As has been reported in several media, Helloween’s initial idea for their previous album had been to make it a double album, encompassing all of the Keeper of the Seven Keys. Their record company had refused this and insisted that they be released separately. However, the outro to the first album, “Follow the Sign”, acts as a flow on to the first intro on this album, “Invitation”, so that you can listen to them both as a double album and enjoy the entire experience as the band initially imagined it. And to be honest, if you listen to that first album, how can you possibly not go on to listen to this album immediately after? It is impossible.
“Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1” had had amazing sales, and the tour to promote it had taken the band throughout Europe as well as the UK and the US. It was around this time the first cracks began to appear in the band, with Kai Hansen picketing for time off from their hectic touring schedule to rest, and the first signs of dissention about the songs coming to the fore. As the bands popularity was continuing to grow they wanted to build on that and so stopping touring was not on the table. After 12 months of constantly being on the road, the band then entered the studio to finish writing and to record their follow up to that album.
Modern day reviews of "Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 2” often appear to either praise the album as a brilliant addition to the band's legacy, and a standard bearer for the genre that they were blazing, or that it is a weaker, less heavy version of the band, stripped of the speed and power that was a part of the band in its beginning. In general, these opinions will vary as to whether those people grew with the band through the 1980's, or came into the band at a later date either through isolation or age barriers. As someone who was fortunate enough to discover the band when they were at their theoretical peak my opinions settle in the first category. In this day and age I can see why others opinions may not match with mine. Listening to the album while trying to put aside 35 years of knowing every note an nuance of the album, and trying to be objective about what I hear in a more modern sense rather than an historical one, there is a slight case that can be understood why younger listeners out there may think this is less dazzling than previous efforts, or even future efforts. Whereas the songs on “Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I” equally drew on positive attitudes towards life along with science fiction themes and even the power ballad, what do we have here? "Rise & Fall" is full of complete nonsense lyrics - fun yes, but very cartoonish in its output. "Dr Stein" pokes fun at the old Frankenstein story, changing it up and really once again having fun with the whole story. "I Want Out" is a teen anthem that could apply anywhere through your lifetime (though perhaps Kai’s lyrics were in fact written about other issues he had at the time), but appears aimed at that age group. But guess what? I LOVE those songs! They are brilliant, mixing the fun of their subject matter into music that is happy and joyous. They all have those 'happy guitars' that made Helloween the band it was during this era. Mixed in with these light hearted songs are the serious, hard core lyrical songs, such as "We Got the Right" and "March of Time" and "Eagle Fly Free". Each of these are epic in their own right. Apart from their lyrical exhibitionism, the songs climb throughout to reach crashing crescendos, while Michael Kiske's vocals soar to unobtainable heights for those mere mortal like me who want to sing along.
“Keeper of the Sevens Keys, Part 2” is heavily weighted with material by Michael Weikath, whereas the previous album had more material from Kai Hansen. Initially this had been because of Michael’s absence for much of the Keeper 1 album, but the balance of having more songs composed by Kai on that album was utilised again here with the majority of the album composed by Weikath, thus each album having a similar style of songs throughout.
The brilliant instrumental "Invitation" segues straight into "Eagle Fly Free", which not only is a marvellous opening track, it also gives every individual the chance to show their wares - Kiske his vocal talents, Weikath and Kai their own solo spots along with the dual harmony break, and Marcus and Ingo both get a solo spot of their own as well. A terrifically constructed song. More than that, it is an epic opening song. If anything could have promoted Helloween to the world, it was this song. Kiske’s vocals especially are out of this world for someone who was still yet to reach the age of 20 when this album was recorded. This is followed by "You Always Walk Alone", which is a come down from the previous song. "You Always Walk Alone" changes in tempo and pace a bit too much, such that it can feel a bit choppy. The final third of the song, from the solo breaks to the climbing vocal strains of the final chorus is excellent, it's just that sometimes the first half of the song can get a bit lost within itself. "Rise and Fall" and "Dr Stein" are the two Weikath fun numbers, which Kiske has a ball with when singing them. “Rise and Fall” combines both a serious side of the song, which seems to be referencing Michael’s breakdown prior to recording the previous album, along with several episodes of the breakdown of relationships, being it dragons and knights, spacemen and wives, Romeo and Juliet. While the music and pieces of the lyrics come across as fun and bright, perhaps the undertones are not quite so much. “Dr Stein” takes on the basic storyline of Frankenstein, and creates as sequel, mixed with Michael’s own semi-serious view on the world. Both of the songs are humorous and playful songs, with the underlying serious nature that the band still had running through the lyrics of all of their songs.
"We Got the Right" and "March of Time" return the album to serious topics within the lyrics, but the songs are quite magnificent. They rise in majesty mainly thanks to Kiske’s vocals and the backing chorus, which helps turn good songs into great ones. The musicianship here also is top shelf, complementing everything that has been inspired by the writing. “We Got the Right” sings for the average person, to stand up to those that believe they have the power to do everything they want, while “March of Time” preaches not wasting your life and using each moment you have. Both of these songs have wonderful, spine-tingling moments, both provided in the main by Michael Kiske’s vocals, and both in the back part of each song. In “We Got the Right” the final chorus is sung with such high emotion that it is impossible to sing along such are the heights of his voice. And in “March of Time”, the final bridge leading into the last chorus is just magnificent, beginning with ‘Please, please, help me see, the best way to be’ into ‘Life’s too short to cry, long enough to try’ and into the chorus, it is one of the best phases of any song ever. Chills.
These are followed by the anthemic "I Want Out", the single from the album whose video showcased the brilliant musicianship of the group as well as their playful side. The lyrics may appear somewhat teenagerish if taken on face value, but the message behind them is significant, and helps to make this one of Helloween's most identifiable songs. Certainly my kids know it off by heart. But there is a deeper meaning to the song, which becomes more apparent when you find out about Kai’s disapproval of what was happening in and around the band at the time. Knowing all that, and listening to the song again, you can hear him asking for a change, to come to terms with what was happening with the band and its management. As Kai’s two contributions to this album, “March of Time” and “I Want Out” tell a story in themselves.
The album then concludes with the second part of what has become known as the Keepers Trilogy, with the title track "Keeper of the Seven Keys", which like its counterpart on the previous album stretches beyond thirteen minutes while telling its tale through the changing tempo and waves of guitar. It is an amazing track, beautifully composed and brilliantly played and sung. It's a fitting way to conclude an album that is epic in its own way.
Apart from the songwriting, the musicianship on this album is beyond magnificent. Ingo Schwichtenberg’s drumming is on another level, precise and intricate, with perfectly punctuating double kick and some amazing rolls throughout the songs that require it. It is probably the finest performance of his all-too-short career. He is amazing on the opening two tracks, but then in “Dr Stein” where he is asked to just play the bare minimum, he is still so noticeable because of the WAY he plays the straight stuff. An amazing drummer and a wonderful performance on this album. Markus Grosskopf once again shows why his is one of the most underrated bass players of all time, with his amazing work throughout. Listening closely to his playing on this album is a joy in itself. His left hand is all over the fretboard, running back and forth and underscoring the guitarists with a base that is as important as any other part of each song. Just magnificent. Kai and Michael’s guitaring is probably the benchmark for the band. The so-dubbed ‘happy guitars’ of Helloween are what mark each and every one of their songs, their harmonies creating the sound that IS Helloween, while their soloing is pure joy. On top of their song writing, they have again created an album that is beyond compare. And then we have the lead vocalist, Michael Kiske. His ability to hit those high notes is one of his superpowers, but it is the emotion he can bring to a song with those vocal chords that truly win the day. The finishing flourish of “Eagle Fly Free”, the final chorus and scream of “You Always Walk Alone”, the emoting throughout “We Got the Right”, and that closing bridge and chorus of “March of Time”, is what still gives me shudders down the spine. This quintet, apart from bring amazing in every way, combine to become greater as a whole than the sum of their parts.
I related earlier in this episode how I came to not only discover Helloween, but first get this album. And I still remember the first time I listened to it, on my parent’s stereo, and how truly amazed I was at it. I already loved “Walls of Jericho” and “Keeper 1”, but this went to another level. It was, and is, the album where the band’s sound matured even more, much closer to a power metal album than a speed metal album which is what their first two releases basically were. “Ride the Sky” and “Eagle Fly Free” are both majestic opening songs from two magnificent albums, but to listen to them both you can notice the slight differences in them.
In 1988 for me, this album was a revelation. Coming off the back of Iron Maiden’s “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” album earlier in the year, this just attached itself to my psyche, and that cassette (on which on the other side Hans had recorded the Helloween EP and some B-side singles) started smoking from the number of times it was played over and over again. Utopia Records soon had my money for the vinyl and eventually CD copies of the album as well. There would barely have been a three-month period in the past 35 years that I haven’t listened to this album. It has gone everywhere with me, either being a permanent member of my car’s cassette collection, or on album playlists in the days of mp3’s, or now as a constant streaming companion on trips anywhere. In the band I had so much fun with not long after this album was released, we had a half-hearted effort at playing “I Want Out” before surprising fans who actually turned up to watch us live by playing “Dr Stein”. It will be easy to conclude that I love this album. Indeed, alongside everything Helloween had released to this point of their career, I find it to be completely brilliant. This was the music of my late teens, alongside the typical contemporaries such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest who obviously influenced them so much. On my work playlist over the last month, surrounded by the albums that make up the episodes around this one on this podcast, it was this album every single time that lifted my head, and brought me out of whatever I was doing, and had me singing along all over again.
As was expected with the building of frustration over the previous two years, Kai left the band following this album, and it took years for Helloween to recover. And while they have managed to write and record some terrific albums since, nothing matches their output prior to Kai’s departure. This was the band’s golden age, and it highlights and dominates that part of my life as well. This album sits comfortably in my top 20 of all time. And so it should in yours.
Rating: "Leave time behind, follow the sign, together we'll fly someday". 5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment