TheAccountant Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 Continued my exploration of Helloween Helloween - Pink Bubbles Go Ape Helloween - Chameleon I approached these 2 with trepidation - to say the least. I had heard that they were not well regarded and that Michael Kiske was asked to leave after them. Plus they came out in the early two mid 90's. Once you get into the 90's you have the rise of country, rap, grunge, alt - rock. Its like entering the long dark of Moria. Musically any way. For me at least. So what did I think? Pink Bubbles Go Ape is a strange mixture of stuff. Its like they ran out of good ideas when the wrote it so they included anything that they wrote to get enough songs on it. Not a shock in a way. Kai Hansen had left following Keeper of the 7 Keys Part 2 (the album b4 this one) and he was a major creative force with the group (IMO). So its got some power metal, a lot of hard rock (I guess) and some AOR. Plus some spit that well, I don't know what the F it is. What is "Heavy Metal Hamsters"? Its just weird. The album is at its best when Micael Kiske is turned lose on some power metal but there is no where even remotely enough of it. It has a few ok songs but only a few. So am I glad I gave it a shot? Umm, yes. Would I listen to it again? Not likely. Would I recommend it to others? No. Not really. Chameleon -what did I think of it? Its strange, weird, bizarre, odd - and none of them in a good way. Frankly, it stinks. Its no wonder they got dropped by their label after the album and Kiske who had pushed them in this direction got the boot after this album. I would listen to part of a song and just skip to the next one, listen to part of stand skip to the next song.... Let me put it this way. Rush went through many phases - prog, AOR, synth era, the Rupert Hine minimalist era, the more modern era. But whenever you heard them it, was Rush. Yes, you have Geddy's vocals Neils drumming etc, but beyond that it always musically felt like Rush. This album does not even remotely feel like Helloween. Its like they totally lost their way. Just terrible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 2Pac - Me Against The World Domo Genesis - No Idols Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAccountant Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 (edited) Helloween - Gambling With The Devil Helloween - Rabbit Don't Come Easy Gambling With The Devil is more than just solid and decent. Its fairly good. As Long As I Fall is my favorite off it. Rather enjoyable album actually. Rabbit Don't Come Easy - well it has a few decent song but mostly it sound like filler material. One of the weaker Helloween albums IMO. Edited April 2, 2023 by TheAccountant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAccountant Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 Helloween - 7 Sinners The best songs (IMO) on this album are "If a Mountain Could Talk" and "The Sage, The Fool and The Sinner". Its another decent, ok, album. No stinkers but nothing that really gets me singing along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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zepphead Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 A cracking new album from Canadian band Crown Lands - Farewell to Fings era Rush written all over it! Highly recommended. New Enslaved album Heimdal. Probably their most accessible yet but still heavy in places. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segue Myles Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 Lacuna Coil- Unleashed Memories Lacuna Coil- Comalies Lacuna Coil- Karmacode Lacuna Coil- Broken Crown Halo Lacuna Coil- Delirium I think it's safe to say I'm still not over this band. And these are my top five albums by them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segue Myles Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 Rhapsody Of Fire- Triumph Or Agony This album is seen as one of the lesser RoF albums. And it probably is, but it's still magnificent. Less metal, more orchestral, and very epic, it's perfect escapism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chronos Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefox4000 Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 10cc-Sheet Music (10/10) Mick 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chronos Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbale Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 4 hours ago, Chronos said: You're on a damn good run, friend. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 Talas - Sink Your Teeth Into That Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 25 minutes ago, Turbine Freight said: I haven’t heard the second half of their catalogue but I’ve heard it isn’t anything to write home about. So I feel pretty confident saying this was their best album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 22 minutes ago, Entre_Perpetuo said: I haven’t heard the second half of their catalogue but I’ve heard it isn’t anything to write home about. So I feel pretty confident saying this was their best album. I actually like their later album as it rocks a little harder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 12 minutes ago, goose said: I actually like their later album as it rocks a little harder Which one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAccountant Posted April 3, 2023 Share Posted April 3, 2023 Helloween -My God Given Right This was fairly good. Not outstanding but more than decent. But not outstanding either. It had a bunch of enjoyable songs. "Battles Won", "Lost in America", "Stay Crazy" & "Free World" were the best. So I think I am done exploring Halloween (likely much to everybody's relief). So what did I think? Well, I will group their albums into 5 categories as follows: The Great One album here and tat Keeper of the 7 Keys Part 1. It is loaded with stone songs that have stood the test of time The very good One album her and that Keeper of the 7 Keys Part 2. I used to consider it to be great but it has not really stood up to the test of time. Some songs like the title track and esp. "I Want Out" are awesome. But a number of the others have not aged well. Dr. Stein I was not crazy about back in the day and I am much less crazy now. But the good songs still keep it up in this category. The good, solid ok albums: This includes the following: Helloween Walls of Jericho Keep of the 7 Keys - The Legacy Master of the Rings Straight out of Hell Better than Raw The Dark Ride Gambling With the Devil 7 Sinners My God Given Right The Time of The Oath Of these, the 3 best (in the order I listened to them) are Keeper of the 7 Keys - The Legacy, Gambling With the Devil & My God Given Right. The worst (IMO) is The Time of the Oath. Other than that I will not rank them. Moving on... The week / poor albums Rabbit Don't Come Easy The bad albums: Pink Bubbles Go Ape Chameleon Its been an interesting adventure exploring Halloween like this. Time to move on and either explore another band or start pulling albums / CD's out of the moving box's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted April 3, 2023 Share Posted April 3, 2023 Opeth - Damnation Fates Warning - Parallels The Opeth record is great but definitely for a specific mood. The Fates Warning record…. I’m not sure this is the right Fates Warning for me. It just sounds like a less than essential Queensryche clone to my ears. Nothing was bad per say, but it kinda got tiring quickly. I wonder if I’d get more mileage out of their early stuff… 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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