be a masterpiece. I don't know the reason behind this - perhaps their record company felt a single album was the best way to go (for them) in terms of sales. There are bootlegs of these gigs, of which I have a couple, and they do sound terrific. You can actually hear an excellent one on YouTube if you want. It is totally worth it. The other reason it is a shame we didn't get a full recording is because this is the only official live release with this line up, the "Keepers" line up. Despite this slight falling down, what is presented here is a great live album full of terrific tracks, showcasing the best that this band had to offer. Top shelf.

I have told my tale of my discovery of Helloween on other podcast episodes scattered throughout this internet, but suffice to say that if we hadn’t had our Norwegian exchange student Hans Hoie show up in Year 12 back in 1987, then it could have taken me a lot longer to discover this band than it did. And for that I am forever grateful that he graced our Australian shores that year. And from his influence and cassette tapes recorded for me, I found an amazing band.
I loved this album on its release. Not only is the track list just terrific (despite my already revealed reservations on its relative short length), it showcases just how good this band was live at a time that would have to be considered their peak, at least for this line up. Michael Kiske's vocals soar, in a way that few could say they could equal in a live environment. Mention him in the same breath as Dickinson, Dio and Halford and you won't be denigrating this group. The iconic happy guitars of Kai Hansen and Michael Weikath complement each other beautifully throughout the album. Markus Grosskopf on bass rumbles through each song, his crazily underrated running basslines such a part of what makes their music so wonderful, while Ingo Schwichtenberg's drumming in reality is the complex timekeeping that ties the whole album together while the other subjects go about their business.
I found this at an out-of-the-way record store at Warrawong shopping centre, the name of which I don’t think I ever knew. But they had amazing material there that I couldn’t find at your everyday record store in those days, so it was always worth a visit. And I played this for months at the time, just loving every song, and always wishing it had more songs on it. A double album with the setlist from this concert? It would have rivalled Live After Death! And this is the perfect example of my oft-quoted… quote… that a live album should always be a 5/5 album, because it has the best material recorded in a band’s best environment. On that, “Live in the UK” stands up wondrously well.
Kai Hansen moved on after this tour, in fact quitting the band just a few weeks after this album was recorded, and it was really the end of the first great era of Helloween. The band had lots of struggles over the coming few years as the fallout to this and their record deal, and while they have come out the other side and with the current reunion line up are storming the world once again, this was the end of its greatest era. And while this album is a sterling reminder of their brilliance, it could have been a ripper with a full set.