|
Helloween
|
| By
Vinnie Apicella
Nearly hard to imagine this bands' seen fifteen plus years already, and
yet here they still are, celebrating their boundless career with a
mighty pumpkin smashing two-disc, two hour set spanning the many
highlights and few lows of their continually impressive existence. They
roared on the scene in the middle '80s and put the "flash" in a
burgeoning Thrash scene that was devoid of any real fluidity or melodic
consciousness, brandishing a fresh, new European style that countless
successors continue to emulate and follow. Much like Iron Maiden before
them, they broke new ground and similarly spotlighted a musical
grandeur
based upon power and speed, took it a step further and never looked
back… got knocked off course for a stretch and like Maiden, found the
ability to move forward and thrive, even more so after several key line
up changes. Personally I thought they were dead in the water when their
first revival took place in the early nineties having lost their
frontman and drummer after nearly succumbing to label disputes and
various legalities. So to call them survivors underscores the
achievements of one of Metal's most influential and best talents who've
continued to this day to strive, explore, and move forward where even
now they must regroup and overcome the departure of two more key
members. So "Treasure Chest" then in one way or another serves to close
a chapter for the band as they ready themselves for a new journey.
"Treasure Chest" features 29 tracks going way back to their earliest
"Helloween" EP days on up to their latest "The Dark Ride" 2000 release
which is still an inexplicable mystery on this side of the Atlantic.
While most of their back catalog is available again, for a time they
were difficult to come by and though most of these selections are old
hat to the long time fans, they've underscored the "Treasure" in the
title by remixing five of their all-time classics including "Murderer,"
"Ride The Sky," and their monstrous "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" epic
from
'88s second installment. The riffs came fast and loud and while it's
rare if not downright foolish to raise praise on remixed versions of
early version recorded deficiencies, to hear a song like "Starlight"
beam through the speakers with the clarity it does is worth the money
they spent on the sticker. Of course we're jam packed with plenty of
era
photos including cool live footage, band member memos, liner notes,
hype, horseshit, and extensive family tree foldout if you're so
inclined
after a few nips o' the jug. Helloween's pioneering status,
particularly
in the ranks of so-called "Euro-Metal" is unchallenged. They've upped
their anti, they've known failure, and they've arisen to fight again…
they've included "Power," "How Many Tears," "Windmill," "In The Middle
Of A Heartbeat," and "Mr. Ego," and for those they'll draw wrath from
studs and leather witch hunters, and inarguably a few selections are
questionable-how does anyone who'll admit to bearing the abomination
that was "Chameleon" stand for anything other than maybe "First Time"
or
their "Music" epic? "Kids Of The Century's" an obvious choice along
with
"The Chance" from "Pink Bubbles Go Ape…" so we're grasping a bit here
but when the best they can muster off the "Better Than Raw" album is "I
Can," and they can't make room for their "Keeper I" breakthrough "I'm
Alive," call for the dogs! But such is the great thing about having so
many to choose from, there'll always be those few included that no one
expects, and a few to bitch over… what else is their to talk about? So
in the rare event Helloween were to fold up their tent and call it a
season, "Treasure Chest" more than sufficiently jewels the crown of
Germany's reigning Metal kings.
|
More from the Online Metal Journal |
|
|
|
|