metalNESS wrote:
VinnieVincentInvaded wrote:
Well ever since, things have gone downhill, starting with Rabbit Don't Come Easy and then the even worse Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy. Losing Uli Kusch and Roland Grapow was simply too much of a blow I think, because they were both involved in the songwriting. Well Helloween did manage to release excellent stuff even after Kai Hansen left, so here's hoping the same kind of rebound will occur with their upcoming releases.
:shock: No way dude. There hasn't been a bad release with Deris in the band.
Oh Rabbit is not bad by any means, it sure has its share of complete winners: "Open Your Life", "Liar", "Hell Was Made In Heaven" and "Nothing to Say" to be specific. However, as for "Just a Little Sign", "Don't Stop Being Crazy", "Back Against the Wall" "Listen to the Flies"...yeah well that's where I'm coming from when saying this band is going downhill. Those four weak tracks I just mentioned plus every other I didn't mention are all below everything on The Dark Ride.
Now as for the new album...sorry but Helloween are now generic German power metal #14854743 for all I care. Not a BAD album exactly, but they've lost a lot of their personal sound (even more than on Rabbit) and are now going all generic crunch and double-bass happiness on us. The songs are far too long and some songs on there are just pure shite such as "Shade in the Shadow" and "Get It Up"...totally cut-able, but apparently someone decided to make it a double album to hype things up a bit. As I said earlier, I totally blame this on Uli Kusch and Roland Grapow leaving. Sure, without Sascha we wouldn't have gotten the excellent "Open Your Life", but god knows what Roland ("The Time of the Oath") and Uli ("A Handful of Pain") could've done for Rabbit still...and instead we end up with the awful abomination that is Masterplan featuring the most annoying vocalist ever in Jorn Lande. Argh. The only song I repeatedly play off that album is "My Life for One More Day" and sometimes "Occasion Avenue" because it really has its moments, but much like most the other songs it's far too long for its own good. Sorry, to me the songwriting is just sub-par on the new album. Second biggest disappointment of 2005 after the new Exodus.
